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- | ====== The World of the Sesheyan ====== | ||
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- | From the stone age to the space age, they | ||
- | are savage hunters from a night-bound world, enslaved by a powerful stellar nation and thrust into the | ||
- | light of the 26th century. Fighting to sustain an ancient culture amid the scientific wonders of galactic | ||
- | civilization, the sesheyans are held by many as an | ||
- | example of humans’ unfair treatment of alien species. | ||
- | Primitive aboriginals | ||
- | living on the largest moon of | ||
- | Gamma Leonis III, sesheyans | ||
- | were discovered by VoidCorp | ||
- | explorers. The corporation | ||
- | took advantage of the seshey- | ||
- | ans’ primitive nature and ar- | ||
- | ranged a contract placing | ||
- | them in service of VoidCorp in | ||
- | perpetuity. In effect, a stellar | ||
- | nation turned an entire alien | ||
- | race into its slaves. The | ||
- | sesheyans have learned a | ||
- | great deal about the galaxy | ||
- | since signing that fateful com- | ||
- | pact more than two hundred | ||
- | years ago, and many have be- | ||
- | gun to work in secret to free | ||
- | their people. | ||
- | |||
- | ===== Physiology ===== | ||
- | Sesheyans are perhaps the most “alien” | ||
- | species encountered thus far by humans. They aver- | ||
- | age 1.7 meters tall with sleek, whipcord muscles. | ||
- | The sesheyan skeleton is composed of light, strong | ||
- | cartilage, so sesheyans weight only an average of 40 | ||
- | kilograms and have extraordinarily flexible joints and | ||
- | posture, allowing them to crouch and bend for ex- | ||
- | tended periods of time without discomfort. | ||
- | Sesheyans are hexipedal, having six limbs. | ||
- | The upper arms end in four fingers (including an op- | ||
- | posable thumb), and the lower legs end in three | ||
- | splayed toes. Both of these sets of limbs have short | ||
- | claws, allowing sesheyans to climb trees and perch | ||
- | on branches in their native jungle. The two middle | ||
- | limbs are slim and end in six long slender “fingers” | ||
- | with flaps of leather skin stretched between them, | ||
- | forming a pair of wings with a span of six meters. | ||
- | The wings allow sesheyans to fly on their homeworld | ||
- | and other worlds with Earth-normal or lighter gravity | ||
- | and sufficient atmospheric pressure. | ||
- | The sesheyan head is wide and round, with | ||
- | four small eyes on each side and topped with a pair | ||
- | of elongated ears. Their eyes are highly sensitive to | ||
- | light, having adapted to the twilight environment of | ||
- | the jungles of Sheya. The blunt snout covers a wide | ||
- | mouth filled with sharp, bony | ||
- | ridges rather than teeth. | ||
- | Sesheyans have a voice box | ||
- | capable of producing a wide | ||
- | range of sounds, and they | ||
- | have no trouble learning and | ||
- | speaking human or other | ||
- | alien languages. | ||
- | Sesheyans have long, finned | ||
- | tails used for balance and | ||
- | flight control. The tail ends in | ||
- | a series of spines connected | ||
- | by leathery skin. The spines | ||
- | can flex to widen or narrow | ||
- | the “fan” at the end of the tail, | ||
- | providing steering while in | ||
- | flight. Sesheyans also open | ||
- | or close their tail fans to dis- | ||
- | play emotions: those in an | ||
- | excited mood open their tail | ||
- | fans, while those in a quiet, | ||
- | contemplative mood close their tail fans. | ||
- | |||
- | ===== From the Stone Age to the Gravity Age ===== | ||
- | According to sesheyan fable, their race origi- | ||
- | nated in what is known as enoshai, or the “Twilight | ||
- | Dream,” a timeless state of being connected with the | ||
- | vastness of space and the night sky. The first seshey- | ||
- | ans were created by Vec’t’lir, the Brood Mother, | ||
- | whom the sesheyans associate with the second- | ||
- | largest moon of Gamma Leonis III. Her twin sons are | ||
- | Tal, the Hunter, and Neshii’en, the Trickster, associ- | ||
- | ated with the gas giant’s two smaller moons, which | ||
- | chase each other endlessly across the sky. | ||
- | Sesheyans were created to be the greates15 | ||
- | 15 | ||
- | 15 | ||
- | 15 | ||
- | SESHEYANS | ||
- | hunters of Sheya, “the hunting land.” (The name | ||
- | sesheyan means “hunters of the land.”) In the days | ||
- | of the Twilight Dream, great heroes like Tal and Ne- | ||
- | shii’en lived among the sesheyans, teaching them. | ||
- | Over time, they became a part of the history and cul- | ||
- | ture of the sesheyans, their names invoked by hunt- | ||
- | ers and shamans. | ||
- | For millennia, life on Sheya was largely the | ||
- | same. The tribes hunted (and warred occasionally), | ||
- | shamans kept the wisdom of the past, families mated | ||
- | and grew, and the cycle of life went on. The seshey- | ||
- | ans existed in the timeless realm of the Twilight | ||
- | Dream – until the arrival of VoidCorp. | ||
- | |||
- | ===== Aikeita: The Day of Ghosts ===== | ||
- | On July 13, 2274, a VoidCorp exploratory ves- | ||
- | sel landed on the largest moon of Gamma Leonis III. | ||
- | There, project leader JT795 42IWQ (Erim Ollander) | ||
- | made contact with the sesheyans. To the primitive | ||
- | sesheyans, the arrival of the explorer ship was noth- | ||
- | ing less than the appearance of ghosts from the | ||
- | night sky, as in their ancient fables. The visitors dis- | ||
- | played magical powers: Their weapons spat fire, | ||
- | blinding light spilled from their instruments, and their | ||
- | bodies were tall and strange. Sesheyan shamans | ||
- | called the arrival of these strangers aikeita, “the Day | ||
- | of Ghosts.” | ||
- | The VoidCorp crew had little difficulty mak- | ||
- | ing peaceful contact with the sesheyans, who consid- | ||
- | ered them visitors from the Twilight Realm. Under- | ||
- | standing the value of their discovery, JT795 42IWQ | ||
- | decided to remain on Sheya and conceal her discov- | ||
- | ery, even to the point of not sending transmissions to | ||
- | VoidCorp management, lest they be overheard by | ||
- | agents of another stellar nation. | ||
- | Immediately after translating their language | ||
- | enough to converse with the sesheyans, JT795 42IWQ | ||
- | negotiated the Sesheyan Compact with the leaders | ||
- | of the most powerful tribes. The Compact granted | ||
- | the sesheyans right of passage off their homeworld | ||
- | and access to advanced technology. In exchange, | ||
- | the sesheyans agreed to serve VoidCorp in perpetu- | ||
- | ity. In essence, every sesheyan became a VoidCorp | ||
- | employee, subject to VoidCorp rules and authority. | ||
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