They Answered The Call

Galactic Commonwealth Species

Founding members

V'rni: The V'rnians are a mammalian rodent-like species and continue to maintain many of the characteristics of their rodent ancestors. They are friendly and inquisitive, and they are known to enjoy sharing the ribald jokes of other species among themselves, sometimes in inappropriate circumstances, though none hold it against them.

They are exceedingly industrious, working from dawn to dusk without any breaks except for multiple quick meals to sustain their high metabolism. This work ethic, coupled with their prodigious reproduction rates and accelerated growth cycle, has enabled them to become an industrial powerhouse, producing a third of the total economic and military output of the entire Galactic Commonwealth.

They are extremely well liked by other species for their humorous nature, and their habit of saying whatever is on their minds, no matter how undiplomatic it might be, is an attribute that many species find thoroughly refreshing, though sometimes disconcerting.

They form extended families of multiple husbands and wives, typically in groups of six mate pairings, and they all share equally in the responsibilities of communal pup-rearing. Female V'rni can produce two litters a year, with a typical litter size of six to eight pups. The pups reach full maturity within two cycles and then leave the nest to form their own family groups.

They typically reach a height of 1.5 galactic meters, and their average lifespan is twenty-five cycles of age, with rare V'rni reaching the age of thirty cycles and becoming exalted elders who are deeply respected by all strata of V'rnian society.

They are a peaceful species, but in times of war they become fearsome adversaries, their sharp teeth and claws, coupled with their speed and swarming tactics, allowing them to overwhelm larger-bodied, well-equipped enemy troops through a combination of protective ferocity and sheer numbers.

They enjoyed an elevated status within the Commonwealth due to being one of the founding members, but they always insisted on treating all others as equals, rejecting any special status conferred upon them as one of the original founders until their near extinction.

On the 37th solar day of the fourth lunar cycle, year 433 C.E. Commonwealth calendar (Earth year 2174 A.D.), the Insectoid Empire launched a devastating assault on the V'rn system with 1,437 stealth-coated asteroids converted into KKVs (kinetic kill vehicles) ranging in size from 100 galactic meters to 486 likals in diameter and moving at speeds in excess of 40,000 likals per hour.

Their nest world, V'rnia, was destroyed, and 92% of the intrasolar colonies and habitats were destroyed as well, killing 583 billion V'rnians out of a total population of 603 billion over a period of six solar hours later known as the V'rnian Cataclysm.

Another 12 billion died over the next four solar days from a combination of suffocation, hyperthermia/hypothermia, solar radiation poisoning, and critical injuries before the main Commonwealth relief efforts finally arrived.

The survivors from the V'rn system and the V'rnians that were on other planets throughout the Commonwealth and the quadrant were evacuated and then relocated to other Commonwealth worlds until a suitable nest world is found for them to rebuild their civilization. As of 2176 A.D., a suitable nest world still has not yet been found, and the V'rni remain guests of their host worlds.

Total population: 8.6 billion

Zikali: The Zikali are a mammalian bat-like species that still retains the ability to fly and glide for short distances. They have large brains relative to their delicate, light-framed bodies and excel at theorizing and engaging in scientific research.

They are one of the main drivers of technological advancement within the Commonwealth, and they are greatly respected by their peers for their relentless quest for knowledge and innovation. They form small research clans of ten to twelve related family units and engage in specific fields of research. They are rarely seen outside of their territory, and they exhibit solitary tendencies when outside of their clans.

The family unit consists of a mother and father, with a female giving birth to a single pup every five years after reaching sexual maturity, with two pups being the average due to the difficult nature of childbirth for their species and the high rate of perinatal mortality. The less than replacement birthrate from natural births is supplemented with the use of biomechanical birthing tanks that grow embryos from donor parents.

They form small research clans of ten to twelve related family units and engage in specific fields of research, pooling the efforts of the research clan. They are rarely seen outside of their territory, and they exhibit solitary tendencies when outside of their clans.

The typical height of a male Zikali is 2.5 galactic meters, while the females tend to average around two meters. They have an average lifespan of 135 cycles, and both males and females reach full maturity at the age of twenty-five cycles, at which point they join a particular field of research determined by the governing council, dedicating the rest of their lives to their careers until their deaths.

Their long lifespan and excellent mental discipline, coupled with their lifelong dedication to research, have allowed the Zikali to make a disproportionately large contribution to the technological advancement of the Commonwealth despite their low population numbers.

They enjoy an elevated status within the Commonwealth as one of the founding members, and the government sees to all their needs and wants to ensure that they continue to engage in their important research and technological innovations without interruption.

Total population: 2.1 billion

Omina: The Ominians are mammalian, humanoid monotremes that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. They are excellent natural-born politicians and administrators, and as such, they tend to have the largest representation in the Commonwealth government.

They are outgoing and highly intelligent, but they also tend to display arrogant condescension towards other species, especially non-Commonwealth species. Their skin colors range from violet to dark blue, and they reach an average height of 1.5 galactic meters.

They are hermaphroditic, and their family unit is made up of three parents and their young. Each parent will lay three eggs in their life, and they take turns until all three parents have laid all three eggs, forming their unit of three parents and nine younglings. They have an average lifespan of one hundred and sixty years, and younglings typically reach full maturity by the age of thirty-three cycles.

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They are found at all levels of the Commonwealth government and elected offices, and they are driven by the pursuit of status and wealth. This has led to them being viewed with distrust and antipathy by most other species, both inside and outside of the Commonwealth.

Despite their high intelligence, they repeatedly make diplomatic and governmental policy blunders due to their arrogance. Their belief that they are entitled to a special status as founders of the Commonwealth and their rightful, hereditary role as the leading species has bred resentment against them by most of the membership.

They are not suitable for combat, as they tend to become overwhelmed with fear and panic if their personal safety is threatened, and their selfish, imperious nature makes them unsuitable for leadership positions within the military ranks, as it causes friction and loss of cohesiveness.

Total population: 16.8 billion

Incorporated Member Species

Eleani: The Eleani are a mammalian primate-like species that retains the arboreal lifestyle of their ancestors. They have a sparse covering of fur that ranges from pale blond to dark gray, with green and yellow being the predominant eye colors. They have four fingers and toes and a long, triple-jointed thumb on both hands and feet. They have a thin prehensile tail that they use for grasping and balance, and that is typically half the length of their height.

They are a gregarious and curious species, and they easily make friends with other races due to their kind and friendly dispositions. The typical family unit comprises a birthmother and a sirefather and three younglings spread out over an eighty-cycle period, with the first youngling typically coming between thirty and forty-five cycles of age.

The Eleani are descended from a species that engaged in communal child-rearing with no involvement or attachment from the parents. It wasn't until they made the jump from sentience to sapience that birth parents started bonding and forming familial attachments to their younglings, and the terms birthmother and sirefather are still used to this day to indicate that they know who their parents are and as an acknowledgement of their communal past.

They are renowned for being artists, musicians, scientists, and historians. They naturally gravitate towards these professions, excelling in them. Most Commonwealth universities are heavily staffed with Eleani professors, and the most famous and accomplished Commonwealth artists and musicians are Eleani. They are a peaceful species, though they can put up a spirited fight despite being disinclined to the martial arts if circumstances require.

The average Eleani lifespan is one hundred and forty cycles, and the average height for both males and females is around 1.6 galactic meters. Youngling males reach full maturity at the age of twelve cycles, while youngling females reach maturity at fifteen cycles. As one of the periphery members and the furthest species from the core worlds, they enjoyed almost two hundred years of a laissez-faire approach by the Commonwealth government so long as they paid their taxes and met their refined ore quotas.

Total Population: 13.7 billion

Xenxin: The Xenxin are a mammalian weasel-like species that retained many of the characteristics of their ancestors. They are stubborn, argumentative, and always ready to resort to a fight if they feel threatened or perceive disrespect.

They are known to engage in bluff charges and other threatening behaviors to intimidate members of other species into giving ground or allowing them to win arguments. If you stand your ground, they will grudgingly respect you and go find someone else to push around.

They are boisterous, and trouble is never far away when a group of them gathers to engage in their many shady pursuits. They love to gamble in games of chance even though they are terrible at it, and their favorite pastime is playing practical jokes on unsuspecting victims that sometimes go too far.

One such case of this was ten cycles after they joined the Commonwealth. The Xenxin government issued an emergency distress call because an asteroid was found heading towards their planet and would impact in two solar days. The Commonwealth Navy scrambled the nearby periphery defense units and flashed out of null space into the Xenxin system to try to destroy the asteroid.

They scanned the projected asteroid path the Xenxin government had sent and found nothing. Confused, they contacted the Xenxin government for answers, only to be greeted by the prime minister guffawing on the holowave screen at the prank they just played on them. That was one hundred and forty cycles ago, and they still have not paid one credit of the ten billion credit fine they were issued by the Commonwealth parliament as punishment.

The Xenxin know that their nenchite deposits and the refineries in their home system are a critical resource for the Commonwealth and null drives, so they relish antagonizing the government and causing as many difficulties as they can, just to do so.

They generally have poor relations with other species, but they get along with the Eleani, the V'rni, and the Nekuli the best. They are extremely loyal when friendships are made and hold a deep reverence for those who show a willingness to sacrifice themselves for others or a cause. The actions of the humans who sacrificed themselves to save the Xenxin younglings in 2131 A.D. deeply affected their race, and they vowed to repay humanity for their sacrifices.

They fulfilled this vow by sending a stealth ship outfitted with the latest technologies and a repository of all the knowledge and technology they had to the Republic. They also goaded the Eleani to do the same, and their loyalty to the Eleani increased tenfold when they saw that they were willing to break the law and help uplift humanity.

Xenxin family units are comprised of a mother and father and a typical litter of four younglings. They have a shaggy coat of fine hair, and the color ranges from brown to dark red. They walk on their hind legs, though they can ambulate on all fours for a short period when they need to run fast.

Their average lifespan is between sixty and seventy cycles, and they reach full maturity by eight cycles of age. They have a typical height of 1.6 to 1.8 galactic meters and are stocky and heavily muscled, being well known throughout the quadrant for their incredible strength and durability. They are excellent fighters, though they make poor soldiers due to a lack of discipline when in larger groups.

The Commonwealth utilized them as shock troop brawlers to smash front lines and demoralize the enemy, and they make excellent sappers and engineers due to their innate digging abilities and the long claws on their hands and feet.

Total population: 15.4 billion

Nekul: The Nekuli are an iguana-like reptilian species that had a long history of warfare before they finally achieved lasting peace. They are a traditional clan-based society that holds to the virtues of the old ways and follows strict codes of conduct and honor.

Everyday transactions and interactions are carried out in a ritualized fashion, and they engage in a form of ancestor worship that guides their path towards salvation. They are bipedal and incredibly strong, with a tough, armored hide and a row of sharp, three-inch horns that start at the top of their skulls and continue down their spines to their lower tails. They have two rows of sharp incisors in their jaws, and they can spit a caustic, sticky mucus made in their throat glands almost ten meters away to temporarily blind an adversary.

They excel in the arts of war and have taken on the role of guardians of the Commonwealth and its member species. A large majority of the Commonwealth navy and ground forces are Nekuli, and they are also a large proportion of the law enforcement bureaus across Commonwealth space.

Their seriousness and devotion to duty have limited their ability to form good relations with other species that do not understand or espouse such concepts. A typical Nekuli family unit consists of a mother and father, and they will lay a clutch of eggs every five years, which will yield six hatchlings.

Hatchlings reach full maturity at the age of eight cycles, and the standard Nekuli lifespan is over two hundred cycles. The average height is 2.3 galactic meters, and their skin is typically green, with males sporting red and orange scales on their faces after maturity.

They are incredible fighters, and they have a gravitas that affords them natural authority and the ability to lead. They are shrewd thinkers and master tacticians, though their rigidity and code of conduct can cause them to sometimes make tactical blunders when facing an adversary with no concepts of honor.

Nekuli ground troops are renowned throughout the quadrant for their discipline and ferocity in combat, as well as their astounding strength and ability to sustain injuries that would kill most other species and keep on fighting.