Convergence Brute

The Convergence Brute is an engineered subspecies of Grey designed for heavy labor. Their genetic makeup shares considerable overlap with Cielioid Boxers, though any direct relation is, at this point, impossible to establish. Study of the Brute genome has consistently pointed to the likelihood that they originated in the Convergence. One distinct upgrade the Brute has over the boxer is the presence of multiple enlarged nostrils to facilitate rapid air intake during acts of extreme exertion. Brutes are rare in Grey clades outside the Convergence, but not entirely unheard of.

Standing at a towering 4 meters tall, the Brute is powerful enough to push over a tree or pick up and carry a cow.

Convergence Node

Convergence Nodes are genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced life-forms, developed by the greys that formed the Convergence. Convergence Nodes form the communication backbone of the Convergence hive-mind. Each node has a group of connected greys and other organisms that it oversees, and any Convergence ship larger than a short-range scout contains at least one node for coordination.

Convergence Nodes were engineered to solve the problem of long-distance communication, and their massive brains contain specialized organs that can send and receive spatial compression radio signals which they use to network with one another over astronomical distances. Convergence Nodes are little more than massive brains, though they do have a full grey body attached to the brain. The body is largely vestigial, as all the Node’s biological functions are handled through attached biomechanical systems.

Occasionally, (usually related to accident or violence) a Node dies without handing off its connected entities to another. In those cases the attached organisms are, at least temporarily, separated from the Convergence. If the separated organisms remain isolated from the Convergence long enough (which can happen naturally or through deliberate intervention), the attached organisms become a distinct hive-mind of their own with a unique personality. Typically, though, a transition to a new node happens in a planned and efficient manner, and all remain connected to the Convergence.

Ball Dogs

Ball dogs designed with ArtBreeder

Ball Dogs ( Originally BallDogz TM from BioPetz,inc, though most are imitation products ), are a genetically engineered subspecies of canine designed as pets, similar to lap dogs. The main difference from natural dogs is that ball dogs have only vestigial legs, that only serve to keep them from rolling over. This “feature” made it more convenient for owners to manage these pathetic beings, making them suitable only for life as a sheltered pet.

Most brand name ball dogs come with a “base” that maintains their biological functions. Typically the ball dog’s owner will place the ball dog in the base overnight for “charging”, and remove them during the day when they often are carried around, or set in a secure place like a purse when not being held.

The Planetary League placed Ball Dogs on the official list of “cruel organisms” shortly after their introduction in GSC 255. This designation made them illegal to poses or create inside the League.

Vorgons

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History

Vorgons evolved on New Albuquerque, (the original vorgon name for the planet has been lost to time) the lone native life-form that we would consider to be properly intelligent. Early in their prehistory, however, a large cosmic impact left their home-world largely arid, and the species which had evolved to live in a tropical, rain-forest-like habitat had to adapt to deserts and scrubland. Life was hard for the early vorgons, and as a consequence, their strength and stature diminished considerably.

New Albuquerque is a rare planet in that it exists as a habitable world in the midst of a stellar graveyard. Many of the planet’s neighbors are white dwarfs, black holes, or neutron stars. As a result, the region is constantly subject to cosmic storms, and is the site of a remarkably large number of shipwrecks. As a result, the vorgons learned, early in their history, to be scavengers and engineers, using the available cast-off materials to maximum advantage.

About 50,000 years ago, during the height of the 1,000 Years war, a fierce battle was fought on and around New Albuquerque by the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, and the forces of Troniac. The battle of the three moons left many additional scars on the planet, and saw many vorgons conscripted into the imperial army, or subjected to various genetic engineering experiments. Most of the vorgons who live beyond the confines of New Albuquerque are the descendants of the diaspora from this period. After the war, the Empire made New Albuquerque into a scrap and salvage -yard.

Later, the lost colony ship Garcia’s Hope from the newly-formed Planetary League crash-landed on New Albuquerque, giving it the name that it bears to this day. In the meantime, the descendants of the vorgon exodus were gradually spreading tenuously throughout the galaxy, often serving as engineers aboard the vessels of the Nomad Armies and Breakaway States that cut loose from the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns around the time of the 1,000 Years War.

Biology

Vorgons are carbon- and water- based life-forms, like most in this galaxy. Omnivorous in diet, they still prefer a carnivorous cuisine. In desert environs, though, they will eat basically whatever presents itself. They have two biological sexes, of which, only females posses hair (usually black in color). Vorgons tend to be nocturnal in habit.

Names

Download: Vorgon Name Generator for Windows

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“Oh, goody! I jus’ finded this beautiful golden ring jus’ rattlin’ aroun’ out here in the junkyard. Finders keepers!”

Clockbeast

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The Clockbeast is a genetically engineered species, used to tell time in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns. The Clockbeast is normally entirely sedentary, though it can walk on occasion, if needed.

Its nervous system is engineered to move it’s bodily tentacles at specific rates in order to maintain accurate timekeeping. The dial on the beast’s upper-left represents a short unit of time roughly corresponding to seconds. The dial on the beast’s upper-right represents a medium-length unit of time, similar to minutes. The dial on the lower part of the beast’s body/thighs represents a longer unit of time, similar to an hour. Also, the three large plumes on it’s head provide a binary representation of the eight periods of the Gronnic Cycle. The numerals on the clockbeast’s dials are actually patches of differing coloration in its short, velvet-like fur.

Clockbeasts are entirely incapable of caring for their own needs, and have to be tended to by keepers. The keepers feed the beast through a secondary mouth on the side of the beast’s right leg, and carry away it’s waste (which is shed in fleshy sacs that accumulate on the side of its left leg. Keepers can also train the clockbeast to sound an alarm at a prearranged time. The beast does this by letting out a loud bellow through its primary mouth.

At birth, a clockbeast is the size of a kitten, and often starts life as a table-clock (after training is complete). They grow slowly, but never stop growing, and can live for a very long time.

In the workplace, imperial subjects will often pet or talk affectionately to their office clockbeast in an attempt to get it to speed up. This mainly happens close to lunch time or the end of the workday. If the clockbeast is well trained, this has little or no effect on its timekeeping, which is handled through unconscious reflexive processes.

Spire Trees

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Spire trees growing in the Shadowlands of Neo-Jalisco

Spire trees are tall, thin, genetically-engineered relatives of cypress trees that evolved to inhabit the low-gravity and perpetual twilight of the Shadowland Bogs on Neo-Jalisco.   The low light levels of the tree's natural environment made its needles grow black, in order to absorb all available light.

They were engineered as living security devices, designed to repel or kill intruders on the grounds of the estates of minor nobility in the star kingdoms of the Sagittarius Rim.  Spire trees are sensitive to infrared, which allows them to detect intruders.  When this happens, special growths under the branches of the tree release clouds of a potent neurotoxin.  In small doses, the toxin induces nightmarish hallucinations.  At higher doses, it kills the victim.  Spire trees are generally planted as defensive windbreaks, so if an intruder gets too close, a small dose of toxin is released.  If this does not deter the intruder, the other trees in close proximity release enough of the agent that it should kill any vertebrate unprotected by full-environmental armor.