Codex: Saurmorians/zh-hans

来自外太空的热血恐龙。

名称: 索尔莫里安（单数），索尔莫里安人（复数）

Genders: Male and female

Height: Females average 6’ to 8’, males average 7’ to 9’

Weight: Females average 250 - 300lbs, males average 600-750lbs

Eyes: Saurmorian eyes have a solidly colored sclera that vary between shades of yellow, green, brown, and some very rare reds or blues. Slim, similarly colored irises envelop their vertically slitted pupils, though they are virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding tissue.

Scales: Saurmorians have organic metal scales that grow from their bodies. These hard scales are highly resistant to heat and corrosion, and with a metallic-silver color, they are often compared to the elements platinum and titanium. The layering and formation of these scales give the impression of ancient terran style armor, akin to heavy platemail. Though generally identical in appearance, females’ scales are much lighter.

Appearance

Male saurmorians are tall, incredibly stout reptilian humanoids with a barrel-chested body. Pulled taut over their bulging muscles is a tough, thick reptilian hide in varying shades of grays, browns, greens, reds, and blacks, though usually quite hard to see under their scales. On top of their hide, males are encased from head to toe in dense, massive metal scales. They are especially dense along the male’s vicious snout, up their skull, broad shoulders, and down the spine to end at the tip of their thick tails. The groin though consists of smaller and much finer scales. The weight of all these scales forces them to have a fairly hunched posture, and for their bulky plantigrade legs to tend toward a constant bend at the knee.

Their feet are wide, flat, and four toed. Though instead of regular claws or nails, razor-sharp scales grow from the feet in their place. Their hefty arms, slightly longer and thicker than their legs, end in hands just as imposing as the rest of their frame with five digits tipped with scale-claws. Metal horns crown their bestial visage, these horns being described as bovine, demonic, and/or draconic.

Female saurmorians have long and slim humanoid bodies, seeming outright delicate next to a male. The lithe muscles on their dainty frames combined with their elongated neck, torso, and tail gives them a decidedly serpentine appearance.

不同于雄性的厚重皮革，雌性拥有极其光滑柔软、覆盖鳞片的肌肤，呈现更明亮的色调。她们的皮肤同样覆盖着金属鳞片，但比雄性轻薄得多。这些鳞片更偏向于增强身体的美感，而非提供防护。她们野兽般的口鼻和面容可能令人畏惧，但依然保持着女性魅力，轮廓比雄性更为优雅。

她们修长的手臂似乎和身体其他部位一样被精致地覆盖着鳞片；然而手臂内侧没有鳞片，纤细双腿的内侧、通常平坦的躯干以及腹股沟也同样没有鳞片。与雄性相反，雌性胸前有两个突出的乳头，呈现出非常哺乳动物式的特征。

虽然她们柔软、心形的臀部并没有鳞片，但部分雌性的臀部似乎被髋部和大腿上的鳞片轻轻托住、抚触。双手末端是五根带鳞爪的手指；纤细的双脚有四根同样带鳞爪的脚趾，脚跟还长着一枚弯曲的退化鳞爪。雌性并非天生长角，但佩戴装饰品或通过改造长角的情况并不少见。

性与繁殖

作为爬行动物，索尔莫里安人自然会产下一窝卵，通常有10至15枚。考虑到雌性相当纤细的髋部，这个数量出人意料地多。如此大的卵群要求雌性拥有宽大、灵活且富有弹性的子宫和阴道，以便孵化和产卵。为了辅助产卵，阴道壁上覆盖着柔软的褶皱；这些褶皱也有助于在交配时将精液输送到子宫。阴唇光滑有光泽，虽然相当丰满，顶端还长着小巧的阴蒂。雌性生殖器的颜色与她的皮肤一致。

在孵化期间，雌性身体总会产生过量蛋白质，用于发育卵壳和幼崽的鳞片。这些营养物质聚集在胸部，形成两只乳房，让雌性可以哺乳幼崽，进一步帮助它们强化鳞片。卵群越大，产生的多余蛋白质就越多；因此，产量更高、更肥沃的雌性会长出越来越大的乳房，以容纳更丰盛、更规律的妊娠。

为了配合伴侣更柔韧的器官，雄性拥有粗壮的阴茎，带褶皱的轴部连接着钝头。阴茎平均长10至12英寸，通常宽2至3英寸，颜色可见深红、深蓝、紫色或黑色。未勃起时，它会收纳在类似哺乳动物的包皮中，受到雄性较小腹股沟鳞片的保护。为了更好地为卵授精，雄性拥有巨大、产精极旺且沉重的睾丸，悬挂在阴茎下方。包裹这些球体的皮革虽然厚实，却相当光滑柔软。

雌性为了产卵而拥有相当纤巧的体格，却常常变得十分圆润、行动沉重。尽管具备生育能力的雌性数量很少，她们仍经常每年发情四到五次，孵化期不超过两个月。雄性幼崽比雌性成熟得稍快，大约十五年后即可完全长成；雌性则至少需要二十年。

Saurmorians always start with a single name at initial hatching. Then later in life, roughly when they reach maturity, they receive a secondary name befitting their actions or feats. These names bear a similarity to ancient Latin.

Saurmorian young are viciously protected, with primal ferocity from the males in addition to the maternal instincts from the females. Any inquiries about their children are met with guarded silence at best.

Without extreme actions, bringing up their young seems to be the only circumstance where females show much aggression. Though they mirror the males’ instinctive distrust, they otherwise act with a calm and gentle affection to their presence. Granted, this soft demeanor is often used as a facade to hide incredibly sinister and venomous feelings or thoughts. In contrast, males have no qualms dealing with anything in a bullish or intimidating manner, and are always very forward and blunt. They are surprisingly hard to anger, or to upset emotionally in general. Whether instinctual or taught, males seem to have impressive control over their emotions.

History

On their primal homeworld of Molis, an incredibly mineral rich planet strewn with active volcanos, saurmorians were a reclusive and stationary people; due to a deep seated desire to protect the few fertile females each clan had, and to lay claim to rich mineral veins so they could consume the metals in order to grow healthier scales. Though facing threats from many would-be predators, saurmorians stubbornly remained on top in no small part because of these scales.

Eventually this isolated way of life no longer supported the increasingly larger clans, and dividing into smaller families only lead to conflict, so the saurmorians were forced to try a more open and united civilization. This lead to the largest families forming a simple but inevitable oligarchy, usually with the fertile females being the ones in power.

When the UGC arrived, they were met with a surprisingly well organized central society on the tail end of their own digital technological era. Though initially united, the saurmorians found themselves divided when faced with the UGC; some wanted to resist the Confederacy that many viewed as fragmented and inefficient, while others saw the advantage of being integrated into galactic society. The latter won out - barely - after a short but devastating civil war shattered the saurmorian capital. The sudden, violent outburst almost cost them what they had fought for though.

The UGC were on the verge of withdrawing and removing any possibility of uplifting, until they were shown the saurmorians’ proficiency in refining and using the more basic weapons technology - specifically coil and rail weapons - and being adept at surviving in both hot and cold environments.

Once integrated into galactic society, it became clear that saurmorians, especially the males, fit well as heavy labor in the more hazardous environments. Females are still far less common to see away from large colonies, let alone their home planet.

Culture

For millennia the saurmorians have had a central matriarchy, in which the most fertile females would have the responsibilities of both breeding and leading. Over time though, fertility became less important; connections and political weight taking its place. This lead to the largest families staying in power more easily as their numbers swelled. For a relatively short period, incestual breeding within these political families became common in order to remain in power. It was around this time that the UGC arrived, eventually cutting off any further familial mating as the saurmorians saw the stigma towards these practices throughout most of galactic civilization.

Still maintaining a matriarchy, the saurmorians encourage their matrons to keep their own harems of the more virile males. To keep the blood fresh, males are chosen equally from both high and low-born families; a double edged sword, especially with the lower families, as those connected to a male chosen for a matron’s harem are well cared for. Male hatchlings that are indicated to have this genetic advantage usually become seen as future offerings for a matron.

After the devastation their forces suffered, effectively disabling any and all martial, following first contact, the saurmorians attempted to reconstruct what was lost in a bid to keep their people calm. When it became clear the shattered forces couldn’t be salvaged, an infamous saurmorian mercenary company, known then as the ‘Morian Bulwark, sought to take advantage of this chance and offered their services until a solid military could be constructed. Instead, they grew so efficient and effective at not only servicing their own people, but assisting allies in other systems and worlds, that they have become the official saurmorian military. Their guns-for-hire past hardly a concern, the risen Saurmorian Bulwark Command managed to keep themselves separate from the central government; the hope being that having the political and martial powers separate and equal will prevent a repeat of the past.

Technology

Saurmorian tech has a three word criteria that needs to be met in order for them to use something; it needs to be effective, heavy, and loud. As a result, saurmorians can be seen using a wide variety of equipment, but usually prefer the heavier and clunkier technology throughout the galaxy at the cost of efficiency. Their ships, especially, are known for being very slow but incredibly durable and powerful.