Menkmack

The **Menkmack** are a race of swindlers and liars who served as Jesters within the Scryve Empire. Their traitorous behaviour has long been a source of amusement for the Scryve, though in recent years, they have fallen out of favour amongst the ruling elite.

**Biology**

Menkmack are a race of long necked creatures, with four arms, four eyes and two legs. Menkmack have quite a rapid birthrate, apparently by laying clutches of eggs on beaches in the sand to protect them, similar to turtles. Their birthrate, though plentiful, is nothing compared to other species like the Mowlings or the Pinthi. These large clutches of young have been the main reason for their survival during the repeated destruction of their homeworld by the Ancient One.

Menkmack have a strange psychology, seemingly at peace with theft and lying and even being self-aware to notice this hasn’t won them many friends. They are apparently blind to the idea of morality, seeing stealing as fun and necessary, unable to find a reason as to why they wouldn’t steal something if it isn’t nailed down.

This psychological blindspot extends to the idea of returning an item they have stolen, as Menkmack can’t even understand the concept of returning an item for free. As such, the Menkmack kept a hold of the Ancient One’s egg, in spite of the creature killing them over and over again.

**Culture**

Menkmack culture is based of betrayal and lies, as well as a healthy focus on capitalistic intentions. Menkmack see the need to play pranks and swindle other species as a fundamental part of the universe and even join the Federation of Allied Species, as they see it as the best possible business opportunity to acquire materialistic wealth.

Menkmack business ventures include all sorts, from selling illegal weapons, peddling gems and dirt samples to even scavenging derelict vessels to sell the contents. Menkmack are relatively known for their lies and cheating and most races tend to give them a wide berth. However, whilst the Menkmack enjoy blowing things up from time to time, they see things such as slavery, excessive killing and mercenary work as beneath even their admittedly low standards.

In spite of these apparent morals, Menkmack are still frauds and swindlers, which the Scryve find extremely amusing. This lends to the Menkmacks formal position in the Empire, that of Jesters. Menkmack seem to get a kick out of lying, often to their own detriment and they have quite a fondness for their own appearances, claiming they have trustworthy faces and all other faces are merely ugly. They do get along with “handsome” and “gullible” races, as they find it easier to swindle them out of their possessions. This pathological need to lie is mainly for the Menkmacks own amusement, such as sending the Mu’kay to lava worlds, rather than ice worlds like they had promised. They go to ridiculous extremes for this, having painted an entire moon white to fool the Mu’kay.

**History**

The Menkmack first came to the attention of the Scryve Empire and the larger galaxy when a Measured ship crashed on their homeworld. The crew requested the Menkmack to assist in repairs, which they happily helped with. However, once the ship was fixed, the Menkmack stole the ship for their own purposes.

The Scryve didn’t take too happily to this development and began to attack the various Menkmack worlds. This involved kinetic bombardments from orbit, even annihilating weddings and wiping out entire families. When the Menkmack surrenders, the Legate who was directing the assault on their worlds had come to find the Menkmack to be hilarious and allowed them to continue their activities under the position of Jester in the Empire.

The Menkmack operated in this capacity for several decades, much to the Scryve’s amusement, swindling other species and even members of the Empire. However, the Menkmack eventually became more trouble than they were worth and they have largely fallen out of favour with the rest of the Empire. It was around this time, the Menkmack encountered the Greegrox and the Ancient One. In a swift movement, the Menkmack managed to capture the Ancient One’s egg and escape.

In response, the Ancient One began to follow the Menkmack, devouring their original homeworld and forcing them to relocate. This continued for some time, with thousands of Menkmack dying with every assault on their new homeworlds. Eventually the Menkmack even stopped bothering to rename their new colony, calling each successive one, New New Whatever Menkmack.

During the events of the game, the Menkmack encounter the Captain of the Vindicator and begin to work with him for their own benefit. This ultimately comes to a head when they allow the Captain to steal the Ancient One’s egg and return it to the creature, saving the Menkmack from continued genocide. In response and for the potential business opportunities, the Menkmack join the Federation of Allied Species.