Original species: The Shaltszs
Here's is an original species I created for my character in the forum game GMed by Sea Tyger. Everyone is of course welcome to use it or comment it at will (including correcting the probable english mistakes).
The Shaltszs
PERSONALITY: The Shaltszs are a hyperactive, ever-moving species, with a lust for wander, and a difficulty to focus their attention on the same subject for a lengthy period of time.
PHYSIOLOGY & APPEARANCE: The Shaltszs are medium-sized humanoids, ranging in height between 1.6 and 1.8 meters. They are somewhat bulkier than other humanoids species, with wider shoulders and body. Their complexion varies from orange to red. Their faces are larger and rounder, with deep-set, small eyes, whose pupil is smaller than other species, making them used to a higher light intensity than most humanoids. Their internal physiology bears no other significant specificities.
The most notable part of the Shaltszs physiology is their shorter biorhythm: they are used to 12-hours long days, meaning they tire twice as fast as most humanoids, but need half their time to rest: a Shaltszs's definition of a good night is a 4 hours long sleep. Their average life-span is 60 to 70 years.
The Shaltszs apparently evolved from a rodent-like species, and from it they inherited a mind constantly on the lookout for change, to the point of having trouble to focus for a lengthy period of time. This, added to their faster biorhythm, makes them seem positively restless compared to other species.
HOMEWORLD: The Shaltszs homeworld, named Shalt, is a small planet orbiting a Type-B star. The planet's rotation period is a little less than 12 hours, and the gravity is 0.8 G. The landmass is rather equally distributed, meaning there are no real oceans, but instead a lot of seas and archipelagos entwined with larger islands. The climate is temperate. Because of its sun's size and brightness, the atmosphere tends to be extremely luminous. Shalt has no moon, and its system counts only 4 tellurian planets (one of which is a charred planetoid orbiting close to the sun), Shalt being the furthest from their sun; the rest of the planets are gas giants, the closer of which can easily be seen from Shalt at night and illuminates the sky like a very small moon (it can reach roughly twice or thrice the size of Venus as seen from Earth).
HISTORY: The Shaltszs life has always been nomadic; Shaltszs roamed the land in groups of varying size, frequently exchanging members between different groups at a whim. Only very old or crippled Shaltszs remained for some time at the same place, though some of them preferred to be carried along by their groupmates or die rather than stay in the same place with nothing to do. Travels being so important for the Shaltszs, domestication of riding animals was discovered very early in their development; on the other hand, agriculture and catering took much more time to spread. The Shaltszs society evolved without the founding of any city, nation, or empire; because of the lack of any such federating group, full-scale wars were unknown, although the occasional skirmish between two groups could happen. However, the constant exchange of members from one group to another made long term grudges difficult to hold, and, most of the time, a dissenting Shaltszs tends to move away rather than stay and argue. The constant moving of the Shaltszs ensured a homogenization of their culture, and the different local dialects were soon merged into a single language (though with some specificities, see below). The drawback was a very slow and erratic development, especially since the Shaltszs habit of constantly switching their focus of interest made any long-term research problematic.
When evolution brought the need of fixed structures (for instance, for mining or ore-processing), the Shaltszs didn't leave their nomadic ways. Instead, they kept moving, discarding and reclaiming structures as needed. After a while, a rather extended, if scattered, collection of various building littered the land, ranging from the small hut to a complex forge, or, later, hydro-electric dam; their inhabitants however, often changed. A group of Shaltszs would typically claim such a building, repair it if needed, use it for some time, and leave it for other Shaltszs to recover and use. Only the few unusual Shaltszs, who by some quirk of character didn't like travels that much, stayed to man some of those buildings.
As centuries passed, Shaltszs maintained their erratic development, mainly focusing on transporting or communication technology. Although their stop-and-go decentralized type of research makes it rather hard to date important discoveries, it seems that steam power was discovered in their 15th century, steam-powered engines being common in their 16th century; flying machines and the use radio waves were already well spread in their early 1900s. Space age started in 2000, when ion drives were discovered and allowed the Shaltszs to bring their love of wander into their star system. Although the system was soon fully mapped, colonization was very slow since settlements or terraforming attempts were often started but seldom finished in time to be effective. By the beginning of 2200 however, the Shaltszs had fully claimed the two other inhabitable tellurian planets of their system, and the first impulse-powered starships were launched. An extensive communication and computer grid had also been progressively assembled, allowing the Shaltszs to stay in touch with almost any other member of the species.
The first recorded use of warp drive dates back to the 2250s, although warp 4-capable ships appeared only around 2310, allowing the Shaltszs to reach other systems. Infrequent contacts with various traders or explorers hade already made them aware of other life forms; their home planet being relatively poor in resources, they were never of much interest for potential invaders, and so had a rather optimistic view of aliens. Since then, the Shaltszs have been slowly spreading through their sector, either in their own starships or merging with other crews. The lack of any central government has so far prevented any official diplomatic contact with another galactic power.
CULTURE: A Shaltszs seems to be restless; apart from during his sleep, a Shaltszs will always be in action, be it working, moving or speaking, and constantly changing focus. To an outsider, a Shaltszs seems to be rushing around, doing a little of a lot of different things. This appears also in their speech patterns: a Shaltszs often jumps randomly from one subject to another, before getting back to his initial subject at the precise point he left it.
Shaltszs constantly need to be in action or trying something new. They enjoy company, but can also be quite autonomous. Shaltszs are friendly with anyone they meet and always eager to meet new people; they can also bind strong ties with a few individuals, but this is mostly noticeable when they are separated for some time, as Shaltszs make a point to keep in touch and remember people they care most about.
Because of their ever-changing moods, the Shaltszs have no concept of marriage, as they tend to switch partners or love interests as frequently as their attention span changes. However, they take a particular care in the raising of their children: both parents will take care of their progeny even if their relationship has long ago ended; a Shaltszs will never move away from his or her children without being sure that either the other parent or a close friend will be able to take care of them. A Shaltszs is considered to reach maturity between 5 and 10 years, after which the parents end their commitment, but try to keep in touch with them for the rest of their lives. Thus, a Shaltszs can have a rather extended network of relatives amongst the various groups he has been part of. This is as close to the concept of family Shaltszs can get.
Because of their nomadic nature, Shaltszs have a very loose concept of personal possessions. They tend to assume that, if something is left unused for some time (be it a tool, a house or a starship), then it's free to be borrowed. Conversely, they discard without thinking anything they don't use anymore, knowing someone will eventually need it. A Shaltszs will keep with him at all times the goods he really considers personal, which are mostly objects of an emotional value (like a gift from an old friend or his first tool); thus, a very old or sentimental Shaltszs will carry around a rather impressive number of various trinkets and apparent junk.
Shaltszs often went into a lot of trouble in their early relationships with other species, because of their tendency to borrow almost anything without asking; however, their always curious mind allowed them to adapt, at least partially, to this "propriety thing".
Since Shaltszs always need to be in action, they don't care much about leisure activities; a Shaltszs needing to relax will be doing some sport, game, or take part in a fast-paced holonovel. Reading a book or listening to music or poetry will bear only the minimal interest to them, and can turn to a real torture if they are forced to endure it without the possibility of doing something else. Even when reading technical specifications to learn how to work something, a Shaltszs needs to wander a bit between two reading sessions.
Off-world Shaltszs are usually enthusiastic and curious about any other culture they encounter. They are ready to try almost anything, be it a new food, sport, activity or research. They are also ready to be integrated into a larger group, even when they are the only one of their kind, and eager to serve the group's interests. Shaltszs usually leave a group only when they grow really bored, feel useless, or disagree too much with its leaders.
LANGUAGE & NAMES: Due to their constant travels and intercommunications, Shaltszs have almost always been speaking the same language, the Ishaltszis. However, almost every Shaltszs tends to add his own expressions and words, making it an extremely rich language. It's not uncommon to have a few dozen different words for the same concept, and the improvement of computer technology only made this worse, as the Shaltszs now record any change they make to their language, and frequently dig among their extensive database to resurrect old expressions. Ishaltszis is a very sibilant language, which can look to the untrained ear as nothing more than an unending procession of "sh" and "ts" sounds.
Shaltszs have one name, equally rich in sibilants, as Stasstsch, Shotzsa, or Iptchsi, and one nickname, usually coined by the group they're currently part of. Shaltszs are proud of their successive nicknames, and on particular occasions, they present themselves enunciating the full list of them (which, to an outsider, mostly sounds like a lengthy imitation of a beer can being opened). Among aliens, Shaltszs usually adopt a nickname more familiar sounding to the current group they belong to, even if it means they in turn have difficulty pronouncing it themselves.
RELIGION: Shaltszs religion is based on the worshipping of light as the source of all life (some legends held that the Shaltszs were born of the play of light on water), and is based on contemplation and inner meditation. Shaltszs don't gather for celebrations nor have a clergy, but frequently offer a quick prayer or engage in a short meditation. Prayers are considered a very personal thing, and Shaltszs aren't used to discuss it with one another apart from when teaching it to their children: each Shaltszs lives his religion as he wishes. A Shaltszs seldom fails to offer a short prayer when in presence of a strong natural light source (be it a sunrise or a nova seen on a sensor).
Shaltszs had much trouble adjusting to other species religious customs, like public services, and still avoid temples and religious gatherings. Similarly, a Shaltszs will consider very rude to be disturbed during a prayer.
FAVORED PROFESSIONS:
Starship officer: To a Shaltszs, roaming the infinite space aboard a starship seems a dream come true. Since the advent of spaceflight, Shaltszs have been traveling through space, be it alone in small, often self-built starships, or part of a bigger crew. If they are not alone onboard, Shaltszs will favor posts that seldom leave them unoccupied, like Engineers or Science officers.
Rogue: The Shaltszs' very loose concept of possession made them natural, if involuntary, thieves when they started to interact with other civilizations. However, some of them kept their ways even when learning that they were considered unlawful by others, though most of them do it for fun or challenge rather than profit.
Merchant: Another profession that allows the Shaltszs to travel at will around the galaxy, and meet lots of different people and engage in various jobs.
Scientist: Shaltszs can make surprisingly good scientists, their ever-active mind allowing them to envision possibilities that other would consider foolish and unproductive. They seldom specialize in any area, thus preventing them to become experts in a given domain, but can become skilled in a very varied sample of disciplines.
"The main difference between Trekkies and Manchester United fans is that Trekkies never trashed a train carriage. So why are the Trekkies the social outcasts?"
Terry Pratchett