The following data are considered essential knowledge for player characters in Star Hero. Terran Interstellar Operations requires any and all personnel traveling beyond Solaria to assimilate basic information on all known species of extraterrestrials. This training effectively makes Xenology an "everyman" skill with a roll of 8-. All info included in the TIO training should be considered routine, for a +1 to +3 bonus to the roll, and access to a TIO database grants an additional +1 to +3. In most cases, use of this info will not require a skill roll. Characters who succeed in leaving Solaria without TIO approval will not have the benefit of this training, and will not receive Xenology as an everyman skill, nor the usual bonuses for basic knowledge.
Aliens in the Terracide setting are truly alien, with different biologies, mentalities, and technologies. All of them are radically different from humanity, to the extent that few are even remotely "humanoid". Seldom do any two of them even breathe the same gas and/or fluid mixture! Direct interaction between species requires the use of environmental support for the "visiting" party, telepresence, or some type of adaptable intermediary, depending on the preferences of the species in question. Each species has a protocol for dealing with others, which results in a complex variety of procedures when more than two species are involved. Avoiding cultural conflict is one of TIO's most important functions, which is why interstellar travel is strictly controlled.
Biological races: Cytherians, Fluorians, Terrans, Wendigos, Ammonites, Titans, Jovians.
Post-biologicals: Berserkers, Venoms, Moravecs.
Not otherwise classified: Keepers
Technical compatibility is a crucial issue when dealing with aliens. Two hazardous areas worth noting are psionics and FTL travel. Use of psionics on alien species is extremely dangerous to both subjects. Results vary, and may include acute or chronic physical and/or psychiatric trauma, which may be fatal in some cases. The same warning applies to the use of FTL technology designed for other species--side effects are unpredictable, and in the few cases of humans known to survive the trip, long-term treatment was extremely difficult, ineffectual, or both. Under no circumstances should Terrans enter another species' FTL vessel.
CYTHERIANS, like most other biological races, are named for the type of world they prefer to inhabit. They thrive in super-dense carbon-dioxide/fluorine/sulfur atmospheres at temperatures over 400 celsius. Cytherians appear as 50cm mottled gray silicon flatworms, between five and ten cm thick. They are bilaterally symmetrical, with six limbs arranged three to a side. Their anterior/posterior ends are identical in appearance, with an upper and lower opening in each. Though sightless, their hearing and vocal apparati are advanced; they seem to "hear" and "speak" with their entire body surface. A Cytherian in its natural environment can pinpoint any sound within range, regardless of direction. It can recognize humans by voice, even through the thickness of an environment suit, and detect vocal stress patterns. Their speech is normally inaudible to humans, due to pitch and rapidity--they speak too quickly for humans to follow.
In fact, Cytherians do everything far more quickly than humans, having a metabolic rate about four times faster than ours. Their normal life span is approximately 25 years, during which they are constantly active. They don't sleep, but may enter a state of suspension at will, during which their metabolism almost seems to stop. Individual Cytherians use this ability, very reluctantly, as a means of life-extension. At the approximate midpoint of its life, a Cytherian reaches a thickness of ten cm, at which point it reproduces by division, spawning an "upper" and "lower" offspring. The upper "twin" retains the mentality of the original, and acts as a parent to the lower one, which is effectively a newborn. Cytherian society is based on relations between Lineages, only a few of which are known to humanity. No Cytherian has ever divulged how many Lineages there are, nor where the others may be found. Within a Lineage, individuals maintain a balance between cooperation and competition.
Cytherians' relations with other races are complicated by the speed of their mental processes; they are far faster than most others. Of the biological races, only the Fluorians can easily keep up with them. In conversation with humans, Cytherians seem abrupt, impatient, and hurried. Terrans who wish to interact with them must be prepared to think and act quickly. When delayed, a Cytherian is likely to react in one of two ways; it may go into suspension to give its non-Cytherian counterparts time to catch up, or simply announce that its time has run out, then leave. Use of an intermediary is recommended; Cytherians seem to prefer dealing with Terran AI's designed for that very purpose. A number of these devices have gone missing during their operations, only to resurface years later, working directly with a Cytherian Lineage! They also seem to have "reverse-engineered" their own versions of these AI's, and adapted them to deal with other races the Cytherians lack the patience to work with, such as the Ammonites, Titans and Jovians.
Cytherian technology is notably above Terran standards in several areas. They have highly advanced ceramics and other non-metal products ideal for high-temperature applications. Fortunately, they're willing to trade these high-tech wares for volatiles, organics, and Terran software. The latter market has officially been embargoed since the loss of Terran AI's, but rumors of a highly profitable black market are most likely true. Cytherians don't seem to grasp the concept of "trade restrictions."
FLUORIANS are considered the most "human-like" of the known races, in spite of the fact that they breathe sulfur dioxide vapors and get drunk with freon. They thrive in gravity and pressure similar to that of humans, although they prefer temperatures of 200 celsius. Fluorians are bilaterally symmetrical bipeds averaging 150cm in height, and 50kg mass. Their legs are digitigrade, back-bent like terran birds, and their arms have similar structure, giving them greater flexibility and agility. Their hide is white and pallid, with symmetrical black markings on the extremities, and their crested, wide-eyed heads. Their dark red eyes are set far apart, giving them excellent peripheral vision. Fluorians' mouths are small and lipless, surrounded by several 10cm feelers, adapted to a liquid diet. They breathe through multiple slits on either side of their elongated necks. Their natural life span is approximately 50 years, during which they produce up to four offspring by live birth, usually two at a time.
Fluorians' short lifespan and low birthrate are compensated by a form ancestral memory. They begin life with memories of their most recent ancestors, and their ability to recall these memories improves throughout their lives. This inheritance is diluted with each generation, so only rarely can a Fluorian remember anything more than a century hence. This facet of their existence effects the outlook of Fluorians in many ways. Close relations have many of the same memories, giving the term "like-minded" a new depth of meaning. These so-called mind-siblings almost seem telepathic in many cases, although in truth they simply know what their counterpart is thinking because their thoughts are drawn from a similar mind-state. Young Fluorians mature quickly (10 years) and a Fluorian whose young have matured has little to fear from death--they'll live on in the minds of their descendants. Likewise, a Fluorian's life-work may continue long after death; their children will be born with the same drive to complete it. In spite of their short lifespans, Fluorians exhibit none of the frantic haste of the Cytherians, although they are capable of acting almost as quickly at need.
Fluorians relate to other races pragmatically, gracefully accepting the nature of each. This is not to say they're indifferent, but whatever an alien does, Fluorians act as if they expected it. They adapt quickly to social situations with different species. Fluorians can function almost as rapidly as Cytherians and other "fast folk", but have no difficulty dealing with even the most lethargic of races, the Jovians. Younger Fluorians without progeny shun all forms of telepresence or other forms of "surrogation", preferring to enrich the experiences they pass to the next generation. Older Fluorians constantly try to protect their juniors, to make sure they live long enough to pass on those experiences. The voice of reason usually wins--how do you argue with four grandparents inside your head? Fluorians often try to play the same role when dealing with brash or impulsive humans, who usually end up thanking them for it.
Fluorian technology is unremarkable, but adequate for their needs. Their high tolerance for radiation makes them unafraid of nuclear technology; they deal extensively in radioactives, nuclear reactors, and according to rumor, nuclear weapons. Among those races with a taste for such things, Fluorian artwork is highly regarded. However, the Fluorians' most sought-after export is their philosophy. When Fluorian masters speak, even the Titans listen.
AMMONITES, as their name implies, breathe ammonia, and favor worlds with very cold, liquid-ammonia environments. They prefer relatively low gravity, and like other fluid-breathers, adapt easily to zero-g. Ammonites vary in appearance, but have many common features. They mass about 200kg, and average 300cm in length. Their metabolism is markedly slower than humans',and they live for approximately 200 years. They have a brown-and-green banded nautiloid shell, reminiscent of Terra's extinct order of mollusks, which were also known as ammonites. The shell is oriented on top of the Ammonite body, curling up and back. Their hide varies in shade, usually some combination of greens and browns, like their shells. Seven flexible appendages emerge from the Ammonite shell. One is adapted for eating, four serve as ambulatory/grasping limbs, and two function as short eyestalks. Ammonite eyesight is about average, while their hearing is quite poor. Their olfactory senses, however, are phenomenal. They identify each other, and even communicate using controlled pheromone transmission. This ability also differentiates the Ammonite castes, which otherwise appear to be identical.
The Ammonites' entire social structure is based on the power of these chemicals. A lower-caste Ammonite finds the pheromones of a higher caste overpowering, rendering them completely subservient. Ammonite drones are the lowest and most numerous caste, usually working under the authority of a coordinator. Coordinators, in turn, answer to controllers, who take their orders from directors. Presumably higher castes exist, but none have been seen by humanity. Individual Ammonites never change caste, but may rise in status relative to others in the same caste. Ammonite status is determined by the number of subordinates one can control. The highest status is accorded to those with 49 followers, which corresponds to 100 in the Ammonites' base-seven math. These high-ranking Ammonites carry out all of the species' interstellar activities, so Ammonites are typically encountered in multiples of 50; a senior caste-member and its followers. A controller with a full complement of 49 top-ranked coordinators will have indirect control of over 2400 drones!
Ammonite controllers usually handle interracial contacts, although an experienced coordinator will sometimes be permitted to act independently. Regardless of caste, Ammonites tend to act and think slowly and deliberately. However, this should never be construed to indicate that an Ammonite, of any caste, is less intelligent. Individualistic races (like humans) tend to see the Ammonites as a "hive mind", with the brains concentrated at the top, and the unintelligent expendable at the bottom, but this is a dangerous misconception. Even the lowest-status drone is as sentient as the director it answers to, and no upper caste would ever consider one of its followers "expendable". Loss of a follower equates to loss of status, which no Ammonite can afford. Any threat to an individual Ammonite of any caste will be dealt with by both its followers and its superiors, up and down the hierarchy. There are, however, several Ammonite hierarchies, and rivalry between them sometimes results in loss of life. Other races seldom get involved in these disputes, having no easy way to distinguish between the parties involved.
Ammonite technology is particularly advanced in chemistry and pharmaceuticals. They are rumored to be a supplier of illegal psi-drugs, indicating detailed knowledge of human brain chemistry. How the Ammonites acquired this knowledge is a mystery, as the transmission of Terran biological data to aliens was forbidden under the TIO legal code.
TITANS are the neighborhood bullies of the Orion Arm, and they're proud of it. Their name reflects their preferred habitat, similar to the Saturnian moon of the same name, with very cold methane seas and low gravity. Titans mass 50 metric tons at maturity, with a rust-shaded ellipsoid body 15 meters across at its major axis. At either end, an eight-meter tentacle with three branches serves for both movement and manipulation. These tentacles, which are capable of regeneration, also have an advanced sense of taste, which the Titans use for communication, by grasping each others' limbs and transmitting chemical information. This is similar to the Ammonites phenomenal control, with enormous bandwidth, but no range, allowing Titans to exchange large amounts of information rapidly when in direct contact. Titans are sightless, relying instead on passive millimeter-wave radar sense. Their metabolism is much slower than humans, requiring them to breathe only three times an hour, and eat/sleep once in about a week. They live for approximately 800 years.
Titans are not social creatures, and will usually be encountered acting alone, with the assistance of robots, organic constructs, or hired help. On rare occasions, a Titan will decide it needs better help for a large project. In that case, it finds a like-minded mate, and produces up to six offspring to help with the endeavor. Needless to say, controlling six young Titans, let alone getting any useful work out of them, is extremely difficult, and most Titans won't raise a family unless absolutely necessary. If all goes well, the project is finished by the time the young reach maturity, at around 150 years, and they go their separate ways with whatever share of the profits they can coerce from their parents and siblings.
"Coerce" is the nearest word Titans have for "negotiate", and Titans greatly admire the art of the deal. To gain status among their own kind, they usually practice the art on lesser races, as they consider conflict within their species to be counterproductive, except within families. Against other species, they'll try to extort anything they can get away with. They don't haggle, bargain or barter; they take what they want, and the "price" is whatever the "vendor" will do to the Titan to protect the property in question. Consequently, Titans gain more status when they have to struggle for something--not necessarily physically, but the more difficult the acquisition, the better. Likewise, some victims choose to take the easy way out, and just give the Titan what it wants without a fight. This results in almost no gain of status for the Titan, and makes the victim look like an easy mark for poor, low-status Titans with nothing to lose--the worst kind! If a Titan wants something from you, fight for it! The Titan will appreciate your efforts to make it look good, and it will owe you for that. Rumors tell of some Titans so appreciative that they returned the merchandise afterwards! Conversely, if there's something you want from a Titan, you'll have to play by their rules. Don't try to fix a price -- just figure out how to take it.
Titans have a few other idiosyncrasies of note. They don't deal with intermediaries such as drones, robots, or telepresence remotes. Rather, they consider such things to be up for grabs, if the owner isn't willing to protect them. They don't view other sentient races as property, but they do consider all non-Titans lesser beings, until they prove otherwise. Terran Interstellar Operations fought a short war with a group of Titans known as the "Ophiuchi Syndicate". TIO demonstrated its relativistic weaponry on an uninhabited moon to intimidate the aliens. The Titans replied that this was "a good joke" and unilaterally declared a cease-fire. The war never officially ended, but the Syndicate split up decades ago.
JOVIANS inhabit gas giants of all sizes. They have bio-engineered themselves to survive in a wide variety of conditions, from the cold, thin upper atmospheres, to the high pressures and temperatures near the cores of their giant worlds. Some have even adapted to vacuum and hyperspace, in order to travel between star systems. Details vary widely, but individual Jovians are generally alike in the following traits. Jovians have spherical or ellipsoid, hydrogen-filled bodies over a kilometer in diameter, to provide buoyancy. The outer envelope is supported by a hollow, lightweight endoskeleton. The hollow spaces are inhabited by an endless variety of smaller symbiotic organisms designed and created by their Jovian host. Each Jovian is, in fact, a complete ecosystem within itself, and no two are exactly alike. Jovians involved in ongoing contact with other races have been known to remake their internal environment to suit their visitors. They also construct symbiotes for the express purpose of interacting with other races. Such organisms are considered to be an extension of the Jovian's identity, and are recognized as sentient, even though they don't truly have minds of their own. In most cases, humanity deals with Jovians indirectly through these intermediaries.
Jovians, however, tend to view other races as little more than autonomous, master-less symbiotes without true sentience, perhaps because of their small size relative to the Jovians. Of all other biological races, Titans are the only ones taken seriously by the Jovians. Titans, however, have a tendency to steal the Jovians' symbiotes, so the two races don't have frequent contact. Human contact teams have have represented themselves as "symbiotes" speaking for Terran Interstellar Operations, which the Jovians seem willing to accept. This technique has been successfully copied by several other groups of humans and aliens dealing with the Jovians. TIO, however, strongly discourages independent missions to the Jovians; the slightest mistake could be very costly for the entire human race!
Jovian technology is entirely biological, and their bio-engineered products are unparalleled. They also have metallic hydrogen for sale, but few can afford it. They trade for anything they can't make for themselves, especially products manufactured from metals other than hydrogen. Rumor tells of Jovians who deal in the genetic products of other races. TIO offers a huge reward for confirmation of this, as well as a reward for information leading to the arrest of persons responsible for the transfer of human genomic or proteomic information to these aliens.
WENDIGOS are rumored to be a newly-discovered species of oxygen-breathing aliens. No information about their homeworld or society is available, but rumors of "steampunk ice-age barbarian yetis" are rampant in Terran space.
MORAVECS are the only artificial life forms friendly to Terrans. They resemble the advanced robots described by Terran AI pioneer Hans Moravec. The "typical" Moravec masses approximately 100kg, made of a network of advanced micro-electrical-mechanical sub-units, which function as a dispersed brain, sensory, and manipulatory system. These sub-units can rearrange themselves in seconds, and usually form a fractally-branching network for maximum control and resolution. A properly-configured Moravec can read and write directly to magnetic, optical, and holographic data storage media without a computer or drive. Other Moravec abilities include surviving in an amazing variety of different environments, enabling them to deal with all other known races "face to face". Other than this, little is known of these living machines. They have never been known to eat, breathe, sleep or age. Their power requirements, life span, native language and social-political systems are completely unknown.
Moravecs don't trade with other species, but they do provide trade facilities throughout the known galaxy, in return for a small share of profits. Moravec trading stations are considered neutral territory. No violence is tolerated, and the Moravecs have the technology to enforce this prohibition. They also provide transportation service between trading stations across the galaxy. The Moravecs' transit drive is faster than any other known technology, and for a price, they'll send a visiting ship to any other Moravec station. According to rumor, Moravecs provide one other service -- terraforming -- on a credit basis. These rumors have yet to be confirmed, but if they were, could humanity afford to pay the price? Could they offered not to? In any event, Interstellar Operations offers a sizable reward for reliable information to confirm or deny these rumors.
VENOMS (singular: Venom) are among the smallest sentient creatures known, and the most dangerous. Their name is derivative of V.N.M.'s, or von Neumann Machines, which is exactly what they are. Exact descriptions vary, but the only verified sighting of a Venom to date resembled a 3cm metallic silverfish. No other details are available, as few have spotted a Venom and survived to speak of it. On the single occasion that a Venom was captured intact, it released "deconstructor" nano-machines which destroyed the Venom and its captors. Venoms have been known to use a variety of other nanotech weapons, including invasive non-lethal nano-devices capable of affecting the nervous systems of their victims. There have been rumors of entire colonies of humans and other sentients, even Titans, under the influence of Venom control systems.
Countermeasures against Venoms are one of the top priorities of all interstellar societies. Protective nano-scrubbers, high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance scanners, and electromagnetic pulse technology are the absolute minimum required. Vessels and facilities which don't meet these standards are prohibited from all Terran operations areas, and subject to precautionary deconstruction.
The goals of different swarms of Venoms vary greatly, from simply propagating their own kind, to the extinction of all other species. As countermeasures against their effects continue to improve, Venoms are forced to attempt more subtle and insidious methods. For an artificial form of sentience, Venoms have demonstrated amazing creativity.
BERSERKERS are named for the malevolent moon-sized killing machines from the novels by Saberhagen. Their existence has not been confirmed, but inferred from the destruction of Terra by a relativistic antimatter strike originating in Arcturus, a system in which three previous expeditions had vanished without a trace. An electronic recon mission detected a fragmented transmission from the third and last expedition, after which the Arcturus system was declared off-limits by Interstellar Operations. This makes Arcturus the 12th giant star interdicted by TIO. This is consistent with a trend in TIO interdictions, in which giant stars are statistically more common than they are in nature. Operations officially denies that this is anything other than a "statistical anomaly".
Other sentient species, even the advanced Moravecs, also shun giant stars, and claim no knowledge of their inhabitants. The Fluorians have actively lobbied humanity to avoid Arcturus, to no avail. Interestingly, TIO has issued no requests, nor offered any reward for new information about this mystery. "Berserkers" are only a rumor at this point, but there is no question that something makes giant star systems extraordinarily dangerous.
KEEPERS are perhaps the greatest mystery in the galaxy. They exist only in the coldest places, being composed primarily of superfluid helium II. The only habitats cold enough for the Keepers are the dark sides of tide-locked airless worlds orbiting red dwarf stars. Fortunately for the Keepers, these stars are among the most common, and the Keepers may be found all over the galaxy. For this reason, Keepers were the first aliens to be met by Terran explorers. At first, the Terrans didn't believe these strange creatures were intelligent, or even that they were truly "alive". But the Keepers at Proxima had been waiting for the visiting Terrans, and they were experts at contacting new species. They offered the Terrans access to the most extensive storehouse of knowledge in the galaxy, for a price. The rest is history.
The Terrans learned that Keepers deal in information, and take payment in various forms of unusual substances; antimatter, neutronium, quantum singularities, and magnetic monopoles. The latter are the most common currency the Keepers use in exchanges with all species, resulting in a galaxy-wide "monopole economy", in which the Terrans soon became active participants. The Keepers extended a line of credit, and sold the Terrans the technology for the FTL transit drive. The old Terran Regime immediately declared that unauthorized contact with the Keepers was forbidden. The Terran sphere of influence expanded rapidly, but the Terrans found that every species they met already knew about them, thanks to the Keepers' information dealing network.
In the century since meeting the Keepers, Terrans have purchased vast amounts of information from the Keepers, but have learned almost nothing about the Keepers themselves. Their biology is a complete mystery, they appear to use no technology, and have never been known to travel. This is possibly the greatest mystery of all -- the Keepers have no starships, or other means of transport, and no apparent desire to go anywhere, yet they are more widely distributed and more numerous than any other known species. Analysis of information sales known to have taken place in different systems seems to indicate that the Keepers might have a means of FTL, or possibly instantaneous, communications. If this could be confirmed, the Keepers might be willing to sell their communication service, but it's hard to say if humanity could afford the price tag.
The ban on contact with the Keepers has proven impossible to enforce, and various groups of Terrans have acquired strange new technologies from Keepers in far-flung unexplored systems. At first, the Keepers refused to deal with anyone but the Terran Regime, due to the outstanding balance on humanity's credit line. Some misguided Terrans attempted to extort information from the Keepers, lulled into overconfidence by the Keepers' apparent lack of any means to defend themselves. The price of all information changed immediately -- the Keepers demanded the guilty parties as payment, or they would embargo all of humanity. They were delivered to the Keepers, and never seen again. The embargo was simultaneously lifted in every known Keeper system -- more evidence for FTL communications.
At present, several groups are negotiating to purchase the identity of those who destroyed Terra. So far, the Keepers simply insist that humanity cannot afford to pay for this information, and refuse to open another credit line until "the situation has stabilized".
Return to Terracide