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Species name: The Skraaestaa, pronounced SKRAYS-tah
Species nickname: Lizard People, or Reptilians
Species description: The Skraaestaa resemble large, bipedal lizards with four arms. They stand taller than a human and can be anywhere from 120 to 600 pounds with no ill effects. They were ambush hunters before evolving sapience, but with their current technological state, they can get to massive sizes because of the abundance of food and medical care. Their basic body shape is similar to humans, standing on two legs connecting to a torso that leads to their shoulders, a relatively short neck, and their head.
They stand on long, muscular digitigrade legs built for sudden, powerful pounces and bursts of extreme speed. They have four toes on each foot, each with a hooked claw.
Above their legs, they have long, heavy tails that allow them to turn on a dime when running at high speeds. These tails connect to springy spines that are optimized for running. On the end of their tails, broad sails sit on either side of the last six inches. These sails are colorful, flexible, and can be used as basic nonverbal communication. They can be tucked flat against the tail to reduce drag when running.
Their arms are marvels of biology. Thanks to springier bones, flexible cartilage, and muscle tissue suited to stretch and not tear, they can extend their arms almost as far as their entire body length. This was helpful when they needed to actively hunt for their food, extending claws much farther than the rest of the body to snag prey. They have six-fingered hands on the end of each arm, with one opposable thumb on each hand.
Although they have claws capable of dealing considerable damage, their real weapons are their long, fang-like teeth. At the end of their reptilian snouts, four teeth extend below the bottoms of their jaws. These teeth can be used to slash the skin and flesh of combatants, causing massive blood loss.
The rest of their head is pretty average. Their heads resemble those of large pythons, with four eyes, two ears, and three nostrils. All of their eyes face forward, giving them exceptional binocular vision. They are also quite large and have proportionally huge pupils, granting them wonderful night vision. Their nostrils are highly sensitive, able to detect scents that are days old. Their ears are scaly and cat-like, able to be pointed and turned in almost any direction.
They also have a sensory organ that can detect levels of skllstaa or GFN-6, a chemical that has similar properties to adrenaline that is found in creatures native to Kullsterro, their planet of origin. This organ can detect similar chemicals in non-native creatures or races, but not as effectively or precisely. It is useful to determine how anxious, aggressive, or paranoid an organism is, or how much energy they have exerted.
The Skraaestaa are dark red in color, with stripes in a lighter red similar to a tiger. This color is almost exactly the same color as the native plants to Kullsterro, granting them camouflage when in the wilderness. Their stripes break up their outline, and because of their tendency to form tight pack-bonds, trying to find a single individual in a group is harder than it would seem.
Planet of origin: They are native to Kullsterro, a planet that is 1.15 times larger than Earth. Because of the sun and combination of atmospheric gases, photosynthesizing organisms native to Kullsterro are deep red. The year is 0.85 the length of Earth's. The planet has no moons.
Spread of species: The Skraaestaa have spread to two other planets. They have terraformed both planets to be suitable for life. They are currently in the process of colonizing a third. Although they only have colonized a few planets, you can find Skraaestaa in nearly every corner of the universe. Their intense wanderlust coupled with their general likability and usefulness in any job that can be trained gets them passage aboard most ships.
Species Average lifespan: They live to be about 70 on Kullsterro, which would be 80 on Earth. They are considered adults at age 7, 8 on Earth. They are elderly by age 65 and generally die before 75. The longest a Skraaestaa has ever lived is 82.
Species Traits: They stand on average 6'8", with the females of the species being marginally bigger. They can weigh anywhere between 120 and 600 pounds. Their tails can be as long as 5'6", and their arms can stretch to be anywhere up to 6'4".
Species Disadvantages: Brightness issues. The Skraaestaa are nocturnal, with large eyes and sensitive pupils. This can lead to issues if certain crewmates require lots of light, or an area is simply too bright. Prolonged exposure to even an LED lamp from Earth can permanently damage their eyes. They have developed special lenses to help deal with the brightness when dealing with others, but exceptionally bright light is usually enough to deter them from an area.
Standard Ration Pack: Packs S and D are good enough, but S is preferred.
Technological development: The Skraaestaa are slightly behind in the inter-galactic arena. They have clunkier FTL-drives than most races, and cannot colonize planets quickly or easily. Still, they keep up with the rest of the universe with terms of travel and trading. They are among the best merchants that sail the cosmic winds and liked by most races. Because of how far spread they are and how close they are as a race, you can get information from almost anywhere about almost anything simply by asking a Skraaestaa. If they don't have the information, their cousin's-sister's-brother's-uncle's-aunt's-granddaughter's-brother's-neice's-son's best friend could tell you.
Although they aren't as quick or advanced as other races, they are exceptionally good at creating non-lethal weapons. They are a very community-based race, so anything that destroys a community's members is abhorrent. They create weapons that knock out, stun, immobilize, or otherwise incapacitate foes with surprising speed. Additionally, non-lethal does not necessarily mean painless.
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