Into the Void — Non-Human Races

The Empire is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of sentient species. Humans are adaptable, and have spread over this part of the Galaxy, but they are far from alone. This page is a work in progress, growing as the campaign grows.

Glucks
Of all alien races encountered thus far since the spread of humankind from its homeworld, none have proven as socially and psychologically compatible with humans as the Glucks.Glucks are about human sized, but there the physical similarities end. Their main body is a fleshy sphere, with 6 arms/legs spread evenly around the body. Each appendage ends in a 6 fingered hand — 4 fingers – 2 opposable thumbs. Their skin is thick, an varies widely in color between individuals.  Glucks tend to move like a rolling ball – landing on one or two “feet” as they turn over and over. It’s hard to say if they have an up or down. They can speak Galactic Common, but have no visible mouths. They seem to emit speech by vibrating.Glucks breath a standard atmosphere, but have a greater tolerance for tainted air than humans. They have eye around the middle of their main body spheres, and hearing and olfactory organs are located on back of their hands, from which they breath. It’s hard to sneak up on a Gluck. Gluck characters can join any service. They do all the things humans do. They relate to humans well. Glucks have their own vacc suits, etc. They discovered Jump Drive on their own.

The Protectors
Apparently created by the Precursors, and charged to guard the Heart of the Gods (small confined singularity power source), the Protectors are human-sized insectoid beings resembling a cross between a big preying mantis and a grasshopper. Their upper bodies have two manipulative limbs, and they have 6 “walking legs”.  The Protectors can breath the tainted, thin air of their homeworld, but would not do well in a standard environment. They are highly intelligent, but depend on technology left by the “Ancients” to defend the Heart of the Gods. There are about 2000 of them. Their habitat contains a molecular 3-d printer, powered by the Heart of the Gods, which created new devices in times of need.The world of the Protectors is a small (size 3) rocky world in the inner part of a solar system two parsecs into the void from Mylor. It is a war-blasted planet with no obvious liquids. (see Precursor world 1-B in the Star System Encyclopedia (coming soon). It’s not clear why the Ancients would have created a guardian race for what was probably a fairly common power source.The world of the Protectors turned out to be a Precursor prison planet, designed to house the disembodied mind of a political dissident. The players relocated the Protectors to Zal’s World prior to destroying the prison planet (see Session 5). The Protectors now consider themselves the guardians of the Little Reds, commanded to do so by the “Ancient God”.

Crustaceans
Originating from world in the frontier, Crustaceans are beings resembling bipedal crabs, slightly larger than humans. they have big claws. They are intelligent, big, strong, and totally at home on land or in water. While not great with technology, their size, strength, and speed make them great soldiers. They use weapons designed to take advantage of their natural armor and physical structure. Crustaceans require translators to communicate, as they cannot produce humanoid speech.Glee-CheenThese beings are usually referred to as “serpent-people”.  The Glee-Cheen are an advanced and ancient race from the inner reaches of the Empire. They discovered Jump Drive independently. Their upper bodies are humanoid in structure, sitting atop 10′ snake-like bodies. They can move very swiftly. Most Glee-Cheen do not stray too far from their homeworld, and most are peaceful and intellectual. Those who aren’t peaceful and intellectual, however, tend toward the extreme opposite end of those spectrums. Most speak their own language and galactic common.

Little Reds
Small humanoids, about 4′ tall, with bright red skin. Extremely peaceful, as they live on a moon in which cooperative behavior became the big selective advantage in the evolutionary process. They live on Zal’s World, discovered 2 parsecs into the Void — a moon of a gas giant.  Little Reds are easy targets for aggressive offworlders, as they always assume friendship. They are now guarded by the Protectors, relocated to Zal’s World after the destruction of the Precursor prison planet.

Void Bugs
Little is known of this species. Discovered by top secret exploratory mission in the Void, the Void Bugs are large (3x man size) vaguely insectoid creatures, resembling huge, slimy cockroaches with many legs and tentacle-like appendages. Parasitic in nature, they are able to physically attach other living creatures to their bodies and take over their nervous systems, becoming a symbiont (the bug is in control). Based on research done at lab on Planet Trillos, and the docking of a Void Bug with a mildly telepathic human, it appears the bugs may be able to boost an organism’s natural Psi strength. It is not known what their natural intelligence is. They seem compelled by instinct to seek out other creatures to “dock” with. They are aggressive.