Novadi

The **Novadi** are a race of silicon-based lifeforms instrumental to the history and operations of LEX.

## Abilities

Cultural Incompetence: Novadi rarely pick up on social cues and idioms. -1 to Diplomacy checks

Synthetic Savants: +3 to all Robotics, Engineering, Piloting, and Hacking rolls.

## Homeworld

Novadi are a cloistered race that can only be found on LEX tech worlds. Their original homeworld was a small moon called Keldu, now LEX's Prime Motum, where the larger part of their population still lives.

## Factions

Because of their rarity and planetary isolation, Novadi are found strictly in the LEX faction.

## Biology

Novadi are widely considered the most biologically anomalous race in the galaxy. They are the only known silicon-based life, and are thus studied constantly and with great vigor. They find machines more relatable than other living beings, because of "the simplicity of their thoughts and the purity of their purpose." Impossibly, Novadi are the only species native to Keldu. Vanon scholars who have studied Novadi evolution have determined that this may be due to a type of special convergence. This theory states that there were once many races on Keldu, all living in a similar way, derived from the same genes. These races were subjected to some tremendous environmental taxes that selected for an incredibly specific set of genes, causing every species to slowly evolve towards a common body form. Once these new body forms reached genetic compatibility, every organism on the planet became one homogeneous species. This is evidenced by the presence of inactive foreign DNA in the silicate cells of many Novadi.

To say that Novadi have an affinity for technology is a gross understatement. Their nerves are literally made of silicon fibers and they have no necessity for an immune system, so they can interweave machinery into their bodies and use their own body tissue in their machines. The LEX Prime Modum is at least 60% Novadi biomass, painstakingly crafted into what is essentially a massive Novadi brain, programmed by the last members of the Galactic Proletariat. Novadi reproduce via "centralized conglomeration." When a Novadi becomes too old to properly locomote (at around the 600-year mark), its fellows will take it to a "mass forest," where it is "planted." Encasing itself in a glass cocoon, the still conscious Novadi becomes a silicate root system that erupts a huge mass of tissue from the ground, surrounded by others that have done the same in the mass forest. Small glass polyps bud from this structure. Once ripe, the polyps are picked by adult Novadi who gently pry them open to retrieve the young Novadi growing inside. Newborns are capable of locomotion and speech, having been taught the Novadi language by their parent while they were gestating in its polyps. Mass forests are built in and around Novadi cities, so that the now stationary elderly Novadi need never feel alone. It should be said that, if left to exist for thousands of years in a mass forest, a Novadi will never die. Instead, it will become near homogeneous with its comrades around it, becoming a kind of infinite echo of wisdom and thought stretching out to other elders and gestating young alike.

## Culture

Because of their naivete and curiosity, Novadi are often regarded as childlike by other races. They are uncomfortably direct, and seldom comprehend social cues and idioms, let alone humor. When they get to know someone, they are agreeable and obedient to the point where they can become servants or thralls to that individual's will. Novadi love to play and can remain fascinated with a pile of sand and mineral dust for hours if they are allowed to. Boredom is impossible for such creatures. When Novadi come together, they become extremely productive, building micro tech systems out of silicate sand and the conductive fibers of their own tissue.