The Cyrawaloc are aliens who are three separate species combined into a single sapient being. If these species were separated they would never have made a massive interstellar civilization. The heads are the Cyrs, the bodies are the Awa and the limbs are the Loka. Multiple combinations of head and limb exist, but universally a Cyrawaloc will have only a single body to separate itself from another ‘individual’. The Cyrawaloc are individualistic minded, but not in the same way as us. All the three species part of a Cyrawaloc are viewed as the same individual and aggressively so; denying that they are the same is viewed as an insult. The Cyrawaloc identify shifts as parts of itself are born and die, attaching and detaching. The death of the Awa (body), the least sapient part of a Cyrawaloc, ironically is usually viewed as the “death” of an individual even if the head and limbs survive as the body lives much longer than the head or limbs. A cyrawaloc can have a single limb, five limbs, two heads and so forth. The limit is usually two heads and five limbs, anymore and “mental disorders” happen like insanity, plain and simple insanity. Not to mention it risks encumbering the Awa.

The Cyrawaloc as a kind are three species in total, each of which unique. 

The Cyrs are symbiotic beings who directly control the Awas to better pastures in nature, living off the Awas in exchange for giving the Awas a better prospect at survival overall. The Loka came later, but were instrumental in the drive towards sapience and technological advancement as the Loka's mandibles are remarkably hand-like.

With the Loka, the combined symbiotic beings known as the Cyrawaloc managed to develop fire and new ways to defend the Awas from would be predators while simultaneously increasing food yields for each of the three species. 

The Cyrs is smart, directing the other two species and putting much of its thought process to more systemic planning and partial communication- however the more sociable Loka tend to like talking more than the Awas.  The Cyrs communicate in a series of weird, jittery hums while the Loka communicate in a more guttural fashion.  The Cyrs is quite big as far as symbionts go, having developed a co-dependant relationship with the Awas evolutionary to the point where their larval formed have specialized towards entrenching themselves into the Awas from a very young age. The advent of technology has complicated things, for you started getting the ability to use machinery in place of the typical co-dependancy that had defined their existence for numerous millennia and this fact has led to a highly, highly reactionary mindset among multiple Cyrawaloc sub-groups.

The Awas is a large, tetrapodal herbivore which exist in a phyla separate from the Cyrs or Loka, but benefit from their symbiotic overlords greatly.  The Cyrs tend to possess a alpha male Awas, who then leads the other female Awas.  Female Awas can be controlled by a Cyrs as well, but said control can be overridden by the Cyrs riding the males due to having to fight the instinctual urges of a female Awas to follow the alpha of the herd.  Awas are more or less herd animals, with a collective mode of social organization.  The Awas live long and have a reputation for their insane resilience and endurance.

The Loka are the limbs and hands of the Cyrawaloc and are of an intelligence between the Awas and Cyrs, but their ingenuity and dexterity (for their whole lifestyle is based around their handibles).  They are feisty, opportunistic beings who in nature were stalkers and ambushers.  They make use of their hand-mandible in an extremely diverse set of ways, from digging traps to making tools and ambush snatching food to eat.  They're social creatures despite their niche, aggregating in large numbers despite their strike and grab approach to things. When the Loka were primitive, you had whole regions simply infested in Loka colonies.  However, the lack of long-term mobility meant that the Loka in earlier history would be out competed by the symbiotic forms of the Cyrawaloc.  Non-combined Loka simply lack the platform the Awas gave to moving to new regions with lots of food, mates and other useful things. 

At some point the Loka who found the Awas as a useful way to get around and the Cyrs were tolerated since the Loka liked wrapping around the hump while the Cyrs just stood there on top.  The Cyrs also is just too big.  Multiple Loka tend to Co-habitate a Awas in varying relationships. The web of relationships that define even a single Cyrawaloc can be remarkably complicated, affected by the gender arrangement (is the Awas a pack alpha or a female?, Do your arms breed?, is your head shooting mating barbs?) The Loka are segmented and can stiffen/loosen their many joints as needed.  The Loka can exist independently, but without the mobility of the Awas the networks of communication that led to increasingly more complex inventions, tools, runes and ideas would likely not have come to being.

Here is the general idea of them:
-They are a three-species symbiont (which means they live off each other, but to mutual benefits)
-Their identity usually has the whole be a individual, but this is far from universal.
-There is a head species, a body species and a limb species.
-The body species are large pack herbivores with alpha males.
-The arms are ambush predators.
-The head is a co-dependant symbiont with some snail-like traits.
-The limbs are less dependent on the body and head than the head and body are to each other.
-The body lives the longest, the limbs live the shortest in terms of natural life span.
-It is best to have a infant hand or a Larval head to replace any dead parts of your body.
-Losing your arms, head or body all are much more traumatic than with say, a humanoid as it is not just a physical part of your body being lost, it is a part of who you are as a individual that is lost.
-The body may be an alpha male instead of a female, which means expect to have sex much more frequently.
-Your arms are gender egalitarian and the females lay eggs.
-The head reproduces with tiny darts, only males have those and the head produces tiny eggs that grow for a bit on the Awas before becoming a larva.
-The arms may leave to carry out bodily functions.
-Humanoids have a hard time reading your mind(s) due to the head and body's strong connectivity unless they know the psychology of a Cyrawaloc.
-We all like Needlecurry, okay? It's good food for both your body and limbs.

The Paminians are a tall and light weight species whose origins are from Paminara, a tropical archipelago world known for its biodiversity and fanciful organics. One of which being the Paminian-kind, who are a diverse sapient of all sorts of colors and shapes that all share the same species. A genetic trait that is comparable to what you see in dogs or fruit flies. The Paminians in nature were arboreal bipeds who lived off the fruits off tall trees and are incredibly proficent climbers to this day, be it in mountain habitats, cave habitats or jungle habitats. In colder environments you get fuzzy Laminians, in hotter, evironments you get "naked" Paminians who just have their scaly armor. Paminians vary in their size heavy, with some being more elongated, others being more stout with evolution just being fast for them.

When Paminara was colonized, the Paminians were treated to as a cheap labor force and from there became members of that society by default and have managed to thrive within the framework which the elite had set up, proving to be amazingly cutthroat and adaptable thanks to their dog-like genetic diversity and rapid evolution.

In general, Paminians over a few generations tend to through natural selection adapt fast to whatever world you put them on.

The general physiology to expect of Paminians is that they have a head with three large, forward facing egg-shaped eyes, three short, surved atteanae and a long, thin tongue remiscent of armadillo tongues. They have a very leathery skin of highly varied colors, with scaley texture and a stou, shot neck that connects their head to their body. The Laminians have ears, but they aren't visible due to being located in multiple small holes running along their back.

The Pamnians have a very fuzzy chilla back armor that both defends from predators and helps in child rearing by given something for the baby to climb onto. Their legs are long and structured like a bulkier version of their arms, with the difference that the leg is much more curved and that the foot tendrils and thicker than the hand tendrils. This is to the expense of being able to run and so Laminians usually have some artifical means of enhancing their movement to keep up with other b on ground. But remember, in environments where climbing is nessecary, humanoids are easily outmatched by Paminians.

Paminians reproductively rely on egg purses they latch into trees that the mother keeps defense of that hatch into their more pup forms who than go to live on the backs of their mothers until they come of age. A good insult against a Paminian is to call it a 'clinger', which is the same as calling someone a mother's boy, but can be used against both genders of Paminian. Egg fertilization is internal.

Paminians have a very strong sense of taste, with their hands and feet acting as tongues alongside the long snout tongue that they normally have. Paminians tend to have a very whirring, buzzing accents when speaking. Paminians also have attenae for sensing the shifts in winds, vibrations in branches and acting in many regards as their nose.

In short;
-You are a space monkey / armadillo thing with tongues for hands and feet
-You have a acute sense of taste, you taste everything you step on, you taste everything you touch.
-You have three eyes to look around with.
-You have atteanae to smell stuff with, and a back to hear stuff with.
-You got built-in armoring!
-You are a great climber
-And need to eat a lot of bugs & nectar.
-Your kind is fast evolving, and thus you can have all sorts of variations to go with your own paminian.

The Ambulors aren't so much of a race as they are an accounted league of varied entities; they do, however, sport the same metaphysical functions and are compatible with one another in terms of succeeding and perpetuating personalities -- mainly being multi-dimensional travelers while being fully capable of retaining multiple personalities under a single archetype. The fact that quantum tunneling seems to work by pure instinct has thusly earned them several names (free souls at times, but as far as any Ambulor would know, there is no such thing as a permanent residency in any sort of state of position and/or being), but those from civilizations of Type 3-5 (refer to Kardashev Scale) have preferred the name of Ambulors (or the rough equivalent, in any given language) because of their traveling capabilities (though it usually requires the death and/or a strong output/input of energy to activate, and only for that one archetype). Type 1 and 2 civilizations all too often disregard Ambulors as impossible existences, with many potential innovators cast out by society or killed by the all-too ignorant. Ambulors, in this respect, are more likely to be identified as repositories of information across multiple worlds and lifespans due to their immense knowledge.
The usual Ambulor clocks in at around several dozens of millenia of age, and for good reason; it takes a multitude of lifetimes to finally be able to shed the discrepancies between incarnations, and it takes longer still for the underlying archetype to establish a stable foothold across both the more and the less mundane dimensions. After this point, the mature Ambulor may wish to maintain the single archetype for an indeterminate amount of time, or at will may perform a merging process to combine personalities with another Ambulor, at which the resulting entity will become an "elder" that will most likely be unable to live as a singular mind (which in itself breeds another set of problems, like random stellar disasters, black holes, nebulae becoming supernovae, areas where time is incongruous between centimeters, etc). It takes a great deal of power and time to do so for both parties, so elders are few and far between...though their numbers may as infinite in number as the size of the galaxy, given the amount of dimensions and entities to account for.
Ambulors vary widely at any given stage of development; some may be almighty, near-unstoppable anomalies too difficult to comprehend by even by fellow elders (Cthulu makes a great example, but it's unproven as to whether or not he really is an Ambulor himself), and others (as in Lyra's case) may be vulnerable, fleshy creatures prone to death at every turn. As such, no two Ambulors should be comparable to one another except by similarity of the archetype(s) and the utter futility in trying to capture or contain a single specimen for research in cross-dimensional physics or magic.
In short, they are an existence best left acknowledged and borrowed, but never truly manipulated or studied.

Neural simulations are, for all intents and purposes, individuals without a biological body. Rather, their minds are simulated by an advanced computer system capable of accurately replicating the minutiae of a living brain. It should be said that unlike most biological sentients a neural simulation’s mental capacity can naturally expand over its lifetime. With a sufficiently sophisticated computer hosting it there exists no need for a neural simulation to forget any experience or skill, a reality that tends to turn the mind of most neural simulations into a sprawling mass of connections hardly recognizable as the digital reproduction of a living brain it once was. Left alone a neural simulation can grow its mental capacity without clear limit. This natural process of growth can even be undertaken artificially, though this can result in depersonalization or insanity if attempted without proper know-how or preparation.

As digital life forms capable of expanding their mental capacity neural simulations eventually, inevitably, become adept manipulators of the environment they live in. This is as true of neural simulations as it is of totally artificial intelligences. Data, code, these things are the building blocks of reality for digital lifeforms and with enough understanding they can modified and shaped in almost any manner imaginable. The majority of mature neural simulations are capable of dismantling most commercial security systems and encryptions. Rigorously designed military or corporate measures often pose a greater challenge and depending on their sophistication can prove totally intractable to even skilled neural simulations. It goes without saying that defenses designed to frustrate completely artificial intelligences are equally effective against neural simulations.

Of course, neural simulations do have an inherent disadvantage not shared by true artificial intelligences; a neural simulation is fundamentally incapable of large scale multitasking. Though an extended existence will lead to a neural simulation gaining an understanding of its virtual world and how to manipulate it, there are limits to any mind built from an organic model. If a neural simulation aims to break a sophisticated encryption it will have to commit the majority of its focus to that task. While superior to unmodified biological minds at the endeavor, neural simulations cannot perform on the level of true AI when it comes to exerting a massive digital, or even physical, presence. There is no perfect metric for defining a neural simulations innate limitation at multitasking, but in general a single neural simulation can split its focus between thirty to fifty distinct tasks. Complex undertakings understandably require greater attention, further complicating matters.

While limited in the number of actions they can perform at once, neural simulations do not lack another advantage commonly associated with proper artificial intelligence. Accelerated data processing permits neural simulations, like any digital lifeforms inhabiting systems with significant processing power, to perceive time as passing a great deal slower than may actually be the case. This is a result of two major factors: available processing power and the physical makeup of advanced computer systems. More available processing power simply allows more thought to happen in a shorter time, and advanced computer construction allows the brain thinking to physically operate at a speed greater than can be accomplished by the electrical connections between neurons in an organic brain.

In practice such a perception of time allows a neural simulation to act at what organic life might consider an accelerated rate. Things can be done faster and decisions made before slower life thinks of the question. Whole conversations can be shared before an organic is able to utter a single word. However, is important to note that while digital organisms may perceive time as slower, they are still limited by the same physical realities as all other living beings. A camera, arm, leg, or anything else can only move so fast.

There is a significant distinction to be had between a species and a hybrid, the same reason that domestic dogs can interbreed freely whilst lions and tigers will produce infertile offspring: differing numbers of chromosomes essentially produce a one-time mutant creature in the latter case, completely sterile if it is not outright stillborn, whereas in the former case, all differences are effectively cosmetic in nature. The chances of a child being produced at all only get lower the more different two creatures are, meaning that, for instance, viable offspring between humans and dragons could never usually happen, no matter what certain fantastic novels might assume.

A certain group of scientists in Frixion Prime were not necessarily deterred by this, however. They saw the power of dragonkind, and wondered what that sort of power would be like, what it could do, if merged with the upright form and flexible mind of a human being. Normally, though, the two were utterly separate, a given considering that dragons were more reptilian than mammalian; yet even with the most advanced genetic techniques available to them, what kept being produced was not viable, with their very best efforts producing just a couple of infertile hybrids with little more to recommend them than additional weaponry on their hands, stubs of bat-like wings, and somewhat enhanced magical power.

Incidentally, it was one of their displays of magical ability that clued the scientists in on a possible route toward success: using magic to better merge the two genomes into one. So they travelled to Vasishka, searching for mages who might be open to learning the secrets of biological manipulation, or better yet teaching the scientists how to do so themselves. They were ultimately successful in this endeavour, and eventually, the success bore fruit: thirty years after the project's beginnings came the birth of the first member of homo draconicis, a.k.a. Draconic Man, a.k.a. the dracomorph species.

Technically, of course, these dracomorphs were neither human nor dragon, but some entirely new subset of biology; human DNA was mostly prominent, however, and so a member of the homo genus they were considered. Of course, one glance would tell anybody how distinct they were from normal humans, for though superficially similar (albeit highly-muscled one and all), all bore inch-long claws where their fingernails ought to be, and razor-sharp teeth, and cold, calculating, sometimes oddly-coloured eyes with slightly ovoid pupils and nicitating membranes. That, and the large pair of wings emerging from their shoulderblades, scaled in varying colours depending on their lineage.

Speaking of lineage, the original goal of these scientists, to gain all the strengths of dragons and humans with none of the weaknesses, was at least partially successful, for even their most unfit members were physically powerful enough to break down concrete walls if they so pleased and take equally hard hits like they were pinpricks, and their strongest could even duel and defeat the very dragons they shared DNA with in one-on-one combat. Atop this, many of them were as strategic as their draconic originators, with patience belying their humanity; their magical capabilities provided them with the capacity to breath flame, or ice, or poison, or whatever their lineage suggested was appropriate, though their human side might not have been able to handle such things normally; and so too did it grant them the power to fly through the air borne atop their wings, though they should have been at once too small and too bulky to propel them at all.

And yet the scientists' success was limited to this. Magically speaking, the majority of dracomorphs were lacking, for despite their breath weaponry and flight capabilities, most could barely produce sparks if they tried using their power in any other way. Not that they would, since they also inherited from their draconic ancestors an uncaring, even apathetic demeanour, merged with an overly proud streak, specifically focused on what they saw as physically superior bodies that needed no assistance, be it magical or technological, to deal with whatever came their way. Testing proved that aside from especially weak-willed members of their kind- for alas, the flexibility of their more human selves was both beneficial and detrimental in different ways to different dracomorphs- it took the sort of ego breaking that would destroy most beings to make them so much as consider improving any aspect of themselves beyond pure physical ability - and even then, their genetics and physiology meant that direct augmentations to their body needed to be specific to their race, rather than simply adapted slightly from mods that would work fine with standard humans.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before many of the dracomorphs decided they disliked being kept as test subjects, and a few made a point to remind the scientists who had created them that they were, at the end of the day, their own people, with their own sentient minds... and far more strength than the scientists themselves. Unable to argue with that logic, the scientists ultimately made the choice to allow the dracomorphs to enter Vasishkan society proper, if only to protect themselves from further backlash.

That was around a century ago. Nowadays, dracomorphs are considered a small but significant part of Vasishka's culture, a perfect example of how science and magic are not mutually exclusive, as well as forming a small but significant subset of the planet's population as well as that of both Frixion Prime and Ecetopia. Though many fill similar roles to humans proper, what with sharing a somewhat similar mindset, they frequently beat out pureblood humans in roles ranging from physical labour to corporate control despite the apathy behind their psychology. Of course, they certainly aren't absolute in their superiority, and it is rare to see any dracomorph in a role that requires magic or a supportive nature.

The Suntrah are a Hive species that exist in the Trystian Expanse. They are one of the primary races of the Trystian expanse, controlling over 2/3s. The Suntrah as a race do not have a primary government, instead Hive societies represent the Suntrah. A single Hive can exist of up to one planet, or several systems. The Suntrah make use of a telepathic form of communication that functions as the primary decision making tool of a Hive. Suntrah individual members do hold a degree of independent thought that allows for individual Suntrah to act beyond the scope of the race telepathic range. Most Hives do not extend their range beyond the local system, for that reason many of the Suntrah Hives can exhibit different and even conflicting ideologies. The majority of these Hives enjoy associate level status with the Federation of Planets.

A typical Suntrah resembles an Anthropoid Humanoid of around 7” high. Male are usually around 6’8” while the Female at most reach 7’4”. Suntrah exhibit a difference in colour indicating hive, gender and standing. Male or Female colourings differ in brightness, with the Female being usually of a brighter colour. They have 4 limbs and while the Suntrah may stand and walk outside of the hives, the biological function of these limbs and claws are to allow for faster travel throughout the honeycombed mines of the Hive. The claws on their hands are designed for the digging through rock and soil of the planets the Hive control. They have four eyes that see on different wave lengths, allowing them better vision, even in obscured situations. They contain a single mouth of 38 teeth designed for the processing of genetic materials.

Suntrah live within cells of the Hive, usually these cells are not large and are dug out of the planet itself. These cells are not large, but expandable when two Suntrah agree to mate. The Female will grow eggs within her that will take the genetic material provided by the Male. These eggs are then placed in a specially prepared plot of soil and earth. The parents will add minerals and nutrients to plot to grow the eggs. The incubation period will last usually 1.2 Galactic Standard Years. The Suntrah on average live to 157 years, but have been known to reach 222. A Suntrah will go through what is known as Hive Cycles. Hive Cycles start with the birth from a cocoon like structure that will take usually a full 19 hours. During this time Suntrah will dissolve their outer shell and use genetic material held with the body to change their structure, a harder or lighter density and size depending on the environment they are in. The majority of Suntrah will go through 33 Hive Cycles throughout their life span. Over 15 of these will take place in the formative years of the Suntrah.

The Suntrah do not have a central government, but within each Hive a Queen will exist. The Queen is identifiable by a second set of arms that grow from the abdomen, a much stronger exoskeleton and bright colour. The Queen will usually be the most psychic drone within the Hive at any given time. This is almost always a female and the drone will exhibit a higher psychic ability than most. The Queen will have a wide array of psychic abilities, but as the centre of the Hive telepathic field, a Queen will have to remain within a Hive for the majority of their time and lifespan. Hives can and do survive without a Queen, but most Suntrah will exhibit a state of heightened distress at the loss of their Queen.

The Ivnluge are an amphibious invertebrate species, originating from a planet mostly covered in large bodies of a liquid superficially resembling water, but somewhat different from it in chemical composition. This environment would be inhospitable, if ot outright deadly for most beings not thoroughly acclimated to it, due in particular to the tremendous concentration of anomalous bacterial life - occasionally ridden with strange viral symbionts - in both air and oceans. However, life did thrive on it, and, though it adapted so narrowly to its unusual surroundings as to severely lack in habitat versatility, it did so with admirable efficiency. Remarkably enough, the paths taken by evolution ensured that natural biodiversity remained quite limited despite the immense population growth and spread rates of most geni.

Various schools theorise that the Ivnluge's rise to sapience was enabled by them being among the few creatures capable of functioning on land as well as in the ocean, which opened countless opportunities for development. However, there were other factors that shaped them into what they are today. A rarity of predators and natural enemies meant that an Ivnluge's worst enemy usually was another Ivnluge; this led to a highly competitive mindset taking root in their instincts, strong traces of which still persist after millennia of civilisation. Many of them find the thrill of conflict, be it physical or more abstract, an almost irresistible lure, and struggles of all sorts are widely sen as invigorating and valuable experiences. Interestingly, the fact that the typical modern Ivnluge has little or no desire for personal self-betterment means that these impulses are becoming more and more purely hedonistic as times advance.

Physically, the typical Ivnluge is formed of a central spherical body, though its exact shape slightly varies as it shifts and moves around, from which there extend fully retractable limbs similar to tapering tentacles or mollusc eye stalks. Their number usually ranges from eight to twelve; anything more or less is a sign of rare genetic deformity or, in more recent times, voluntary modification. Severed or otherwise mutilated limbs will regrow over the course of a year or two, less if treated with advanced medical technology, unless the wound is cauterised. Body and limbs alike are covered with thick, rubbery skin, most often of some shade of dark blue or purple. Ivnluge do not have a developed endoskeleton, with only a rudimentary and rather fragile web-like structure, whose composition somewhat resembles chitin, to form the basic support for their bodies and contain the main circulatory vessels. It is in turn supplemented by their dense muscular and adipose mass, which likewise protects their organs from trauma.

The species' reproductive functions require the presence of several individuals who are not closely genetically related and have not mated with each other within the last years. As such, Ivnluge do not form stable families, but congregate in temporary clutches when they feel inclined to so. Incubation of the resulting eggs and education of the young, who develop comparatively rapidly, is nowadays left to specialised institutions.

Ivnluge are a fairly common sight in the Network, their homeworld having been assimilated by its predecessor and the species having seized the opportunity brought about by the new order of things to spread throughout its territories in search of profit, challenges and adventure. They are slightly more rare in places distant from its boundaries, though the difference is barely noticeable and their numbers are steadily spreading. Wherever there is opportunity, there will be the sound of tentacles sliding over the floor, leaving a viscous trail behind.

Trolls are creatures that are barely considered sentient. Most of the time they hunt and kill whatever they can to survive another day, as an animal. Some, have showed signs on intelligence and there is a chance of 1-500000 trolls that one will be born as intelligent as a human.
Their massive bodies and muscles make them perfect mobile battering rams, while their teeth are sharp and meant to crack even the hardest animal shell.
Trolls can be seen almost in every environment due their natural resistance to heat or cold. All these things are true for both normal troll and Mul'Karal Trolls.
The main difference between theses two troll types is that one is magically capable while the other is not. Even so, Mul'Karal Trolls are considered even rarer than an intelligent Troll because while some Trolls get born Mul'Karal they are not born intelligent and vice-versa meaning that in order for a Mul'Karal Troll to be considered "true", it must be both intelligent and magical capable which is very rare.

Nylfargarian Humans are in every way as a normal but their intelligence and psychic powers. Nylfargarian humans have gone extinct a few years before the UFP got to the planets that they owned due to an internal conflict between the local superpowers, the UHO (United Human Offensive) and TRD (The Robotic Dominion).
Not much is known about the conflict between the UHO and the TRD besides small texts found on data tablets or computers that were not yet destroyed by age. What is certainly known about the Nylfargarians is that they were one of the few races that mastered the AI technology (TRD) and genetics (UHO).
The few, not-yet corrupted videos showcasing the war didn't solved the mystery of the Nyfargarian's extinction as no Nyfargarian, dead or alive was found. A few theories say that the UHO and TRD destroyed each other while others say that there is one Nyfargarian alive in the galaxy and that he is responsible for the extinction of his race but nothing has been confirmed by official sources as this "person" was never found and it's merely considered a myth.

Slender arthropods with ceramic exoskeletons and a keen sense of vibration, Skippers are variously described as 'hairy-kneed crabs', 'jagged snow earwigs', 'roach wolves' and 'porcelain scorpions', in ascending order of poetic merit. Two stalked eyes sit atop complex mouthparts used for short-range visual communication (sign language), all between the forelegs. The three body segments following the head contain several pair of legs each, with an additional seven body segments forming a flexible 'tail'. All segments are spiked, all joints are furred, all limbs are clawed.

Their stark white shell retains heat, and they breathe using the chinks in their segments, 'swishing' their tails left and right when at rest. Long-range communication is conducted through ground vibrations, for which Skippers have astonishingly strong 'chest' muscles. Once obligate carnivores, they also tolerate plant food.

Skippers live communally, almost eusocially, for about six years each. Their brain and uterus intersects, and offspring (twins or triplets) are born with much of their parent's cognitive development intact, including vivid hereditary memories. Mating is hermaphroditic.