Weyo

The Weyock (//, singular "Weyo") were the native sentient species of Shest Minor in the. They were nearly wiped out by the invading before and during the Ssi-ruuvi Incursion into the Golden Empire, but were saved when the Empire invaded. They were subsequently incorporated as citizens of the Empire and began rebuilding their culture and homeworld.

Biology and appearance
Semi- in configuration, the Weyock were taller and more broadly built than s, Doloy, and some of their other neighbors in the Golden Empire, although slightly smaller than the Ssi-ruuk. Their skin, which varied in hue from dull brown to dark red, was not quite so leathery as to be called "hide" by other sentients, but was thicker than the skin of most other humanoids and more resistant to abrasion.

Weyock grew horns on their heads. A pair curved down parallel to their jawlines, one on each side, based in part of the skull which grew out from what would be Human temples. More horns grew alone the top of the skull where flesh met hairline. All Weyock had at least one upper horn, and males sometimes sported as many as three. Jawline horns always extended a few centimeters beyond the face, but upper horns usually extended no more than eight to ten centimeters.

Weyock grew hair on their heads, with a lighter coating on their bodies, although males had thicker chest and back hair. Both sexes grew spines from their upper backs. Females tended to be slightly smaller than males.

Weyock olfactory nerves were less sensitive than those of most other species. As a result, they had evolved, instead of a pair or set of nostrils, a group of facial flaps which were opened to inhale. This allowed them to inhale large numbers of airborne particles at once and allow their weaker olfactory senses to piece together information about their surroundings.

Females carried their children for eight to nine standard months before giving birth to live young. Infant Weyock were born with rubbery stubs which would grow into their horns by the time they reached full physical maturity around the age of twenty standard years.

Society and culture
Due to their poor senses of smell, smell itself did not play a significant role in Weyock culture, and was considered largely secondary (when it was considered at all) in such matters as cooking, romance, personal hygiene, and aesthetics. Because of their horns, facial contact was awkward at best, and most Weyock viewed kissing, nuzzling, and similar habits of alien species as bizarre.

Innumerable pieces of Weyock culture, history, and technology were lost with the Ssi-ruuvi invasion. In the aftermath, the Weyock developed a culture which placed primary emphasis on self-reliance, strength, and communal responsibility. While some societies before the invasion had had massive welfare programs and efforts to care for the poor, these largely disappeared in later times, except for those efforts sponsored by the Royal government itself.

History
The Weyock evolved from herbivores herd animals, gradually evolved to walk upright. While they eventually became omnivorous, they retained their emphasis on a combination of individual responsibility to the whole and societal responsibility to the individual. Early cities often featured highly organized town watches and agricultural teams. These watches evolved into armies which fought in defense of their homelands, although some societies adopted the attitude that "the best defense is a good offense" and expanded through conquest.

As Weyock societies evolved, those based in areas with abundant natural resources developed more quickly than those elsewhere. As the superpowers fought for territory and engaged in technological and traditional arms races, poorer states fell further behind. By the time the Ssi-ruuk invaded, the most powerful states had developed and employed s.

The most powerful states were the first to go, as they exhausted their supplies of nuclear weapons against the invaders. Conquered, millions of those Weyock were, with many more conscripted for forced labor. The Ssi-ruuk continued to spread across Shest Minor, enslaving Weyock as they went. They had nearly completed the absorption of the species when Breek Zagrev arrived and attacked with her fleet.

In the aftermath of the Ssi-ruuvi rout at the Battle of Shest Minor, the surviving Weyock agreed to join the Golden Empire for their own safety. Since the survivors were those who had lived in a less powerful society, their culture was not representative of larger Weyock history, but became the base culture of the entire species as it struggled to recover from the Ssi-ruuvi depredations.