Vinuul

The Invulnerable Survivors

Basic Information

Anatomy

Height: 3'10" - 6'0". Skin tones typically have green or greenish brown tones in them, often a sage colouring. Heavy, wider facial features, short nose.
By default, Vinuulae are short and stocky but not overly muscular although with dedication to specific diets and exercise, Vinuulae can grow significantly taller and can continue to add muscle mass to a yet unknown limit.

General Features

• Size: You are a Medium creature.
• Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Languages: You know the common trade language, one of the Vinuul languages (choose from Republican, Imperial, or Nomadic), and any other language of your choice..
• Ability Score Increase: Increase your Constitution stat by 3.
• Invulnerable Physiology: When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you cannot be killed but instead petrify into a form of stony appearance that cannot be destroyed or broken in any way but is entirely incapable of actions until specific conditions (to be set by the GM) are met.

Optional Variant Features

Choose a maximum of one variant.

Bookish

• Proficiency Bonus: Gain proficiency in one of the following: Electronics, Engineering, Extradimensional, History, Investigation, Science.
• Extra Languages: You can read, speak, and write two additional languages of your choice.

Gym Rat

• Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
• Stone's Endurance: You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Growth Rate & Stages

Using human-relevant analogues, Vinuulae would be considered infants from age 0-1 years, toddlers from age 2-3, children from age 4-7, adolescents from age 8-11, young adults from 12-15, and mature adults after age 16. Over 97% of Vinuulae die within their 35th standard year of life with no apparent signs of old age.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Vinuulae are prominent on many worlds within Galactic Coalition space and Vinuul individuals and families can regularly be seen travelling through and/or making lives amongst the Independent worlds as well.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Nomadic Vinuul Surnames

• Cor'[location] => from; indicates a home or adopted home
• Ra'[location] => to/travilling towards; indicates an intentional destination
• Raksteinbach => pronounced "ra-kes-tine-back"; indicates travelling anywhere / no specific home or desination

E.g. Helgan Cor'Synoro indicates that the nomadic Vinuul named Helgan considers the town of Synoro to be her home.

Common Dress Code

Vinuulae tend to have a penchant for the garish, opting for bold colour choices and more or larger pieces of jewellery rather than ornately crafted pieces. They are also especially fond of hats.

History

The Vinuul species is one of the most populous within the Galactic Coalition and has risen to political prominence within the Coalition over the past 75 years. The race has some distinctive characteristics that make them unique among the galaxy's denizens and continue to baffle even the foremost biologists across the worlds, including the Vinuulae's capacity for dramatic muscle growth, abnormlly excellent retention of muscle mass over lengthy periods of inactivity, and (most notably) the seeming impossibility of a Vinuul perishing before 35 standardized years of age. In addition to being astonishingly resistant to physical damage, should Vinuulae suffer sufficient physical trauma, they will appear to petrify into an as yet unidentified stony-textured material and remain in a form of stasis in which no further physical harm can befall them. After a period of time, a petrified Vinuul can regain consciousness although the mechanisms behind this are unclear.
Despite this incredible resistance to physical damage, Vinuulae are relatively short lived with over 97% percent of Vinuulae passing away during their 35th year of life. The anomolies to this figure are a subject of much research in the academic community. Although claims of religious significance are often cited regarding the Vinuulae's invulnerabilities, secular researchers are more likely to attribute these abilities to an extreme genetic adaptation resulting from living on a homeworld as hostile as Ogdaross.
As the remnants of the species migrated away from Ogdaross 350 years ago, following the apocalyptic events of what would become known as the "Ogdaross Catastrophe," their adaptations and rapid reproduction cycles (likely a counterpart for their short lifespans) allowed the Vinuulae to quickly rebuild a multi-world colonial civilization. This civilization earned a place of respect within the Galactic Coalition as Vinuulae took on the role of peace-keepers and soldiers, their resiliant nature being well suited to enforcing security matters both within and without the Coalition. In recent years, the Vinuul governments have leveraged that respect into more prominent political positions within the Coalition and they are currently one of the most influential races within this galactic superpower.

Further notes regarding the history of the Vinuul homeworld of Ogdaross.

Prior to the Catastrophe, Vinuulae eked out what was a challenging but, by all historical accounts, satisfying existence within the varied but all equally inhospitable biomes of Ogdaross. Although almost every aspect of the world's flora and fauna seemed built to aggressively compete for their continued existence, the nigh invulnerability of Vinuul physiology allowed the race to slowly but surely carve out territory upon which they could build civilization. Vinuul societal goals are centered around the virtues of taming the elements, thriving amongst chaos, and leaving a mark on the world that future generations could both witness and continue building from. Although religious theming is heavily present throughout the Vinuul ethos, many scholars attribute the origin of these societal goals to the tough environmental conditions that needed to be overcome to survive on Ogdaross. Interestingly, although there were several different cultures within Vinuul society, each tended to strive for these same over-arching goals while using different methodologies to achieve those goals.
Approximately 500-600 years ago, Vinuulae first made contact with the Yesk via Ambassador Kine. Over numerous decades, Kine and his fellow Yesk compatriots managed to slowly attain influence within one of the political factions on Ogdaross, the Watagnaq Republic, by enabling them to become the world's dominant society through gifts of knowledge, technology, and personal Symbiotic enhancements. Once this group of Yesk, later known as the Order of Kine, had firmly rooted themselves within the Republic, they began experimenting on many of its citizens under the guise of researching a way to extend their short lifespans. Although the true nature of the Yesk experimentation is still shrouded in mystery, what is known is that the other Vinuul societies became subjugated under the Republic's rule and eventually waged a war against the Republic and the Order of Kine to free themselves. This war resulted in a planetary cataclysm so destructive that Ogdaross was rendered uninhabitable.
Some surviving Vinuulae evacuated their homeworld on Arks during the cataclysm and were discovered by the Ave who introduced them to the wider galactic community. These survivors were granted a world within Galactic Coalition space to attempt to rebuild. As their civilization re-built itself, somewhat rapidly due to their short reproductive cycles, Vinuulae began to colonize other worlds deemed inhospitible by other races' standards but relatively tame for the Vinuul when compared to the challenges of Ogdaross itself.

Lifespan

35 standard years

Average Height

4' - 6'

Average Weight

Bookish: 90 - 120 lbs
Gym Rat: 200 - 300 lbs