Uraz

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The Uraz:

General Description
The Uraz (pronounced Ur-az) are a race of large eyeless, carbon based, air breathing life-forms that evolved in underground caves in the frozen wastelands of X’gial. They are an old and proud race of warriors and scientists whose infamy is well known to the other races of their sector.

Physical Characteristics:
Depending on caste or life phase, Uraz share outward appearances with both insects and reptiles. They are split into two genders and five castes. Both genders exhibit a high degree of sexual dimorphism. The most common trait of the species is their lack of eyes. Having evolved in underground caves in subarctic temperatures the Uraz developed a unique form of “sight”. When a sound wave bounces off of an object to them their scales begin to vibrate sending electrical impulses through specialised nerves connecting to each scale that are received by ocular muscles, that are protected by a sheet of bone, and translate these impulses into images. This allows the Uraz to see with a great deal of detail and clarity as long as something is making a noise however they are unable to perceive colour or anything light based. Instead of iron their blood contains silver. Due to the extreme cold of their natural habitat they are extremely warm blooded. As a result of this they are extremely vulnerable to warmer climates and can even succumb to temperatures that barley breach the human comfort zone.

Uraz are extremely long lived creatures with the males being able to live for as long as three thousand years, females being able to live up to four. During their reproductive cycle an Uraz female will require seven genetic samples at seven intervals from a unique male each interval. Gestation takes up to two months and the female will lay a clutch of up to thirty eggs that hatch in another two months. Uraz are haploid life forms, possessing only one version of each gene in their DNA.

Life Stages:

Larvae: Surprisingly enough, it is when the Uraz are in their larval form that they are their most dangerous. The larval Uraz will seek to consume anything that does not register as another Uraz. They consume their prey by expelling their stomachs from their maw, ensnaring the prey and then dragging them back inside themselves, digesting them as this happens. Once they have consumed enough biomass the larva will cocoon itself and a fully grown Uraz will emerge after one solar month. Only standard female Uraz can only produce larvae that will become males (unless certain circumstances are met) and only a female who has molted into an Empress can produce larvae that will turn into females.

Males: Male Uraz are among the most common of the Uraz. Standing at nine feet tall, they have a muscular build with thick blue coloured scales and silver coloured protective frontal plates. They generally have two or four large horns jutting diagonally out of their skulls and three long razor sharp claws that extend from their short stubby fingers. Male Uraz possess a phenomenal amount of physical strength, as well as being incredibly durable. Members of the scientist caste are able to display an affinity for magic, which they refer to as “The impossible” science.

Females: Standard Uraz females are rarely seen amongst the Uraz. They typically stand at thirteen feet tall and have a more slender, almost anorexic build with a long whip like tail and six smaller horns sprouting from their head. Female Uraz are much weaker than their male counterparts however they are just as dangerous, possessing superhuman speed and dexterity as well as strong psionics abilities. Upon reaching a certain age a single member of the Royal Caste will molt into an Empress.

An Empress is the single most powerful Uraz known. They grow exponentially in size to almost twenty feet and begin to take on a more insectoid appearance, developing chitonous armour and large insect like wings. Their physical strength is amplified to surpass that of the males and their psionics abilities become even greater. Should there be no males present when an Empress has molted they will lay two breeding pairs of seven males to one female before continuing to producing larvae with female genes.

Dead Uraz are often prized among other species because of the ivory in their horns and claws as well as the silver in their blood. Uraz teeth are especially valuable as the outer layer is composed of platinum rather than enamel.