Vesk
VE(H)>SS'k
Heavily muscled and covered with thick scales and short, sharp horns, the reptilian vesk are exactly as predatory and warlike as they appear. Originally hailing from a star system near the Pact Worlds, they sought to conquer and subdue their stellar neighbours, as they had all the other intelligent races in their own system, until an overwhelming threat forced them into a grudging alliance with the Pact Worlds...for now.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The lizard-like vesk are thick with muscle and covered in tough, scaly skin. Though they’ve long since adopted technological weapons, they retain the thick claws and teeth of natural predators and enjoy using them to intimidate 'softer' races. In addition, they also have long, powerful tails - while these are primarily used for balance, some vesk martial arts incorporate formidable tail slaps. Small horn spikes dot the skulls of both genders, and protrude from their lower jaws in bony 'beards' that sometimes extend down their spines to their tails.
Female vesk are often larger than their male counterparts, and whereas males are various shades of green, females often have vibrant, mottled colouration that’s considered an indicator of both health and attractiveness.
Female vesk are often larger than their male counterparts, and whereas males are various shades of green, females often have vibrant, mottled colouration that’s considered an indicator of both health and attractiveness.
Growth Rate & Stages
Vesk grow to maturity in 16 years.
Ecology and Habitats
Vesk first arose on a single world around their sun(link) but quickly spread to the others, turning potential competitor races(link) (as the vesk saw them) into vassals in the vast empire they call the Veskarium. Today, these other worlds officially no longer even have names, only numbers correlating to their distance from the sun (such as Vesk-6). The exception to this rule is Vesk Prime, the Veskar ancestral home, which remains the seat of their government and high society.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Veskar is structured and militaristic, with brutal repercussions for those who so much as bend a law. Advancement is acquired through honourable 'combat' - whether that be with firearms, fighting a disease or the struggle to advance technology. However, only armed combat allows those in vesk society to engage in official politics.
Domestication
The vesk keep many creatures(link) (sapient and otherwise) domesticated for a variety of use. For the most part, they keep them within the boundaries of the Veskarium.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Can see well in dim light, but struggle as normal in full darkness.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Vesk names are often long and combine elements of their parents’ names, as well as those of other prominent ancestors. These are frequently shortened for daily use by friends, though abridging a vesk’s name without permission is a grave insult. In addition, some vesk take on epithets related to their victories in combat, which they sometimes use in addition to or in place of a family name, such as “Three Guns,” “Voidwalker,” or “Squadeater.”
Sample Vesk names
Sample Vesk names
Dmotralan, Evdokayo, Goromitali, Julakesh, Katara, Obozaya, Radokama, Sarangari, Sobok, Terikoraz, and Ymeros-Ahandi.
Major Organizations
The Veskarium is the main empire of the vesk race. It spans their entire home star system.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Culture and Cultural Heritage
History
The vesk’s love of military conquest and empire building originally led to significant skirmishes between their star system and the nearby Pact Worlds, and the ensuing conflict might have continued indefinitely had the Swarm not attacked both systems simultaneously.
Banding together for mutual defence, the Veskarium and Pact Council successfully fought off the Swarm, forging a tentative peace in the process .
Banding together for mutual defence, the Veskarium and Pact Council successfully fought off the Swarm, forging a tentative peace in the process .
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Vesk respect honour, strength, and self-mastery. Though their relations with the races of the Pact Worlds remain strained due to the only barely averted war, they admire androids' dispassionate consistency, kasathan sense of honour, and the strength of lashuntan in battle. However, they find ysoki weak and frivolous, and humans quick to break their agreements. Shirren perplex vesk with their refusal to parlay their strengths, including their instinctive coordination in battle and willingness to die for their comrades, into an empire.
Dragonkin
As ancient Veskar religious scriptures claim that the souls of the Veskarium's greatest warriors would be reincarnated elsewhere in a dragonkin-like form, the Veskar have always respected dragonkin.TBD
Scientific Name
Bellum Lacerti (war lizard)
Lifespan
70 to 90 years
Conservation Status
Sentient beings, and as such are protected by law. Exceptions to this rule can be made when concerning criminal assault or threats.
Average Height
1.83m (6ft) to 2.44m (8ft)
Average Weight
90.7kg (200lbs) to 136.1kg (300lbs)
Average Length
Tail length can be up to 1.5m (5ft)
Geographic Distribution
Related Ethnicities
Playing as a Vesk
Vesk adventuring with races from the Pact Worlds fall into two categories. The first are mercenaries or glory-seekers looking for a chance to engage in honourable combat and build up their prestige. The second are non-warrior vesk who have rejected their home society for its obsession with combat and have chosen instead to seek opportunities among more open-minded races.Warrior vesk most often fit the soldier class, though a growing number have become intrigued by the path of the Solarian. Noncombatant vesk often lean toward becoming mystics, though some overcome the traditional vesk culture’s dismissal of education to become mechanics or even technomancer.
You likely:
- See most other races as weak or dishonourable and believe that the Veskar way is best.
- Relish the chance to prove your worth in combat, though only against worthy opponents.
- Have an ironclad sense of honour and propriety, and strive to keep your word.
- Bond closely with proven compades and surprise non-vesk friends with sudden outpourings of emotions in private.
Other races probably:
- Find your size and bloodthirsty reputation intimidating.
- Assume you're ignorant of anything beyond combat.
- Depend on you in battle yet fear and resent you for your empire's past conflicts and conquests.
- Mistake vesk etiquette and propriety for a lack of feeling.
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