Race: Scorpions

Metaturnal, originally from Fasach (Africa). There are about a million of them in Fasach, several thousand in Theas (Australia), and a thousand each in Mothar (South America) and Larnach (Europe). They have average magic. About 40% of scorpions have magic. Of those, about 10% have low power, 10% have below average, 40% have average, 30% have above average, 10% have high. Their racial field includes light magic, shadow magic, offensive magic, defensive magic, bardic magic, healing magic, and earth magic. They also have a knack for learning two branches of formulaic magic: potions and diagrams.

The potency of a scorpion's venom tends to match that of its magic, although there are exceptions. Even scorpions without magic have venom of low potency, which is still extremely painful, just not dangerous. Average and stronger venom will paralyze; above average can be fatal, and high-strength venom is usually fatal if untreated. They can also bite and egest digestive fluid which dissolves tissues -- ordinarily just for eating, this also makes a formidable attack. The powerful front claws can crush or tear on their own, but usually hold the victim for a sting or bite attack.

They stand about 1 foot high, although the tail can reach up considerably higher; they are about 6 feet long from claws to stinger. They have low anthropomorphism, mostly in the form of a face on the front of the carapace. They have four strong walking legs, two delicate arms ending in dextrous hands, and two powerful arms ending in massive claws. Because the stinger has a pronounced hook, it can be used to carry things; female scorpions often carry their purses this way to deter purse snatchers. They are quite agile in walking and climbing. They can see in ultraviolet light, and they also glow under ultraviolet light. Scorpion cosmetics take this into effect, and are often invisible under ordinary light. Their warpaint, however, is bifocal and garish under both kinds of light.

Scorpions are smart, dextrous, and versatile. They take many different jobs including soldier, bodyguard, physician, scientist, etc. Some of them go into arts and entertainment; they are splendid musicians, quite good acrobats and painters. They are favored as exotic dancers, mostly by other invertebrates but also as a fetish among some marsupials. They also do practical things like house painting, tree trimming, and building repairs, and metalworking. On the shady side, they are seen as assassins -- which they rarely are, precisely because it is so expected. Instead they are bosses or enforcers. They have a peculiar punishment for other scorpions who fail them, immobilizing the offender immediately after a molt so that the new exoskeleton hardens into rigidity: the infamous "steel straitjacket."

Unlike most invertebrates, scorpions are viviparous, bearing live young. While the male retreats immediately after mating, the female carries the scorplings (usually 2-5 of them) on her back until at least the first molt. They are completely dependent on her for survival. This creates strong family ties between mother and scorplings, and siblings from the same brood. Like marsupial mammals, scorpions practice birth control by rejecting unwanted offspring immediately after birth. Therefore, they have a closer affinity with marsupials than most invertebrates, and they annoy placental mammals a bit more.