Aerendel, The Game

Races of Aerendel

Sectoids

Sectoids are large (two to seven feet tall) multi-legged creatures with exo-skeletons.

Many develop wings, but only a tiny minority of them can fly. Those that can fly take years to build up enough strength and endurance to put that skill to any use. And then almost any flyer that gains decent flying skills is hunted down and enslaved by Ghardran ArchMages. For this reason alone, most of them seem to nurse an intense hatred for the races who learn to fly easily, such as Qaeglans and Sprites.

But Sectoids (and others you'd think would pride themselves on being big and bad) seem to have a healthy respect for Sprites and lay low when Sprites are in the neighborhood.

Sectoids vary in appearance from Spiders to Grasshoppers and Flying Centipedes. Some seem to be semi-primate in appearance, others are pure insects. Not all of them hate all 'Two Legs', but many of them consider all mammals food. Many of them hate everybody, even (or especially) their own kind.

A lot of them live in the ruins of ancient battlegrounds or make their lairs in lost and abandoned Ghardra tunnels. Since they've been forced to serve the Ghardra many times in the past, a lot of them consider any Ghardra below the Whip-Master stage to be snack food.

Larger Sectoids have been 'broken' and used as steeds by Arch-Mages. Large flying Sectoids with Ghardra Arch-Mages for riders are the things that nightmares are made of.

Sectoids usually have at least six legs and two arms. Their 'hands' are often comprised of seven or more fingers and two or more thumbs. They can be incredibly fine weavers, jewel-makers, armorers and weaponsmiths. Those who have learned to get along with 'Two Legs' have had to learn patience and will usually admit that other members of their race would curse anything they made as a matter of course, but it is still considered ill-mannered to speak (within one hundred yards or more) about having any item bought from them checked out by a Cleric or a Mage to be sure it isn't cursed. Many Sectoids cannot (or will not) speak the languages of the Two-Legs.

They can be incredibly stupid to extremely bright. They are not particularly well suited to follow professions in Magic. Orthodox Magickers will not consider them for membership in their guilds. Witches sometimes share their knowledge with Sectoids they believe they can trust. Very rarely, Druids have accepted and been accepted by Sectoids and shared their knowledge. Seekers are hard to pin down to anything.

Gaa-Krell is only too happy to accept Sectoids as Clerics (Healers or Questors) (Gaa-Krell's concept of 'Martial Arts' is a hammer in one hand and a poisoned dagger in the other, and he doesn't want to take much time to teach creatures he considers pawns in his machinations any complicated moves if he can help it.) Shanti will accept Sectoids into her fold. Giya has accepted a few. Zar and Xein and Koerz accept them. Other religions either reject them outright or force them to undergo especially harsh interrogations, initiations and apprentice-ships to prove themselves trustworthy.

Appearance: Large, upright or semi-upright insects or insect-mammal hybrids (the Brotherhood at work). Leathery or even seemingly metallic 'skin' (exo-skeleton).

Coloring: Red, Green, Black, Orange, Yellow or: Red and Black, Black and Green, Orange and Yellow, Yellow and Green, Orange and Brown. (Rarely: Yellow and Black)
{{ The 'skin' can often be: Pitted, Scaly, Rough, Slick, Sandy, Metallic, or Leathery }}
Their eyes are usually:
Red, Black, Copper, Silver, White or Amber
"Hair": Those with 'hair' usually have hair that is:
Green, Black, Orange, White, or Silver
in styles that can be described as:
Jagged, Bristly, Coarse, Stubbly, Greasy, Web-Like or Matted
Wings : Those that grow wings usually grow:
Clear Multi-Layered wings, Black Hornet's Wings or
Leathery Brown Bat's Wings

Advantages: Tough skin (body armor). Strength. Durability. Able to climb slick vertical surfaces. Extremely organized as armies, they scare many enemies into retreating at first sight.

Disadvantages: Almost universally feared and mistrusted. Communication with other races difficult if not impossible. Extremely rare individuals develop Psi powers as high level Clerics or Adepts. And usually low level psi powers at that, but at least they can communicate with others. Flight is hard to master and takes a lot of time, a lot of practice and a lot of hard knocks.

Occupations: Soldiers, Terrorists, Rogues, Thieves, Dark Clerics, Barbarians, (Rare: Pirates)
(Very Rarely): Weaponsmiths, Healers, Witches, Druids, Adepts, Dark Temple Guards

 

{ One 'sub-species' with a high tolerance for, and possibly even a liking for 'Two-Legs' are the Tiger Spiders. They usually grow from two to three feet tall with yellow and black striped arms and legs. This species has been hunted to near extinction by other Sectoids and will join almost any fight against the larger Sectoids. Tiger-Spiders cannot fly, but they can spit venom up to fifteen feet into the air and are extremely accurate. One in fifty develops (or uses) the Psi ability to communicate with 'Two Legs', but they can all understand the 'Common' language. 'Tiger Spiders' do not consider themselves related in any way, shape or form to the other Sectoids. Most are either vegetarians (fruit and nut eaters) or they eat rats and other vermin. They are widely accepted as Clerics in Temples that will not accept any (other) Sectoids and they are easily accepted as Witches, Druids or Adepts. Unorthodox Magickers view them highly as some of their greatest teachers. It is believed that many 'good' Metamorphs masquerade as Tiger Spiders. Shanti has taken on their form more than once. Tiger Spiders can choose from a wider range of Occupations than other Sectoids. This makes them even less popular with those other Sectoids. (who view them as 'Ass Kissers' unworthy of being members of the Insect World. And many other Sectoids will often try to kill them on sight.) }