Asrai

Star Cluster: ITK

Cluster Identification: ITK-4681

System: Spriggal, 8 terrestrial planets, 2 gas planets

Sun: Lothrai

Homeworld: Nasrak

Species: Nasrai, similar to dryads

Tech Level: late 6-early 7

Colonies: None at the moment

Biology: The Nasrai are a bipedal humanoid species native to Nasrak adapted to tropical and temperate climates. They have no sex and gender and range from 6 feet to the tallest at 9, however the most common is 7 and a half feet. The Nasrai’s flesh is actually wooden, mirroring their native trees. However it is remarkably strong and hardy, flame retardant, and is a natural armour, which some have suggested acts as an exoskeleton. It also stands up to, and in some cases outperforms modern Nasrai materials such as those used for infrastructure.

They are easily recognised by the branches that most commonly grow from their collar, elbow, hip, eye, knee, shoulder ridges and skull. These branches act as the mechanism for photosynthesis and for courtship displays. It is believed that more beautiful branches are more likely to get a mate in the Nasrai’s history. Today however that is not the case. These branches act like the branches on the trees in Nasrak, they grow leaves and flowers, which change colours that reflect a Nasrai’s emotion.

Below the thick layer of wood, exists a fragile and delicate system of plant fibres which acts as the nervous system for the Nasrai. The Nasrai do not have teeth and the inside of their mouth is fairly smooth, save for a kind of tongue which allows for advanced speech. Nasrai have serrated points that grow down and up from the outside of their mouth which resemble teeth but the purpose is for intimidation rather than eating.

The way Nasrai communicate between each other is more dependent on body language and pheromones for the finer points of communication, but a Nasrai can understand each other on a more basic level just through speech. A Nasrai’s arms eventually taper out into four long fingers of varying lengths. There is segments in these ‘fingers’ that allow for the use of tools. The finger closest to bottom of the arm and the branch growing out of the elbow form a natural weapon. The side is naturally sharp and is used as a natural slicing weapon before the Nasrai developed weapons, indicating that their early history was a violent one. This is somewhat the same for the Nasrai’s feet, with three pointing out frontwards and one sitting behind the foot, however these are smaller than the fingers.

Nasrai are gifted climbers, being able to scale even the largest of Nasrak’s trees in a very short time and can camouflage with the flora of Nasrak. The Nasrai’s outer layer can range from a variety of colours that reflect the colour of the trees where a Nasrai’s heritage was from, much like human skin colour. It ranges from an olive, to a dark green, brown and in some cases black and white. The Nasrai have a high physical ability and even today Nasrai society is very physical, and Nasrai spend the high majority of their time outside. They are also extremely effective warriors and experts a guerrilla warfare. The Nasrai wear very little clothing, often only a simple garment covering their pelvic area. However when out of their homeworld they do wear uniform.

Birth: Nasrai offspring is produced in a complicated manner, surprisingly contrasted to the ease of sex in which they do often and for pleasure. First the pregnant Nasrai’s (It is by chance which one is pregnant) flowers develop back into its infancy as a bud, after a period of undetermined time, often by the conditions of its environment all the buds drop onto a patch of dirt which has been dug by the other partner. The dirt is then covered over with a layer of dirt. After another undetermined period of time, the child emerges from the ground. The child is lifted from the ground by a branch that has developed with each bud contributing a strand, forming a branch which provides the nutrients to the child. The child is raised out of the dirt by a larger bud, which the child has to break out of. It will only break out of the bud, when it is in physical contact of both if its parents.

Much more to come