Nalorgian Colony Beings

Inspired by an original concept by Fred Graves

Description

Nalorgian colony beings are not individual organisms, so much as the symbiotic fusion of four different species.  They stand about 1.5 Meters high, and most of the component organisms live on average about 20 years, although the combined symbiotic organism can live substantially longer as new organisms replace those that die.  Their "feet", and the ends of their "fingers" are suction-cup like organs that allow the Nalorgian to hold onto things.  Nalorgians are omnivorous.

The symbiotic nature of their anatomy gives Nalorgians the distinct trait of being modular.  If one of the constituent organisms dies, it can be replaced by another of the same gender and species.

Nalorgians are native to the planet Artanis 4, but have spread throughout the galaxy.  Nalorgians lived at a level of technological development similar to the Victorian period when they were conquered by the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  Many Nalorgians later joined with Ool-Tyr pirates, and together they formed the Nomad Armies, the fiercest and most dreaded enemies of the E1MS.

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Anatomy

The body section, and the head section of the Nalorgian are the female, and the male members, respectively, of a semi-aquatic species, and live in a mated pair until one or both die.  This species includes some different subspecies that give certain populations of Nalorgians distinct body plans.

The arm sections are from an aquatic, fish-like species, and they also live in mated pairs, which takes place through the mediation of the body section.  The left arm is always male, and the right is always female. 

The leg sections are a third, fish-like species that also live in mated pairs, joined by the body section.  The left leg is always female, and the right is always male. 

Finally, Nalorgia is a microbe that lives in special organs found in the three other species, and acts as a central nervous system, coordinating the others.

Life Cycle

The component organisms of a Nalorgian are all either aquatic, or semi-aquatic, and they start their lives in shallow ponds, like those that cover much of the surface of Artanis 4, their home-world.  These ponds are teeming with the Nalorgia microorganism that permeates the others. 

As they mature, the head and the body mate first.  Then they are joined in the water by the arms, and finally the legs join the symbiosis, and the fully formed Nalorgian stands up, and wades out of the pond. 

Adult Nalorgians spend the majority of their time on land, although they can live comfortably in the water as well.  From time to time, adult Nalorgians seek out a pond to lay the eggs of the three bodily species, and to release some of the Nalorgia.  If one of the component organisms dies, the remaining portion of the Nalorgian, (if viable), will seek out a breeding pond in order to find a new, compatible mate.

Related Life-forms

The Grand Nalaxian was a sentient complex of spawning pools that served as planetary governor, and created the Nalaxian Code.

Subspecies

The Climber is adapted to rough, mountainous terrain.

Cielioid Centaur

Subspecies Description

The “Centaur” is a Cielioid adapted just to perform manual labor.  This subspecies was first engineered during the 1,000 Years war, when industrial robots rose up against their masters.

The Centaur's form is designed to assist in the carrying of heavy loads, and to perform repetitive tasks.  Centaurs can be found in a variety of roles, but generally perform unskilled or semi-skilled labor.

Due to their higher metabolism rates, Centaurs generally live shorter lifespans than other Cielioids.  An average lifespan for a Centaur is 80 years.

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Cielioid Boxer

Subspecies Description

The boxer is a Cielioid adapted to hand to hand combat.  The Boxer cuts a towering figure, heavily muscled with hands built to inflict the maximum amount of damage, and no head or neck separate from its body.  The biggest psychological adaptations of the boxer subspecies are a propensity for aggression and respect for authority.

Most boxers find employment in law enforcement or the military.  Boxers are also in demand as enforcers among criminal organizations.  When boxers are employed outside of these fields, care is usually taken to place them under the command of a mentor/ boss who they respect, and to minimize their aggression.  Under the right circumstances, Boxers also excel in performing heavy labor, which was significant in the 1,000 Years War.

Boxers generally live shorter lives than most Cielioids, due to their high metabolisms.  A typical Boxer lives to about 50 years old.

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Cielioid Grey

Subspecies Description

Cielioid Greys are the sanitation workers in Cielioid society.  They generally work at night, and because of this have lost their photosynthetic cells, and have taken on fungal characteristics.  Also, the Ceilioid Greys have developed the ability to communicate non-verbally using radio frequencies generated by a special organ connected to their brains.  Cielioid Greys are short, have smaller reproductive organs and beaks, and take longer to fully mature compared to other Cielioids.

While Cielioid Greys are still a subspecies of Cielioid, they usually mate with other Cielioid Greys, and a faction of them have split off entirely to become a new species, the Greys.  Since Cielioid Greys work at night and have the ability to communicate directly via radio, they don't speak much.

The average lifespan of a Cielioid Grey is 80 years.

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The Cielioid Philosopher

Subspecies Description

This subspecies of Cielioid has a larger than usual brain, and typically lacks reproductive organs.  After reaching maturity, Philosophers often undergo elective surgery in order to cripple themselves in some significant way, as learning to accept limitations is seen as beneficial to the contemplative life. For this reason, it is common to see this subspecies without eyes, or legless, or without vocal apparatus, or deaf, or without arms.

Philosophers tend to command positions of high respect and authority.  Many are high-ranking bureaucrats, leaders of the Official Schools of Philosophy, priests, or advisers to the Imperial Court.

Philosophers tend to live longer lives than most Cielioids, with an average lifespan around 250 years.

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The Cielioid Poet

Subspecies Description

The Poet subspecies of Cielioid was engineered to make leaps of creativity and intuition.  As a result, they spend much of their time in a twilight state between wakefulness and sleep.  Poets typically pursue careers in the arts.  Poets have two pairs of arms, one for fine manipulation and one for heavier lifting.  Poets also have two pairs of eyes, one for close detailed work, and the other for taking in broader vistas.

Early in the history of the Empire, there lived a great engineer and inventor, known as Kroah Dashan, who was from the “poet” subspecies of Cielioid, even though poets typically pursue careers in the arts, and most engineers come from the “Brain” or “Watchmaker” subspecies.  Kroah Dashan first developed many of the advanced technologies that enabled the Empire to grow, including  a version of the Entanglement device, and an improved spatial-compression device.  As a result, the government has been trying ever since to encourage poets to pursue careers in engineering with little success.

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The Cielioid Brain

Subspecies Description

Unlike the technological culture on Earth, the use of computers for mathematics and science took a long time to take root in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  During the interim, Cielioids developed a subspecies capable of amazing feats of memory and mental calculation.  Humans frequently mistake these Cielioids for children, due to their large heads and diminutive stature.

Cielioid Brains can be found in any field of endeavor requiring intelligence, memory and reasoning ability.  They tend to have high status, directing the activities of less intelligent life-forms.

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Gorox

“Never trust an angry Gorox.” -Mohammed Barnes, imperial conscript

Description

The Gorox (the singular and plural forms of Gorox are the same) are an intelligent species from Dasa, a planet with a highly elliptical orbit.  Dasa only spends five years of its thirty year orbit in the habitable zone of its star, the rest of the time it spends beyond the frost line.  As a result, the Gorox spend most of their time hibernating.  When Gorox hibernate, they do so in underground dens, usually built underneath the houses they live in during the warm season.

Gorox are large (average height is around 2.5 meters), omnivorous mammal-like aliens.  Gorox have thick coats of fur that they shed at the end of their hibernation cycle, when their home-world starts to warm up, and gradually grow back as the warm period ends.  Gorox have somewhat shorter arms than a human of the same height, and their hands have three fingers plus a thumb, and each of their feet have four toes.

Gorox emerge from hibernation emaciated and hairless.  During their active cycle, they put on a substantial layer of fat and thick fur.

Language

The Gorox have a form of communication that is foreign to humans, based on blinking their eyes (Gorox have four eyes), in a fashion similar to semaphore.  One Gorox looks at another, and blinks/winks in a pattern that signifies meaning.  This even works in darkened environments, as most Gorox have slightly bioluminescent eyes.  This form of communication is believed to have developed significantly before spoken language in the Gorox.

Several spoken languages had developed when first contact was made with the Planetary League.  The Gorox had just begun to develop agriculture and cities, so their spoken and written languages existed only in a relatively simple state.  The only culture with a formal written language, also had the only significant city on Dasa, and was known as Sagokara.

The name "Gorox" comes from a slight modification of their name for themselves (pronounced "Gorokoso"), and Dasa is a direct transliteration of the local name for the Gorox home-world.

Reproduction and Life-cycle

The Gorox mating season (like that of the majority of life-forms on Dasa) happens shortly before hibernation begins.  The offspring gestate during hibernation in a pouch on the mother’s body.  During the pregnancy, the nervous systems of mother and child are directly connected, and the young emerge with a substantial fraction of their mother’s knowledge and memories.  Gorox spend one warm season as juveniles, gaining practical experience under the watchful gaze of their elders, but after their first hibernation are considered full adults. The lifespan of the Gorox is long by human standards.  A healthy Gorox can live more than 1,000 years.

Generally, when death (like birth) comes for the Gorox, it happens during hibernation.  Consequently, they have a deeply mystical view of this aspect of their lives.  Hibernation is both the undefined beginning and the unknowable ending of existence for the Gorox.  Due to the long time-frame of their lives and slow pace of their progress through history, the Gorox home-world has only one major city.  The center of the city is the city of the dead, where the homes of the deceased lie undisturbed, and the living reside around the edge of the city because that is where the available real-estate is.  Those who die during the active season are interred in their hibernation burrows, as it is the most natural place for the dead to reside in the Gorox world-view.