Gryzzik

The **Gryzzik** are a hybrid race, created by Confederate scientists through genetic manipulation, that combines characteristics of the insectoid Kyrrztli and humans. They are often found in 2514 Bhadrapada VI, either in the periphery of kyrrztli hives or in human cities.

## Physical Description

Gryzzik look like gaunt humanoids, with thin limbs ending in three thick digits each. Their faces are dominated by a pair of large eyes with vertical-slitted pupils, with irises varying in color (but often red, yellow or orange), and have small human-like noses and mouths. Their ears are small but pointed, and they have a pair of insect-like antennae jutting from the upper frontal part of their heads. Their skin is similar to that of humans, usually in light tones (ranging from light tan to grayish-white), and they have very little hair except for the top of their heads, where it grows a few inches thick, in dark colors. They generally wear clothing and equipment similar to that of colonial humans.

## Abilities

Having inherited part of the kyrrztli's strange psyche, gryzzik are also highly resistant to telepathic powers. Their large eyes and antennae also give them enhanced senses, similarly to their insectoid relatives. Additionally, due to their natural role as intermediaries between two radically different species, most gryzzik are skilled in negotiation and intelligence activities.

## Mindset and Behavior

The gryzzik mind is a strange blend of insectoid and human psychology, combining aspects of both parent races. While they have humanity's capacity for empathy and affect, it's somewhat dulled, allowing them to relate to the kyrrztli's cold practicality. Additionally, the kyrrztli's "hive mentality" is also significantly reduced in gryzzik, granting them a more human sense of individuality. The kyrrztli's predatory nature is combined with human adaptability, yielding a dangerously resourceful breed. That, together with the gryzzik's relative lack of grounding (either as human-like emotional bonding or insectoid instinctive cooperation) make the gryzzik a rather unpredictable race, as adept to peaceful conflict resolution as they are to criminal activity.

## Society and Culture

Gryzzik have very little in terms of a society of their own, being a relatively recent, artificially-created race. As such, they tend to live in the outskirts of both human and kyrrztli society, clinging on to those two civilizations however they can - as servants at best, and as criminals at worst. Although they were made in the bosom of human society, and have adopted much of human colonial culture as a result, many gryzzik over the years have sought succor at the kyrrztli hives, where they fit in marginally better than in human cities, and as such, they have adopted many elements of insectoid culture, such as their language and dietary habits. Therefore, Gryzzik culture, as with their physiology, is an odd mix of Kyrrztli and human influences.

## Background

Gryzzik were created by a cadre of Asheran geneticists, both human and shaugmar, as a cutting-edge experiment on complex genetic manipulation, likely inspired by the infamous Halachian experiments. Unlike the project that gave rise to the mutant plague, the creation of the Gryzzik was a much more careful and deliberate undertaking (done with full consent of the Kyrrztli, in fact, who were just as curious of the results as the Asherans), and yielded much more successful, and more stable, results.

Ever since, the Gryzzik have had a place in the human colonies as a sort of a servant underclass, which many of them have grown to resent. The Kyrrztli, excited about this new variation of their own race, have gladly embraced into their own society any Gryzzik who care to join them, although in practice this has proven difficult due to differences in life-cycle and daily habits (since the gryzzik are physiologically closer to humans than to insectoids).

With the difficulties they face fitting into either parent society, many gryzziks have taken to exploring the Universe, roaming the known planets as mercenaries, adventurers, low-life scoundrels scrounging for opportunities, and any other activities that allow them to walk far-off lands, often more on the unsavory side.

## Roleplaying Information

Gryzzik are functionally equivalent to half-elves. In terms of alignment, they share the Cooperativist (collectivist and anomist) tendency of kyrrztli, but much less strongly, and adapt easily to any alignment.