Zorphax

The Zorphax were a xenophobic, reclusive species of insectomammalian sentients native to the shadowy world of Xyvax in the.

Biology and Appearance
The Zorphax were mostly in appearance. However, like, they had exceedingly gaunt builds. Their skin ranged in color from lavender to blue/black, but their hair was almost uniformly black; any other color was a mutation. They had eight eyes, which saw in the visible and infrared spectra and gave them a nearly full range of vision. They were particularly alert to movement, and physically sensitive to strong enough vibrations. Though bright light did not affect their vision, many Zorphax found it instinctively uncomfortable, and preferred dark places. They had sharp digits on their hands and feet.

Though largely mammalian, the Zorphax retained some insect traits, including delivering eggs rather than live young. They were both venomous and poisonous (their blood was toxic to many species, although their saliva and seminal fluids were not). Zorphax delivered necrotic poison through bites with their fangs; mature Zorphax could control the injection of venom, though child Zorphax usually could not. Zorphax were carnivorous and preferred to eat their prey while it was still alive.

Another lingering insect trait was the ability to cling to vertical surfaces. After a very small number of Zorphax submitted to examination by xenobiologists, the scientists concluded the Zorphax lacked any microscopic barbs on their digits, but instead secreted a mild adhesive through their skin. The adhesive allowed them to cling to smooth surfaces, including the often-damp rock formations of their homeworld, but also made them easy to dislodge.

Zorphax could naturally live between 95 and 130 standard years, although their mysterious and often violent lives made this more hypothetical than realistic. They reached physical maturity approximately thirteen years after hatching.

Society and Culture
Most aliens' conclusion about Zorphax society and culture was that neither existed. Reclusive even among their own kind, Zorphax tended towards nomadic lives, traveling only with mates, although female Zorphax had a tendency to kill males. A handful of Zorphax settled down in permanent locations, but had little interest in neighbors, even for a common defense; where such defensive alliances existed, they were thinly spread and fragile.

Zorphax raised their children to be able to hunt and avoid danger, but often left them to their own devices while they were still in childhood. This fostered a culture of improvisation and self-reliance, but also suspicion of others and xenophobic isolation. Despite their self-perpetuated cultural isolationism, many Zorphax took quickly to new technology and found ways to incorporate it into their lives.

Zorphax who did remain with mates or other kin for any appreciable length of time usually practiced necrocannibalism rather than allowing the remains of their kin to go to waste or attract dangers, although even among Zorphax it was considered uncommon to kill for the purpose of eating another Zorphax.

The Zorphax shared a common language (though with numerous regional dialects and slight variations), leading xenobiologists to conclude the species had evolved and conducted its initial development in a centralized location. A few Zorphax developed written scripts for their language, but these were compiled independently and bore almost no relation to one another.

Under the rule of the Golden Empire, most Zorphax did little to change their culture, enduring the Empire's presence but not participating in it. For many years, prosecutions for murder continually returned not guilty verdicts despite overwhelming evidence, as most Zorphax calmly accepted mates killing one another, to say nothing of unrelated Zorphax doing so. Eventually, Queen Rin Sakaros suspended the right of trial by jury and installed alien judges on Xyvax in an attempt to change the culture.

History
The Zorphax were Xyvax's sole sentients by the time the Empire arrived, but their cannibalism of their dead, combined with the swamp and various scavenger species reclaiming most Zorphax who died alone, made any attempt to trace their history a largely fruitless endeavor. Xenobiologists could not even conclude the Zorphax were the only sentient species Xyvax had ever had; the controversial Progenitor Species Theory postulated that a previous sentient species had once ruled the Zorphax before being killed off by them.

The Golden Empire incorporated Xyvax without much resistance, in large part because the Zorphax had nothing resembling a standing army with which to put forth resistance. They accepted the Empire's presence on their homeworld in a resigned sort of way, but most continued to have nothing to do with the Royal government, though a handful settled in the planet's quasi-capital.

In the Galaxy
The overwhelming majority of Zorphax had no desire to leave Xyvax, and most aliens who knew of them at all were in no hurry to encourage the species to broaden its horizons. Of the handful that did migrate offworld, most pursued illicit work offworld, acting as spies and assassins. An exception was the Zorphax Centurion Xiekei, although he also performed reconnaissance and assassination work for the Order of Keltrayu.

Behind the Scenes
Ahrrie created the Zorphax, but allowed Sakaros to publish this article to SWFanon on her behalf.