A P E X
Gerosians
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: The purpose of this submission is to provide SWRP: Chaos with a new species for the player base to create, explore, and enjoy!
- Name: Gerosian
- Designation: Sentient
- Homeworld: Geros Prime (Submission Impending)
- Language: "Gero" (Ancient Sith Dialect), Galactic Basic
- Average Adult Height: 1.9 meters
- Skin Color: Pale Green - Brown
- Hair Color: Varies
- Breathes: Type I Atmosphere
- - Slow Healing Capacity: As a result from the methods of their creation, the Gerosians have an exceptionally slow healing rate. Injuries that would take the average human only days to recover from could have a Gerosian out of the fight for several weeks. Furthermore, due to this susceptibility to injury, the mortality rate of injured Gerosians is rather high.
- - Weak Immune System: In addition to this, the Gerosians have an incredibly weak immune system to the point where foreign diseases could be as deadly as the Gulag Plague for them. As such, the Gerosians utilize specialized, environmental suits in order to survive interactions with other species.
- - Mental Instability: While Gerosian society works much akin to a well-oiled machine, individuals are often wreaked with mental instabilities which revolve around anger and aggression. This, as is the case with all that ails their species, is a result of their alchemical origins; as the Gerosians were bred to fight with unparalleled ferocity on the field of battle.
- - Female Scarcity: As a whole, the ratio of male to female births is 15:1. As such, the Gerosian species has a low population compared to other races.
- - Intelligence Level: While they have managed to obtain a level of technological advancement comparable with the rest of the Galaxy, the population of those intelligent enough to make such advancements are few and far between. The average Gerosian is intelligent enough to aim and shoot a blaster, in addition to grunting in broken Gero or Basic.
- + Immense Strength: When compared to the raw strength of an average Human, a Gerosian is as strong as three men without the assistance of the Force.
- + Tangible Illusions: An inherited trait from the Croke, the Gerosians are able to produce tangible illusions. It is to be noted that the size and number of these illusions is reflected by an individual's rank in the Force. Apprentices can create tangible illusions that modify their outward appearance and cannot equate to anything more than equal their height. Knights can create tangible illusions which can be projected outside of the body and cannot amount to more than twice the height of the user. Masters can produce numerous illusions outside of the body which rarely amount to more than thrice of the user's height. It is also noted that, whilst an illusion can tangibly manifest into nearly anything, the advanced functions found within them are lost. For example, one cannot expect to create an illusory starfighter and expect it to actually fly.
- + Force Sensitivity: The entirety of the Gerosian race is Force Sensitive. It is unheard of for one of this species to be insensitive to the Force.
- Average Lifespan: 250-300 Standard Years
- Races: There are no distinct races amongst the Gerosians
- Communication: Verbal & Written Communication
- Technology Level: In comparison to the rest of the Galaxy, the Gerosian technology level is average.
- Notable Player-Characters: Thrash
In terms of appearance, Gerosians appear as hulking, muscular beings characterized by a humanoid form. Upon the top of their heads and spanning down the back, in addition to on the back of their elbows and the top of their knees, are thick carapices which act as a natural defense. However, it is noted that these thick portions of "shell" pale in comparison to modern armor, and most modern armaments have the capacity to pierce them. In addition to these carapices, Gerosians are characterized by skin pigmentation that generally ranges from light green to light brown. All in all, the Gerosians pay homage to their genetic ancestors: the Croke and the Amphi-Hydrus, and appear as a "brutish", humanoid ancestor to these races.
DIET
Gerosians are omnivores in terms of diet and are capable of indulging in various cuisines found throughout the Galaxy. However, cuisine with a phenomenal sum of sodium prove exceptionally detrimental to their overall health. While it may taste delicious going down, the average Gerosian could easily spend a week bedridden in response to consuming high-sodium products. Put simply, as a direct result from the method of their creation centuries prior, sodium has an adverse effect upon their digestive system and causes exceptionally painful intestinal damage.
CULTURE
Due to the fact that the Gerosians were, quite literally, born to be slaves under the heel of the Sith, the culture of the species has therefore evolved into a literal defiance of their intended role. As opposed to growing up with the purpose of serving as a Jedi-hunting abomination, the Gerosians act as mercenaries for the various governments across the Galaxy; rendering their services to those that would allow them to face and fight the enemy that brought them life. As such, at the heart of Gerosian culture is the necessity for strength on the field of battle, and daily life has been influenced by this.
As a whole, the Gerosian species exists in the form of ten clans. While one would typically expect there to be nothing but war, angst, and strife to occur between these battle-centric peoples, the exact opposite occurs. Each clan focuses on a general art or industry that is vital for the survival and success of the Gerosian species as a whole, and the young members of society are free to select which clan they desire to join once they come of age. Of course, in times of decline, the young may be influenced as to which clan to select. To date, the clans consist of:
- Ajak (Education)
- Asha (Weapon Combat)
- Hyal (Agriculture)
- T'yuk (Vehicle Combat)
- Zuguruk (Engineering)
- Tsyok (Architecture)
- Wodza (Medicine)
- Sha'sot (Religion)
- Qya'sik (Force Combat)
- N'wul (Commerce)
In terms of general beliefs, the Gerosians worship the Force itself as their patron deity. It is believed that the Force has a purpose and plan for each and every one of the Gerosian race, and as such the Sha'sot clan exist to interpret the will of the Force and preach its intentions to the people. Furthermore, Gerosian society places an exceptionally high importance to the female gender. It is considered an immense honor for a family to be blessed with a daughter, and the child herself is lavished with the adoration of their entire clan and people. Women of all species are considered sacred and are thereby highly respected by the Gerosians. This is due to the fact that they are quite literally scarce within Gerosian society and it is recognized that there is no life without women. It is noted that marriage is taken incredibly serious within Gerosian society and that monogamy is the standard, despite the fact that women are few and far between.
However, it is considered taboo for homosexuality to exist; and those, both Gerosian and otherwise, who practice it are as loathed as Sith. This is due, simply, because the Gerosians believe that the role of men and women are to unite and produce strong offspring. Any deviation from this role, especially in the form of homosexuality, is regarded as spitting in the eye of the natural order of things and results in excessive judging, loathing, and ostracization on the part of the Gerosians.
HISTORY
Several thousand years prior to the outbreak of the Gulag Plague, the first Gerosians were created as apart of the Sith Empire's growing desire to subjugate the Galaxy. In particular, a cadre of capable Alchemists took subjects from two races, notable for their unique connection to the Force, and spliced them together in the form of a new abomination. These races, the Croke and the Amphi-Hydrus, therefore despised the resulting creatures and to this day have treated them with supreme hatred. The Gerosians were specifically created to act as a unique vanguard under the authority of the reigning Emperor and wage war against the Republic; and to this end were treated worse than dirt. For an excessively brief span of time, they performed this task without question, until finally a Jedi Master confronted the acting War Marshal on the field of battle.
She questioned why the Gerosians served the Sith Empire so faithfully. She questioned why they chose servitude over freedom. She questioned why they, a race of warriors, would spearhead an army of cowards too weak and afraid to enter the field of battle themselves...
And as a result of this line of questioning, the seeds of rebellion were sown in the heart of the War Marshal. He, as did all of his people, detested the poor treatment levied upon them by their Sith Overlords; and as such they decided to push back and attempt to obtain freedom. On the field of battle, whilst battling against the forces of the Republic, he gave the order to turn on the Sith just as the scales were in their favor. The tactic saw the immense devastation of the Sith forces that day and ultimately the failure of their attempted invasion of a world bordering the Republic and Imperial spaces. In the wake of this victory, however, the Empire launched a full-scale manhunt for the rebellious Gerosians. They were relentlessly slaughtered, regardless of their best efforts of fighting back, and ultimately banded together in order to flee into the Outer Rim Territories.
They ultimately took up residence on an uncharted world and lived as quietly and carefully as possible. Some decided to reach out the Republic on behalf of their people and secured assistance for the refugees, whilst others signed on as mercenaries and fought on the front lines against the Empire. However, as the Old Republic wars drew to a close, the surviving Gerosians made a request of the Galactic Republic: that their new homeworld be deleted from the known records so that they might be truly free of the fear of an Imperial genocide in the future. To this, the Republic agreed and so began the isolation of the world that would come to be known as Geros Prime. For centuries following, the people banded together and mastered their world, doing all they could to prepare themselves to defend hearth and home from any and all Sith that may come in the future.
However, their period of isolation from the Galaxy would come in the form of a single, exploration vessel that landed upon the world in the early 700s ABY. Ignorant to the fact that the Gulag Plague had utterly decimated the Galaxy, the Gerosians welcomed the explorers and were brought up to date on the history that they had missed. As the explorers walked them through all the history that had occurred since the time of the Old Republic, a righteous fury ignited within their hearts; for the Empire had caused just as much suffering to the Galaxy as a whole as they did to them in times past. The unanimous decision was made thenceforth to reach out to the rebuilding Galaxy and to lend their hand in the repelling of the Empire's darkness. To this end, they did as they did best and served as mercenaries for those brave and willing enough to take the fight to their ancient enemy.
It has been as thus until the current age, where a Gerosian by the name of Thrash has ascended to the mantle of War Marshal.
Image Source: Bioware/Mass Effect 2
