Name of Race: Yul
Race description: Yul—also known as yukanians—are a sentient species of fierce yet petite bipedal humanoids that have a strong facial resemblance to that of an Earth-native cave bat and a city-dwelling rat. They hail from Yuku-Yaren, a world slightly more massive than Earth that is known for its desert surface and its high levels of radiation.
Yukanian fur patterns range from black, to brown and to gray, though some unique patterns that blend two or more colors sometimes do surface from time to time. Yul have hands with four fingers, each being as flexible and maneuverable as those of a human's, with the nails being slightly clawed at the point.
Yul are digitigrade, walking and running upon their toes instead of on the flat sides of their pawed feet, with the nails providing additional grip during movement on rough terrain. Most yul typically have longer fur on top of the head and around the neck, which they sometimes choose to mold into a wide assortment of hairstyles that are sometimes complemented with crude jewelry made from scraps of metal or plastic.
The tail of a yukanian is generally devoid of fur, but is covered in a sheet of short hairs.
Average weight: 35lb (if present on Earth)
Average height: 3’9
Average lifespan: 40 years
Eye colors: Blue, red and green (depending on heritage)
Resistance to radiation and disease Yuku-Yaren is a radioactive wasteland that experiences a continuous flow of unusually high (and exceptionally deadly) radiation levels that make life on its surface unreasonably cruel and harsh. Its sickly state is principally owed to the rather weedy condition of its electromagnetic field and the immediacy of Yuku-Yaren to its adolescent parent star—Kul-Eh— of which has recently seen a dramatic spike in the frequency at which solar flares are produced. Although it wrought ruin upon the yul homeworld on an unmatched scale, the consequential effects of the Primacy War and the intense use of atomic weaponry during its brief duration have contributed relatively little to Yuku-
Yaren’s decrepit state (at least in terms of harm done to its environment, as the indigenous fauna and flora remained moderately unaffected by the radioactivity generated by the bombs themselves thanks to their own adaptations and biological-based methods of dealing with high radiation levels).
Regardless, the yul have long since adapted to their homeworld’s inhospitable conditions, with their species possessing the capacity to endure roughly 1,000 Greys worth of radiation before the yukanian form begins to yield to the devastating effects of radiation sickness.
Much of this radioresistance is indebted to the sheer sophisticated workings of the yul immune system, which has evolved to undergo a biomechanically-induced form of immunotherapy that allows it to dynamically study, adapt to and finally destroy invading bacteria, viruses and cancerous cells with alarming efficiency and speed. When sufficiently high levels of environmental radioactivity are detected, a hormone is hurriedly dispatched throughout the confines of the body, resulting in the halting of cellular mitosis and cell production, though retarding the body's ability to replenish its cells will--at some point--lead to unhealthy results
As should be expected, yul are rarely (if ever) touched by sickness or cancer, which has helped their people survive so well into the present day despite the looming presence of the post-apocalyptic landscape that they frequent on a day-to-day basis.
Agility, speed and jumping abilityDuring the early periods of their race, the yul found themselves quickly forced into a ‘prey species’ role, which saw them regularly attacked by larger, stronger and faster animals that viewed them as an easy meal. Initially, the yul defied aggressors by using their own innate cunning and their unique aptitude for regeneration (which enabled them to sacrifice an arm or a leg in order to preserve the greater ‘mass' in the event that a beast managed to get a firm grasp on its yukanian victim).
However, when it proved that mere smarts and the use of stem cells were not a substitute for a hardened physiology, the yul slowly underwent changes to their cardiovascular, skeletal and muscular systems that gifted them with fantastic speed, hypermobility and unparalleled nimbleness, with their newly-acquired swiftness allowing the yukanians to enter areas with deadly radiation levels for very brief time spans, forage for food and then quickly leave before radiation sickness came about.
Most yul are able to sprint at an average running speed of just over forty-five miles per hour—a clear result of the dense bundle of potent and tightly-woven muscle fibers and the generous length of the Achilles tendon in the yukanian leg—which allowed them to outrun and outmaneuver the larger beasts of Yuku-Yaren with astounding results. Although sizable numbers of the the yul species still felt death's unrelenting embrace by the hands of their larger adversaries, their species saw substantial improvement in its overall population count, with the advent of underground farms, advancements in early subterranean digging technology and increased unification among the multitude of yukanian tribes further increasing the prosperity of the race.
Over time, the greater majority of the yul race made an exodus to Yuku-Yaren’s mountains regions, which provided more hiding places (such as small crevices and caves) to use to deter the malicious intentions of the Wasteland World's voracious carnivores and the savage flesh-searing power that the daylight brought periodically. The ledges and peeks of the area--which were easily navigated using powerful jumps, leaps and hops--gave the yul useful defensible positions from which they could employ ranged weaponry to drive away, kill or hunt prowling predatory creatures when the time called. In some cases, early obsidian melee-based weapons were used to horrifying effect by swarms of yul warriors, who fell upon the backs of a titanic monster to slash and cut their way deep into its flesh.
Eyesight and neck mobilityYul eyesight is rated for performing well at night, as the extreme heat of Yuku-Yaren eventually forced many of its creatures (obviously, the yul were among this number) to flee the tyranny of the day when foraging or hunting needed to be done. The eyes of a yukanian are large and situated near the sides of the head, giving them an increased field of vision, while the yul neck allows the head to rotate 180 degrees (which was a trait developed so as to allow the yukanians to spot predators).
Use of Yuku-Yaren's magnetic field This isn't so much a unique trait as it is an ability that nearly all of Yuku-Yaren's creatures have. It is no different than what the dogs, Australian Aboriginals, cats, or birds of Earth use to expertly navigate their own environments with. The yul do not have words that designate simple directions such as 'right' or 'left', but instead use words such as 'north', 'south', 'east', and 'west' when describing direction for all circumstances and things.
Language Communication between two yukanian is performed using a series of complex subsonic noises and spoken words that are combined with a dash of simplistic body language which comprises hand, head, shoulder, leg, and tail motions. Unlike most other races, yul are capable of exchanging a frightening amount of information in a short amount of time using varied pitches, tones and sound wavelengths.
DietYul are omnivorous creatures, but prefer vegetables and fruit as opposed to meat. While not related to their diet exactly, the yul do try to retain as much water as possible on account of Yuku-Yaren's desert-like landscape, which results in their feces having a rather dry composition.
Name of Civilization: None. You don't tend to have a civilization when you've nuked yourself into Techno-Barbarism, alright? However, if the hordes of rogue armored columns, gunship swarms and the occasional mobile fortress counts, then I guess that's a civilization.
Yuku-Yaren is covered in the ruins that mark the past glorification of the Old World, but they lie crumbling, looted and desecrated, with only the underground mining facilitates and hastily-built military fortresses remaining reasonably intact. The largest of these fortresses, known as 'The Madness Cove', is commanded by the Gun Runners Chiefdom, with its hangers filled with a sizable number of Raider-Scourge gunships.
Most of the Wasteland World's peoples arm themselves with an assortment of weaponry. Restrained amounts of ammunition has rendered many of these weapons to be melee-orientated, but a privileged minority have garnered enough scrap, Old World schematics and working components to produce crude yet highly effective weapons comprehensively known as 'lancers'. Each lancer is different, though all are particle-based weapons, with most lancers being restricted to one or two shots before requiring a change of the fusion cell and some time to cool down.
Religion Much of the old religious writings were lost when the bombs fell, though this has not discouraged the yul from adopting a rather unorthodox faith. The yul once venerated their ancestors as gods, but they have taken to viewing artificial intelligence as literal manifestation of legendary yul spirits. Most of these powerful constructs lie within the ancient and crewless hulls of Raider-Scourge gunships (a multi-role 'drone aircraft' that can operate both within an atmosphere and in a vacuum). Over the years, a number of warbands (most notable of which are the Gun Runners) have begun to resurrect these primordial craft and forge meaningful alliances with them, which has further bolstered the overall threat many warbands pose to the more mundane, meek and unarmed groups of yul that dart Yuku-Yaren's expansive landscapes.
Government No official government exists on Yuku-Yaren. In the current incarnation of yukanian society, 'might-makes-right' is the leading legislative body and law of the land. Several major factions across Yuku-Yaren hold sway over large swaths of the land however, and thus can be viewed as small 'pseudo-governments' in their own right:
Gun Runners Chiefdom: The Gunner Runners Chiefdom is a conglomerate of smaller warbands that were united by a single yukanian leader known as 'Empress' Yus'Res-Kaiden.
Ragnar's Chosen: Ragnar's Chosen is a powerful warband of yukanian raiders that lay claim to hundreds of wizened tank destroyers, self-propelled guns, heavy tanks, superheavy tanks, and main battle tanks. In terms of sheer land power, Ragnar's Chosen are uncontested, with the rumbling of their vehicles putting most of the warbands and smaller communities of the world on edge whenever news of massive war engines streaming across the desert sands falls upon their ears.
Sons of Anarchy: The Sons of Anarchy deprive their name from the lawlessness that runs rampant through their grounded Generation-II Battle Rig, a gargantuan warship bristling with active point defenses, main gun batteries and active energy shields. Under its massive form is a vast network of tunnels, caverns and settlements where unarmed yul civilians, who are little more than slaves, reside and work to maintain the guardian of iron that watches over them. Due to its power, the Sons of Anarchy defy even the Gun Runners Chiefdom, for their guns can make short work of even the durable chassis of a Raider-Scourge gunship.
Name of Homeworld: Yuku-Yaren
Stat Placement --Toughness (5): Though their world has been ravaged by the furious flames of nuclear weaponry, the people of Yuku-Yaren, though currently at a low-point in their species' history, have managed to retain their surreal willpower, physical prowess, stubbornness and determination. This level of mental and physical fortitude is perhaps the driving force behind the yul species' continued existence on their blasted homeworld, as well as their unusual success in maintaining at least some measure of technological growth (and if not growth, technological stability). While the surface of the Wasteland World (a surname attributed to Yuku-Yaren some three-hundred years ago) proves inhospitable, incredibly violent and extremely turbulent, the yul push onward, for not even the fury of the atomic bomb can extinguish the raging flames that burn within their chests.
-- Reproduction (1): The constant tribal warfare that is waged on Yuku-Yaren as well as the general lack of necessary resources such as food and water has caused a noticeable decrease in the amount of yul young that are globally produced.
-- Industry (1): With nuclear war comes an end to industry. At the present moment, firearms, vehicles, medicine, body armor, and other essentials are handcrafted using scavenged or recycled material, with some reactivated factories and dedicated production facilities controlled by specific warbands being used to fabricate armored and armed civilian vehicles and civilian necessities such as medicines, processed foods and recycle water.,
-- Psyche (1): Yul are not unintelligent, but it does do a species' overall intelligence a serious disservice when its best and brightest somehow manage to turn a Cold War into a Hot War, I suppose. While their minds have been sharpened by eons of endless armored, infantry and aerial warfare, the average yul is still an individual unaccustomed to kindness and humility, and is thus prone to taking random acts of kindness or hospitality as a clear indication of an imminent trap. Their species is one that has survived by assuming all mean them harm, not by being trusting and forgiving.
-- Morale (3): While the Primacy War was a lessen in defeat for the robust natives of Yuku-Yaren, the outcome of that very brief conflict had relatively little effect on the psychological stability of the yul species as a whole. True, the cultural degradation was so far-reaching that there is little hope of recovery at the present time, but the yukanians in a general sense kept doing what they did (and do) best: resisting.
Brief Planetary History:
"One of the things that ultimately led me to leave mathematics and go into political science was thinking I could prevent nuclear war."
-Paul Wolfowitz
