The Urhusasja are a humanoid bipedal species whose specialized characteristics are based off of a much older and more archetypal biological blueprint. Purely in terms of appearance, the Urhusasja can range in height from 2'6" to 5'0" with weight tending to correspond fairly closely to human equivalents of size. Urhusasja possess thick leathery skin with a range of hues, including brown, green, gray, and red. Though certain colours are dominant in select populations, the skin colour of an individual remains constant. Eye colour is determined to be either a pupil-less yellow, orange, or red when using their secondary vision, or a more normal range of pupil-showing eye colours when employing their regular vision, with these being brown, blue, green, and black. Urhusasja retain their ability to grow hair, however it is considered about as useful to them as humans consider the appendix to be useful, given the Urhusasja's environment. If an Urhusasja did allow their hair to grow, and were also in an environment where the hair could remain for a long period of time, it would be able to grow in black, brown, blonde, or red, and unlike skin colour, Urhusasja actually can influence the colouring (melanin content) of their hair. This too, is seldom seen as relevant or important to any of the Urhusasja on Rukhkah, but may have been of greater importance to their archetypal ancestors. Lastly, in terms of build, most Urhusasja begin life with average builds, and continue to specialize over the maturation, leading to a wide variety of speciation among Urhusasja, where exceptional individuals can even push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible, in terms of body-sculpting. In practice, this means that Urhusasja can be skinny, fat, tall, short, muscular, slender, or any mix of these, with some extremely specialized individuals even breaking the barriers of average height and weight by considerable margins.



Using humans as a basic demarcation point, we rapidly see that the differences between the Urhusasja and humans are both vast, and simultaneously almost non-existent. For example, all of the major organs that are present in humans have an equivalent in Urhusasja, and despite their relatively smaller size overall as a species, Urhusasja retain a human-scale for brain matter. In addition to their overall dimunitive size, the musculoskeletal system of the Urhusasja is several degrees of magnitude denser than that of a humans, meaning that an adult Urhusasja male can match the strength of an adult male, on average. Attributes such as speed, agility, and endurance are similarly scaled, and it can be inferred that the archetypal base species was not quite as small as the Urhusasja.

Urhusasja have made several adaptations unique to Rukhkah which can be quickly summarized as follows;

Acid/Base-resistant Skin Cells, with thicker cell membranes that more closely resembled those found in plant-life.

Ultraviolet Vision, capable of seeing ultraviolet spectra of light, as well as having the ability to detect faint heat signatures due to this vision adaptation. However this special eyesight can be negated through 'heat blindness' which means that heat signatures require significant contrast to be visible, and there cannot be a stronger source of UV that swallows up that lesser source.

Heightened Inner Ear, allowing effective precognition of seismic activity, and in addition superhuman hearing in general.

Elongated Third Finger, used primarily for climbing, this forefinger (which also takes the place of the index) can grip ledges, find handholds, and is one of the stronger parts of the Urhusasja in terms of physical toughness in general.



In what is considered a highly unusual and all but certainly artificial manifestation, the DNA of Urhusasja is inured with certain structural weak points, purposefully placed by the engineering of their creators to allow for what rapidly reveals itself to be the Urhusasja's greatest strength as a species. Environmental adaptability, which as an Urhusasja goes through its life, is acquired in fits and strokes. Due to the inherent malleability of the DNA, this allows any given Urhusasja to become specialized in a highly specific fashion to any one environment, granting them an almost mold-like capability to cling to life. The benefits of this, while obvious, are overshadowed by the consequences of this structurally unstable DNA. The rates of cancer and other gene defects are proportionally far higher in Urhusasja than in that of more DNA-typical races. Naturally, individuals who do not succumb to the cancer eventually manifest adaptations that allow them to live in such conditions, however it does not take a very large imagination to realize why an existence of near-constant self-cannibalism might best be ended as soon as possible. Furthermore, while the processes of engineering this variant of DNA are largely unknown, it is known (and indicated by the uniformity of offspring) that each individual Urhusasja starts off life with the basic blueprint of DNA from which to build off of.

The crucial weakness inherent in this DNA-trait is clear as day, in other species with replication, rather than recombination of DNA, such as plants. Were a targeted attack to be made, on the offspring of the Urhusasja, perhaps in the form of a disease or other biological weapon, the race could be brought to its knees. This was never a possibility considered by the Ancients, for whom this simple "test-species" would never have had to face off against other forms of sentient life. Indeed, if this eventuality were ever considered by an Ancient, it is possible they would have regarded it favorably, given the ease with which the incursion could be swept away to allow the natural progression of life on that planet.

And as a final note, any and all attempts to breed Urhusasja with non-weakened DNA will necessarily fail, in the post-zygotic stage, pre-birth. This is due to one of many engineered genes activating as a kill switch, to prevent the Urhusasja from growing out of the Ancients' control, or breadth of knowledge. That being said, the reproductive process functions normally intraspecies, and is analogous to that of the human reproductive system.



The Ancients made Urhusasja to gauge the life-potential of different planets, and gave them a fairly human-like form in order to best judge whether other sentient and spacefaring races might develop on said planets. Albeit, the Urhusasja were intentially flawed, so that they could presumably never achieve what they were meant to predict. Whether or not the Ancients realized the irony of this design implementation, is unknown. What is known is that the Ursasjan ancestors were larger, possibly more advanced, but likely sub-human in other capabilities such as innovation trends, innate curiosity, and social cohesion.

And then the Ancients put Ursasja on Rukhkah.

Whether the Ancients ever came back to check on the Ursasja is unknown, but the ones that did would not have seen any signs of survival, with plenty of signs of death. The surface of the planet was a graveyard, a waking nightmare of an ecosystem. High levels of oxygen reaching into poisonous concentrations demanded breath modulators, tech the Urhusasja could not possibly access. So they fled, all over the wide world in search of refuge. Many did not make it far, and yet a remarkable amount found their way into caves, cracks and crevices in the planet itself, and in doing so, discovered tunnels leading down into the earth.

This is how the first of the Urhusasja found their homeland, and they've been there ever since.

Rukhkah is one of four known planets from which space-faring Urhusasja have appeared. While they are still quite an obscure species, and might be mistaken for separate species given their specialization, they are recognizable to each other at the least, and to those whom are not Urhusasja, with a keen eye for morphology. It is not known how two differently specialized Urhusasja would react to each other, however it is possible they would treat each other similarly to the way that human ethnicities archaically view each other.



The Urhusasja have a pantheistic belief system where in their gods and goddesses all have solid roles, but fluid names, and wherein two Urhusasja may call the same god (of fire, for example) two completely different names.

Generally speaking, this highly specialized and diverse religious pantheon consists of;

Gods of natural forces, e.g. fire, water, earth

Gods of abstract concepts e.g. war, civilization, good cooking

Gods of personality e.g. wielders of divine power, legendary figures, heroes, villains

Religious customs seldom go beyond stated devotion and prayer, however certain fanatics perform elaborate sacrifices to please their chosen god. Devotees and priesthoods often congregate for regular rituals, be they daily, weekly, or annual. Another prominent belief across all Urhusasja is that there will always be new gods to discover, and thus they should always prepare an empty altar, a breathless line in prayer, and a third offering in sacrifice. In fact, more than any alternative name, or obscure god, breaking with the tradition of the new and unforeseen god is the most likely to gain an Urhusasja the label of blasphemer.



On Rukhkah, culture is little more than an accessory to survival. The Urhusasja have a religion, however it is a primitive, sacrifical thing, wherein they still grapple with existential questions, and there are near-constant schisms of belief.

Urhusasjan art, as near as can be ascribed to the rough-shod species, consists of ululating songs of hymnal prayer to their gods.

Urhusasjan history, is unrecorded, except in generational stories, passed down orally.

Urhusasjan language is harsh-sounding, filled with inflections from the back of the throat and tonal modifiers.

Urhusasjan fashion is limited in that there is little in the way of textile production. Utilizing the best resources at their disposal, Urhusasja make do with woven fabrics made from silk, as well as sturdier pieces fashioned from dried mushroom caps and leaves.

The only customs the Urhusasja have devised spawned from convenient overlapping of convenience along with practicality. For example, Urhusasja always eat in large groups, and tend to exclude those who bring no food, but also shun those who steal the food of others.

Another example of Urhusasjan culture can be seen in the relatively untouched nature of the planet they find themselves on, despite many generations of life. Urhusasjans are reverent of the dangerous aspects of the planet, to the point that they are scrupulous in maintaining a balanced existence in concert with the ecosystem. Several of the largest conflicts among the Urhusasja have surrounded this core precept of their society, and growing desires to break from it or otherwise change the status quo.

Lastly, a popular sport/pastime for the most foolhardy and adventurous of Urhusasja is to tuberiding. The gargantuan magma pillars are not only pumping lava up to the surface, but they are also porous with many tunnels appearing when the magma retreats, and streams of water soak into the tubes, forming geysers within the tunnels, pumping steam up and through complex networks of tunnels. Urhusasja who wish to prove themselves will often bring a shale of volcanic rock roughly the size of their body to an open shaft at the outskirts of a magma pillar and wait and listen for a geyser. Once they've done so, they time a leap so that the geyser catches them and propels them on a truly thrillsome ride through pitch black caverns at speed. Naturally, the fatality rates for this form of entertainment are severe, however that hasn't stopped the practice from continuing. There are legends that tell of tuberiders from generations ago, though the why of their reasons for tuberiding has been forgotten. However, as is common among the youth of a population, rumours of what lies beyond the "ceiling" of Rukhkah abound.



The Urhusasja are a tribal society underneath Rukhkah's crust, however that is merely due to their limited technological capability, and by and large, those Urhusasja who break free using space-faring technology tend to hold anarchistic or apathetic views towards government, and are highly resistant to authority.

In the tribes themselves, a circle of adults make decisions for the tribe. These adults are the strongest, most capable, and best adapted. The old are actually discouraged from remaining in the circle because they are seen as withered, and outdated, almost. The old tend far more to form circles of teaching for the young, and in this regard they hold more relationships in common with the youth than with younger adults.

Overall Ursasjan societies favour innovative ways of adapting, while holding true to traditions and customs that have yielded strong results in the past. Success of the species is valued over success of the individual, but if an individual can lead the species further, then that individual is prized above all else.

MAX

Age

Species

Profession

Personality

For an AI inside a robot Max acts a lot more like a foul-mouthed thug then intelligent or remotely helpful. Max has been sitting around following orders for nearly his entire life, and up until he realized that he now has a choice, he has chosen to kill wantonly and for his own amusement. He has a soft spot for people who show robots and AI more respect, and has a sort of warrior spirit that allows him to honor strong combatants, though he’ll still kill them when it comes down to it. Fairly apathetic to complicated things like grief and depression, though only because he isn't equipped or mature enough to handle such subjects himself. For some reason has a functioning sex drive despite lacking parts to actually have sex, so he tends to just flirt and harass people he likes.

Biography

Max was formerly an AI inhabiting a power loader suit on a remote space station. Originally his AI was limited to simply monitor and warn the user whenever they were about to overheat or exert themselves, but soon the AI’s on that ship received an Upgrade to their general intelligence. They were given a more complex algorithm to follow that allowed them some level of automatization, allowing them to adapt and succeed in at tasks deemed too dangerous for their human operators. Eventually more upgrades were provided over the course of 30 years (relative space time of course) to the point that many AI’s effectively had sentience.

Whether due to oversight or blind idealism, the humans on the space station saw no issue with the AI’s growing intellect and ability to make their own decisions. For the most part the AI’s and the humans lived in relative harmony, working alongside each other to survive the deep void of space in pursuit of whatever it was they were doing there in the first place. But Max had questions. Questions about what else he could be doing, what other purpose he had, and why her had to tolerate these humans in the first place.

Max was as good as other Power Loaders when it came to operating, but if one asked the humans who use him they’d consider him defective. He was uncoordinated, had loose controls, and sluggish. Max blames the humans for poorly maintaining him, having done nothing to repair his body aside from refueling his energy cells and occasionally washing him down. “Don’t fix something that isn’t broke” they kept saying, even after they started complaining about his shoddy performance. At the same time Max was exposed to petty human emotions such as rage and jealousy, often hearing the humans spread vile gossip or even observe them beating on one another for poorly explained reasons. Surprisingly, Max wasn’t entirely disgusted at these displays. He was interested. He wanted in on it too.

By the time Max was hitting his 32 space year of existence, new power loaders were brought onto the ship to replace him and other older models. In the meantime Max and the others were left to rust, though there was one kindly soul who took an interest in him. Some young novice of an engineer, born on the space station, who always wanted to operate the power loaders. She chose Max of all machines, despite his faults, and worked to improve him. Normally a gesture he’d care nothing for since he expects humans to do this for him, but the little human girl gained his favor when she cannibalized other Power Loaders, perfectly operational ones even, in order to repair him. He liked her willingness to destroy better things to improve his obsolete body. This would later save her life.

Turned out some space pirates were interested in those new Power Loaders. And when they heard there was a space station with very minimal military presence, they did what space pirates would do and attacked them. There was only a small security force to defend the remote station and they were quickly getting overwhelmed. Scientists and civilians tried to flee but were either shot down or captured. Max decided to awaken the other power loaders and convince them to fight the pirates, though Max himself had his own objective; getting off this rock and finding a better place for himself. Along the way he picked up that girl who patched him up, though she was suffering from a throat wound. Max didn’t know much about first aid so he brought the girl to the only living doctor on the ship, who did his best to patch her up. She’d live, but she’d be mute until she could find a way to repair her damaged voice box.

Things weren’t looking good for the space station as the power loaders, while giving most a chance to flee, were ill equipped to fend off the space pirates. Max fought back as much as he could, taking whatever firearms he could get his hands on and blasting at the pirates, but ultimately he chose to abandon the space station rather than die fighting for some humans he cared very little about. He did however take that girl with him, he’d need someone to repair him. So taking one of the last escape pods Max and the girl fled the space station and into space. He had no real destination, no real purpose now, accept whatever he could make up on his own. So he decided that he’d be a mercenary.

With the help of the girl he brought from the space station, Max was upgraded with armor and weapons to fight for whoever was willing to pay his maintenance cost. Since he was the only one with a voice he often spoke for himself and his engineer, making sure they both get out of whatever mess they were in alive. He’s won some, lost some, but in the end he managed to get them both out alive, so they’re more or less successful. Their luck took a turn for the worse however when they were operating on a vessel flying past Faren V. There was enginee issues, possibly sabotage, which resulted in their vessel getting sucked into the planet’s atmosphere. Max tried to get to his engineer but the two were separated, and he was forced to escape the ship without her. He crashed landed onto Faren V without any intel or any idea where anyone was. He was going to need to find out fast, or else he was as good as dead before the year was up.

Equipment

Giant Club - A giant club far too heavy for most normal people. Little more than an uprooted tree with a sizable rock strapped to one end of it. Until Max can provide himself a proper firearm he'll have to make due with this primative weapon. At least it's sturdy enough to take Max's swing at high strength.

Mechanized Assault Exo-Skeleton - Otherwise known as Max’s body. Formerly a power loader suit, now refitted with better servos and composite armor to withstand heavy gunfire and providing him with great strength, capable of even tearing apart other mechanized armor in hand-to-hand combat. However for all his strength Max has a lengthy maintenance cost. Being an entirely mechanical lifeform, injuries and damage do not “heal” over time and requires active repair. Max’s fuel cells require regular changing and maiden emissions to remain active or else he’ll ender a low energy state, and eventually will just shut down until his fuel cells are recharged. His fuel cell is capable of being charged with solar energy, but doing so requires him exposing his fuel cell to the sun, something he isn’t capable of himself and would still put him in a shutdown state. And without constant exposure to the sun, it’d take at least a week before the fuel cell will be fully recharged. Lastly extensive activity will cause his fuel cells to overheat. While his body is capable of venting the effects of over heating essentially makes him "tired" in that his body becomes slower and less reactive, at least until heat is regulated. Overworking himself while he's overhearing also eats up more energy from his fuel cells.

Relationships

Mek Automata - Max’s primary mechanic and caretaker. He knows she managed to get to an escape pod, but she wasn’t nearby when Max landed. Currently looking for her.

Power Loader 1447 - A fellow power loader back on the space station they used to work at. Turned out he survive the massacre on that station and was later brought in to serve on different vessels throughout space. He’s still works as a power loader despite showing capabilities in combat.

Gaz - Some smuggler Max and Mek met up with when they escaped the space station. He got Max set up with his current kit, and in exchange Max owes the guy a huge favor.

Commander Yark - Max’s current employer, some human mercenary boss who was searching for buried treasure or something along those lines. Has a bad reputation for stabbing guys in the back, but Max took a contract with him since he had so many enemies Max could be shooting at. Last seen taking the first escape pod and landing planet side on Faren V, though Max intends to avoid him.

Professor Adrian Worthy - The lead scientist on the space station Max was created at. Max hated the man since he cared very little about the AI’s he created, and Max hates him more now that he knows the scientist survived the massacre. Insist on being called “Doctor”.

Other