Nurunian

**Nurunians** are a bipedal, fur-covered race of explorers, scavengers, smugglers, and adventurers. Greedy and curious, the Nurunians are often seen as tricksters and thieves by the general populace of Aeos. Nurunians share a common love of adventure, not often being happy settled in one place, and often seek out things that are precious like gems or minerals or things they find useful, such as tech or fuel.

## Appearance and Biology

Nurunians are a tall species of bipedal mammals covered in fur ranging in color from shades of blue, green, red, and purple. Their heads have hair that grows differently from the fur of their bodies, and a long, bushy tail extends out from their lower back. They stand digitigrade on a pair of paw-like, canine feet.

They have tall ears tipped with fur that can rotate similar to a cat's. Their muzzles are generally small but vary in size, and their eyes are large and expressive with a glow to them when in the dark. Their hands lack the fur found on their bodies.

## Society

### Clans, Tribes, and Gangs

Homegrown Nurunians have formed on-world into various clans, tribes, gangs, and even allied syndicates. These factions war across the world, vying for territories, resources, and weaponry.

* **Redstripes clan** - One of the largest clans in Iskra, the Redstripes are named after the red dye they use to paint stripes onto their tails marking them as members of the clan. They are a contentious clan lead by Grandleader Pynok, a seasoned Nurunian veteran of the "Ashland Wars", who have grown hostile and territorial ever since the rise of their rival clan, the Blackstripes. They hold dominion over the Suporik Marshlands and their adjacent mountain pass, Beggar's Crack.

* **Blackstripes clan** - Created by Urvolk Blackstripe, an outcast of the Redstripes clan, the Blackstripes are the aggressive upstarts attempting to wrest control of the marshlands from the Redstripes. Made up of other outcasts, exiles, and rogues, the Blackstripes use guerilla tactics in raids against the Redstripes and are known to be especially brutal.

* **Wartails** - A particularly fierce tribe of warriors native to Torgir, the Wartails are distinctive physically for being mostly shaven apart from a stripe of fur running from their heads down to their tails. The Wartails are nomadic raiders that have engineered their own Choppers and Maulers similar to the ones used by Ork warriors to be able to ride across the landscape. They burn and pillage whatever is in their path, looting food, fuel, tech, and women while scarcely leaving survivors in their wake. They are lead by Kragg Softpaws, an ironically named Nurunian woman and former rogue bandit.

* **Blasters** -

* **Scovi Brotherhood**

* **Badlanders**

* **Ashkin**

## Culture

Life as a Nurunian is one of constant activity and exploration. A nomadic and exploratory race by nature, Nurunians don't often enjoy sitting in one area for too long. Warlords and leaders will abandon well-fortified and defensible structures over time, as Nurunians become stir crazy easily.

Because of this, many Nurunians find working as traders, smugglers, cargo haulers, and valets. Nurunian's are very spirited and curious, though this does not make them naive. Nurunians are diverse and plentiful, being born on many different worlds and growing up in many different environments. This can lead to varying cultures and mindsets of off-world Nurunians as opposed to ones that live on their homeworld.

"Homegrown" Nurunians are starkly different than most, being contentious, distrustful, and possessive over what they claim is theirs. Growing up in excessive poverty and disease, "homegrown" Nurunians appreciate cunning and strength as well as possession, glorifying the wealthy and powerful.

### Architecture

Nurunian architecture used to be comprised of large, round buildings with spacious rooms built for housing many family units and guests. After their home planet has been reduced to a junk-filled wasteland, much of the old Nurunian architecture has fallen to disrepair and ruin.

Crude cities and fortresses have been constructed out of scrap and nearby refuse, and while, to outsiders, these may seem disgusting or off-putting, most Nurunians native to the planet see it as a common sight.

### Language

Nurunians, as a space faring race in the Core, speak Galactic as well as a few trade languages such as Nyroki and Techan. Their own language, Nurok, is considered ancient and lost to time. It exists still in many Nurunian ruins on their world, written on signs, labels, and other trash littering their homeworld. Today's Nurunians don't speak nor understand it, however, and scholars interested in recovering the lost language are few.

### Philosophy and Religion

Much of the Nurunian pantheon has, like with the rest of their culture, been lost to time and ruin. Different tribes and clans will pass down to their pups stories of what their gods are like, and these tales differ widely.

* **Farsir** - Called the "Alpha" by the Redstripes clan, Regir by the Badlanders, and the Great Father by the Scovi Brotherhood, Farsir is told to be a patriarchal god of wisdom, minerals, and time. The Ashkin represent him as a bright and tall pyre of flame, paying homage to him with sacrificial burnings.

### Magick

Most in the galaxy regard the Nurunians as Magickally impotent, much like the Eckari and Kandarrians. Like both races, however, a small amount of Nurunians find Magickal capabilities in themselves and become a variety of things, from legal Mages at the College on Cirina III to warlords who use their powers for dominance.

## Notable Nurunians

* Riko Tryse
* Iskar Foseth
* Armak Kossti