Virushi
| Virushi | |
|---|---|
| Status | Minor Race |
| Classification | Herbivore/grazer |
| Size | 3.0 meters |
| Weight | 1.0 tons |
| Homeworld | Virshash/Urlaqqash (Reaver's Deep 2724) |
| Multi-world | Yes |
| Canon | Yes |
| Extinct | Extant |
| Reference | GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 4 |
The Virushi are among the largest intelligent races encountered by Humaniti. With quasi-centauroid bodies nearly 3.0 meters long, standing around 1.8 meters at the shoulder, and weighing around a ton, they are a formidable sight; however this effect is balanced by their well-justified reputation for pacifism.
Biology (Physical Sophontology)
To Terran eyes, a Virushi looks like a cross between a centaur and a rhinoceros. They are squat, massively built creatures covered with thick, leathery armor on their backs and side. The body is a solid barrel, with a rather long and very muscular tail. The have two pair of tree-thick legs and two pairs of arms. The lower pair are heavily muscled and powerful; the upper pair seem almost withered by comparison but are actually about the same size as Human arms. The hands have three fingers and an opposable thumb; those on the lower arms are thick and stumpy, while the ones on the upper arms are long and delicate, rather like human fingers, including small fingernails.
- They have a broad mouth with two short, rounded tusks protruding downward. Their teeth are designed for a herbivorous diet; a large number of short, peg like molars with a few incisors in the front. Atop the head is a huge horn which, like the tusks and foot-claws, evolved for digging roots rather than for fighting.
- Senses: Their eyes, nearly buried beneath massive brow ridges, work well enough in very bright sunlight but much less well in poor light, let alone near darkness; they are nearsighted but their close up vision is excellent. They have no external ears; they find most "normal" sounds in standard atmospheres almost too high to hear.
- Trophics: Virushi, predictably, eat more than humans; ideally they like to eat a lot more, but much of it high-bulk, low-protein content vegetable matter, and they can survive for some time on smaller quantities of higher-value food thanks to their adaptable digestions. The sheer quantity and variety of food that a proto-Virushi needed forced the species into a solitary, wide-ranging pattern of foraging.
- They found considerable advantages in cooperation and the formation of social groups. Language developed from the need to exchange information about food sources.
- They learned to build shelters, and eventually mastered tool-making. The cooperative organization was never coercive or hierarchical; the race lacked aggressive instincts, and individual Virushi had to be able to wander off alone on foraging expeditions.
- Native Environment: Virshash (Reaver's Deep 2724), the Virushi homeworld, lies just within the Imperial border, in the Reaver's Deep sector. It has a notably dense core and a diameter of somewhat over 10,000 miles, giving it a gravity of 1.75G, and is part of a relatively close double-star system; the second star of the pair produces high levels of radiation, which Virshash's dense atmosphere only partly blocks.
- The high gravity, dense atmosphere, and high but variable radiation levels produce a significantly unstable environment and a prolific ecology with some physically formidable large life-forms, including the Virushi. Virushi originated as grazer-gatherers, adopting a highly varied (though purely herbivorous) diet, searching through scrub lands, river valleys, and the edges of the world's great forests for a range of foodstuffs.
- Virushi Homeworld: The Virushi homeworld is Virshash (Reaver's Deep 2724).
Evolution & Environment (Epigenetics)
This species originated on [homeworld] and developed intelligence.
Sophonce (Evolution)
This species developed intelligence in response to [factors].
Climate & Ecotope (Environment)
This species holds the following environmental preferences:
- ? type of planet
- ? type of climate
- ? type of ecotope
- ? type of gravity
- ? type of atmosphere
Genetic Code (Genotype)
- No information yet available.
Anatomy & Physiology (Phenotype)
Sophontologists studying this species have discovered the following data.
Body Plan (Morphology)
Confluence (humanoid, semi-humanoid, non-humanoid, etc.)
- ? symmetry (?-ial)
- Kind of -pod (#-ped)
- ? limbs used for manipulation "arms"
- ? limbs used for locomotion "legs"
- ? tail/s
- Body consists of three segments
- Segment 1...
- etc.
Biochemistry (Function)
This species has a [conventional / unconventional] biochemistry.
Respiration (Reaction)
This species used a [conventional / unconventional] respiration cycle consisting of:
- ? inhalant
- ? exhalant
Ecosystem & Population (Ecology)
No information yet available.
Diet & Trophics (Consumption)
This species survives using the following methods of consumption:
- (common consumptive classification)
- This species favors [blank] kinds of foodstuffs.
- No information yet available.
Gender & Sexuality (Reproduction)
This species has the following reproductive characteristics:
- ? gender/s
- ? sexual morphism
- (type of reproduction)
- kind of reproductive act
- ? mating system
- type of birth
- type of childrearing
Adolescence & Lifecycle (Ontogeny)
No information yet available.
Psychology (Cultural Sophontology)
No information yet available.
Goals (Motivation)
No information yet available.
Expectations
No information yet available.
Traditions
No information yet available.
Belief System & Philosophy (Mindset)
No information yet available.
Philosophy
No information yet available.
- Attitudes?
Belief System
No information yet available.
- Religion?
Interventionary Stance
No information yet available.
- [tribalism vs. galactism]
Culture & Society (Ethnology)
Humans typically think of Virushi as "gentle giants', whose sheer size and strength means that they have little need for aggression, and this is indeed a workable simplification. Virushi are not only huge and powerful compared to other sentient races, but also by comparison to other species on their homeworld, the Virushi seem unrelentingly cooperative and mild, and bizarrely immune to all concepts of authority.
- Whereas other species compare alien races to themselves and classify them accordingly, a Virushi, adapted by evolution to be the biggest and gentlest thing in an environment full of smaller and more excitable creatures, takes those other species as it find them.
- It can intellectually grasp the idea that those other beings may be aggressive, hostile, and domineering - Virushi are very long way from being stupid - but that is simply how those being are; it does not drive Virushi to anger or violent defensiveness, because the Virushi lacks the capacity for those responses.
Social Organization: 1116
The other well known feature of Virushi psychology is that they do not take orders. They can take suggestions, but see no reason why they should not discuss them and ask for explanation and clarification. A Virushi's instinct is to question, to ask for reasons. Of course, a trusted figure may emphasize that a situation needs immediate action, and explanation will have to wait, or a Virushi may obey an order to humor another being for one reason or another, but this can not continue forever.
- Of course, this made it virtually impossible for the Virushi to develop a large, complex society with specialized roles, at least until the Imperium gave them advanced computer systems and the idea of advanced market economics.
Cultural Hierarchies: 1116
This species ranks its members in the following manners:
- No information yet available.
Language (Linguistic Sophontology)
The Virushi currently have a single language, which formed by the merger of several dialects when human first contacted the world. Its structure reflects their attitude toward life.
- Humans may learn Virushi, just as Virushi may learn human languages. The only problem is that Virushi have very deep voices, to the point that their speech sometimes slips into a subsonic range, inaudible to Human hearers. Likewise human conversations are often too shrill for Virushi.
Language & Letters (Communication)
This species uses the following types of language to communicate:
- No information yet available.
Aesthetics (Symbology)
This species holds the following values regarding art, architecture, ornamentation, etc.
- No information yet available.
Morality (Ethics)
This species holds the following values regarding a sense of right and wrong:
- No information yet available.
History (Archaeological Sophontology)
Virshash lay some distance beyond the borders of the First Imperium, and so the Virushi were never contacted until Solomani explorers ventured into the Reavers' Deep sector during a lull in the Interstellar Wars. They remained in at least intermittent contact with various Human states throughout this period and into the Long Night.
- The Virushi were eventually absorbed into Third Imperium.
Historical Eras
No information yet available.
History: General Overview
No information yet available.
History-Era: Mileu 1100
No information yet available.
Major Historical Events Timeline: 1116
These are some of the more important historical events that have affected this polity:
- No information yet available.
Civilization (Societal Sophontology)
The civilization and society of this species is known as [blank].
Government & Politics (Leadership)
Virushi seem unrelentingly cooperative and mild, and bizarrely immune to all concepts of authority. Of course, this made it virtually impossible for the Virushi to develop a large, complex society with specialized roles, at least until the Imperium gave them advanced computer systems and the idea of advanced market economics.
- Virushi demand government transparency and practically all Virushi political activity is posted publicly with comprehensive session tracking. The Virushi language is plain and never developed the specialized legal and judicial terminology and complications common to many other sophonts. This is the only way to allow the Virushi government to efficiently function rather than become bogged down in endless sessions of explanation and clarification. As it is, the Virushi political process tends to be a very slow one.
- The Virushi nature makes for relatively simple governance. The Virushi government is a popular democracy dominated by cooperative councils.
- Please see polity entry at TBD for more information.
Military & Intelligence (Force Projection)
The Virushi have a well-justified reputation for pacifism. Other than maintaining local constabularies to maintain law and order, the Virushi are not known for military proclivities. Imperial garrisons protect Virushi worlds from armed aggression.
- Please see polity entry at TBD for more information.
Business & Trade (Economy)
Virushi technology range rom TL 6 to TL 10 with TL 6 technologies most common and being readily repairable, maintainable, and available to Virushi society. The Virushi often hire out foreign technicians to maintain higher technology items.
- Virushi engage in trade across the Third Imperium and beyond.
- Please see polity entry at TBD for more information.
Research & Technology (Knowledge)
No information yet available.
- Please see polity entry at TBD for more information.
Astrography (Range)
This species can primarily be found within Charted Space in the following locations.
Homeworld: 1116
The homeworld of this species is:
- No information yet available.
World Listing: 1116
Significant communities of this race (sophont species) are known to reside within the following systems and worlds:
Sector Listing: 1116
This race (sophont species) is primarily located in the following areas:
- No information yet available.
References & Contributors (Sources)
- Classic Traveller The Traveller's Handbook
- Journal of the Travellers Aid Society No. 12
- GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 4