Gurvin?

[CGW]

Anyone know where I can get a picture of a Gurvin? GT Alien Races 3 gives a great breakdown of them statistically, but no picture?

The Za'Tchk must be that lemur- looking creature with the clipboard, but what's a Gurvin look like? They sound like they are pretty important considering the Hivers use the language...

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

I figured if any place would have what you're looking for, it would be Aliens of the Rim; but sorry, no luck there. Plenty of drawings of Ithklur, Hivers, and even a few Humans, but nothing representing any of the other Federation subject races, as far as I could see.

Here is a brief physical description of the Gurvin, however, taken from the book:

Derived from hexapodal omnivore/hunter stock, the Gurvin are equipped with two legs, two arms, and a middle pair of limbs which can be used as either arms or legs at need. They are 1.75 meters in length from muzzle to tail, and stand about this high on their rear legs. When running, they get down on their rear limbs and are about a meter from muzzle to ground.​

And that's about it. There's more about the Gurvin in the book; but the rest of it is just the cultural and psychological underpinnings of the race.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

The use of Muzzle implies mammalian characteristics... as far as the ergonomic model, Bears exhibit the stand on hind legs behavior, and drop to run. So do beavers. A lemur type primate would also fit, but then you'd be getting into Za'Tchk country. Kangaroo-types even?

 

[Icosahedron]

This may be stating the obvious, but who invented the creature? Is that person still contactable?

 

[Gray Lensman]

Here is a brief physical description of the Gurvin, however, taken from the book:

Derived from hexapodal omnivore/hunter stock, the Gurvin are equipped with two legs, two arms, and a middle pair of limbs which can be used as either arms or legs at need. They are 1.75 meters in length from muzzle to tail, and stand about this high on their rear legs. When running, they get down on their rear limbs and are about a meter from muzzle to ground.​

There Is an Old Book called Barlowe's Guide to Extra-Terrestials that may have something that matches that description. It is a good resource for this kind of thing. I lost my copy in a move several years ago, went to the library website and they don't list it.

 

[BlackBat242]

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to dig out my copy sometime this weekend (in the shed outside), and take a look.

 

[GypsyComet]

The Gurvin are a GDW creation, but like some other secondary races, they are left largely undescribed.

Hivers have a documented tendency to find the right job for the sophont species, so if the Gurvin are the bureaucratic spine of the Federation, then it is probably due to a natural tendency towards organization and accountability. As Omnivore Hunters, they were probably forced in their pre-civilized state to hunt in groups, and may have developed a complex social structure very early. Record keeping of some sort was also probably an early development.

Are they quite at the Bwap level of bureacratic obsessive? Probably not, but the idea of a desk-jockey functionary with two extra arms to answer phones and stamp "DENIED" on improperly executed forms is a bit frightening anyway.

As hunters by evolution (and paper-pushers by preference) they are probably "eyes forward". They may still have a superior sense of smell (to the human baseline, anyway) given that the muzzle skull structure can result in a lot more nasal tissue. Whether the related brains to interpret said nasal input was sacrificed to sentience is a different question. Skin or scales is a matter of taste (though the Hivers dislike pointy stuff underfoot, so a race that is so ubiquitous probably do not resemble Porcupines or Tuatara), while the percentage of fur coverage is going to be climate based and thus probably would vary across the race or be seasonally variable.

 

[CGW]

They have a lot of administrators! That's what the Za'Tchk do as well.

The real trouble I am having in conceptualization here is the Spine. Bringing two sets of arms to bear has little to no precedent outside of the insect categories. we used to game agains a hexapod race which genotype wise they were sort of crosses between camels and big cats. They always struck me as slicked out K'Kree or something.

 

[mjk1093]

There Is an Old Book called Barlowe's Guide to Extra-Terrestials that may have something that matches that description. It is a good resource for this kind of thing. I lost my copy in a move several years ago, went to the library website and they don't list it.

A childhood favorite of mine. You can get it on Amazon for five bucks.