The following Alien Profile was submitted to the Alien August competition by Peter Berghold.
Name: Hol’Korth Rah
Average Height: 214cm
Average Mass: 82Kg
Average IQ: Unknown; differences in thought processes make it impossible to measure IQ based on human measures.
Average Life Span: 300 standard years
Homeworld: Star System in master survey catalog as GN-07-B-0203. Known by the natives as Jengou.
Classification: Mammalian
Spacefaring Status: Among the first aliens encountered by Earth’s descendants during initial diaspora from Earth. Colonized twenty eight worlds in the area of space surrounding their home world. Established a trading station in a shared world’s star system.
Physical Characteristics
The Hol’Korth Rah are descendant from mammalian tree dwellers who adapted to a change in their environment by building tools and moving from a vegetarian diet to an omnivorous diet. Jengou possesses a gravity only one fifth of Earth Standard hence the Hol’Korth Rah grew tall and very thin.
Earth humans encountering the Hol’Korth Rah nicknamed them “skinnies.”
Hol’Korth Rah have two genders, male and female. Birth rates among the Hol’Korth Rah favor females which are numbered seven to every single male born. A Hol’Korth Rah female is only in estrous once every seven years and give live birth to a single child to up to four children at once. Most common birth is to twins.
Hol’Korth Rah have four limbs consisting of two arms and two legs. Their torso is normally proportioned to be one half the length of their legs and their arms are long enough for their hands to reach their knees.
Hol’Korth Rah hands have six digits plus an opposable thumb.
While the Hol’Korth Rah have a skin with a similar composition to humans their body, facial and limb shapes are angular rather than curved.
Society and Culture
Hol’Korth Rah family units consist of a patriarch with one or more mates depending on social status and financial ability. The lowest ranking males have a single mate where the highest ranking males have up to twenty one mates. If a male dies his mates are put in isolation until they too pass away from old age or other causes.
Hol’Korth Rah females that are not a male’s mate are considered the chattel property of her father until such time as a suitable mate is found. While upper class patriarchs would prefer to find a mate for their daughters of the same social status as themselves or higher there is no stigma associated with a daughter becoming the mate of a male of lower social standing.
Hol’Korth Rah males decorate their faces and torsos with jewelry and tattoos that identify them with their station in society and the clan they belong to.
Hol’Korth Rah females decorate their faces and torsos with tattoos that identify them as belonging to their patriarch.
The quantity “seven” plays a huge role in Hol’Korth society. Families are organized into clans of some multiple of seven. At forty nine a new clan is started with another seven families that could or could not be related to the original clan. Among the males an election is held among the patriarchs to determine who the lead patriarch is. Larger clans may have a council of seven or fourteen members but all heads of households have a vote in the business of the clan.
Each male born into a Hol’Korth Rah family unit is expected to become a patriarch in his own right . Males without mates are not allowed to participate in clan voting.
Seven clans form the next level of society in Hol’Korth Rah society called a “Jeng.” Seven Jengs form a “Quoth” which is the highest level of government in Hol’Korth Rah society.
It is not unheard of for a patriarch to take a mate from a completely unrelated Quoth and in modern times this has been a desired thing to do for genetic diversity.
The Hol’Korth Rah have become a wide ranging space fareing society. When the historical event the Hol’Korth Rah refer to in reverent tones as “Shek Hal Twarari” translated meaning “The Awakening” great trading routes crisscrossing the home world and trade became a passion for the Hol’Korth Rah.
This trading culture continues into modern times but on an interstellar scale. When a trading delegation of Hol’Korth Rah arrives in a system it is a great event. Items being offered for trade come from far reaches of known and unknown space.
The Hol’Korth Rah do not understand the concept of warfare. This is not to say that they are pacifists. If someone were to be foolish enough to attack a Hol’Korth Rah physically they’d learn to reconsider before doing so again. The Hol’Korth attempt to avoid killing in a physical fight preferring to render the opponent unwilling to continue the battle.
There was an event when a DPRAS conquest fleet arrived at a Hol’Korth Rah colony system attempting to impose their will on the Hol’Korth Rah living there. They arrived with a fleet of over twelve hundred ships of the line and their auxiliaries. They discovered the Hol’Korth Rah merchant ships were very much armed and the result of the battle that occurred rendered the entire invasion fleet incapable of maneuvering under their own power much less engaging their Alcubierre drives.
The Hol’Korth Rah offered to rescue the survivors within the invasion fleet but were rebuffed. Eventually they were rescued by their own navy but their ships remain in the Hol’Korth Rah system.
Article by Peter Berghold.
Artwork by Alexander Thümler (miNze). Check out Alex’s Facebook page and DeviantART page.