Humma Sexuality and Reproduction

Humma don't understand gender like the humans, vrusk, and yazirians.  To them a normal being goes through stages and that's that.  To be stuck in one stage (male or female) is just ludacris and stupid to a humma and he will tell you so in no uncertain terms.  Humma don't even have words that properly translate to male or female because "you are just you" and the stage you are in does not change who you are.  Humma think of it more like, "I've reached fertility" (female stage), and "I've become virile" (male stage), and "I am old" (neuter stage).

Sex because of love is not on the menu for a humma.  Procreation is what you do to be better than the next humma.  If you win the privilege to mate with a fertile humma then that is points for you and not the next grunt.

Having a litter is a right of passage for the fertile humma.  Everyone does it and it revolves around status.  Fertile humma have spent years positioning themselves to attract the "right" virile humma.  There is great status to be gained by getting the most prestigious, the most popular, and the most honored to compete for the mating privilege. The same is true for the virile humma seeking to mate.  They are seeking to gain mating privilege with the best placed fertile humma in society.  This is not about love, it is about status.  Competitions must be won and prices paid.

When the a fertile humma finally goes into heat the time for competition is up.  Those who have gained enough status and see this particular humma as a good choice to gain more status fight it out in a public event.  The fertile humma is the prize.  This is where houses and families come in.  Houses have great sway in the whole status evaluation of mating candidates.  Back room deals, honor bound allegiances and other feudal responsibilities and obligations come into play and must be observed.  After the deciding fight, the winner ritually fights the fertile humma.  The fight ends with a brief mating.  Then the two part ways and may never see each other again.  In rare cases the fertile humma may actually fight back to defeat the winner and possibly runners-up until the desired candidate is reached and then a ritual fight is performed ending with a mating.  That is the closest that the humma comes to love in a mating relationship. However, the female fighting back can also be due to honor, status, and other obligations too.

A pregnant humma traditionally spends the months of pregnancy shoring up and finalizing negotiations about the care of the offspring.  At birth the kittens are placed with the families or houses of the mating pair to meet obligations and win favors.  The fertile humma then transitions to the virile stage soon after the birth and may never see the kitterns again.  There is little emotional attachment.  Humma value their offspring for their accomplishments and status that they bring.  An accomplished or famous offspring may bring status and help win future mating contest rights.

Historically, humma kittens had poor chances of survival before the modern feudal system of houses and obligations. The kittens were expected to fend for themselves and follow the family as best they could.  Think of the historic family as more of a pack or herd.  The modern system a family is less tied by genealogy than the historic family and more of a cooperative unit that grew up together. Kinda like orphan gangs that society has placed controls on for the betterment of society.  All kittens taken into a house born about the same time become a family and are overseen by elders who see to their "proper" education. 

Houses grew out of the ancient herd or packs. Some houses are more concerned with proper blood than others. Proper blood houses tend to be the older houses and tend to take whole litters together as families rather than mixing the kittens. Typically proper blood houses are proper blood because they have the status and position that allows them to afford the luxury of siblings in families. This is a luxury because the siblings are expected to fight it out and deaths do occur.  In more contemporary houses the families are picked and assembled so as to best grow the house with successful members. It is much like trying to pick a better sports team.

Special Abilities & Characteristics

Special Abilities

Poison Resistance
Humma are unaffected by any poison that they eat or drink.

Prehensile Tail
The tail of the humma is 2 meters long and has a grip stronger than a human hand. The tail is capable of holding an item or swinging a melee weapon. When holding an item, the humma can use its two arms normally. When using the tail to wield a weapon, the humma must concentrate on it and connot use its arms to operate anything else. The tail can only wrap around hilts, handles, etc., but cannot throw grenades or operate devices. The tail itself is treated as a rifle butt for damage. It is strong enough to support a humma's body, but only for a number of turns equal to the humma's Stamina divided by 10.

Spring Charge:
The humma have a special spring charge that allows them to move, by jumping, before and after a melee attack. The attack is done with the tail and maximum distance of 25m cannot be exceded on that turn. The humma gets to move attack and move without his opponent being able to attack back. The opponent can move and engage the humma on his initiative but good tactical use of this ability can prevent an opponent from ever striking back.

The spring charge is best employed by large numbers of humma circling a victim and springing to attack in round robin. This tactic, known in Pan Gal as the carousel attack, was so named by a human witness.

Humma Characters
Ability Scores

STR/STA	+10
DEX/RS	+0
INT/LOG	+0
PER/LDR	-10

Customs

Sociologist have endlessly speculated about war being a cultural imperitive among the humma, a way of thinning out the herd. However, their love for war and conflict seems to be rooted in the fabric of thier genetic code. The primal humma concern has been attaining status for himself, his lineage and his house. Modern Hummarin society has seen a shift in this quest for status. The pride and honor that humma have traditionally assigned to feats of war have come to include accomplishments in technical, scientific, and exploration endevors. There is even a house, Platget, that now sends out its descendants to become Star Law Rangers. The paradigm shift that has seen status being assigned to pursuits other than acts of martial prowess has had the side effect of creating a population boom. The humma have begun to dominate and develop three planets in their home system.

Since ancient times warring houses would clash in an endless brawl in the quest for status. Alliances and fortunes could change overnight. The leadership of these institutions had to be ever vigilent. This role almost always fell to the neuters who were less volatile then the younger males. Old age carries none of the stigma sometimes seen in other species. The neuter humma no longer have to prove themselves as they have a lifetime of accomplishment and are generally respected for having lived until this milestone in their lives. After this change in their bodies the ambitions of the neuter humma change from personal status to concern for his legacy and the status of his house and lineage. This is not to say a neuter humma gave up warfare as many continued in the ranks but generally serving as officers.

Under the feudal system the humma fought in units based on lineage and house. They evolved customs of wearing house or lineage colors and emblems, standards or "flags", and royal seats awarded based on status. These practices persist.

In prehistoric times the hummarin lineages maintained a lineage totem. This totem bore stylized representations of the lineage founder at the top and over time significant leaders would have their heads added in relief beneath that. To be immortalized on the this pole is a high honor. House poles are slightly different, they bear the heads of all the founders of all lineages within the house. In addition if a humma's accomplishments are so great he may be accorded a place on the house totem but generally he is granted the formal priviledge to establish a new lineage within a house and thus have his head added to the totem.

Tail rings for formal occasions and neck rings for everyday wear are commonly etched with designs from the house or lineage poles. Unless a humma is disgraced he can expect that his neck ring will be displayed in the house or lineage's estate. A great honor is for the most accomplished to have their ring attached to the house or lineage totem.

A simplified version of the totem was carried into battle called a house or lineage standard. It is a light weight pole with a hollow metal head and streaming wind sock (called the tail) behind it. The head is crafted to represent the founder of the lineage or house but with an open mouth. Its fluted and vented for sound as air passes into the mouth and out the trailing wind sock. The sound is typically a roar.

A charging humma bearing this standard creates a repetative series of roars and pauses as he hops into combat with each hop; the roar occuring on forward bounds. The rythm of this roar allows a commanding officer to control a large group of humma in their famous carousel attack. Even when an officer halts his standard bearer will continue to swing the standard in a figure eight pattern. Standard bearers are choosen from the largest and toughest warrior with the highest stamina neccessary to swing and carry the standard throughout a whole battle.

While the customs surrounding mating combat are ritualized and formal and they are hold themselves honor bound to their warrior codes they essentially have no rule or custom reguarding warfare in particular. Rather they believe that there are no rules in warfare. The humma are amoung the most vicious and dangerous opponents in the Frontier.

This has led to some problems with regiments of humma in the service of the Rim and United Planetary Federation as humma are quite fond of despoiling the bodies of vanquished enemies and eating them. The UPF has tried to enforce a uniform code of military conduct which regulates such activities but most non humma commanders have learned to look the other way.

The practice of eating enemies is ancient in origin and has seen a resurgence since the First Sathar War. Since the humma's hate for the sathar is only exceeded by that of the ifshnit it is not surprising that this custom has returned. For the humma, eating a vanguished enemy is the ultimate expression of his contempt. All humma refer to the sathar as "meat" and its probably just as well for the sathar that they perfer suicide to capture.

Houses and Lineages in Humma Society

House Arius holds a seat of Higher One and is allied to the royal house. Its leadership has chafed under the political status quo but cannot break publicly with the king. The lineages in House Arius turn out the best spacers and figure prominently in the Fokrik Defence Fleet. (+10% to one spacer skill, chosen at the time of acquiring the first spacer skill)

Lineage Eruditi produces war priests, who are fervent to the point of zealotry. They are identifiable by their clean outward appearance, their hair being clean and scented with pleasant oils. Their Hum, quite unusually, holds the title High One, a seat generally only held by a house. The Eruditi believe that the surge of adrenaline during combat is actually the spirit of a humma from a past battle taking over the body. They follow even the slightest impulse, deeming it the “will of the spirit.” This makes them very dangerous even to their allies though strangely effective. (Eruditi gain +10 to melee combat but must make a LOG check every 5 rounds or attack an adjacent ally as an enemy but with no +10 bouns)

House Falsguck is another house that holds a seat of Higher One and is the main rival of the royal house. It publicly supports the king but plots privately to change the status quo. Its members are noted for their ability to read a “tell” and react quickly to erupting combat. (+1 initiative modifier)

Lineage Glax is a very traditional, some say backward lineage, holding to ancient ways and practices. It produces few warriors as few of the young born to its members survive infancy. They live very close to nature. (+5% to stealth and concealment)

House Globulos, has turned its efforts to theatre and literature gaining Frontier wide fame by its innovative adaptations of significant literature from other races, the most critically acclaimed being “Last of the Mohicans” as a stage production. (+10 to creative and performance skills)

House Jorah is the largest house with over 60 lineages. Its members are statesmen, diplomats and its Hum is a Higher One. They have played both sides of the political divide concerning supporting the king. Their status makes them effective leaders among the humma. (+10 to LDR instead of -10)

Lineage Kro is one of the strangest of all humma lineages. Its members shave all fur and cover themselves with tattoos. Due to years of selective breeding, members of this lineage are larger then the average humma (3.5m tall). They are also very warlike and not to bright. (STR/STA +15, LOD -10)

House Platget now sends out its descendants to become Star Law Rangers. (+15% to interrogation attempts)

House Recksill is the Royal House and holder of the seat, the Highest One. It has astutely maneuvered to solidify control of the planet since SW1. Its members are noted for their intuition. (+10 INT)

Racial Description: Boon'sheh

Physical Description
The teal-skinned boon'sheh are slim, tall bipedals, usually standing at least a head above humans. Their skin is soft to the touch, and they're completely hairless except for patches of fur on their shoulders and forearmes.

Their faces are unexpressive and almost skeletal, as they have very little muscle in them. Their noses are square, with tiny nostrils, and their ears are pointed and long.

Boon'sheh bodies are built for running, and as such they have little mass compared to other sentient species. Whatever physical weakness they have as a consequence, they make it up with their great speed.

Characteristics
Average Size	2.0 m
Average Mass	55kg male 60kg female
Average Lifespan	75 years
Reproductive System	heterosexual, viviparous
Body Temperature	39 Celsius

Senses
Boon'sheh senses are very well developed: particularly, their sight, hearing and sense of smell. Its believe that these senses were hieghtened as survival traits in their native environment. Tests performed at the University of Zebulon indicate that the zones of the boon'sheh's brain that deal with these three senses are in a permanent state of overdrive, and that their sensory organs are always absorbing more data then the conscious brain can process. This has resulted in the boon'sheh developing a 'danger sense', their unconscious selves picking up warning singals from eyes, ears and nose, and forcing their bodies to act before they notice what's going on. While some individuals tend to think of the boon'sheh as 'fidgety' (or even paranoid), their dander sense has saved them and their colleages from certain death more than once.

Speech
Boon'sheh speak in high pitched tones, and their native language is very dependent on them. They also use many palatal and alveolar clicks when talking. While their language appears to be complicated at first, most people can learn it in two or three weeks.

Their names commonly have two or three syllables and are always preceded by the prefix "Boon-" which stands for 'person', as in Boon-Shube or Boon-Gurenn. This prefix is usually dropped in informal converstation.

History, Society and Customs
Sharing the same world with the humma, the boon'sheh have been pushed close to the brink of extinction  during their tragic history. Despite a brief period in their history where they formed a significant landed civilization the boon'sheh have largely been nomadic wanderers. If the history of the humma can be characterized as one long brawl the history of the boon'sheh can be characterized as one long flight from that brawl.

During a particularly barbaric time in humma history the boon'sheh managed to establish a landed civilization with cities and became more advanced technologically than the humma. This could not last, as the humma came very close to unifying themselves in an effort to take them down. For two centuries incessent attacks for first one Hummarin house then another wore the boon'sheh down and eventually the Boon'Klash civilization collapsed and the survivors were scattered. In the aftermath most cities were razed but a few were appropriated by the humma and exist still today.

At the time of first contact with the ifshnit and osakar the boon'sheh had effectively maintained a territory in the most desolate wastes on Hum for generations. However, the visitation of interstellar neighbors kicked off the Hummarin Space Age. In a short time satellites began to reveal the mineral richness of the Boon'sheh lands and encroachment commensed anew.

Eventually, it was decided by the Highest One that the boon'sheh should be relocated for their own good (and to make way for his house to grab the krik share of their vacated land). Where to move them too became a topic of hot debate but eventually the decision was made to forcibly relocate the bulk of them to the planet Larg and set up a preservation for them.

Some boon'sheh clans scattered and have continued to subsistance in the lost wastelands on Hum and a few areas (preservations) were left as havens for them on Hum. The largest conscentration now dewls on the planet Larg.

They sided with the Capellan Free Merchants during the Ifshno-Hummarin War. Which despite the hummar being declared a winner, did not turn out negative for them. Transfers in tech and military hardware from the CFM gave them an edge to hold out in their mountain strong holds on Larg. The negotiation of the peace treaty left them with more protections then they previously had.

With the formation of the Rim Coalition the boon'sheh of Larg attempted to pettition for membership. Stout resistence from the governments of the the three humma populated worlds and astute maneuvering by diplomats from House Jorah blocked their admission to the Rim Coalition on the basis that the planet Larg already had representation on the council.

Since that time some cadres have formed in boon'sheh society with the goal of autonomous government for the boon'sheh. Some of these cadres have taken a militeristic stance, stockpiling weapons and supplies while others are more open and seek negotiated change.

The boon'sheh on Larg have instituted a policy of sending the best and brightest off world to be educated in Osaka, Capella and the Frontier. Many return but some are learned away by the promise of a better life elsewhere in the Rim and Frontier. The boon'sheh have been readily accepted into military organizations in the Frontier (corporate, militia, and UPF) but until recently were blocked from joining the Flight in the Rim.

The average clan holds around 200 individuals, most of which live in the same village or town. There are no true boon'sheh families: all children are raised by the clan as a whole, and the parent-child bond is unknown to them. Boon'sheh worship their clans and fight fiercely for them. Those that don't uphold the clan's expectations are often cast out of their districts. Most of the star-faring boon'sheh are such outcasts.

Attitudes
The boon'sheh dislike the humma strongly but are very found of ifshnits and dralasites. As to be expected they are nervous around yazirians but neutral toward osakar, humans, and vrusk. The feeling of most races are recipracol toward them except yazirians who are ambivelent. They are distrustfull of humanity because of their curiousity (boon'sheh call it 'deathwish'). Their lack of facial expression is a source of bemusement and ammusement to other races. The ifshnit use the idion 'To see a boon'sheh smile' when talking about mirages and illusions.

Special Abilities
Danger Sense (10%): Boon'sheh's keen senses can subconsciously alert them to perils they aren't aware of. Whenever a boon'sheh is endagered, the referee secretly rolls for danger sense: a success means the boon'sheh becomes aware of danger (though not able to pinpoint its exact source) and can warn others of it. This special ability may be imporved by spending experience points, but even if rased to 100%, any roll of 96-00 is considered a failure. No matter how keen the senses of a a boon'sheh, there is always a slight chance he can be duped.

Planetary Brief: Forge

Type	Distance (AU)	Orbital Period (Years)	Mass	Radius (km)	Surface Gravity	Moons	Moon's Uses
Hot Terrestrial	0.783	---	3.501x1024 (0.59 Me)	5357.0	0.83 g	Anvil	Military

History of Forge

Office Politics

The Highest One is travelling to Osak aboard his flagship, the Adjudicator-class destroyer Krokrik, to address the Board of the Rim Coalition. HS:12 HP:48  ADF:3  MR:3  DCR:60

Crew: 23
Weapons: LC(×2)*, EB, PB

Defenses: RH, MS(x2)

Engines: 4 Atomic "B"