Jalop

Special thanks to JM_95 (r/EpicJM) for writing much of this.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Jalop are an alien species native to the temperate desert planet of Jalnapunga. They get to about 4 feet tall at the shoulder on average, measured as such due to their horizontal stance. Including their tail, they reach lengths of about 8 feet. Jalop resemble the Macropodidae (kangaroo family) and Leporidae (rabbit family) of earth, but with red eyes and somewhat coarser fur. They possess five fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot.

Biological Traits

There is little sexual dimorphism in the Jalop, but males are typically larger and more muscular than the females. Variations in fur colour, size, and ear size and shape are common among all individuals. The ears show the most variation as they may be small like those of a dwarf rabbit breed, long and upright like a hare’s, or floppy and bell-shaped like a lop rabbit’s.

Genetics and Reproduction

The Jalop have cloacas instead of external sexual organs, so they mate much more like birds or reptiles than the mammals they resemble, but are in fact a pseudo-marsupial race, possessing three pouches. One pouch is for incubating their monotreme-like eggs; the other two are for hoarding food and objects. The egg pouch is located in very much the same place as a kangaroo’s pouch would be, and the hoarding pouches are at either side of the hip like built-in pants pockets. Both male and female Jalop have egg pouches, as the male and female take turns incubating the egg.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The first thing a baby Jalop eats is its eggshell when it hatches from the pouch, cleaning the pouch out for the next child. Jalop are born with teeth and possess no mammary glands, so they can eat solid food from birth. Jalop are omnivorous but primarily eat plant matter. They prefer to eat succulent plants and other types of plants that are high in moisture content, being a race originating from the cold deserts of their world. The infrequency of precipitation on the Jalop homeworld means that water retention is extremely important to all species. In terms of things the Jalop will eat that are not plants, they enjoy eggs and insects. One type of insect, the quench-bug, is a particular favourite due to the sweet and hydrating juice it stores in its abdomen.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The Jalop come from the planet Baru, which is the fourth planet from its sun. The planet is temperate-to-cold, with little rainfall. Snow-topped sand dunes are a common sight on the planet, and the Jalop evolved in a cold desert environment. Due to the lack of rainfall and few oases, the species that could retain water most efficiently were the ones that survived. Jalop are distributed across the entirety of their planet, though this came relatively recently as a consequence of the lack of naval tradition in the Jalop culture. The oceans of the planet are harsh and air travel came later and is more feasible. Two Jalop subpecies exist, the more populous Desert Jalop (which has several variations/subraces), and the rarer Mountain Jalop (which also has a few variations within the subspecies). The Desert Jalop are sandier in colour and are larger in size with bigger ears and shorter fur, while the Mountain Jalop are smaller with stone-coloured fur and smaller ears.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

As expected, Jalop have excellent hearing, while their other senses are only marginally worse than those of a human.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Despite their dry planet, the Jalop built extensive civilizations and irrigation systems for agriculture. Their agriculture is primarily plant-based, focusing on a triad of succulent plants that are symbiotic with one another: One is tall and shades the other two, one adds nutrients to the soil, and one creates a groundcover that eliminates weeds. The plants are grown for their succulent leaves, and for the groundcover-like plant, its fruits. The tall, shade-bearing succulent is a grain and can be compared to corn. As for domesticated animals, the Jalop domesticated a type of bird-like creature for its eggs, and the quench-bug for its juice. Quench-bugs are kept in large bins and fed leaves and fruits, those food items being selected in order to flavour the juice. Quench-bug juice is commercially produced in modern times and in a variety of flavours.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

The Jalop are a spacefaring people, partially thanks to their membership within the Sonus Alliance. The Jalop in the Sonus Alliance military use special combat gear built by their species in battle; these include specialized body armour and mind-controlled prosthetic weaponry to make up for the horizontal stance and small arms of the Jalop species.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

One of the Jalop religions revolves around the goddess who gave them their pouches, a trickster figure who stores truth in her egg-pouch and lies in her hoard-pouches. The religion encourages the Jalop to be truthful to one another and be honest about what they’re keeping in their hoard-pouches. In times of famine adherents of the religion are advised to share what they’re hoarding with others. The emergence of a baby Jalop from its parent’s pouch is a cause for much joy among their family. The child is not named, however, until it has left the pouch fully and has completely consumed its eggshell. The naming of a child usually involves an egg-based feast and an enthusiastic chanting of the baby’s name upon its announcement. Jalop typically mate in pairs, for life. They do not have a word for ‘divorce’, as their pairings are not based around love and getting along but solely for childrearing. Once a pair of Jalop finish rearing a child to the point they can leave the pouch on their own, the parents go back to their respective communities and the child is left to join another community and fend for itself. The same pair reunites every breeding season, or for certain celebrations and events that require the mated pair to reunite. A Jalop child or subadult may return to their parents to help raise a sibling. Jalop typically roam about in groups of (usually) unrelated individuals, but mating within one’s own community group in any sense is seen as a type of incest and outlawed. Your mate must be from another community.

History

Jalop history starts out similar to the history of humanity; archaeological evidence suggests that an important step to creating their civilization was the discovery of fire, likely something that happened during a rare lightning storm on their planet. The discoveries of agriculture, irrigation, and domestication of livestock came next. The Jalop have few traditions when it comes to textiles, as they had no need for clothing due to their thick fur and lack of external sex organs to cover. Most Jalop go nude or with jewellery such as bracelets (on the arms, legs, or tail) or earrings. Painting patterns on one’s fur is also another way they came to decorate their bodies. The above circumstances (minus the part about clothing) are about as similar to human history as Jalop history gets. Everything else plays out completely different due to the semi-nomadic traditions of the Jalop and their borderline lack of the ideas of nuclear family and childrearing. Jalop ‘countries’ do not seem to have borders in the traditional sense, as one collection of community-groups might be on one side of a desert for winter and then move to another side of the desert when it is time to grow their crops. Much of Jalop history is a collection of migrations and displacements of other Jalop communities. Conflicts tended to be over what times of the year a community of Jalop were allowed to stay in a certain place. Disputes over whose community a young Jalop would join could also erupt into conflict between the parents’ or others’ communities, but such disputes were likely to be solved through a lacrosse-like game rather than open violence or warfare This game was a major factor in bringing peace and unity to the Jalop. While war didn’t stop as a practice altogether, many preferred to play this game instead of slaughter each other and it led to communities becoming more united and having more peaceful relations. By the time the Jalop were first contacted by the Sonus Alliance, much of the planet was at peace and most conflicts were being solved through this game. In many cases, community boundaries were only being maintained to regulate childrearing and to avoid incest Some Sonus Alliance explorers witnessing the Jalop athletes in action and bringing video records to their superiors led to the Jalop being recruited into the Alliance a little more than a century ago. The Jalop were valued for their speed, stamina, and unpredictability in battle. In current times, the Jalop have an important role among the Alliance as fast-moving shock troops, and the Jalop ball game is a favourite sport among the citizens of Alliance planets.

by JM_95

Average Height

4ft (shoulder)

Average Length

8ft (with tail)