Zebulon's Guide to the Ifshnit

"Pssst! Psssssssstt!"

The yazirian walking through the Minzii marketplace slowed when he heard the hissing and glanced aroun. He as a dangerous looking type, possibly one of the newly arrived mercenaries brought in to settle a mega-corp dispute on the other side of the Bizarre. He located the source of the third "psst" and stooped down next to the stall selling Grothian crystals.

Standing underneath the crystal laden table was an ifshnit, black body hair carefully braided in the manner of a roving Capellan merchant. His tiny stature was wmphasized by the gun case he was leaning on; compared to his own diminutive theight it looked like a huge suitcase.

"Greeted well, simian warrior," said the hairy little being in the musical voice common to his race.
The enforcer had no liking for word games but knew ifshnit customs demanded that the potential customer recognize the merchant as an honorable tradesman. Searching his mind for the correct phrasing, the yazirian stammered, "Uh, recognized with respect and delight, esteemed shopkeepter. What might you have in the way of special items for a needy enforcer?"

The little face grinned, huge eyes glistening with delight. "Oh, nothing, surely, that a traveled, experienced personage such as yourself has not seen in his past wanderings. Only some trinkets and unusual weapons."

The last remark was meant to tantalize. It did. The warrior, feeling a fool for kneeling in the marketplace's dirt street and appearing as if he was talking to a table, began growling with irritation, "Show me anyway, distinguished barterer, that I may broaden my experience."

The ifshnit waved his ringed hand in the air, "No, no, I could not humiliate myself by revealing to your seasoned eyes my meager wares no matter how rare they may be."

"All right you little pirate," the yazirian snapped, temper flaring and teeth bared, "I have a few precious minutes before I bap to another part of your soggy planet. Do you have something to sell or not?"

Though ruffled by the yazirian's impatience, the ifshnit felt confident of a sale. Smiling enigmatically, he flipped open the weapon case and turned it toward the monkeyish face. Inside, the strangely shaped weapon gleamed, even in the shade of the table. Its muzzle was still sealed by the manufacturer's stamp, proving the weapon had never been used.

The yazirian's eyes narrowed, "Is that authentic?"

A slight nod from the merchant sent the warrior's eyes back to the beckoning weapon. Small jeweled hands snapped open compartments and removed insulating panels.

"A WarTech Omega Bolt with tooled krikhide holster. The belt holds six power clips."

The yazirian smiled slowly, licking his lips, "I think we can do business, esteemed one."

Ifshnits, Racial Description

Physical Structure
Ifshnits are bipedal, symetrical mammals that look like tiny humans in hair coats. All ifshnits have bald pates, moustaches, and long silky hair over the rest of their bodies. This body hair can be any color but is selfdom different shades on the same body. All males have long and ornate beards, usually of a different shade than the rest of the body hair. The body hair of both sexes is usually worn in intricate braids. Each ifshnit clan braids its hair differently.

Ifshnits hands and feet are covered with short hair, except for their palms and soles, which are bare and padded. This short hair is slightly darker than the rest of the body hair. Their hands have three fingers and an opposing thumb, while the feet have four toes. Because of their small size, ifshnits cannot use many large items, including normal rifles, without a size penalty.

Ifshnit females have three pairs of mamary glands and can birth up to six "puplets" at a time. Puplets are born hairless and tiny, but grow very fast and have their long hair within thirty days. They reach their full height by age nine and full maturiyt at age twelve.

Ifshnits are herbivores and the thought of eating another creature is utterly revolting to them. Because of their vegetarian diet they are constantly nibbling instead of eating meals.

Senses
Ifshnits have normal senses of hearing, touch, and taste. They have almost no sense of smell and have a hard time understanding the concept of scent. Their eyes are masterpieces of biological engineering. A fast closing nictitiating membrane closes instantly if exposed to bright light, preventing the ifshnit from being blinded. Their night sight is no better then a human's.

Speech
Ifshnits have a lilting, piping voice that is best described as cute. Their language is intricate, but is compatible with most race' linguistic abilities.

Ifshnit History

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Ifshnit Society and Customs

Ifshnits are a major race in the Rim hailling from the Capella system. They are best characterized as ardent capitalist.

The strange, polite dickering of the ifshnit is known and welcome on most planets. Due to their origins, ifshnits are fiercely independent. They like neither mega-corps nor cadres. They live in small family clans and are governed by a committee that changes continually.

Ifshnits have a very specific bartering custom that has slowly become common knowledge among the Frontier core worlds. The sale begins with a lavish greeting by the ifshnits to honor the individual to put them at ease while that person must likewise return the greeting by recognizing the ifshnit's integrity. The merchant then down plays his wares while mentioning items that may be of interest to the individual. Once the individual expresses their interest, if any, the sale may continue.

Any ifshnit that is found to be of questionable integrity is cast out from ifshnit society until they have demonstrated a return to the ifshnit ideal of trustworthiness. Ifshnits believe that every bad sale and every ifshnit that demonstrates questionable ethics brings down the trust of the other races toward the ifshnit race as a whole.

A core belief is that this is the only corporeal existence. Their concept of an afterlife is one of pure thought mixed with gentler emotions. As a consequence of this belief they tend to ignore the sensual pleasures of life. Their favorite pastimes include games (they love competition), stroytelling, and bartering for goods. Ifshnits love gathering and will find every reason to gather friends and family together to celebrate any occasion, but particularly birth, deaths, and large volume sales.

These social conquerors have assimilated well into Frontier society, taking part in every aspect of life from street level bartering to administering government affairs, even taking an active role in the United Planetary Federation's military, usually to weed out sathar spies and protect trade and commerce in the galaxy.

Ifshnits do not typically wear full clothing as they already have hair covering their entire bodies. Instead, they wear open tunics reflecting the fine rare fabrics and exquisite designs typically provided by the Capellan Free Merchants. They are particullary fond of exotic accessories, often adding beads to their braids.

Typical Names: Alt, Dorim, Meez, Morget, Nister, Orma, Prin, Rindel, Rith, Steth, Tith, Zim.

Ifshnit Attitudes, Motivations, & Racial Abilities

Attitudes
Ifshnits are intelligent, brave, patient, and tolerant of other races, and members of most races like them instantly. However, despite their open, friendly dispositions, ifshnits perfer being alone with other members of their clan.

When an ifshnit demonstrates concern, you can be sure it is genuine, though they will gladly use the occasion to share any of their product that matches the circumstance, but their doing so is an earnest attempt to help. A person is wise to at least give them an ear in their offers, as you never know what wisdom may be expressed in their offer. They take every opportunity to make money to take care of themselves and their family, but never at the expense of the well being of others.

Though they value life more than the other races, they still see the need for repulsing would be usurpers by any means necessary and will come to the aid of the CFM whenever needed, even if it is not their employing company.

They harbor an intense hatred for the sathar and any who serve them. This is due to their past dealings with the sathar. Though the details are hard to get, apparently the sathar have plagued the ifshnits since their history began. This leads many historians to believe that the ifshnits (or a branch of that race) at one time inhabited sathar space. Ifshnits have been known to risk life and limb many times over to eliminate the sathar and their agents.

Despite the vrusk's dispassionate nature, ifshnits find them interesting becasue their commitment to their employer is similar to the ifshnit commitment to the CFM. They also love dralasites for their flexibility, humor, and congenial ways. Humans appreciate ifshnits for their genuineness and openness, as well as seemingly always having what they need.

Racial Reaction Modifiers Table

Race	By Other	By Ifshnit
Dralasite	+0	+15
Human	+5	+5
Humma	-5	-5
Ifshnit	--	+15
Mechanon	+0	-5
Osakar	+0	+5
Sathar	-10	-40
Vrusk	+0	+5
Yazerian	+5	+10
Boon'sheh	-5	+5

Motivations for Adventure
Ifshnits are not shy for travelling to exotic worlds to see otherworldly beauty or share their culture, their beliefs, and their goods. They love the stars and seek to bring order to the universe and will sometimes take an active roll in achieving that goal. Ifshnits adapt very well to living and working in space. Dorem Dasak, the famous dralasite philosopher and historian, has named them, "The race of the future, they who will inherit!"

Racial Abilities
Flash Resistance: Ifshnits cannot be blinded by any light, as their nictitating membranes snap shut instantly. They cannot see during the turn a light flashes brightly, but their eyesight will be normal the following turn.

Innate Skill: Because of their unique culture, which is heavily based on barter, ifshnits learn about trading at an early age. An ifshnit player is allowed to choose one of the following bonuses at no cost when it begins the game: +20% to Appraisal, Gemology, or Haggling.

Ability	Modifier
STR/STA	-5
DEX/RS	+0
INT/LOG	+5
PER/LDR	+0