Well I should come clean about the first part. The S'kraw are essentially avians. I don't see a way to make big flyers without bilateral symmetry. They are somewhere between birds and dinosaurs and sorry for the cliché.
They descent from gatherer/opportunist ancestors, who hid caches over the long summer period against an extremely prolonged winter. This cache hiding strategy has been refined by the males to an astonishing degree. This might have lead to some passing semi-sentience, albeit without language or culture, but for the female's domestic role.
The S'kraw give birth to live young, and with lengthening seasons leading to extended gestation periods, flying became a less useful way to get around. Instead they grew larger to look after their nests, and eventually formed loose social bonds in order to share scarce vital resources. The classic pattern is of free trade between families, but as populations increased, a certain concentration of power was inevitable.
The current ruling elite maintain a system of dole, for those families that can demonstrate loyalty. Most commoners respect this, although attempts to ban private hoarding have always met with stout resistance.
In interstellar terms, these are a young race, on a world who's spiral into decline started with a freak planetoid collision only a few million years ago. Reports from travellers say that they are a watchful but hospitable race, with a somewhat over-liberal view around property rights. Some have demonstrated excellent managerial skills aboard small trading ships. It is thought that if sufficient attention is paid to their native culture, they will prove to be invaluable in this role. Of course negative stories have have travelled much farther and faster than any balanced assessment.
In the future, expect to see them excel at trading, smuggling and (if handled correctly) as scouts. Ultimately they will show their worth in long term forward thinking, particularly in identifying and monopolising key resources, long before anyone else thinks they are worth shit.
males: about 60kg , wingspan 2.7m, good agility, perception and spatial awareness. Can fly well.
females: circa 120kg, wingspan 3.4m, good social skills and strategic thinking. Can fly a little.
They descent from gatherer/opportunist ancestors, who hid caches over the long summer period against an extremely prolonged winter. This cache hiding strategy has been refined by the males to an astonishing degree. This might have lead to some passing semi-sentience, albeit without language or culture, but for the female's domestic role.
The S'kraw give birth to live young, and with lengthening seasons leading to extended gestation periods, flying became a less useful way to get around. Instead they grew larger to look after their nests, and eventually formed loose social bonds in order to share scarce vital resources. The classic pattern is of free trade between families, but as populations increased, a certain concentration of power was inevitable.
The current ruling elite maintain a system of dole, for those families that can demonstrate loyalty. Most commoners respect this, although attempts to ban private hoarding have always met with stout resistance.
In interstellar terms, these are a young race, on a world who's spiral into decline started with a freak planetoid collision only a few million years ago. Reports from travellers say that they are a watchful but hospitable race, with a somewhat over-liberal view around property rights. Some have demonstrated excellent managerial skills aboard small trading ships. It is thought that if sufficient attention is paid to their native culture, they will prove to be invaluable in this role. Of course negative stories have have travelled much farther and faster than any balanced assessment.
In the future, expect to see them excel at trading, smuggling and (if handled correctly) as scouts. Ultimately they will show their worth in long term forward thinking, particularly in identifying and monopolising key resources, long before anyone else thinks they are worth shit.
males: about 60kg , wingspan 2.7m, good agility, perception and spatial awareness. Can fly well.
females: circa 120kg, wingspan 3.4m, good social skills and strategic thinking. Can fly a little.
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