Saturday, February 22, 2014

Savage Space XXII: The Kokatik

This time: an aquatic race...

Kokatik exploring Gamma Polaris
The Kokatik

Located rimward, toward the edge of known space and out toward the edge of the Milky Way, the kokatik have been exploring space and slowly colonizing worlds for nearly two thousand years. They are a species of amphibious beings, coming from their gaseous waterworld once in the Kunares star system that was once designated KOI-314c by humans. The kokatik are a hearty species that has adapted very well to both temperature and pressure extremes due to their warm gassy homeworld. Becuase of this adaptability they are able to colonize a wider range of worlds than humans can, and often find warm gaseous worlds within 1-3 Gees to be comfortable. Despite having the appearance of some sort of batrachian, the kokatik are a distinctly unique vertebrate species of something more closely resembling a cephalopod. The hardened shells of their ancestors turned into a sort of exoskeleton, which provides a web of internal support structure for high gravity and high pressure environments.

Kokatik are a slow, methodical species. They are not aggressive though they will employ deadly force if needed to resolve an issue, and they are more than capable of it, having developed some very sophisticated weaponry and maintaining an impressive stellar navy. Early contact with the kokatik, which actually took place with some anticipation due to the discovery of abandoned research stations on Gamma Polaris, revealed that the kokatik are suspicious and concerned about other species, and slow to earn trust. After contact was formally initiated and they were invited into the Federated Commonwealth more history came out and it was revealed that the kokatik had fought an extensive interstellar war early on in their spacefaring days, against an aggressor race called that fashan, a war which they won, bombing the fashan back to the stone age and quarantining their homeworld. Needless to say, the Federation Navy took note of this capability for such total salting-the-earth destruction against a declared foe.

Kokatik come off to humans as inscrutable and mistrusting, regarding other species with a persistent sense of caution.

Kokatik Racial Traits:

Aquatic (2): the kokatik are perfectly at home in underwater environments. They can breath in watery environments and have a filtration system in their gill-like lungs which can filter necessary oxygen and other gasses even from more exotic liquids.

Environmentally Resistant (3): kokatik get a +4 modifier to resist both against extremes of cold, as well as high and low pressure environments, including both the bottom of the ocean and the depths of space.

Aquatic Dependency (-2): kokatik are still amphibious, and must remain immersed in water or other liquid with a fair amount of oxygenation for at least 1 hour per Terran standard cycle (day). Kokatik usually wear pressure suits with filtered water systems when moving about in human territory.

Inscrutable (-1): kokatik come off as cold, aloof and mistrusting to others, gaining -2 charisma against other species.

Slow (-1): as amphibious beings they are slower on land and are Pace 5.

Swimmers (+2): Kokatik start with a D6 in swim, and are Pace 6 when in water.


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