Balduk
The Balduk are the natives of the planet that shares their name. They are a spacefaring humanoid race with a reputation as fearsome warriors. They are proud and aggressively territorial, and their society is an extremely strict feudal system with little chance for advancement in the social hierarchy. Their planet was conquered by the Klingons early in the Klingon Empire's initial expansion, and they have been jeghpu'wl', or a conquered people, for centuries.
The Klingons have taken advantage of the Balduks' strict feudal hierarchy, and the local Klingon governor is usually accorded the title of "High King of Balduk" in order to facilitate the collection of appropriate tributes from the multiple Balduk nation-states on the planet. At this point, the Balduk are so caught up in their own conflicts that they rarely rebel against the Klingons. As a result, Balduk may sometimes be found in the Klingon military, usually either as expendable shock troops or as personal servants to officers. Though by Klingon tradition, jeghpu'wl' cannot gain honor, the Balduk have their own sense of honor and chivalry. Balduk knights mounted on four-legged, flightless, bird-like creatures called sodsprinters can often be found roaming the savannas of Balduk, accomplishing various tasks on behalf of their liege-lords.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Balduk have a standard humanoid body configuration, with two arms, two legs, and a single head and torso. They have pitted black skin, prominent brow ridges and cheekbones, small eyes and earholes, sharp teeth, and long white manes, giving them a wolflike appearance.
Biological Traits
Interestingly, their biology exhibits features of both animals and fungi. Their bodies consist mostly of fungus-like hyphae filaments with cell walls made of chitin. Groups of hyphae have specialized in certain ways that mimic the various muscles and organs of more conventional animals, but as the hyphae are themselves tubules, they are their own distribution system, and the Balduk do not have a conventional circulatory system. This is of some advantage, as Balduk cannot die from blood loss as other species. They are however much slower to heal, and eventually a warrior's body becomes so tattered that they can literally fall apart.
The powerful hydrolytic enzymes in their digestive organs mean that the Balduk can eat and gain nutrition from almost anything organic. However, because of their body's slow metabolic rate based on fungal absorption instead of bloodflow, they prefer meats, nuts, oils, and other calorie dense foods. Their movements are exactingly precise, wasting as little energy as possible.
It is hypothesized that the Balduk, or possibly an ancestor species, were once a more conventional mammalian species that developed such a strong symbiosis over such a long time with a species of fungi that the entities became virtually indistinguishable.
Genetics and Reproduction
Balduk individuals do not have a single biological sex, their fungus-like physiology exhibiting traits of multiple conventional genders. Unlike many fungi, they cannot engage in asexual reproduction by cloning. They reproduce sexually in a manner mechanically similar to most mammalian species, though in most cases, both parents will be impregnated from a single mating. Balduk embryos are carried in a womb-like organ for two months, after which they are not yet fully developed. The embryos are placed in compost nests full of raw organic material from which they will absorb nutrients. The embryos complete development into independent Balduk babies over the course of the next year.
Growth Rate & Stages
After being born from their compost nests, Balduk children develop very much like most conventional mammalian species, reaching maturity at around 25 years. Balduk theoretically have no limit to their lifespans, and do not weaken with age, but their lifestyle of constant warring between feudal nation-states means that few Balduk live particularly long lives. Because Balduk do not weaken with age, it is generally expected that anyone over the age of 60 enlists in the various armies and mercenary companies to support the local liege's war efforts. Those that live past the age of 80 are considered quite old, and are generally poorly regarded and suspected of cowardice. However, there are legends of pacifist clans in remote regions living hundreds or even thousands of years.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Balduk live in an extremely rigid feudal society. There are over 150 feudal kingdoms dotting the surface of Balduk, and each of those is further divided into duchies, counties, and baronies.
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