图鉴：苏拉人

因歌声而俗称“塞壬”。

名称（单数）：苏拉

Sexes: Male, female, and hermaphrodite (Evenly split between the three.)

Height: 6’ to 8’

Hair: Suula hair is composed of extremely slender, soft feathers. In terms of style and texture, they closely mirror human or ausar hair, while remaining aerodynamic and water resistant.

Skin: A suula’s skin is composed of a layer of extremely smooth, soft scales. Similar to that of a Terran shark, a suula’s epidermis is highly advantageous for swimming. Common colors range from blue, red and green, to purple, gold and silver. The skin is often marked with stripes, and most suula have a paler coating on their bellies and chests. Their digits are slightly webbed, and their forearms bear a thin coating of vestigial feathers.

Eyes: A suula’s eyes are black, with vertically slit pupils. Irises come in a variety of colors, predominantly green, gold, blue, and red.

Feet & Legs: Suula legs are clawed, with four digits and a dew claw on the heel. Their toes are rather dexterous, able to grip and hold objects nearly as well as their hands, though they lack precise motor control of species such as the simii.

Wings: Each suula is born with a pair of sprawling feathered wings growing from his or her upper back. These wings are strong enough to enable short bouts of flight in Terran-standard conditions, or for extended durations in their native atmosphere on Valdera.

外观

苏拉人是高大、强健的掠食者，既为水下狩猎也为空中狩猎而生。他们在类人框架上结合鸟类与水生特征，许多人认为其生理构造既带威胁又富诱惑。多数族人皮肤色彩鲜明，有宽大的羽翼，身材最适合形容为丰满。然而他们也拥有棱角分明的脸，生着双排撕裂性牙齿和一条一英尺长的缠握舌。苏拉人手指带爪，每人都有可施出锤击般力量的鳍尾；耳朵高而有鳍，从手腕到接近肩膀的前肢覆有绚丽色彩的羽毛。

凭借黑暗、掠食者般的眼睛及光滑鳞肉上的独特花纹，许多人把苏拉人误认为非常原始的种族并不奇怪。事实恰恰相反，但不少苏拉战士乐于利用自己可怕的外表。另一些人则更愿以迷人的丝绸衣物、炫目珠宝或全息技术来冲淡这种印象。

性与繁殖

苏拉人有三种性别：雄性和雌性拥有银河标准的性器配置，此外还有雌雄同体者。三者外表都颇为女性化；雄性是三者中体型最小、最纤细的，却拥有比本种雌雄同体者平均大约 25% 的生殖器。雄性苏拉人还有不成比例地巨大的外置睾丸，常有葡萄柚大小或更大，并连接在平均约一英尺长的雄性器官上。在所有性别中，他们带毒的阴茎触须效果最强。

同样，雌性苏拉人的臀部、乳房和屁股明显比其他性别大：按地球人／奥萨尔人标准，平均雌性相当丰满，罩杯平均为 F 或更大，臀部也适于养育大窝幼体。雌性在身高和体格上也是三种性别中最大的，其他种族最好以“亚马逊式”形容她们；她们可长至八英尺以上，古代时曾是本族主要猎手与养家者，因此拥有可怕的身体力量。

因此，在大多数方面，雌雄同体的苏拉人介于纯性别同族之间。他们身高适中，通常约七英尺，而性器官尺寸则大致符合人类比例。

苏拉人的生殖器位于双足生物通常的位置，但形态和构造相对独特。苏拉人的阴道相对紧致却富有弹性，内部布满数百根小纤毛，性交时不断活动。子宫入口周围有稍大的触手，会缠住插入的阴茎并将其拉得更深，以确保受精。

雄性器官又长又粗，有球状冠部。阴茎上排列着触手，每一根都能以强效春药与提升生育力的药物混合物刺蜇伴侣。顶端有六根较小、较细的触手，等待着刺蜇并帮助拉开雌性子宫入口；根部则有六根更大、更长的触手，内外挑逗和刺激雌性，帮助其高潮并放松子宫入口。这些触手甚至会本能地在性交前爱抚和刺蜇雄性的性器，迫使其达到最高硬度与敏感度，从而有助于性交中反复而强烈的高潮。借助触手和毒液，苏拉人的交配可持续数小时并达到数十次高潮。

成功交配后，苏拉人会孕育幼体六个月，随后产下活体后代。因阴道内衬纤毛可快速、轻易地把幼体向外移动，分娩对该种族相对无痛。大多数苏拉人偏好在浅水中分娩，这既有助于新生儿早早打开鳃，也能减轻自己因怀孕承受的身体负担。苏拉人总是产下成对的后代（所以双胞胎、四胞胎和六胞胎分别相当于他们的单胎、双胞胎和三胞胎）。四胞胎最常见，这意味着苏拉母亲在孕期会非常显怀。

由于所有苏拉怀孕都会多胎生产，且该种族在繁殖方面十分活跃，所谓“同胞胎”被视为最亲密的关系形式（也许比伴侣或父母的纽带更强）。在后来的人生中，胎姐妹共享情人甚至共用伴侣都很常见。苏拉人天生倾向多元伴侣关系；尽管多数雌性只会选择一名“种马”使自己怀孕，各种性别的苏拉人都常享受数名伴侣的眷顾。加上胎亲属爱分享的倾向和种族天生高性欲，苏拉人渐渐有了性放纵与群交行为的名声。

历史与社会

苏拉人来自位于格里维恩腹地共和国现有边境内、海洋与山脉交错的世界瓦尔德拉。瓦尔德拉大气浓厚、风暴频繁，几乎没有坚实陆地；而仅有的陆地极为崎岖严酷、植被稀少。因此，苏拉人先从掠食性鱼类（据信类似地球虎鲨）进化，再获得飞入天空的能力，也就不足为奇。

随着他们适应智慧并最终进入文明，苏拉人主要建造沿海定居点，将城市的水下部分与开凿进山脉和悬崖侧面的高大殿堂结合起来，躲避母星猛烈风暴。苏拉人从这些殿堂中开始开采水晶和宝石；直至今日，珠宝装饰在文化中仍意义重大，既是身份象征，也用于交配仪式、友谊纽带及其他文化标志的装饰。

Valdera was discovered in the 10th Great Planet Rush, during which time the suula were in a roughly medieval state of technology and social development. Their upliftment process was difficult, between the species’ surprising shyness in the face of alien contact, compounded by both a spiritual awakening around a latent psionic who claimed the “power of the crystals” to repel the invaders and a rapidly growing war-like sentiment once rushers began strip-mining certain landmasses. It took several decades for Confederate diplomats (and a small force of Terran-Space Coalition marines) to finally bring the various queens and warlords of the planet to the table and begin the uplifting process in earnest.

Naturally, Valdera’s rich supply of gemstones and precious metals, especially sheradine, has since made the world a fairly profitable destination for trade and mining corporations. Post-First Contact, Steele Tech and Aegis are the primary interests on the planet, with Aegis operating a massive in-atmosphere shipyard on the planet’s watery surface. Hundreds of thousands of suulas are employed by the foundries and yards sprawling across their worlds’ southern ocean.

As mentioned, Valdera currently resides within the domain of the G.H.R. A very close neighbor of the gryvain homeworld of Vendiko, Valdera’s similar atmosphere and the two races’ similar physiologies suggest a possible shared heritage — though scientists currently cannot make a certifiable connection that would prove one or both races are descended from a common, terraforming-capable ancestor. Relations between the two species are quite amicable regardless, though each insists that, should there be a shared ancestor, their race was clearly the original. Unsurprisingly, gryvain-suula hybrids are an extremely common occurrence.

Suula themselves are best known throughout the galaxy for their singing voices. They were originally called “sirens” by the spacers that first encountered them for good reason: suulas have haunting, song-bird-like voices that carry an enchanting beauty, and among spacers who work and live with them, their voices have taken on an almost mythic quality. Across the rest of the galaxy, suulas count hundreds of best-selling pop icons, opera singers, and even symphonic metal vocalists among their ranks — any genre where a soulful woman’s voice can make its mark.

Despite their predatory nature, modern suulas are often described as being quite gentle and fun-loving. Indeed, they are quite famous for a strong romantic streak: most suulas admit to thinking quite frequently about their partners, especially on matters of settling down and raising children. Romantic bonds are exceptionally important to the suula, especially those made with their “mates” (and between a female and her “stud,” or the sire of her children). They are a peaceful race, with no record of major interstellar conflict since their upliftment.

Technology

Modern suula technology is galactic-standard, primarily influenced by gryvain and terran trade. Their dedicated military forces are relatively small, operating a few dozen warships to counteract piracy as part of the planet’s Guardian Force, supplemented by G.H.R. and Confederate Peacekeeper protection for the species’ handful of newer colonies. Like the gryvain, the suulas heavily supplant their military and worker force with V.I. drones. Most suula-made technology is highly decorative (and expensive) but functional, incorporating gold and gemstones liberally into their designs.