Ackarn

Found at the tail end of the Kothrian Pass, the Ackarn are a race of frog people who're broken into thousands of various phylum and clans dispersed throughout the Karian Bog.

The Bog is the shady underbelly of the Frontier Worlds (see Topographical History of the Sector). Anyone who wants to drown their sorrows or perform shady business under the notice of the Patrokonoi-Hellecia goes to the Bog.

Because of its place along the dangerous Kothrian Pass, it's more of a garbage dump for all the refuse and remnants of totaled ships swept down the Pass.

Many travelers have tried cutting through the Bog to avoid the Pass entirely. Most get lost in the Bog, never to be seen again. While the rest make lives in the Bog, working in the cluster's various Pleasure Palaces while their frog overlords do what they do best...nothing.

Doing nothing is an honored tradition for the Ackarn. In fact, the mark of a powerful clan leader is based entirely on how fat and slimy they are. Just sitting around breathing in the Bog's thick layer of gas, expelling oxygen, and watch one's many children/servants performs their work while the "Croaker" works on the clan's mucus.

The prized possession of any clan is their brand of mucus. Ranging from rancid to highly toxic, a clan's mucus is what determines a clan's prominence over the thousands of other competitors.

The lesser clans tend to hide their mucus and package it as an aphrodisiac, Ichor supplement, or any kind of wonder drug. But most of the time, it's effects are that of snake oil.

As for breeding, every rotation a new layer of fog wafts down The Pass and collects in the Bog and launches the Ackarn Rain where millions of baby Ackarn are spawned in days due to the increased oxygen levels.

Upon further study, the Fog is actually believed to be a cluster-wide layer of ethyl alcohol; which could explain why the Ackarn refuse to do anything. Where this alcohol comes from is still a mystery.

Generally, the Hellecians in the sector leave the frog people alone, asking for directions or intelligence about what they've seen. Occasionally, colonies of Ackarn are brought in during atmospheric re-engineering to create a layer of oxygen for the new planet.

The main reason for the Ackarn's general dismissal is their uselessness as crew members aboard Star-Decks.

Their Ichor count is too low to make them Oarsmen, they're too lethargic to be Coil Winders or Marines, too brash to take orders, and their mucus/bile is more of a hazard to a crew than the enemy.

Only ships in desperate need for a fully-staffed crew hire Ackarn. Which is another reason why the Frontier Worlds have an inferior navy compared to the Core Worlders.

Plus, it's very well-known that Ackarn are terrible fighters.

Which is why a line of Thricians have been the hegemons over The Ackarn and The Bog (based on Aesops' story "The Frogs Who Wanted a King") since the days of their progenitor Ackerus.

Ackerus and his brother Ademus were born from an Aeonite merchant and a water nymph in what is the Dodonan Roots.

On the way to the god fortress of Karoy to bring the Necklace of Harmonia to Aphrodite, the progenitor's father was attacked and killed by the Musculos: a group of extinct mice-men from the Thessalis Anvil.

Their mother prayed to her mistress Aphrodite to make her children grow up to overtake their father's murderers and return the necklace of Harmonia to its rightful owner.

Misunderstanding their mother's request, Aphrodite made an army of frog men spring from Ackerus and Ademus. The two left to find their father's killers with Ademus as the driven one and Ackerus as the lazy one. Even with their numerical advantage, nearly every last one of Ackerus and Ademus' children died.

Unable to avenge their father, Ademus took the necklace as the brothers hopped away from the mice-men.

Not sure where Karoy was, they hopped until they reached a large river. Seeing the unwieldy current,  Ademus tried to swim for it while Ackerus gave up and sat in the shallow waters of the river.

Adamant, Ademus swam across the river to a nearby log. He was picked off by a passing Thrician, leaving the necklace on the log.

The Musculos then commanded Ackerus to swim out to get the necklace. He refused as the determined Musculos tried pushing the frog in the river, only to be covered by Ackerus' muscus.

Smelling the vile mucus all the way from Karoy, Aphrodite refused to let the repulsive Ackerus touch her necklace and pollute her ocean. So she called the Locradians to break up the fight and cut off the river to contain his vile mucus (creating the soon-to-be Karnian Bog.

It is a moralistic story used to exemplify the virtues of the Ackarn's laissez-faire approach to life.  

Explaining why Musculos were pushed out to the Boviton Stables and believed to have been wiped out after being swept into space by the flood.

The Psygonauts run into the Ackarn on their first mission when trying to cut through the bog. It's only through the intervention of a goddess (or two) The Psygorellius escaped the Bog and up to the Dodonan Roots.

Home Cluster: The Karnian Bog

Progenitor: Ackerus

Member Patrokonoi: Delothian Collective

Greek Comparison: Acarnanians

Injection Date: 110 AFH (After Final Hegemony)

Primary CHONPS Spectral Element: Oxygen

Side Effects of Ichor: Sentient frog people; breath through skin, communicate with Ackarn while breathing through same liquid and excrete specific mucus (varies per their Ackarn tribe).