Ah, damnit, completely missed this. Waitlist/fifth spot, I'll write up an app soonish.
Race Name: The Sorax
Society Name: The Sorax Hives
Notable Factions/Rulers: The Ancients, Great Swarms, Kys-Han Schools
Homeworld: Officially, none. The origin world of the Sorax species is generally accepted to be Akhykaten, nowadays an unaffliated garden world. It orbits the;
Home Star: Khyrea
Physical Description: A Sorax stands on average at just over 2 metres, though they rarely stand perfectly upright. Sorax bodies are very flexible, and they can fall to four limbs as easily as walk with two, skittling along the ground or ceilings and walls. This, and their impressive upper body strenght, probably stem from the need to quickly move in the sprawling hives primitive Sorax used to live in. Their bodies are more or less humanoid, with thin bodies and limbs. Their heads are long but short, resembling Earth simians somewhat. They have very little visible body hair and their skin glistens in light. Unlike most humanoids, Sorax brains do not reside within the skull, atleast fully, but are built along the spine, making fully destroying the brain slightly more difficult.
When wearing clothing, the gender of a Sorax is difficult to distinguish - the Sorax themselves mostly communicate this through pheromones. Primitive Sorax were governed by matriarchs that bred most of the new generation, killing or sending away other females, But in modern Sorax society the concept is met with hostility - 'freedom of reproduction' for all is a right guarded closely by the populace. Sorax females can give birth to a dozen children at once, and the rapidly-growing Sorax population has resulted in most worlds suffering from overpopulation.
TRAIT:
Climber Physiology: The flexibility and strong grips of the Sorax body allow them to move rapidly even in difficult terrain. [+1 to Athletics]
Militaristic: The Sorax have a long history of warfare and mandatory military training and conscription for both genders. [+1 to Combat]
FLAW:
Isolationist: The Sorax have little experience with other species and have trouble understanding their habits and wishes. [-1 to Persuasion, -1 to Guile]
History (STABLE/FALLING FROM GRACE): The Sorax are an old species, but stagnant, slow to change. They inhabit a loose coalition of a few dozen worlds, nearly all with a population in the billions, but their borders haven't changed in nearly two hundred years, after the first wave of expansion. Now, overpopulation and anti-isolationist social strife is threatening to end their 'Eon of Prosperity' and force them out of their shell.
For decades at a time, the Sorax waged war between their worlds, keeping their population low with conflicts of horrendous scale. Millions perished yearly for little gain, though the changes to Sorax society would destroy the power of old matriarchs forever and bring forth breakthrough after breakthrough in - mostly military - technology. But First Contact changed this. The knowledge of other species out there - powerful ones - brought about a xenophobic fear in the warring planets. Slowly, gradually, the wars began to wind down. In the vast unknown, the Sorax saw a much greater enemy. Old foes turned into allies, century-old vendettas discarded and forgotten. For decades the Hives remained in this state, immensely hostile to anyone daring enough to enter their territory. But the alien efforts at diplomacy - spearheaded by the nearby Andaric Empire - were persistent. With trade and a few daring envoys entering Sorax space, the isolationism and lack of expansion, unquestioned for so long, has begun to break down. Overpopulation, causing severe famine on some worlds, and anti-isolationist elements in society, are creating cracks in the Sorax Hives that threaten to defy the will of the coalition and throw the worlds back into violent strife. The Sorax have decided to send 'envoys' to close-by alien powers to assess the threat they could pose, though only a handful due to fears of 'cultural contamination'.
Society: The Sorax Hives are loosely CONFEDERATE OLIGARCHIC AUTOCRACIES - meaning that the worlds of the Sorax are ruled by autocrats with varying amounts of power, allied with eachother and with a common foreign policy, but otherwise independent. Though some of these hive leaders have been elected democratically or by other means in the past, the military and their supporters decide the rulers on practically every world, their Kys-Han Military Schools brainwashing the next generation from an early age. The so-called 'Swarms', great armadas of Sorax starships always on the move, are an exception, usually democratic to an extent. Hostility between them and the Ancients, the oldest Sorax leaders who have ruled their respective worlds for decades, even centuries, erupts into open warfare every now and then.
With no internal or external enemy to focus on as in the past, many hive leaders are having trouble controlling their populace. Military crackdowns and martial law have reduced Sorax freedoms to laughable levels on many worlds. Dangerous political ideas arise daily and all traffic off-world or contact with aliens is strictly regulated.
RACIAL RESOURCES: 4 Wealth, 7 Might, 1 Influence
RACIAL INFRASTRUCTURE: 2 Economic, 3 Military, 1 Social
The Sorax possess, on paper, a vast and powerful military. To an extent, this is through, but the decentralized Sorax command structure and government makes efficient use difficult especially at offense. Military buildup is suffocating non-war parts of the economy, and their isolationism has practically killed their diplomat corps.
Name: Eyu Sekhet
Race: Sorax
Society: The Hives
Personal Resources: 1 Wealth, 1 Might
Skills: Perception [+1]
Items: Ocular Aid
Character History: Eyu is the child of a Swarm-born mother, and a traditionalist father, who mostly raised him. Though displaying no unusual political leanings in his youth, and from a well-off, military-connected family, stories and unorthodox ideals from his mother had always remained in his memory. When the Hives began to consider sending out 'Envoys' - officially diplomats, actually spies - Eyu, who had become a successful intelligence officer in the military - successfully convinced his superiors to put him forward. Eyu was chosen and underwent strict training and indoctrination - to protect against 'alien influence' - and sent off with a cadre of bodyguards-slash-observers to join an Andaric diplomatic mission, officially to learn more about the cultures of the galaxy to bring back to the Sorax. His main mission is to assess the capabilities of any aliens he comes upon and, ultimately, to decide if the Sorax can co-exist with them or not.
Political Affiliations: Eyu is, for the most part, a loyalist. His military training and indoctrination has convinced him of the necessity of the Sorax autocratic state and isolationism, though deep inside his mind, he longs to see the galaxy for the joy of it alone, to run off and go where no Sorax has ever gone before.
Goals: To follow the orders of the Hives, to assess and report upon the capabilities of alien civilizations and prepare suggestions for decisive action if needed, military or otherwise.
Ambassador?: No.
Suitable for the job because: Political appeasement to open up the Sorax for trade and future cooperation.
Joined the Embassy because: Orders - and a wish to see the wider galaxy.
Whew. Please tell me if I misunderstood/miscalculated/if there's something I need to change. If the stuff I have about the Andaric Empire here isn't fine, I'll change.