Skrell
Mechanics:
Skrell have their own language that can be used by typing :k before anything you say, and can also be used over the radio. Skrell lack teeth and instead have hardened gums and this leads to them being big advocates on soft foods such as bread, or liquid foods such as soup. Due to their herbivore nature, the Skrell cannot process meat correctly. Skrell have large heads with protruding head tails and due to this they cannot wear normal hardsuit helmets but instead need to wear Skrell Hardsuits helmets (found in EVA) their head tails also make it uncomfortable to wear normal headwear such as hats so most Skrell opt out of that. However Skrell can wear normal Hardsuits due to their body being very similar to a human one. Skrell have the ability to breathe underwater due to them being amphibious. But due to lacking game mechanics this won't be tested, although it can be role played.
The Skrell have been allies with humanity longer than any other race aboard Aurora has, and as such Skrell workers are some of the most reliable and famed workers for Nanotrasen, their similarities to humans and their larger brains mean they can fill any role aboard the station.
Skrell lack articulate tongues and as such they have trouble pronouncing words in English, the words often become slurred.
Biology
Skrell have an average height that ranges from 4’5”-5’1” for males, and 4’5”-5’5” for females. Skrellian skin looks gelatinous but in fact has a second layer of a less translucent flesh under the surface,
The colour of the Skrellian skin often depends on a lot of variables, including ancestry and environment, usually those with ancestors originating from the colder places on Aliose are greens and blues though they tend to be lighter shades of the respective colours. Whereas those living in hotter places on Jargon IV(Qerrbalak), tend to have pink, yellor or orange skin.
Skrell faces are quite plain and their eyes are completely black, leaving it incredibly difficult to tell how a Skrell feels and what emotions are present. The eyes however, allow them to see much more clearly underwater, and while they do have lungs to breathe oxygen they spend most of their childhood underwater, which is the source of their amphibian nature. The hands and feet of the Skrell are very similar to that of humans except they lack nails and have strong webbing in between each finger and toe. Due to their herbivorous nature the Skrell lack any real teeth and instead have hardened gum lines for the consumption of their food. What a human might call a nose is infact just two slits in the middle of a Skrell’s face used for retrieving the smell of things. Due to the nature of their digestive system, Skrell have a hard time consuming meat. Soup and blended foodstuffs are a Skrell’s favourite, although others will suffice. It is notable that due to the semi-porous nature of Skrell skin, finely-blended nutrients can be absorbed through any part of the skin, entering into their internal fluids and being slowly broken down normally. However, most Skrell tend to use their ‘mouths’ simply to avoid offending other species.
It is theorized that the Skrell evolved from something similar to the Earth born Salamander, but the Skrell bare tentacles. These tentacles have no real muscle tissue in them and cannot be controlled, instead they hang down over a Skrell’s shoulders and tend to kee
Emotional
While many people believe the Skrell are heartless and have no emotions, it is actually quite the contrary, the Skrell convey emotions the same way humans do, through movement, tone of voice and language used. But due to Humans limited audial receptors, the many tones a Skrell can project are lost to all those who are not Skrell, and thus Skrell have a very difficult time expressing emotion to Non-Skrell, though when matched with another of their kind the other Skrell is able to almost tell what the other is thinking, just because of the multitude of vocal tones. The most common Racial slurs that are used against Skrell are, “Salamander”, ‘Squid head”, “water boy” and various other creatures that have aquatic relation. Skrell tend not to react to these insults however, not because they do not care, but because Skrell are often prideful and would prefer not to lose face with a confrontation, this kind of emotional reaction is quite common in Skrell, and they have earned a reputation for it, most Skrell would not engage in a fight or a challenge that they could not win, this has led to the Skrell military having the best victory-defeat ratio in the Galaxy. However not all Skrell are like this, it just depends on where they are raised and how.
Social
The Skrell language can be best described as a series of hums, warbles, or croaks, while they would not make sense to other species it can display a wide variety of emotion and meaning that English cannot. When learning other languages, Skrell tend to quickly assimilate grammatical structure and written form, but take much longer in learning enunciation. Their lack of teeth and articulate tongues leaves them with great difficulty in creating inflections typical of other races, while accents are completely out of the question for them. Though a mainly scientific species, Skrell have interest in other forms of culture. Artists are fairly prevelant, as well unique fighting styles from the more physical. Skrellian arts often(but not always) focus on the mind. A recent movement focuses on how the mind interacts with the world around them. It is notable that two Skrell conversing in their own language can communicate perfectly underwater.
Political
By the time Skrell had discovered interstellar travel(2016) the population was peaking at around 30,000,000,000 on Jargon IV(Qerrbalak) and as such they were looking to find other planets to sustain their growth rate, so their first expedition was to the solar system of Epsilon Ursae Minoris. And to the explorers luck they found a planet that was highly vegitated and fit the habitat margain, EUAIII, the explorers were ecstatic and boarded their ship to take the 3 year journey back to Jargon IV(Qerrbalak). But much to the explorers dismay they had noticed a giant plant life had attached itself to their bluespace drive in just the few hours they had been gone. As they tried to remove the plant it started showing signs of being sentient, and in within just a few days, it was confirmed, the Captain of the ship was called Weriu Tup, and is remembered as a hero of both the Diona and Skrell, he decided to stay on the planet, knowing he would not be able to return to his home for nine years at the quickest, but he wanted to learn more about the Dionae, the ship left but when it returned in five years, Weriu Tup was dead, killed by poisonous vegetation, but his heroism is remembered even now four hundred years after, the Diona revere him more than the Skrell do, but both Skrell and Diona children are often given the name Tup as a way to give the child strength. The Diona are the Skrell’s closest allies and the two share technology freely, many Skrell have an almost reverence for the Diona and see it as an honour to meet one. The Skrell were the first sentient race to come into contact with the humans and just under fifty years ago, the Skrellian government however does not trade with all Humans, only members of the Union of Sol and the Nanotrasen corporation, as they prefer to do business with people they consider trustworthy. Their mistrust of humanity is due to the rise of xenophobia in the Union which has caused many incidents such as the bombing of the Skrell embassy in Alpha centauri-b by the ‘Humanitarian sector’, an anti-alien human group. The Skrell also trade in minor proportions with the Tajara and Unath, the Kocasslani however have been trade embargoed for their hostility towards the Skrell. The Skrell were about two hundred years ahead, technology wise when they first encountered humans, but since sharing their technology, their research is only fifty years ahead. The Skrell seemed to skip the feudalistic political state that many of the sentient species have experienced and instead formed small councils even in early Skrell history. While some claim otherwise, the Skrell have never had a true monarchy.
Economics
While the Skrell seem less mercantile than the other races of the Milky way, they in fact consider themselves some of the best tradesmen in the galaxy, but of course this isn’t always true. Before first contact with humans the Skrell Confederation used Butya, small square pieces of silver embellished with notable Skrell on them. The ‘notable Skrell’ are Skrell who have made true contributions to the Skrellian species, among their ranks are Weriu Tup the captain of the Epsilon mission(Diona First Contact), Chulash Yue the pioneer scientist of Bluespace drives, Rinoi Laush the brave Skrell general that defended Yuerbelak(The Largest continent on Jargon IV(Qerrbalak)) against the Eridish Regime in 1782, and many others. Following the first contact with Humans, Credits were accepted as a legitimate currency in the Skrell Confederation and in less than twenty years it was the primary currency used in Skrell space. The Skrell are most well known for their confectionery, medicines and implants. The most famous Skrell confectionery is Yewerie a sweet cake coated in a sugary icing that is laced with minute amounts of Riehsi, this being because the Skrell carry a natural partial-immunity to the mushroom and just see it as a flavouring rather than a recreational drug, this cake has been banned from numerous worlds in the Union and Sol, and is more openly accepted on the frontier worlds due to the lack of true law. Skrell medicines and implants are some of the most expensive and sought after pieces of medical technology in the civilised galaxy the human suited implants include: Regeneration implants that force the cells of a human body to overclock regenerate at incredible speed rates, these implants are priced at just 40,000 Union of Sol credits, although many side effects have been uncovered including impotence and internal bleeding due to cells overcompensating and regenerating internal organs that aren’t needed. Adrenal implants that trigger when the user wishes, giving increased strength and physical ability to the user, these implants have been abused in the past causing brain hemorrhages and cardiac arrests these implants are only priced at 2,500 credits and can be purchased and implanted at many clinics in Union of Sol space. The Skrell have been highly sexualised in Human culture due to strange sexual fetishes, this has led to many Skrell, male and female, turning to small roles in Human erotic movies and posters. The most successful part of the Skrell sex industry is ‘wetskrell.net’ WetSkrell.nt is neither as perverse or indecent as one would seem, and simply depicts Skrell of various ages and colours in sexually suggestive positions. The Skrell’s lax attitude towards sexuality and the lack of sexual organs has led to many Skrell agreeing to such a deal, both male and female,without hesitation.
Religion
The Skrell religions are too vast and numerous to name them all, but the most notable are-
Altariser
The Altariser are the most prominent religious faction in Skrell space due to the less mystic views that they have. The Altariser religion is considered a way to better oneself as their main goal is to reach a higher state of being where they can learn the secrets of the universe. They believe the way to reach this state is through physical and mental improvement, humans have compared the religion to Buddhism but the religion is far more selfish than the ancient oriental religion that it’s compared to. The Altariser makes up for 47% of all of Skrell and even has been taken up by the other sentient races. Many people have theorised that the religion was invented to push Skrell to be the best, or give them comfort near death. The argument to this is that just because we don’t see the Skrell ‘evolve’ doesn’t mean they don’t, the people that argue this point also state that it is possible that there are certain rules for an evolved one, such as no sharing the knowledge and power with lesser beings, although again this is all theory as no scientist from any race has been able to prove or disprove this religion. This religion has been around since Skrell history was recorded and as such is considered one of the oldest religions in the known Galaxy.
Dienabi
The Dienabi are best described as Diona worshippers, their religion bases itself around the idea that the Diona are gods, every last one of them and that all the good fortune the Skrell have had since discovering them has come as a reward for the Skrell treatment of the Dionae. The religion teaches that Weiru Tup, the Captain of the famous Epsilon mission did not infact die due to poisonous vegetation but instead was transformed into a mystical Diona as a reward for his kindness to the strange species and he is often referred to as the first Dienabi(In the Skrell language Dienabi means ‘Tree child’) and is revered as the savior of the Skrell species. The only beings that the Dienabi revere more than Weiru Tup are the Dionae themselves, the members of the religion are often fanatic about their protection of the species and it is not too much of a stretch that they would die for the ones they consider gods, hoping that in turn they will be granted a place of immortality beside them as The First Dienabi was. This religion is one of the youngest Skrell religions and has only been around for about three centuries it only encompasses a minor amount of Skrell 6% in total.
Eloish
Eloish is the most controversial of religions in Skrellian space and by many Skrell it is considered a black stain on the Skrell history and is often used to wound many proud Skrell. The religion was first founded by it’s namesake Elois Guf a general in the Qerrballak Yuer(A proud country that followed the lead of one man ,Yuer Iu,) Army and is considered one of the greatest warriors to ever walk the Skrell homeworld. Elois Guf was a powerful general and due to the Qerrballak Yuer’s war with the Skrellian Tumpat(The Tumpat was a coalition of independent city states that formed due to increasing tension from Yuer), Elois was leading many attacks on the independent city states which was quite common for him as he had a reputation as a very blood thirsty man, but all the killing changed him and led to him seeing himself as a god, mainly due to the men following him seeing him as such. After twenty years of bloody war the Yuer decided to sign a treaty with the Tumpat which enraged Elois, he had fought and bled for his people and he felt like they had in turn betrayed him, he considered the Yuer a coward and declared a one man war against both the Tumpat and the Yuer. It wasn’t long before his one man raids and battles inspired men to join him and before long he had thousands behind him, he started taking villages, both Tumpat and Yuer. And recruited their people into his army, he made it a point to have his soldiers burn anyone that didn’t see him as their true god and so, many millions of Skrell died. After four years Elois was finally closing into the Yuer capital, Warufsh, and planned to take it, he had the manpower and the drive. But as the battle commenced unexpectedly the Tumpat had sent aid in the way of General Rinoi Laush, he commanded fifty thousand men into battle against Elois and it is said that General Laush was forced to fight Elois with an energy axe, removing his head from his body. Today all that remains of this religion are remnants and it is a religion mainly followed by old warriors and descendants of Elois’ troops.
Geography
The Majority of the planets in Skrell space have been terraformed to suit their nature, the typical planets are covered in swamps and jungles and occasionally large bodies of water. Though on planets where this kind of extreme terraformation is not possible, the Skrell construct large bio-domes and habitat structures.
Architecture
Skrell cities are often considered less ornate than human ones, usually consisting of tall white skyscrapers that stand from the swamps, although it should be said that these buildings are usually covered in moss and other vegetation due to their building enviroments, the Skrell have never enjoyed living underground and as such there is a distinct lack of underground buildings when Skrell outposts are concerned. The Skrell are famous for their underwater cities, that can span huge areas under water and that are majorly constructed from glass, the secret to these cities however is not super strong glass but instead, immensely powerful shields that are powered by multiple super matter engines somewhere inside the city. The largest underwater city constructed by the Skrell is on Laush V(Laush is the second closest star system to the Skrellian home system Jargon) the city on Laush V known only as Eriuyish has an area of 17822 miles and requires seven super matter engines to power the 420 shield emitters located around the city.
Military
The most common misconception about the Skrell Confederation is that their military is almost non-existent, however the opposite is true. While The Skrell Confederation Navy is only two thirds the size of the Union of Sol's, the Skrell's incredible technological advances mean their military is the most effective in the known galaxy. See; "Combat technology" for information.