Lärkians are an intelligent species descended from deer-like ancestors. From the outside, it appeared that their home star was gradually dimming over time for unknown reasons. When scouts from the Planetary League arrived to investigate they discovered a burgeoning swarm of space habitats built by the Lärkians. The Lärkians didn’t have expansionist tendencies, but their population exploded after they exterminated all the large predators on their home-world. Running out of room and resources, they began to build space colonies to stave off famine.
A female Lärkian.
Biology
Lärkians are naturally shy and timid, owing to their history as a prey-species for large predators. However they did adapt to become omnivorous in the swampy biomes of their ancestral home. Hunting and gathering was their main means of sustenance, and most of their space habitats are filled with carefully tended ecosystems, and only sparsely populated.
Lärkians have their eyes at the end of stalks growing out of the sides of their heads. This gives them the advantage of 360° vision. Females have short horns on their heads while males grow large antlers. Lärkian skin is covered with short, velvety fur, usually brown in color.
Most Lärkians are female, with only one male per 50 on average. The few males are kept in the clan-houses that form the basic unit of Lärkian society.
Society
Lärkian society is based around clan houses of about 30-60, mostly unrelated females, and their children with a single male whose main role in life is reproduction. Each house has a name, and a ranking (at least compared to its nearest neighbors) rankings are based on reputation, the productivity and skill of its working members, and a complex series of alliances and deals. There are several large house-ranking bodies (and many more small, local ones), and every clan-house belongs to at least one.
On reaching maturity, most female Lärkians will leave their clan-house and join a new house. A few will take up single life, independent of the houses, but this is a fairly rare event. When the population grows to a certain size such that the existing clan-houses are at capacity, a group of females from allied houses will form a new “maiden house”. When a new male Lärkian is born, he will join an existing maiden house, and upon his reaching maturity, the maiden house will become a regular clan house.
When a male dies, his clan house becomes a “widow house”. If the house has a good reputation and many allies, a rite of purification will be performed and the house will become a maiden house again. If the house has a bad reputation or few allies, it will be disbanded and the former members will either join new houses or live independently.
Males have no personal wealth or political power in this arrangement, but are often publicly displayed by their clan-houses as a status symbol. Sometimes, the clan-houses even have competitions over who can groom and dress their house-husbands in the most impressive fashion. Males are forbidden from having productive jobs, but most do have at least some hobbies.
Male Lärkians are relatively rare.
After the arrival of the Planetary League, the majority of Lärkian clan houses voted to join the League, with the promise of mutual defense, as safety in numbers is an idea strongly ingrained in the Lärkian psyche. The rest of the clan-houses carried on as independent entities, with little conflict, as the Lärkians are one of the more peaceful intelligent species.
