Skinny

T'Phai, a warrior who fought in the Arachnid Wars.

The **Stuah**, also called **skinnies** by humans, are a humanoid species native to the planet Ptolemy.

## History

### Early history

The Stuah's earliest recorded history took place in an era known as the Age of Tribes. During the Age of Tribes, the species was separated into a multitude of warring tribes. The Stuah slowly advanced technologically to the point of being an atomic-powered society, but the ensuing global conflicts which emerged and the unrestrained use of nuclear weapons left the species in a dark place. However, this violent end to the Age of Tribes gave way to the beginning of a new era, the Time of Peace.

During the Time of Peace, a new era of enlightened thinking and technological and societal advancement began. Philosophers and scientists discovered new inventions and brought new teachings. Warfare and conquest were largely abandoned. Sovereign nations still existed, however, and concerned themselves primarily with the interests of their own country, and not with the species as a whole. The advancements which had come with the Time of Peace were great, but they were not enough to truly unite the Stuah.

New conflicts had begun to brew as the species began to spread out beyond their homeworld. Upon colonizing many of the planets and moons in their home star system, independent governments began to crop up: before long, there was all-out war between the outer colonies and the Stuah's homeworld of Ptolemy. When the fighting ended, a new order was put into place, the Stuah Hegemony. Going forward, this body had supreme authority over the entire species, and acted as its central government: this began the Age of Hegemony.

At first every Stuah faction was represented in the government, but this was quickly destabilized and a new system was erected in its place. Within the Hegemony, every Stuah nation, tribe, or clan has the potential to be represented; however, no tribe or nation is automatically guaranteed representation within the Hegemony, but must instead seek to consolidate its power base before gaining a voice in the government. Disputes and even outright conflicts between different Stuah factions still occasionally occured, but they were settled between the two factions, and the Hegemony was never involved. Overall, the establishment of the Hegemony did a lot to bring peace to the Stuah society. It was under the Hegemony that the Stuah developed hyperspace technology, and started to spread out into other star systems, establishing far flung colonies and outposts, such as Tophet.

### Meeting the Arachnids

Several centuries into their interstellar era, the Stuah encountered the hostile Arachnid species, native to the far-flung Gamma Quadrant. The Arachnids, having failed to gain a foothold in their own quadrant, were just starting to enter the fringes of the Alpha Quadrant, entering by way of a series of wormholes which connected to their home system of Klendathu. Their intention in conquering the Stuah was to gain access to the wealth of raw materials available on their worlds, including Xylon, a material vital to enabled the Arachnid's Transporter Bugs to travel across interstellar space. When the threat became clear, the Stuah declared war against the aggressive invasive species and won their first victory on the colony world of Galuliv; they eventually realized they had bitten off more than they could chew, finding that the Arachnids seemed possessed of seemingly infinite numbers and unwavering tenacity. The Arachnids found the Stuah an easy conquest, having no allies with which to withstand such an onslaught. the Stuah were also very centralized around their homeworld of Ptolemy; ensuring its capture was vital to their war effort.

After beginning their war against the Arachnids, all intraspecies conflicts between the Stuah ceased; the entire species was focused on defeating the encroaching bugs. At first, the Stuah seemed to have the advantage, using their seemingly superior technology to crush early invasion force. Later, however, the Arachnids began to turn the tide as their numbers continued to pummel the Stuah and newer castes were unveiled. On the colony Pingpara, the Arachnids won a crushing victory once they wiped out the majority of the forces under the Gen'Tak tribe, the most powerful Stuah tribe and the head of the Stuah Hegemony. The Stuah decided to consolidate their forces around their home system to defend their most important assets. The defeat of the Gen'Tak at Pingpara did not completely dismantle the tribe, however, as they also held some outposts on Ptolemy.

The inward retreat of the Stuah coincided with the beginnings of hostilities between the Arachnids and the United Earth Government. The final battle of the war between the Stuah and the Arachnids culminated in an all-out assault against Ptolemy, only a few years after the start of the conflict. The Arachnids deployed Plasma Bugs against the planet, bombarding it and destroying many settlements under the control of the Gen'Tak, wiping out the tribe for good; eventually, the Stuah surrendered to the Arachnids, beginning the era of slavery under the bugs, the Time of the Headless Tribe. The massive interstellar war had been so costly on the Stuah that much of their technology, especially in the further out colonies, was lost; the species regressed to a pre-industrial status, and the Hegemony's reach was restricted to the few systems closest to their homeworld. Many of the Stuah's leadership were placed under the direct control of the Arachnids through Control Bugs, which were parasitic and made individuals completely docile.