Tordenchi

Basic Information

Anatomy

The tordenchi resemble mice from Earth, but do not resemble any subspecies in particular. Any distinctive subspecies of their own have long ago blended together. Tordenchi fur colors have a low variety, typically only ranging between light and dark brown to gray and black. White is often mixed in, particularly with the brown furred tordenchi, but completely white tordenchi are anomalies. Eliminating albinism is standard procedure during in-utero therapy. Their eyes are far more developed than their Terran counterparts, with easily distinctive pupils and some varying colors. Brown, blue, green, and amber are all normal, with hazel being less so.
The tordenchi are, second to terrans, the shortest in the Union. They are also extremely flexible and capable of squeezing into very small spaces. These physical aspects have earned them a place among certain maintenance crews or other work that could use it, and an entire line of armored vehicles in the military. Their hands, paws, and tails are all mostly furless and not padded. If it weren’t for the claws on their digits and the digitigrade structure, then footwear would be more preferable. However, footwear is still more common on tordenchi and ashar than the other nonhuman species. Unlike their terran counterparts, mice, tordenchi are digitigrade, with the balls of their paws being broad like other species to help distribute their weight. They have four digits on each paw.

Genetics and Reproduction

The tordenchi are not at all like their terran counterparts when it comes to breeding. Like every other species, they average only a single child at a time. Up to three can be born simultaneously without any major trouble, but this is a rarity. Gestation takes only three months, and the species is sexually active all year long. They are not genetically compatible with ashar. Naturally, tordenchi normally can only have healthy males and females. However, as per standard in-utero therapy, approximately six percent of tordenchi are hermaphrodites.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The tordenchi have excellent hearing due to their large ears, comparable to the lupari, falashai, and ashar. They also have a great sense of smell, though they are not as effective at distinguishing minute details in scents as the canids. The tordenchi, along with the ashar, are fairly unique in how their furless hands, paws, and tails permit a heightened sensitivity, which is a boon for the compact spaces they normally are put into due to their smaller sizes compared to the other species.

Civilization and Culture

History

By nature, tordenchi are not aggressive. Like any species, they fight when needed. However, seeing a tordenchi pick a fight, even drunk stupid in a rowdy bar, means you have very likely just mistaken an ashar for a tordenchi instead. Tordenchi love to explore and find new things. One that has moved to a new area would be excited and happy, as they would have the chance to see a new environment. It is not a sense of curiosity, as tordenchi are not any more inquisitive as others, so much as an enjoyment for mentally mapping everything around them.
Just like the ashar, the tordenchi do not lie. They are always honest to the point of being blunt. A tordenchi fresh off the homeworld with little experience with aliens often comes off as insulting, as they do not hesitate to speak their minds. They will immediately inform someone when they smell bad, for example. They do not mean to insult, but rather perceive their conduct as being helpful by highlighting faults they believe can be helped.
When lied to, a tordenchi is normally at worst, confused. It is not easy to offend them, and most likely a tordenchi would simply ask why they were lied to. Inexperienced tordenchi, by nature, are very easy to deceive.
After friendly contact with the UTO, the tordenchi soon sought membership with the alliance. However, when the ashar withdrew into themselves upon discovering the sissach, the tordenchi, too, backed away from diplomatic talks for fear of joining the alliance without their kin species being with them.
It took seven years for the tordenchi to join the alliance, after extensive treaty reworking to include the ashar in trade, military cooperation, and other benefits without them actually becoming a member. Once the ashar were essentially unofficial members, the tordenchi accepted full membership and became the fourth species to join.
Several centuries later, the tordenchi almost seceded from the Union when the ashar did so themselves. However, a close vote kept the species within the UTO, and for four centuries they served as intermediaries between the independent ashar and the UTO.

Home System: Ishentia
Homeworld: Zeliel

Origin/Ancestry

Mice

Lifespan

101 years (Earth)

Average Height

Average Height: 1.3 valen (15.93 m) (52.26 ft)

Average Weight

Average Weight: 36.336 kilofaarir (68.11 metric tons) (75 tons)