Forlock

## Physiology

At first glance, Forlocks appear incredibly similar to smaller humans, though, with a much greater variety in skin tones, ranging from pure white to wine red to steel blue. They also possess much larger ears that rest on the tops of their heads as well as a shaggy tails giving them a semi-canine appearance. Their "skin" is actually in fact a dense fur that forms a cohesive layer just above the skin, but can be unmatted upon contact. This is however very uncomfortable to Forlocks and not recommended.

Forlocks possess secondary rows of teeth behind their visible teeth that are incredibly sharp and are capable of shredding apart dense meats and substances. Their tongues are 3 feet long on average and form a whip-like shape, frequently resting in the back of their throats. These tongues possess incredible sensory nodes on them that Forlock have trained themselves to be able to determine a great amount of information from things they make contact with. As such, it is not unusual to find Forlocks licking things unknown to them which can be somewhat of an uncomfortable sight for those not used to them.

Notable of Forlock is that they are a hermaphroditic non-binary species by nature. They possess no external sexual features and internally possess organs of both male and female nature, thus making all Forlock capable of both insemination and carrying young to term. (Of note, Forlock in their own language have no gendered pronouns, using a universal "zi", but for the sake of translation just simply use all pronouns interchangably and without much care at all.)

Forlock, in addition to their enhanced tongues, also possess incredible senses of smell and hearing, capable of four times the intensity and range of human beings. Their sight color range is also quite different than human beings, seeing an even greater range of colors within the warm spectrum of color, but being entirely unable to see shades of green or purple instead seeing blues and reds respectively in their place.

## Culture & History

Forlocks are natural anthropologists, that almost instinctively seek out facets of knowledge on a variety of different subjects, often unique to the individual. Learning and discovering is a natural part of their mental structures and Forlocks can even go into extreme depressive episodes and become ill if their natural curiosity remains unsated.

As a collective, the Forlock are more than well known for their incredible devotion to the preservation of culture and arts of those they observe to a borderline obsessive degree. It is unknown exactly where this obsession began, but it has been present throughout the length of their recorded history, being the entire motivation that pressed them to pursue the stars and even develop a navy to both protect their assets and procure other assets from more aggressive cultures.

For some time, a massive Galactic Museum devoted to every species they possessed specimens of was kept on their homeworld, and even received contributions from a number of their political allies, but an errant attack on the planet rendered a significant portion of the museum destroyed and a great degree of the world in chaos as a result. Since this, a quarantine has been placed on the world until the rampant specimens can be put under control once more.

Since then, smaller museums and libraries have been established and maintained on various Forlock controlled territories and within private Forlock dwellings, but a Galactic Museum to follow up has yet to be attempted though it is a frequent topic of conversation among Forlock savants.

Many regard the Forlock as rather eccentric sorts, and their natural tendency to pursue their interests lead them to many different corners of the Galaxy. It is not unusual to find them employed in a variety of niche posit ions that require extensive knowledge of a specific thing and more often than not, that thing is their particular 'obsession' at that given time.