Tridorian

Well known for their distinctive horns and thick skin, **Tridorians** live in dry environments. Promoting a strong sense of community, Tridorians live in family units and encourage individuals to help the species. This creates an intense sense of nationalism amongst Tridorians, leading to them isolating themselves from other species. This mindset led them to be heavily involved with the System of Independent Alien Planets. With their relevance in the galaxy risen due to the Secession War, Tridorians have begun to improve their tolerance and spread across the galaxy. Tridorians, with their natural affinity towards technology and durability, prove to be effective combatants.

## Biology and appearance

Tridorians can be placed in the biological group of reptiles. Tridorians are lizard-like bipeds, known for their extremely tough skin and signature horns. Their feet typically have three toes. Tridorian eyes have a limited range in colors, typically having yellow irises. Other common Tridorian traits include a lack of hair and sharp carnivorous teeth.

Tridorian skin is known for its resilience, only comparable to Prisnane in its toughness. Early Human settlers collected Tridorian skins, with uniquely colored Tridorians highly sought after; this practice quickly died out. The skin has a large plate-based consistency, made from large variants of reptilian scales. The calcium-based structures cover most of the Tridorian’s body, weaving under each other to create dense sheets. This acts as natural armor. Tridorian skin appears commonly in a dulled orange shade; other common colors include yellow, white, red, or green when from wetter regions. Patterns are uncommon and are considered rarities.

One unique trait is the Tridorians’ signature horns. These vary in style, mostly skin covered, partially covered, or open horns. The horns often have skin that grows over top the entire bone, especially as they age. This skin has no nerves, so the bone breaking through the skin is negligible to the Tridorian. Typically, adult males have around fourteen horns, adult females have around eight. Oddities, like over-excessive horns or odd growth spots, are uncommon, but can be corrected with horn modification. Tridorian horns have no modern use, except for the popularity of horn-modding.

Tridorians lays eggs in order to reproduce. These eggs are delivered in similar fashion to a live birth. These eggs are laid by the female in clutches of one or two; a female Tridorian can become pregnant around once a year. The newly hatched Tridorian lacks skin pigmentation and horns at birth but grows rapidly. The mother, lacking mammary glands, is responsible to providing food, usually digested partly from herself, but Tridorians have instead moved to using artificially fine grounded food for the young in its early life.

###### Subspecies

The Tridorian specie has several distinct races: the common Tridorian, native to the Chadrocian region, is the most common one in the greater galaxy. The second most common, living mostly on the planet of Strydoria, is the Strydorian race. Strydorians share most of the same biology of the common Tridorian with the notable exception of the large single horn at the tip of their snout and the typicality of having four toes instead of three. The third race, common to the Tidossian Dunes, is the Tidonians. Tidonians, known for their distinct white skin, are reclusive and few in number. They have skin thicker than the common Tridorian and are more heat resistant, often using these benefits to hide within sand dunes when hunting. The fourth common race is the South Tridorian, living within the South Plains. South Tridorians are nomadic in nature and few in number. Adapted to the wetter region of the plains, they have green and overall softer skin. Other biological differences are the longer, less heavily plated limbs, taller height, and the notable inclusion of tails.

## Society and Culture

Tridorians are well known for their nativist sentiment, one of the main driving forces behind their heavy participation in the Secession War. Tridorian culture is based on the improvement of the species rather than individual promotion. Tridorians are very conservative minded, mainly thinking of how to benefit themselves and close allies. Tridorians are not well regarded by outsiders because of this cold treatment of others. Another common trait is the opposite; some Tridorians, aware of the negative prejudice their species carries, instead compensate through overbearing friendliness. Other things Tridorians are associated with are general effectiveness in combat, good robotics, and over aggressiveness.

Tridorian households are based on the family unit; generations will live together in a single household. The layouts of homes are divided according to generations; mutual respect between generations is expected. As older generations die, the youngest move into their living space; with Tridorians long lifespan, this does not happen often and so is treated with special reverence in a traditional ceremony called Gar'Dota. When an older Tridorian dies, a piece of memorabilia is kept in the living space for remembrance. Resources and notable events, such as the Gar'Dota ceremony, are shared between neighboring families. Older generations push younger ones to interact, to form bonds between families. Marriage is used to cement these relations.

 These traditions are mostly concrete across the entirety of Tridoria or in off-world groups. . The Acheron area is the only occurrence of heavy urbanization on Tridoria. Acheron forgoes the family structure and instead focus on independent living. While they don't practice Tridorian traditions, the population of Acheron maintains the same mindset and is supportive of them.

 Tridorians have a long-standing fascination with bots; Tridorians found offworld of Tridoria often find professions as bot mechanics or pilots. Before the invention of modern-era technologies, the creation of early models of automatons were family projects. Competitions of intricate automaton models acted as one of the first methods on intercommunal connection. Tridorians were thrilled when introduced to early AI and are one of the only species to predominantly feature bots within their military.

 Other Tridorian-centric recreational activities include horn modding and kof'hooka (Tridorre for head ball). Given the necessity for horns to participate in the activities, they remain popular only among Tridorians. However, kof'hooka was spread by SIAP troops around the galaxy, increasing its popularity. With specialized equipment, other species may participate in the sport.

###### The Tridorian Families

 With the tendency for Tridorians to identify closely with their family units, their last name is given special prominence. Among Tridorian groups, they refer to each other by their last name first. Among other species, they go by their first name, but still expect respect to their last. With intermingling between family units, last names are combined into new ones; the older name is still retained. Newer Tridorian family units have longer, complex strings as last names, often including tens of Tridorian families. Older, prominent Tridorian families purposefully retain the simplicity of their name; their recognizability brings respect among Tridorians. Their younger generations are expected to stay within their immediate community or risk being disowned from the family name.

 The oldest, most powerful Tridorian families control swaths of resources and territory, often with obedience of smaller, newer family units. Yet, there is no animosity between them, and relations and resources are shared. These families are easily identified by their last name and chosen coat of arms. These coat of arms, plastered on the family's resources or allies, are existing or mythological animals of Tridoria, used to easily identify the associated family. These coats of arms date back hundreds of years and retain important symbolism for the Tridorian specie. Members of the largest families can usually be found in important leadership positions, such as politics or military roles. Beyond the uncommon formation of a new prominent family, the majority of the families respected on the Tridorian Ring of Ki'Dota can trace their lineage back hundreds of year; this council is rarely disrupted, beyond the rare induction of a new family, or even scarcer, destruction of an existing one.

## History

Tridorians evolved from a ground scavenging quadruped with a tendency to bury itself in sand. The first intelligent Tridorian groups originate from the Tidossian Dunes, hence the name of the species and planet. The first Tridorian villages moved to more stable environments, like the South Plains and the Chadrocian Ranges, due to their large populations of herd animals. The largest groups settled in the Chadrocian region, founding the city of Acheron in Achero Canyon, due to its water source.

The first main Tridorian era was marked by the Psiscott Empire; the Psiscott, originally a small group originating from the South Plains, utilized mounts to travel and terrorize smaller agrarian communities. Their campaign led across most of the planet, climaxing in the sacking of Acheron by the Psiscott king, Sesacot the Bold. Sesacot led most the Psiscott campaigns, but ultimately met his demise by the hands of his jealous mistress. At the time of his death, the Psiscotts controlled almost every main population center. The short-lived empire quickly crumbled when control shifted to the Sesacot’s less successful son, Dersansen, who unwisely committed the empire’s forces against the city state of Tidossia. Psiscottan culture eventually evolved into the modern Tridorian culture.

Acheron rebuilt itself after its destruction and became the center of a Tridorian renaissance. Notable discoveries during this period include explosive powder, the first forms of automation, and an explosion of art and science in the city. Tridorians particularly excelled in robotics; robots proved useful for menial tasks that dominated Tridoria’s industry, mainly mining. Tridorians were one of the first species to utilize ballistic arms, due to access to explosive powders from mining. These were used for hunting, rather than warfare, as early bullets struggled to pierce Tridorian skin. With their contact with the Cogre, Tridorians began to spread throughout the galaxy. The Tridorians natural durability proved amble in withstanding the g-forces of space travel, making Tridorians natural pilots.

Off-world expansion was initially tempting to Tridorians; many moved to the neighboring Winsby due to ethnic conflict. This surge died off as Tridorian met harsh conditions, hostile species, and the dangerous asteroid belt around their system and sector. Around two million Tridorian’s moved off-world, creating the colony of Setes on Winsby. One success was the meeting of the nearby sentient species Terxronian; similarities in reptilian form and lifestyle allowed the two species to connect and remain close allies.

Most Tridorians stayed near the vicinity of Tridoria and its neighboring planets. Tridorians, drawing on their isolationist sentiment, they were some of the strongest proponents of anti-human movements. The most prominent was the Tridorian Free-State (who later merged into the SIAP), who participated in the anti-human protests on Exumasphere; several Tridorians were victims of the Adricore Square Massacre, enflaming even more nativist sentiment among Tridorian populations.

Tridorians were heavily involved in the Secession War, becoming the poster species for the System of Independent Alien Planets. Trenton Basile, the speaker of the SIAP, was a Tridorian. Tridoria, and the city of Acheron, an initial prime target in the conflict, with open fighting beginning with the First Battle of Tridoria. The initial combatants were Tridoria’s militias. With Tridoria being the site of constant attacks, Tridorians rallied in mass in the home front. Millions volunteered to produce bots, food, or weaponry for the war effort, many others volunteered to join the Tridorian Defense Army, composed of Tridoria’s militias. Throughout the war, Tridorians fought at the frontline of conflict, often working alongside war bots and Terxronians, another prominent SIAP species. This made Tridorians a prime target in combat. This led to a vicious back and forth of cruelty between Tridorians and opponents.

Being the face of the SIAP, Tridorians were deliberately narrowed out in engagements. This discrimination extended beyond the military; civilian Tridorians were similarly targeted in urban combat. This caused Planetary Union allied Tridorians to be incredibly loyal; notably, one of the members of Cockerel Squadron was a Tridorian. The treatment during the war caused Tridorians to react in similar ways; Tridorians were known to be hostile to nearly every species. They were also known as fierce combatants, with little to no qualms over breaking morals.

After the end of the conflict, Tridorians became a prime political topic of the aftermath of the war. With a majority participating in the SIAP war effort, Tridorians were villainized by other governments. Tridorians vocally opposed this and mostly retreated to the occupied Tridoria, though a large number of them participated in the SIAP’s schisms and other underground movements.

The occupation of Tridoria echoed much of the Tridorian’s treatment during the war; general discrimination occurred, with military members abusing their positions. Tridorians retaliated with general resentment towards outsiders; street violence was common during the first two years of occupation. After the occupation was lifted, Tridorians began to reintegrate into society. Others participated more in galactic affairs, citing the SIAP or Basile as an influence. Tridorian activists have also appeared, arguing for recognition of the Tridorians treatment during and after the war.

After the war, Tridorian society stagnated. However, mass casualties and disillusionment among postwar Tridorian communities forced them to directly focus on stabilizing their populations. As a result, Tridorians, among other former SIAP groups, have struggled to reestablish themselves in the forefront of the galaxy.