Scrin

## Appearance

Scrin resemble very large apes from Earth though they walk upright and have elongated fangs comparatively. Brutishly strong, raised in households that value savagery and brute force rather than cunning. Most Scrin are thickly muscled and stand roughly between six feet and seven feet in height; females being larger than males. Their skin is a greyish-blue and their eyes tend to be small in comparison to the rest of their head. Unlike humans, Scrin only have three fingers on each hand and their feet end in only two oversized toes. On the bottoms of their feet are thick callouses that grow naturally without prompting from an outside stimulus.

## Culture

Traditional Scrin culture involves hunting for pride, glory and as a measure of displays of martial prowess. Most Scrin warriors are male while females, though admittedly larger than their male counterparts and more dangerous, prefer that men come to them and bring their trophies of war. Mercenary work comes naturally to Scrin and most of them favor melee weaponry or shotguns as these weapons allow them to get in close. In their own nation, Scrin are divided into tribes which are almost constantly at war with one another when they are not at war against a single threat that unites them.

The consumption of the dead in most other cultures is strictly taboo though for the Scrin it is seen as an honor to be eaten by a better warrior. Doing so allows the fallen warrior to pass into the next life and join the Scrin in the ranks of a holy army for their god, Yier. This process is more ritualistic than a cannibalistic frenzy and does involve the mourning, in some cases, of fallen opponents that could have made the Scrin warrior better than they were simply by being alive. For warriors that are not consumed on death while their corpse is still warm, their soul is said to pass on into oblivion where it will remain trapped forever. Some Scrin have forsaken this culture in favor of others though they are generally outliers rather than the rule.

Scrin are taught at a young age how to fight and are generally some of the most fearsome warriors in the galaxy; often competing with elite units of other species in close combat. Most of them are taught the Sha'krie or 'swift death' (loosely translated) which teaches them how to kill their opponents quicker rather than slower in order to minimalize their suffering. Suffering, or allowing an individual to suffer, to the Scrin is heresy to their religion as all warriors should be given honorable deaths so that they will not be maimed upon returning to Yier.

Scrin history is as quick and brutal as their preferred combat method. Their home world, Kuznit, is much closer to their local star than what is usually capable of supporting life. It is theorized by enslaved Lohnean scientists that at one point in time, Kuznit once was in an orbital rotation with another two planet like objects, and due to unknown cosmic events, was the only remaining celestial body left within their original home system and knocked closer towards their star, resulting in only the strongest and most adaptable of species surviving. This leaves the planet near entirely inhospitable with all forms of life in one form or another adapting to carnivorous life, whether to defend itself from predators or to reach a sustainable food source as opposed to what a balanced ecosystem would have available. The Scrin survived by becoming nomadic, quickly learning the patterns and rotation of their planet by instinct and local Shamans or Stargazers who mapped crude calendars to live by. They remained in a small belt all across Kuznit, where the heat was bearable but the freezing temperatures of night could not reach them either. They remained divided by small tribes until a prophet of Yier began a bloody rampage to unite all Scrin for the holy war that would come at an appointed time. To prepare, the Scrin would need to be spread across the stars, and be the dominant warriors to be of use to their god. The prophet, Opato, became the first Orator of her people, and crushed any resisting Scrin, showed her people how to tame the Dune Beast's that lurked beneath the sands, and led the war against the Giants who had laid claim to the northern pole, where great works of technology lay for the Scrin to make their own. So sudden and viscous was the attack from what was thought to be disorganized savages, hardly anything of these people remain... almost. To this day however, the Scrin celebrate their victory that elevated them from mere squabbling nomads into the fearsome warriors that lay claim to entire worlds presently, but their hatred for the Giants of which none but them have ever seen, remains.

## Religion

Yier demands that blood be spilled in order to appease his thirst. Those consumed are passed on into a glorious afterlife to live alongside him as his angels; incredible beings of power that wield his own might. Unlike most other religions, Yier does not demand that his followers be faithful and instead only that they die an honorable death. As a result, many elderly Scrin find themselves involved in mercenary work so that in their final hours they may bring themselves to glory and honor. For those that do not pass by violent means but have supported themselves through other methods (craftsmen, merchants, etc) but have been honorable in their dealings and truthful will be consumed by their fellows who still remain and be passed into the glorious afterlife. This includes those who do not die violently but are warriors that survive to tell their tales.

Though Yier is a violent god, he is also described by the Scrin as benevolent in his actions and that the violence is purely to weed out the weakest of the groups so that they can be returned to Yier and be made stronger in his forges. Yier is often depicted as a Scrin that carries a massive hammer which he uses to dispatch his enemies as well as to manufacture new souls at his forge. In mythology, Yier never inserts a new soul directly into the forge unless that soul is to be made a prophet or a direct instrument of his will. Such beings are rare in history but most often include powerful chieftains, warlords, priests and other such leadership.

In his holy texts, Yier specifically forbids the practice of using biological and chemical warfare which is often interpreted to include anything that would cause mass numbers of death where corpses cannot be consumed. Many Scrin do not make use of grenades or other explosives for this reason. To do so denies the individual the chance to live forever in eternal vigilance with Yier as his angel. Similarly, Scrin that follow the teachings of Yier do not typically use heavy weapons and instead prefer bludgeoning weaponry and axes in order to keep opponents as intact as possible while inflicting enough damage to make a killing blow as likely as possible.

Oblivion for the Scrin is a place of unending emptiness and separation from Yier's stern grip on the universe. Without Yier to guide them, warriors in limbo eventually go mad and fight anything that comes near them, friend and foe alike. Such warriors are referred to as Wraiths and psionic disruptions (said to be Wraiths in the culture of the Scrin) can cause them to manifest. As a result, the Scrin have an intense dislike for psions who go against the will of Yier and open gates of oblivion'. These individuals are often targeted first and brutally if the Scrin warrior can manage it.

## Size

Your size is Large at base when you select Scrin as your race.

## Languages

As a Scrin you speak Oorlog and one other language of your choosing.