Scraats are small mammals that are commonly found in the company of spacefarers across the Delta Space. They are frequently used in a variety of working roles that often include them squeezing into tight spaces for repair work, short-range deliveries and communications, and as a loyal companion on long voyages. They are not the most pleasant creatures to look at, often considered "fugly", though some find them cute in a strange way.
They were originally found in the Bilar System on an unnamed planetoid and were quickly adopted by spacefarers due to their hardy constitution, survivability in space, ease of training, and loyalty. They are often doofy in nature, but are viciously loyal to their masters, and will attempt to scratch and claw at any who seek them harm. They are often trained to run short distance messages when communications aren't available and are often equipped with simple tools on their backs where they can enter small spaces in order to conduct small remote repairs. Some people even keep them purely for companionship.
Scraats have wiry hair, leathery skin, bulbous glassy eyes, and often have buckteeth. They can be drooly creatures and are extremely food-driven, enjoying a diet of minced meats and vegetables. These creatures are fairly small, with the tiniest of the bunch being roughly fist-sized, and the largest being about the size of a basketball. Their hair is quite wiry and sparse, their leathery skin showing from underneath the thin hair. The hair itself is commonly dark, either being brown, black or grey. They often become quite dirty in their daily lives, but they are fastidious cleaners and obsessively clean themselves after a job is completed. They can become quite nasty if they are left in filth for too long a stretch. But otherwise, they are typically calm and can become fiercely loyal to their owners/partners if treated kindly.
Many believe they are great pets from a temperament standpoint but are often disregarded due to their somewhat fugly appearance. However, despite this, they are commonly kept on space-faring ships as diligent workers due to their patience and ability to travel well despite the difficulties faced when on a ship for extended periods of time. No one has really felt the need to study these creatures to any degree biologically, but something about their makeup makes them extremely hardy even when faced with the cold depths of the void.
Some pilots have recorded Scraats accidentally being sucked out into space, either through an accidental opening of an airlock or them slipping through a breach before emergency sealing just to watch them through the front window of the ship push themselves along the side of the ship and squeezing into an emergency entry tunnel. The limits to this ability have not been tested to any extent officially, so nobody knows exactly how long they survive in the void of space.
Scraats are commonly known as some of the hardest working animals, despite their size, in all of Delta Space. They are easily trainable in all sorts of different tasks, and while they aren't intelligent enough to conduct complex tasks, they are calm and can follow instructions with an incredible ability to understand speech. It is a common sight to see an owner speaking to their Scraat, usually giving them a new task or instruction, and the Scraat intently listening, not breaking eye contact, and often drooling while it does its darndest to commit to memory its upcoming task. Shortly afterwards the Scraat will plod off on whatever task it's been given.
One of the more interesting uses of a Scraat are as remote mechanics for emergency repairs in tight spaces when docking a damaged ship isn't available. Specially designed tools, and a simple camera and speaker are attached to the Scraats back, after which they are given instruction on where to squeeze into and good. After which the Scraat will stand in front of the damaged piece and allow its owner/operating to remotely conduct the repairs using the tools strapped to the Scraats back.
I really like these ugly little things. I'm especially interested in how they are able to stay outside of the ship, even for a brief amount of time. I enjoy that they're loyal, as well as their degree of intelligence.
Adazuri: A shonen-inspired magitech fantasy world home-brewed for 5e.
I like to think that they are just so darn determined to get the job done that they aren't affected due to sheer will! I am sure I will think of a more reasonable explanation at some point haha.