On their home world of Nolasa in the Euditace system in Near Space, psacynoids have established a unique economy through their subterranean “farms” of magical crystals. Though they've made peaceful contact with others outside of their home system, psacynoids have yet to make a large mark on the galactic scene. However, the growing interstellar market for their magic crystals will surely bring the planet both wealth and fame soon enough.
Physical Description
A psacynoid has four legs sprouting from a bulbous, rounded trunk at the base of their body. A slender torso rises up to a similarly shaped bulb that forms their head; some might mistake this torso for an elongated neck were it not for the psacynoid's four thin arms extending from it. Their head features a wide mouth and an upward-pointing olfactory organ that looks like a crest of hair. The bottom bulb holds most of a psacynoid's internal organs, including the stomach and heart, while their brain resides in the upper bulb encased in a thick skull. Due to the unusual distribution of weight in their body and the difference in proportions between their torso and their legs, a psacynoid tends to lead with their head, causing a careening gait that to many other sapient creatures appears more like stumbling than walking.
A typical psacynoid stands about 6 feet tall and weighs 125 pounds.
Home World
The psacynoid home world, Nolasa, is the third planet in the Near Space system of Euditace. One of Nolasa's most remarkable features is that it varies very little in elevation, both above and below sea level. The planet's tallest mountain is less than half a mile high, and its deepest seabed is similarly shallow. This is due to a lack of tectonic activity on the surface; the ancient movement of Nolasa's unique tectonic plates has instead formed thousands of miles of caverns throughout the planet's crust, many of which are easily accessible from caves and other natural openings in the ground. Nolasa is also distinct for the magic crystals that can be cultivated in these caverns.
The planet has diverse surface biomes, but they all have very little in the way of wildlife, none of which grow larger than a few feet. These creatures include furred and horned lonimaks that prowl the planet's low mountain ranges, insectile darmuirs that migrate monthly between sea and shore, and herbivorous uhzeents that glide from tree to tree on fleshy wings. None have historically posed much of a threat to psacynoids, who were able to peacefully evolve to be the largest species… aboveground. Bigger and more dangerous beasts thrive in Nolasa's cave systems, including shadowy oozes called vayleexis and white-scaled reptilian swiquas.
These strange underground ecosystems were created by the endless wells of magic that pool and flow from cave to cave. Some grottoes are lit by a ghostly luminescence which seems to shift its hue based on the prevailing emotion felt by any inhabitants, while others see rivulets of water dripping in every direction heedless of gravity. These hollows are incredibly important to both psacynoid culture and economy (see Society below). Though they've been studying the caves for centuries, psacynoids have yet to map or even traverse their entirety. They use the well-protected caves nearest to their surface settlements for the cultivation of their planet's famed mystical crystals, but tunnels lead miles in every direction, plunging deep into the crust. Psacynoids often send out expeditions to search for new areas in which to farm crystals, but these groups can make it only so far with the limited supplies they carry—if they return at all.
One of the largest cities on Nolasa is Kruosk, a bustling magitech metropolis along the banks of the Yuahlish River and above the Iominae Caves, which hold acres of crystal farms tended by a variety of custodial corporations. Kruosk is a wide expanse of squat, square buildings constructed of steel, glass, and concrete by spellcasting architects and engineers. The plain, almost brutal architectural style originated within Kruosk and is prevalent across most of Nolasa's larger cities. Thanks to robust government programs, Kruosk has solid public transportation infrastructure, and there are very few personal vehicles apart from small, pedaled conveyances. The city's emergency services also have their own hover vehicles that travel on a series of streets designated for their use only.
Society and Alignment
As the largest beings to evolve on the surface of Nolasa, psacynoids easily became the planet's dominant sapient species. Many psacynoids developed spellcasting powers due to the saturation of magic across the globe, and while some inevitably used these skills for violence and evil, many more were driven by goodness and the desire for peace. After a band of heroes defeated a psacynoid necromancer whose plans would've spelled destruction for the entire species, community and religious leaders used their influence to create sweeping social changes. It soon became commonplace for psacynoids to donate regularly to charities or engage in community service. Generations later, this spirit of communalism has been practically ingrained into the psacynoid psyche.
Before the Gap, when hard currency was used more frequently and sales of goods were mostly limited to neighboring communities, a psacynoid merchant would invest a large percentage of their profits into their home community. This included paying for the creation, maintenance, and improvement of public infrastructure (such as roads and sewage lines) as well as ensuring that families undergoing hardships were taken care of. As such, poverty, hunger, and homelessness were practically nonexistent.
During this period of evolving norms, psacynoids also discovered that the caverns beneath their feet contained remarkable power. Owelahana, a wandering geomancer whose name has since become an important part of psacynoid history, was exploring one such cave when they noticed the energy from their spells lingered after being cast. The magic instead began to coalesce into a small crystalline seed. Curious, Owelahana observed the phenomenon over several days, watching as the crystal grew. Further casting of spells of the same school resulted in more crystals, and Owelahana harvested them to bring back to the surface to study. Owelahana and psacynoids like them discovered that each of Nolasa's caves resonated with a different magical frequency, producing a staggering diversity of crystals. Today the field of crystal cultivation is Nolasa's most practiced vocation, and the sale of these crystals makes up the largest percentage of the planet's economy.
Psacynoids weathered the Gap fairly well, quickly reestablishing relationships and businesses in the wake of this period of universal amnesia. Some believe that Nolasa's inherent magic acted as a kind of dampening field to whatever caused the Gap; these scholars posit that while psacynoids were as affected by the Gap as all other species, they were allowed to retain the faintest shadows of their memories. Some sages say this drained a portion of Nolasa's magic, but since the planet's caves are still producing crystals, others tend to dismiss these claims.
Upon the construction of Drift engines and contact with other civilizations, the demand for Nolasa's magical crystals has skyrocketed. Though this demand has put some pressure on custodians to produce more crystals and seek out new caves, greater wealth is undeniably pouring in. Psacynoids have since adopted the UPB-based Pact Worlds credit as a standard currency, and thanks to digital banking, profits made from the sale of crystals from one cave can be easily used to help a community on the other side of the world, resulting in a small population boom on Nolasa during the past century.
Psacynoids tend to worship deities of magic and community, such as Abadar and Eloritu. A growing faction in Nolasa's religious community, a sect calling themselves Stratumians, believe that the planet's surface was manufactured and placed onto the system of caves by some ancient power. Stratumians hold that psacynoids descended from these world engineers but have lost the magic to repeat the monumental feat. They call for deeper forays into Nolasa's caves to discover more about their progenitors in the hopes of learning this magic and gaining the ability to terraform other worlds.
Crystal Cultivation
Psacynoids who want to participate in their planet's lucrative business usually follow one of three paths. Custodians are given stewardship over individual caverns, cultivating and harvesting the crystals that grow there. A custodian must, of course, have knowledge of the same type of magic as the cavern in which they work. They often live within a small prefabricated structure in the cave or, if they're lucky, within a settlement less than a 20-minute commute away. Those custodians who dwell apart from their fellow psacynoids typically only do so for a single growing season (approximately 6 months) and then return to their families and loved ones for a year or sometimes longer while another custodian takes their place. This rotation allows custodians to avoid becoming too isolated from their communities. During their “time off,” such custodians are free to have other jobs or to pursue a favorite pastime, comfortable in the fact that Nolasa's extensive social programs ensure they won't go hungry or without shelter.
Another path involves training in combat to protect the crystal farms from Nolasa's subterranean dangers. Referred to as gallants, these soldiers sometimes exhibit magical prowess of their own and learn to seamlessly blend spells into their fighting styles. Gallants are either stationed in defensive bunkers near the most perilous tunnels and caves or assigned to a patrol that delves deeper underground to hunt down certain creatures. During rare times known as the “blood seasons,” these ranging gallants are called to aid their cloistered allies as the subterranean monsters grow bolder and attack en masse. Sometimes these assaults last for days of grueling combat, with many psacynoids wounded or killed. For months afterward, the defenses are repaired, and injured gallants undergo hospitalization and physical therapy. Some “retire” to become custodians after a blood season, while just as many return to the front, their determination to keep others safe doubled.
A newer career has expanded since other systems have made contact with Nolasa in the hundreds of years since the revelation of the Drift. The most charismatic and cunning psacynoids can find great success as brokers, finding extrasolar markets for Nolasa's magic crystals. Brokers are probably the most well-traveled of psacynoids, and chances are if one sees a psacynoid outside of the Euditace system, they're a broker or part of a broker's retinue. Those familiar with psacynoid culture know that brokers are distinguished by a singular piece of clothing: a small, colorful cape that hangs from all four of the psacynoid's arms. While this cape slightly restricts the broker's range of arm movement, the broker never removes it in public. Some even wear special embroidered capes tailored to impress in business negotiations. All brokers must be licensed by the Nolasa Trade Union, which ensures that profits earned offworld are fairly distributed across the planet. While no self-respecting psacynoid would dream of impersonating a broker, the NTU maintains a small department of agents responsible for investigating suspected criminal behavior that could threaten the goodwill and lucrative trade agreements fostered by brokers (including the rare case of embezzlement). These agents are either former brokers or brokers-in-training who prefer paperwork over glad-handing.
Elliuanahj (NG male psacynoid) is the current president of the NTU. In general, the NTU maintains a positive reputation with all the world's custodians, but this standing is beginning to slip as Elliuanahj deals with a protracted legal dispute involving several small custodian guilds from Nolasa's arctic continent of Mehi. The custodians claim the broker assigned to sell a recent harvest of ice magic–focused crystals has absconded with the cargo, and they demand restitutions. Elliuanahj has tried to assure the custodians that negotiations to sell the crystals are still ongoing and has shifted profits from other sales to Mehi's social programs to keep tempers cool, but the union president is fighting a losing battle. In truth, Elliuanahj recently received a threatening note from an organization calling itself The Council of Ash, who holds the broker and their shipment of crystals hostage. The Council of Ash is demanding millions of credits from the NTU and has warned Elliuanahj that if they refuse to pay or if they try to contact the authorities, more brokers will end up “missing.” Elliuanahj has been resorting to some clever accounting in an attempt to raise the funds but fears this course will only result in them being ousted from their position and jailed. The union president has also begun discreet inquiries to find neutral parties who might be able to aid them in this predicament.
Names
Like the Psacynoa language, psacynoid names consist mainly of soft, rounded sounds interspersed with the occasional lateral or nasal consonant. Each name has several syllables, and psacynoid siblings often have nearly identical names distinguished by a single syllable. When a child is old enough to choose their name, tradition holds they pick one that's an amalgamation of their parents' names. Psacynoids who deal with other species usually accept being referred to by shortened forms of their names. Sample psacynoid names include Aowheleh, Auhanuah, Ehmouwie, Iahuajeo, Olleohuian, Oyuahemeh, Weijheleam, Wouliashi, Yhisweoi, Yuiahmah.
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