The Skinnies

The Skinnies: Builders of the Starband

 A very tall race (14 feet) and weighing typically around 300 lbs, the Skinnies are an ancient race who built the starband (a massive ringworld) in Jerlea Sector. Their homeworld has never been discovered (and the Skinnies themselves aren’t talking) but many sociologists have theorized that it was demolished to build the immense construct known as the Jerlea Ringworld. Physically, the Skinnies have very large eyes, long bodies, and lengthy appendages remind some Olde Earth humans of giraffes (spots not included).

 RACIAL
Once a powerful galactic race whose interstellar empire had reached vast proportions long ago, the natives of the starband (the M’warshaaaa’whoo but called “Skinnies” by humans) have now fallen upon hard times. Even before humanity came into contact with the Skinnies they were in political and economic decline, dealing with several brutal conflicts with a diverse array of races and facing a disruptive technological collapse. As the wars went badly, the Skinnies slowly retreated back to the starband and vowed to defend it to the bitter end. Finally, with over two trillion people inhabiting the starband (many of them refugees) the Skinnies fought a last ditch battle against the Mech’onians, the Bree-all, and the Dreamers of the Mists, the aliens who led the war against the Skinines. This battle took place just two years before the first humans made first contact with the Skinnies at the starband, which is now called the Jerlea Ringworld. It was only the strong intervention of humanity at that time and the use of powerful human warships that saved the Skinnies from total annihilation from their genocidal foes, and they reacted gratefully, providing information, technology, and living space on the starband to their gallant defenders.

POLITICAL
While almost completely alien in their outlook compared to humans, the Skinnies have begrudgingly adapted to their lessened status within the Anciene Republik and they get along well with most Republik races, with the singular exception of the Toth (who they dispise with a passion due to some ancient quarrel). Skinnies have an ancient and monolithic society and are not noted for their inventiveness but what they are noted for is their powerful psionic capabilities, and the phenomenal capacity to mind-merge with nearly any machine. Throughout Skinny history the race as a whole has never show much interest in warfare and when they encountered the warlike Triumvirate they were at a loss in what to do. That war ended the Skinnies multi-millennial reign of the Jerlea region. Governmentally, the Skinnies prefer impersonal bureacracies and almost always oppose dictatorships; in fact as a herd race the Skinnies do not have the capability of understanding or tolerating self-appointed rulers of any kind.

HISTORICAL
In the latter part of their imperial history the Skinnies faced the appearance of the Triumvirate (a militant three way alliance between the Mech’onians, the Bree-all, and the Dreamers of the Mists). These brutal aliens were a rude shock to the Skinnies and although they themselves had several allies, including the notable Branx and the Holots, their empire began collapsing almost immediately in the face of the genocidal tactics that the Triumvirate employed from the start. Fighting lasted for nearly 2,000 years before the Skinnies were forced back to the starband; most of their fleets destroyed and their AIs corrupted. Luckily human intervention saved them from totally annihilation. The Skinnies as a race have never gotten over the loss of their empire and they are a mournful species, always looking backward to their former glory days. Since the end of the Triumvirate Wars (16,015 IE to 18,023 IE), humanity has spread all across the starband and renamed it the Jerlea Ringworld. With over 12 trillion inhabitants at its’ height the starband was a major economic magnet for all the surrounding sectors and the representatives of the gigantic construct completely dominated the Jerlea Sector government. The representatives from the starband were extremely wealthy and used their ultra-high tech advantages ruthlessly, taking over the sector government nearly 20,000 years ago. The starband allowed immense concentration of power in relatively few hands and the people of the Jerlea Ringworld were politically unstoppable, and the Skinnies shared in this power. However, the supernova of a nearby star (the Hammerstar) led directly to the Collapse and the end of Jerlea dominance. When the supernova wave overtook the Jerlea Ringworld the inhabitants were shielded by the floor and walls of the starband, but none of the surrounding star systems were as fortunate and all contact with the Jerlea Ringworld was lost in 50,535. The Hammerstars’ explosion lashed Jerlea Sector with radioactive death and a destructive technological collapse began to move outward from the explosions epicenter.

ABILITIES
Skinnies were a ultra-high tech race at the height of their empire and are partially genetically altered. They have the following genetic abilities: Completely Unfazeable, Disease Resistant, Strong Eidetic Memory, are Lighting Mental Calculators, and are Very Strong Willed. Scientists at the Imperial Stellar University at Nueva Brasilia have theorized that the Skinnies needed to be at least TL25 to build the starband and it obviously took the resources of thousands of worlds to construct it. Since their fall to pre-jump levels, only a few scattered records have been found and recorded by human historians detailing the construction of the starband and the history of the Skinnies.

SKINNY TIMELINE
Skinny Jump Drive Discovered                     9,000 IE est.
Skinny Empire at its’ Height                          14,500 IE est.
Skinnies Build the starband                          14,677 IE
Skinny-Triumvirate War Begins                   16,015 IE
Humans Contact the Skinnies                      18,021 IE
Triumvirate Wars Over                                  18,023 IE
Skinnies Meet the Toth                                  4,600 RE est.
Skinny Techno-Collapse Begins                 8,500 RE est.
Hammerstar Destroys Skinny Worlds         50,779 RE
Current Era….                                                50,924 RE