Infinity's Shore

Cast of Sapient Species

g’Keks — first sooner race to arrive on Jijo, some two thousand years ago. Uplifted by the Drooli, the g’Kek have biomagnetically driven wheels and eyestalks instead of heads. For most of their period of sapiency, they did not live on planets. g’Kek are extinct throughout the Five Galaxies, except on Jijo.

Glavers — third sooner race to reach Jijo. Uplifted by the Tunnuctyur, who were themselves uplifted by the Buyur, glavers are partly bipedal with opalescent skin and large, bulging eyes. Roughly a meter tall, they have a prehensile forked tail to assist their inefficient hands. Since illegally settling Jijo, they devolved to a state of presapience. To some, glavers are shining examples, having shown the way down the Path of Redemption.

Hoons — fifth wave of settlers to arrive on Jijo, bipedal omnivores with pale scaly skin and woolly white leg fur. Their spines are massive, hollow structures that form part of their circulatory system. Hoons’ inflatable throat sacs, originally used for mating displays, are now used for “umbling.” Since their uplift by the Guthatsa, this race found widespread service as dour, officious bureaucrats in Galactic culture.

Humans — the youngest sooner race, arrived on Jijo less than three hundred years ago. Human “wolflings” evolved on Earth; possibly achieving technological civilization and crude interstellar travel on their own. Their greatest accomplishment: the uplifting of neo-chimpanzees and neo-dolphins.

Jophur — organisms resembling a cone of stacked doughnuts; like their traeki cousins, Jophur consist of interchangeable spongy “sap rings,” each with limited intelligence, but combining to form a sapient communal being. Specialized rings give the stack its senses, manipulative organs, and sometimes exotic chemosynthetic abilities. As traeki, this unique species was originally gentle and unaspiring when first uplifted by the Poa. The zealous Oailie later reinvented them by providing “master rings,” transforming the traeki into Jophur, willful and profoundly ambitious beings.

Qheuens — fourth sooner race on Jijo. Uplifted by the Zhosh, qheuens are radially symmetric exoskeletal beings with five legs and claws. Their brain is partly contained in a retractable central dome or “cupola.” A rebel band of qheuens settled Jijo attempting to hold on to their ancient caste system, with the gray variety providing royal matriarchs while red and blue types were servants and artisans. Conditions on Jijo — including later human intervention — provoked the breakdown of this system.

Rothen — a mysterious Galactic race. One human group (the Dakkins or Daniks) believe the Rothen to be Earth’s lost patrons. Rothen are bipeds, somewhat larger than humans but with similar proportions. Believed to be carnivores.

Traeki — second illicit settler race to arrive on Jijo. Traeki are a throwback variant of Jophur, who fled the imposition of master rings.

Tymbrimi — a humanoid species allied with the Earthclan. Known for their cleverness and devilish sense of humor.

Tytlal — a species considered impossible to uplift. Uplifted by the Tymbrimi.

Urs — sixth sooner race on Jijo. Carnivorous, centauroid plains dwellers; they have long, flexible necks, narrow heads, and shoulderless arms ending in dexterous hands. Urs start life as tiny, six-limbed grubs, turned out of their mothers’ pouches to fend for themselves. Any that survive to “childhood” may be accepted into an urrish band. Urrish females reach the size of a large deer, and possess twin brood pouches where they keep diminutive mates, smaller than a house cat. A female with prelarval young ejects one or both husbands to make room for the brood. Urs have an aversion to water in its pure form.