Home Planet: Sshak Zg
Sshak Zg (S-shahk Zig) is rocky planet, the 2nd planet from its sun. Shak Zg has a diameter of 13,106 km. The planet is approximately 71.2% water and 28.8% land. Its density is almost identical to Earth’s, resulting in a surface gravity of approximately 0.9426 g. Sshak Zg has an axial tilt of about 18.2 degrees. It has a fairly standard Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere, 77.6% Nitrogen and 21.2% Oxygen. The land mass of Sshak Zg is divided into 6 continents, two of which cover the poles. Numerous islands of various sizes are dotted throughout the various oceans and seas.
Political Affiliation: Confederation The Tsssha Tck (Ts-s-sha Chik) achieved a unified, planetary government in the Terran year 1848, just a decade after they achieved ftl capability. They were initially aggressive in their first contacts, though they never conquered any other species. After being fought to a standstill in a brief war with the Lepamod, the Hwisszhiiss (Hwees-s-zhee-ee-s-s), (see below) Tcaa Pkodh (Tchah-ah P-kohth), pushed through changes in planetary policy.
The Tsssha Tck are one of the founding members of the Confederation. They have twice held the Administrator’s position.
The capital of Sshak Zg, and the main Tsssha Tck government, is the city of É Phe Sus on the southern coast of the continent of Ushizhaa.
Governmental Structure: Across the cultural landscape of Sshak Zg, a common element is the challenge structure. In most cultures, challenges are only until one yields to the other, though a few are lethal.
Sshak Zg’s head of government is called the Hwisszhiiss, meaning the Altitude. The Hwisszhiiss wins the position by winning duels. Centuries ago, when the planet finally united after many wars, a planetary contest was held. Everyone who wished to compete for the position entered into a lottery which determined matches.
Over the course of a planetary year, the contestants were whittled down until a final winner was determined; Fsiss Chiiz (F-sees-s Chee-eez), a woman from the Izzilis (Iz-zee-lees) Islands, a member of the Stess Shs (Stes-s Shs) racial group.
Fsiss Chiiz set up a government, naming the officials she would work with. She also appointed a Formal High Guard.
Anyone can challenge for the position of Hwisszhiiss. However, a challenger must defeat at least five High Guard to have a shot at the position.
Fsiss Chiiz served for nearly fifteen Sshak Zg years before she was successfully challenged.
Physical Description: Tsssha Tck are endothermic pseudo-reptilians. They have a generally human configuration; two legs, two arms and a head, though their torsos bend forward. Tsssha Tck torsos average about 0.3 sumeter (45.5 cm.) in length with a tail about twice that.
Their legs are powerful with heavy thighs. They walk on large, taloned toes. Their arms are held in what a human would call a prayerful position with the clawed hands dangling down. Their heads are egg shaped with large, mobile pointed ears which can fan out or in, depending on their emotional state. Their tails are long with a fin-like rudder. The tail is tipped with a sharp spike usable for either support on the surface they are perched or as a weapon.
Tsssha Tck finger claws are retractable. They are extremely sharp and most Tsssha Tck spend a considerable amount of time maintaining that sharpness. Their foot claws are much larger than their finger claws and are not retractable.
From the back grows what a Tsssha Tck calls a sail which is a cape-like growth of skin, muscle and blood vessels. A line of bony links grows along the center of the underside of the sail. When the Tsssha Tck wishes the powerful muscles along the center of the sail stiffen the line of links, pulling them against the backbone. The links click into slots along the spine. Blood flows into the sail veins, stiffening them. When fully engorged a Tsssha Tck can glide on thermals and wind gusts for a surprising amount of time and with considerable maneuverability. Scale colors vary widely from individual to individual.
Tsssha Tck are chameleons. They can exactly mimic their surroundings becoming effectively invisible. They can, of course, be betrayed by sound and disturbance around them.
Tsssha Tck vision extends into the infra-red but is weak in the violet portion of the spectrum. The first color bar into the infra-red is called ssuth, followed by saasi, zuhis, and ingoss.
The Tsssha Tck evolved as cliff dwellers. They are excellent climbers and can even hang upside down if the surface they are clinging to has sufficient texture.
Tsssha Tck bear live young, but are a metamorphic species. Young Tsssha Tck are quadrupedal and more lizard-like with two ridges along the back. Like most sentient species they learn as they grow, but in this form will never advance beyond the intellect equivalent to the great apes of Earth, though they do learn a very limited language.
At about 5 to 6 Terran years of age the young Tsssha Tck finds a suitably large crack in the rock and wedges itself into it. They then exude a gummy substance from between their scales which seals off the crack.
Over the course of about a Terran year a young Tsssha Tck metamorphoses into an adult form, albeit about half adult size. Before civilization, these maturing Tssha Tck were unguarded and often became the prey of other predators. However, as real language and culture developed parents began to become more protective of their children. (At the same time the number of children born decreased. Before sentience, a litter of 5-6 was normal. In modern times 2 is the normal number with an occasional appearance of 3. These days all Tsssha Tck cultures protect their maturing young.
When the metamorphosis is complete, the young Tsssha Tck tears itself from the crack. At this point, their brains are now fully formed and the young Tsssha Tck is ready for a more formal education.
Ethnicities/Races: Tsssha Tck evolved in the cliffs and canyons of the Shazessos (Shah-zes-s-ohs) Mountain Range, a long range formed by the collision of the two tectonic plates which forms the continent of Ushizhaa (Uhsh-ee-zhah-ah). The range is a folded mountain formation with several areas of block mountains within it and a plateau between them. From there, the Tsssha Tck, as most sentient species have, spread out across the planet.
- Shez Ock (Shez Ohk-k)
The Tsssha Tck which evolved within the Shazessos Mountain Range tend to have scales in the yellow to dark red range, edged in darker warm shades. Their hands and feet tend to have long fingers/toes to allow a wider grip, in order to take advantage of every small crevice and crack in the rockface. Their torso length averages at the high range of the species, generally between 0.26 and 0.34 sumeters. This race of Tsssha Tck is generally known as Shez Ock. - Sings Chk (Seeng Chik)
The Tsssha Tck who developed in the forests tend to be somewhat smaller in stature, usually around 0.2 to 0.22 sumeters. Their scales tend to be in the green and brown range, edged in dark tones of those colors. Their fingers and toes are shorter than the Shez Ock though their claws are longer. In addition, their claws and the spike on their tales tend to be ridged and serrated allowing a more secure purchase on the wood surfaces they climb. This race of Tsssha Tck is known as Sings Chk. - Stess Shs (Stes-s Shis)
The coasts and many of the islands of Sshak Zg gave rise to the Stess Shs. Stess Shs have torsos averaging 0.25 to 0.29 sumeters. Their scales tend to be off-white to pale gray, edging in dark, neutral tones. Their fingers and toes are slightly webbed and their ears tend to be larger in proportion to their heads. - Zudhs Ydh (Zuhths Yedh)
While Tssha Tck, in general, prefer warmer climes, they are endothermic. A very small population developed ear the northern polar region. These Tsssha Tck tend to have white to bluish scales and run larger than other Tsssha Tck, with torsos usually in the 0.33 to 0.39 sumeter range. They have a heavy ridge over their eyes to help cancel sun glare. Their ears are smaller than other Tssha Tck while their hands and feet tend to be wide with a fur-like substance across their surfaces. They typically live among glaciers to allow them to gain the height they prefer. This racial group is called Zudhs Ydh.
Clothing: Tssha Tck are among the species that generally wear clothing. Their garments are designed to keep their sails and tails free. Tsssha Tck don’t have a nudity taboo per se. However, it is considered uncivilized to go naked without good, practical cause. Stripping for frivolity’s sake is gauche.
Cultures: There are, of course, over a hundred cultural groups within the Tsssha Tck species.
Religions: While there are many religions on Sshak Zg, as well as agnostics and atheists, there are five which are considered prominent. Any brief description of a religious faith, just as for a culture or government, will be full of simplistic descriptions and shallow metaphors. Still, we will attempt to briefly describe the five largest denominations on Sshak Zg. All names are rendered in Uthushith, the common language adopted when the worldwide government was formed. Regional tongues still exist, though their use has declined over time.
Nhizzz Pka (N-hiiz-z-z Pkah)
The predominant religious belief among the Tsssha Tck goes by the name Nhizzz Pka, which can be roughly translated as “Breaking Fate.” The Tsssha Tck belief that their chief god, Kliska, created (whether intentionally or unintentionally is a matter of some debate) a world which is fated to death and chaos. Under this fate, the world (later, the universe) would end in a cataclysmic collapse called Kissta Pka, the “Fate Battle.” Whether this would be a real battle or not is debated, especially in recent days. Some say the gods and their servants will battle creatures of chaos known in Tsssha Tck mythology, while others say that the struggle will be more elemental, or even spiritual. Kliska did not leave the world to this destiny, however, and made the Tsssha Tck with the mission of defeating this fate. The tradition of challenge and duel by which authority is established is a discipline established to prepare the people for this task.
The primary religious observance is a ritual, the heart of which is the symbolic destruction of chaos by burning an image that represents it. This image is sometimes crude, sometimes ornate, depending on the preferences of a particular community. The equivalent of a priest/priestess who conducts services as well as a host of other roles and responsibilities is called an Osijaz. The title would appear last when indicating a name. For instance, Hisst Ssuss, a priest of Nhizzz Pka would be introduced as Hisst Ssuss Osijaz.
Kliska was originally the chief god in an extensive pantheon of related divine beings. Prior to contact with humanity, there was already a tendency to begin seeing him as a full creator God, a trend which has accelerated with contact with the Judeo-Christian tradition. There is also some debate over whether the chaos, which is the fate of the world, is a personal being or an impersonal principle in the universe. Those who see Kissta Pka as an actual battle are, for obvious reasons, more likely to see the fated chaos to be the product of an actual being, or even that being itself.
seAassziss Ush (se-Ah-ahs-s-zis-s Uhsh)
The second largest faith is the seAassziss Ush, the Voices from the Highest. Their vision of deity is that voices riding on the high winds tempted, cajoled, and begged the earliest Tsssha Tck to climb the great cliffs, pushing them ever higher. There are not any named, individual voices. Tsssha Tck who have lived virtuously will, upon death, soar to join the Voices.
seAassziss Ush emphasizes ritual and education. seAasziss Ush does not have a papal equivalent. Local areas have individual “congregations” led by the zeSensisth Ush, a Voice on the Cliff Height. By tradition the zeSensisth Ush is female, though other ministers can be of any gender. Like most positions of authority the zeSensisth Ush is determined by challenge, though a challenger must graduate from a religious school and must take an oath to uphold the tenets of the faith before a challenge is allowed.
seHuss Saasaasaa (sehohs-s Sah-ah-sah-ah-sah-ah)
The third largest faith is seHuss Saasaasaa, the Sirocco from the Spirit. The practitioners believe that the truth of life comes from the hot, dry spirit within; the conscious that forces the truth upon you. Devotees of seHuss Saasaasaa tend to be ascetic, though it is not actually required by the faith. There is no mechanism for appointing leaders, they simply arise from the group. While challenges for leadership positions still occur, they are not physical and the winner is simply determined by who the others follow.
seHuss Saasaasaa does not have any deities or a belief in an afterlife.
soPka Hishta (soh-Pkah Heesh-tah)
Life under Fate, soPka Hishta, is the “traditional” polytheistic religion from which Nhizzz Pka arose. It was not the only polytheistic religion, but it was the largest and absorbed several others as the original cultures of Shazessos Mountain Range expanded.
Hshoo Tcha (H-shoh-oh T-ch-hah)
The Great Wave, Hshoo Tcha, was the religion followed by many of the piratical, seafaring Stess Shs. While the great island cities practiced various faiths, many who took up a raiding life adopted Hshoo Tcha. Hshoo Tcha assigns spirit like identities to natural phenomena. Its concepts were more elemental than most polytheistic faiths where those concepts evolved into full-blown personalities. Practitioners of Hshoo Tcha are the only Tsssha Tck that developed the concept of magic or manipulation of the spirits.
Physical Expressions: Physical expressions are largely universal on Sshak Zg. Some of them are:
Flaring their ears is a smile.
A tongue flip indicates an affirmative response.
A slow lick across the chin indicates a negative response.
Chittering teeth means anger.