Ronite

The ronites are a group of (predominantly) four species, only one, the greys, were naturally evolved on the planet Xara’an, being the 5th planet of the Elkowan System, two are probably provolves, and the fourth, the yidi, a neogen created over 60,000 years ago. Although they come in four varieties, the xorg are by far the most numerous and are what other sophonts picture, when they think of them. The ronites go by so many names, but the most common are the nighters, the darks, or a bit less politely, the roaches. The name ronite, is itself, a contraction of orgleronian, a name given to them by humans, when it was supposed that they originated in the Orgleron System.

Ronites have the senses of touch, taste, smell and hearing, but they do not see like humans do. They have magnetosense (magnetoreception), which means they see light in the form of magnetic fields as well as all other sources. As much solid matter is permeable to magnetic fields, the world looks translucent to them. The magnetosense organ is a cross-shaped structure inside their skull: their lack of eyes make them appear somewhat unsettling to humans.

Ronites thus don’t pick up on so many physical cues as humans do in recognising their friends, they recognise each other’s so-called glow, and can understand their mood in the same way as humans see various non-verbal cues.

Ronites appear truly alien, although they have a bipedal and bilateral symmetry, like humans, that is pretty much where any similarity ends. In terms of terran biological kingdoms, ronites bear the most similarity to fungi, but this belies their appearance. Most ronites are black and all lack an all-encompassing skin or carapace, rather they have a silicate exoskeleton, through which muscles and tendons operate.

The head and thorax are the only parts that are encased. This unusual arrangement is common to the order crypto-skeleta of Xara'an. Creatures of this order differ from all others on Xara’an by having a carapace that has been partially internalised as a skeleton. The articulated and thorny look, combined with being black in colour is part of the reason the roach name stuck.

The vast changes made to Xara’an’s biosphere have confused the palaeontological record, however, it is well understood that the yidi are a neogen, and there is some evidence that the xorg and the smalleon’s are provolves, leaving the grey as possibly the only naturally evolved form.

Grey Ronite

The grey are the oldest of the extant orgleronian (ronite) races and are now quite rare. Their name comes from partly the fact that they are more grey in colour than black, but also the fact that they bear an uncanny resemblance to the greys of UFO fame (although missing the eyes).

Being the oldest of the ronites, greys are native to the Elkowan System. The greys were the rulers of the First Eukhalion until the emancipation, some 200,000 years ago, when the xorg and the smalleons rose up and overthrew them.

Greys have all the crypto-skeletal appearances of their robust cousins, but differ markedly in size, are fully upright and lack a tail. Their elongated heads look over-sized for their bodies, which appear rather frail, and they do not have the extra articulation in the legs for running. Greys also differ in diet in that they are vegetarian.

The greys have the strongest psionic ability amongst the ronites.

Greys are too few in number to form any large societies and typically live in small communities of a few dozen individuals, or they are integrated as enclaves in one of the larger xorg eukhalions.

Grey Ronite

Category: mod-gen (Orgleronus sapiens gracilis)
Aspects: Biochem-Ammonia, Biology-Ronite, Tech-Ronite, Tech-Modern
Senses: 20:1(magnetosense), 1(olfactorsense), 1(audiosense)
Traits (resource): small|3|+1(size), 1(hardness), 3(HX), 2(EX), 2(FX), 1.2(height), 40(weight), 0.5(reach)
Traits (physical): 8(speed), stock(walk), quarter(crawl,climb,swim), vuln(radiation, poison)
Traits (defensive): 2(resist,cold) Traits (personality): Calm, Deliberate, Pessimist, Reliable, Any alignment
Skills (starts): +0(Health, Energy, Focus, Perception, Society), -1(Insight, Investigate, Persuade, Eng-All, Telepathy), -2(Stealth, Deceive, Perform, Antiquities, Science, Survival, Cbt-Tactical), -3(Resolve, Agility, Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged, Psi-All (ex. Telepathy)), -5(Strength) \

Age: 60 years at start, 400 years lifespan
Languages: speak, read, and write the language from enclave
Natural weapons: strike (fists,m-act,b-act) chk(C)= +M(Wpn-Fistload) with -6(Str,min), 20(q) eff 1d2 +M(Wpn-Fistload)+M(Str) (hp,frc)

Smalleon

From their earliest days back on Xara'an to the present day, throughout the orgleronian diaspora, the smalleons have played in the margins of society, never taking centre stage. This reflects their disposition cautious, patient, adaptable, prone to lightning quick action, when the moment arises. The smalleons maintain various secret societies and networks throughout their host societies. This was true during the first Eukhalia, when the xorg used the smalleon networks to get information around and plan insurgencies against their grey rulers. It is true in the third Eukhalia, throughout Xeran and Xanna alike, and its true throughout the various human nations and freen collectives.

Of all ronites, smalleons bear the most resemblance to the xorg, but are much smaller and slightly leaner. This reflects their own disposition away from raw power to speed and ambush. Their heads are more elongated, but also have the oversized mouthparts suiting their carnivorous diet.

Smalleon Ronite

Category: provolve (Orgleronus sapiens smallensis)
Aspects: Biochem-Ammonia, Biology-Ronite, Tech-Ronite, Tech-Modern
Senses: 30:1(magnetosense), 1(olfactorsense), 1(audiosense)
Traits (resource): medium|4|0(size), 1(hardness), 4(HX), 2(EX), 2(FX), 1.7(height), 80(weight), 1(reach)
Traits (defensive): 2(resist,prc), 4(resist,sls), 2(resist,cold) Traits (physical): 12(speed), stock(walk), quarter(crawl,climb,swim), vuln(radiation, poison)
Traits (personality): Paranoid, Secretive, Spontaneous, Any alignment
Skills (srarts): +1(Perception), +0(Health, Energy, Focus, Agility, Society), -1(Insight, Stealth, Investigate), -2(Strength, Deceive, Survival, Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged, Cbt-Tactical), -3(Resolve, Perform, Persuade, Antiquities, Science, Eng-All, Psi-All)
Age: 30 years at start, 200 years lifespan
Languages: speak, read, and write the language from enclave, and language from xorg clan and eukhalion
Natural weapons: strike (fists,m-act,b-act) chk(C)= +M(Wpn-Fistload) with -6(Str,min), 20(q) eff 1d2 +M(Wpn-Fistload)+M(Str) (hp,frc)

Xorg

The Xorg (or eXtra large ORGleronian) are the largest and most numerous of the extant orgleronian (ronite) races. They form the bulk of the population of the so-called third Eukhalia and its two Eukhalions: the Xeranian, and the Xanniac. Because the xorg are what most other races see of the ronites, the name ronite is often applied to them, as if there were no other.

As with all ronites, xorgs originally hailed from the Elkowan System. The Xeranian Eukhallion (part of the third xorg space-faring civilisation) have reclaimed it after 26,000 years, and consider it hallowed ground. The xorg are the quintessential ancients, and modern-day xorg are scarred by their ancestry to varying degrees.

Xorg have a long, ribbed tail, which they use for balance, it also means that they are not fully upright and stoop somewhat over their feet. Similar to mogs and blink dogs, xorg walk on their toes, giving them a better movement speed and jumping distance than their size would normally allow.

The vast eukhalion structure that characterises xorg societies are often mistaken for empires, as if they formed by conquest. This structure is more of a spiritual alignment connected to the so-called guffs, which are called Xeran (Xeranian) and Xanna (Xanniac). One can oppose these modern guffs with the ancient ones of the Second Eukhalia (Xoth, Kiramaxoon and Enarkiratahn) and the primordial First Eukhalia (Xi’nsu and Thys’s). However sharing a spiritual alignment does not guarantee cohesion and many social and physical skirmishes can and do occur. Generally wars and skirmishes occur between clans, which is probably the nearest thing to a nation there is in xorg society. Clans differ from nations in that individuals are of a family, and thus of a pride, and therefore of a clan. A xorg cannot just up sticks and move to another clan, just like they can’t choose their family. This also means that the clan is where the home is, and borders don’t have the same meaning as they do for humans.

In a similar manner, hierarchy does not mean the same thing to a xorg. In general no one is ever a leader in all respects, but just who is the leader in a given way, is up to a byzantine set of unwritten rules that only a xorg could possibly understand. The request posed to a xorg: “take me to your leader” would be answered with: “in what respect would that be?”

Despite their absolutely fearsome appearance, xorg are actually amongst the most even-tempered of all sophonts. They are much more likely to prefer talk and negotiation to anything else. They can be pretty undiplomatic, but that doesn’t stop them from trying diplomacy. If you get to know a xorg, you will discover that they do like talking… a lot.

They’re tendency to negotiate and talk, belies a pretty decisive streak, and can be quite determined. Once they’ve decided on a course of action, they are not easily swayed.

Xorg Ronite

Category: provolve (Orgleronus sapiens robustus)
Aspects: Biochem-Ammonia, Biology-Ronite, Tech-Ronite, Tech-Modern
Senses: 20:1(magnetosense), 1(olfactorsense), 1(audiosense)
Traits (resource): large|5|-1(size), 1(hardness), 5(HX), 2(EX), 2(FX), 1.7(height), 80(weight), 1(reach)
Traits (defensive): 2(resist,prc), 4(resist,sls), 2(resist,cold) Traits (physical): 15(speed), stock(walk), quarter(crawl,climb,swim), vuln(radiation, poison)
Traits (personality): Fiddler, Loyal, Polite, Protective, Short tempered, Talkative, Any alignment
Skills (starts): +3(Strength), +0(Health, Energy, Focus, Perception), -1(Insight, Investigate, Society), -2(Agility, Antiquities, Science, Survival, Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged, Cbt-Tactical), -3(Resolve, Stealth, Deceive, Perform, Persuade, Eng-All, Psi-All)
Age: 30 years at start, 200 years lifespan
Languages: speak, read, and write the language from enclave, and language from xorg clan and eukhalion
Natural weapons: strike (fists,m-act,b-act) chk(C)= +M(Wpn-Fistload) with -6(Str,min), 20(q) eff 1d2 +M(Wpn-Fistload)+M(Str) (hp,frc)

Yidi

The yidi are the most widespread genetic modification on the ronite template, or more specifically a smalleon variant. The modification is for more sunlit worlds, particularly where rona-forming has not been completed, and ammonia may be in short supply or unavailable for long periods of time.

It is believed that they became widespread during the second Eukhalia, likely by about 26,000 years ago, and survived on the many rona-formed and partially rona-formed worlds after the fall of that Eukhalia. Many yidi settlements were re-discovered during the mid-colonial period of the 3rd Eukhalia (between 3600-4000 AD).

Yidi are slightly smaller than smalleons, and a little more like greys in their overall physiology. They walk more upright and less on their toes, and while they still have a tail, it is smaller in relation to the body. Yidi are unique amongst ronites in that they are omnivorous.

Their colouration contrasts from all other forms: instead of blacks and dark greys, they vary from tawny to bone white, and even sporting stripes and other patterns.

Yidi tend to live simple and nomadic lives, which many observers take for being primitive. Instead they have keen scientific minds and are extremely capable tinkerers. The technological innovations however are not obvious, kept hidden, or out of the way, until actually needed.

Category: neogen (Orgleronus sapiens yidensis)
Aspects: Biochem-Ammonia, Biology-Ronite, Tech-Ronite, Tech-Modern
Senses: 20(magnetosense), 1(olfactorsense), 1(audiosense)
Traits (resource): medium|4|0(size), 1(hardness), 4(HX), 2(EX), 2(FX), 1.7(height), 80(weight), 1(reach)
Traits (defensive): 1(resist,frc), 1(resist,prc), 1(resist,sls), 2(resist,heat), 1(resist,corr), 1(resist,psn), 1(resist,rad) Traits (physical): 10(speed), stock(walk), quarter(crawl,climb,swim), drought, vuln(radiation, poison)
Traits (personality): Determined, Fiddler, Frugal, Hoarder, Technophile, Any alignment
Skills (starts): +0(Health, Energy, Focus, Perception, Insight, Investigate), -1(Science, Society, Survival), -2(Stealth, Deceive, Perform, Antiquities, Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged, Cbt-Tactical), -3(Strength, Resolve, Agility, Persuade, Eng-All, Psi-All)
Age: 60 years at start, 400 years lifespan
Languages: speak, read, and write the language from enclave, and language from xorg clan and eukhalion
Natural weapons: strike (fists,m-act,b-act) chk(C)= +M(Wpn-Fistload) with -6(Str,min), 20(q) eff 1d2 +M(Wpn-Fistload)+M(Str) (hp,frc)