Saturday, May 14, 2011

Simian Saturday Bonus: The Woogatu

  Inspired by my earlier post today, I thought I'd work up the Chewie/Mugato into a race for Stars Without Number.  Thought some of you might get a kick out of it. So without further ado I present the Woogatu.

"Fearsome simian warriors, as brave as they are strong"
     The Woogatu are a tall humanoid race of simian ancestry. They are stronger than the average human and are covered in white fur; also they have a rhinoceros-like horn in the center of their forehead. The Woogatu originally hailed from Neurakash; a distant temperate world of vast ancient forests and rolling hills. In the past they were divided into two groups; the People of the Tree Villages (Tree People for short) and the Hill People. The Hill people were more savage than the Tree People and possessed a poisonous bite that their Tree dwelling kin lacked.
     The flora and fauna of Neurakash is particularly dangerous, and the closer one gets to the ground the more dangerous the wildlife becomes. For this reason in the ancient past the Tree People, built their homes and villages in the tops of the large trees native to Neurakash. The Tree people developed a more advanced civilization and culture than the Hill People. Over time, The Hill people resented their treetop dwelling brothers and attacked their kin whenever they could. The Tree people pitied their lesser brothers but defended themselves fiercely whenever they were attacked. The Hill people were never powerful enough to eliminate their hated brothers but continued to war upon them for years, succeeding only in slowly diminishing their own numbers. The two races existed in this state for centuries…

Then the Terrans came…

Immediately the Terrans saw the potential of the Woogatu race, not as friends and allies, but as pawns, tools, and slaves. The fearsome Woogatu fought back bravely but the Terrans skillfully used the ancient hatred between the Hill and Tree people against each other and this combined with the Terran skill with psionics and higher technology came to dominate the Woogatu race. The Hill People too savage to be effectively controlled and too dangerous with their venomous bite were in a few short years rendered virtually extinct. The more sophisticated Tree People however, were enslaved and split up, entire families were scattered across the galaxy put to use in mines, shipyards, and other areas. Holding their families hostage, the Terrans even found ways to force these loyal warriors to fight for the Terran cause, these reluctant Woogatu warriors served their Terran Masters for fear that their loved ones, always kept elsewhere, would be mistreated.
     Then came the Scream….The Woogatu used this to turn on their enslavers, and to try to escape to freedom. Many died during this time, but some survived this dark period. But their race was forever diminished, not numerous to begin with, and scattered across the galaxy with no easy way to reunite with their people.
The Woogatu are a very long lived race, some alive today are said to still recall the time of The Scream. However, it is believed that the Woogatu are slowly dying out, the Woogatu mate for life and those that were separated from their mates by the Terrans put all their energy into trying to find their families. Even when this seemed hopeless, they resisted taking new mates and starting new families. Some did so, hence there are still some young Woogatu alive today, but their numbers are small and the galaxy is a dangerous place.
     One would think that as a whole the Woogatu would have an instinctual hatred of Terrans, some do, particularly the old ones, but most Woogatu judge each individual on their own merits and in spite of their treatment in the ancient past will work with humans that treat them with respect and dignity. Some have even taken on humans as though they were part of their extended family.

Woogatu as Player Characters
Woogatu PC's are required to have at least a 17 strength, due to the incredible strength possessed by these humanoids. In dire situations Woogatu can gore with their horns, for 1d4 points of damage, but they will only do so in severe need, as this reminds them of the savagery of their Hill People kin. Given their thick fur hide, they have no need of wearing light to medium cold weather gear in terrain that would require such to be worn. Also due to their thick fur they find armor of any kind to be extremely uncomfortable and will not wear it.
Woogatu can be found as Mercenaries, Bounty Hunters, Techs and Scouts throughout the galaxy, indeed they have shown a remarkable diversity in their skills and abilities, seeming to only lack in the area of psionics.

Neurakash
Homeworld of the Woogatu
Atmosphere : Breathable
Temp: Temperate
Bio: Miscible
Pop: Tens of Thousands (Humans and Woogatu) Official population difficult to determine.
Tech Level: 2 (With some lower and higher tech enclaves)
Tags: Hostile Biosphere,Colonized Population (Terran hold outs)
Enemies: Fearsome native predator(s),
Friends: Captain Tiberius Solo,
Complications: Disease breaks out, Humans blame the Woogatu for local troubles
Things: Lost Pretech Cache,
Places: Treetop City, Hidden Hill People Lair, Abandoned Terran Outpost, Treetop Starport

     Neurakash is a temperate world of vast ancient forests and rolling hills. The flora and fauna of the planet are particularly dangerous, many of the world's inhabitants dwell in the higher reaches of the giant trees found on this world. Neurakash is currently in a state of chaos. The Terrans lost their choke hold on the planet during The Scream, and while there is still a significant human population on the planet, they are rapidly descending into barbarism. Many human villages are closer to tech level 1 and day to day survival is a struggle, they fight the fearsome local wildlife, each other, as well as, the Woogatu. The Woogatu (Tree People) are struggling to recover from their period of enslavement by the terrans, but having so much of their population sent off world or killed has left a lasting negative impact on their society and culture, A few rare individuals have managed to return to their homeworld, but those are few and far between. To add to their troubles rumors persist that the Hill People have returned….

Artwork by Phil Noto

3 comments:

  1. I like it... A LOT! the art is all kinds of heretic awesome, and your write up is brilliant!

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  2. Thanks Fenway5 you made my day!!!!

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  3. Five ways to Sunday awesome! Very cool stuff. Consider this stolen.

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