Asym
| Asym | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Base Information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Omnivore/gatherer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Minor Race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locomotion | Walker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terrain | Arid plains | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Body Form | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confluence | Non-humanoid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bio-Identenoid | Mammallianoid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Size | 1.4 meters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Culture | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Social Structure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technological Epoch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Psionic potential | Standard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin World | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Homeworld location | Artoria, in the Minaforra System. Ilelish 0524 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UWP |
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| Primary Star | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atmosphere | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Off-world presence | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zoetic individuals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reference | Marc Miller's Traveller 147. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canon | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Also see | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Asym of Artoria are a technologically sophisticated Minor Non-Human Race with a non-humanoid appearance.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
Members of this species are terrestrial bipeds descended from omnivore/gatherer stock. To Humans, the most notable feature of the race at first glance is that their upper torso is asymmetrical. They are known, therefore, as Asyms throughout the Imperium.
They call themselves the kotch-cho-ba, which translates to "home people" or "people of the guided eye" depending on the region of their homeworld. They are also known colloquially as "pack rats" or "double tails"; the former due to their ingrained cultural habits, the latter due to another physiological feature.
Physical Sophontology[edit]
Adult Asym are typically of 50-80 kilograms mass, and 1.3 to 1.5 meters tall at rest (with head recessed).
Morphology[edit]
In their natural or defensive position, the Asym head rests in a fleshy cavity on the torso. However, when they feel the need Asym can extend the "head", with its single large eye and triangulated ears, on a telescoping neck another half meter. The head atop the extended neck can itself be used for defense, and contains only cartilage and muscles -- the airway and mouth are located within the cavity between the shoulders.
As for the body as a whole, an Asym's outer skin resembles thin leather, while extensive muscle tissue lies within, and its bones are silicate rather than calcium-based.
Most famously, they have two arms of very different appearance. The left arm is very powerful and thick, evolved to lift and move rocks, while the right is very slender and delicate, evolved to manipulate food.
Asym have two prehensile tails, one branching out from the base of the spine just above the legs, the other emerging from mid-back. These help in grabbing, pulling, climbing, or hanging.
An Asym's legs are short and muscular, with broad, flat, tough feet. Their "bounding" ability allows Asyms to travel some 75 miles in 10 hours with little conscious intervention.
Internal Physiology[edit]
The small head does not contain the brain, which is instead located in the torso beneath the "high tail". The single eye can simulate a double pupil, so Asyms have no difficulty with binocular vision, and their triangulated ear structures are more sensitive than those of Humaniti.
Extensive muscular control allows for the sheltering of most body mass in harsh environments.
Lifespan[edit]
Asyms reach adulthood at 30, with a life expectancy of sixty years or so.
Archaeological Sophontology[edit]
Very little is known about the Asym history.
Cultural Sophontology[edit]
Asyms embody every element of curiosity, tinkering, and collecting. They are renowned as creatures of mystique and ritual, concerned with ecology and recycling, ever given to experimentation, and generous and sharing of all they have.
Careful reclamation of resources is essential to Asym social ethics, and waste of any description is deeply immoral.
Linguistic Sophontology[edit]
The Asym native language is harsh and grinding, depending on the snapping of the tongue against the teeth as well as barks and groans developed in the body cavity, but humans can learn to imitate it.
Societal Sophontology[edit]
Asyms are uncommon in the Third Imperium, and are limited to TL–8.
In the early decades of the Third Imperium, Asym in Imperial service made use of the CP-859 Staple Gun.
Government and Politics[edit]
The Asym homeworld maintains a local constabulary, which keeps law and order.
Astrography[edit]
This race is primarily located in the following areas:
Charted Space:
Homeworld[edit]
The homeworld of this race is:
World Listing: 1105[edit]
Significant communities of this race are known to dwell within the following systems and worlds:
References[edit]
- Marc Miller. Marc Miller's Traveller (Imperium Games, 1996), 147.
- Timothy B. Brown. Aliens Archive (Imperium Games, 1996), 5-12.
- Jean Rabe. Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 25 (Imperium Games, 1996), 14-15.