Aliens
Humanty has made contact with many sentient races since it began exploring the paths left by the Anunnaki.  These are the ones it still has dealings with, in one form or another. However, rumours abound that other sentient races can be found in Barbarian- and Vau space.
 
Ur-Obun: This peaceful, philosophical race, like their Ur-Ukar cousins, claim deep Anunnaki involvement in their history.  The Anunnaki (the ancient race who built the jumpgates) apparently engineered the two races' fates, separating them onto different worlds before they disappeared from history.  The Obun are given positions of respect as councilors and advisors in Known Worlds society.  However, while they are treated politely, their advice is often considered naive by the militant human culture.  Nonetheless, an Ur-Obun became one of the Prophet's disciples, and is honored by an Obun a sect of the Church.
 
Ur-Ukar: Due to their initial hostile dealings with humanity, the Ukari are now a broken race.  Their homeworld is owned by the League, who reap it for its mineral resources, selling the spoils off-world to noble houses.  The have been removed from their ancestral, subterranean lands and herded into tight caves in poverty.  Few humans care what happens to them.  A resistance movement has responded with terrorist tactics, and has taken its war of hatred to other worlds.  Nonetheless, the League values them for their shady, underworld skills.
 
Vau: The mysterious Vau mandarins have demonstrated several times over that they could wipe out humanity if they wished, yet failed to do so.  Non-expansionistic and enigmatic, little is known about the Vau.  They have entered human space at most ten times since first contact in 2945, but set up an embassy on the planet Vril-Ya.  They also recently gave the coordinates to the lost world of Pandemonium to humanity, the only system ever to be found with two jumpgates, which led to another lost world, Iver.  Vau technology was superior to human technology even in the Second Republic, and even more so now.  It is not known how many worlds make up the Vau Hegemony.
 
Symbiots: Little is known about the Symbiots except that they breed powerful warriors, use organic technology, adapt very quickly, and are highly susceptible to psychic and theurgic powers.  Some Symbiots are known to be shapeshifters, and have infiltrated the Known Worlds to spread their taint.  Symbiots are also known for their ability to turn their foes into Symbiots by implanting spores or seeds of some sort in them, and no cure for Symbiosis has been found to date.
 
Vorox: Huge carnivorous, multi-limbed beasts, the Vorox are new to civilization. That they achieved sentience at all on their toxic jungle world is a wonder. That they have come as far as they have since is a tribute to their adaptability and powerful attributes -- valuable qualities in the Known Worlds. They are most often trained as elite shock troops by noble houses, but many have joined the League to see the stars firsthand.


Gannok: Some think of the Gannok as ridiculous monkeys, but few can deny their mechanical aptitutude.  They are simian in appearance and have a strong sense of humor, but their stench often keeps others from getting too close.  The oils their skin exude may smell, but they aid Gannok to regenerate wounds at an incredible rate.  They learn fast, especially by mimicking others, and many believe their sentience comes from mimicking early human explorers -- or from hanging around the Ur ruins that dot their homeworld.

Shantor: Ungulates who only achieved a crude level of tool-use before humans discovered their homeworld, the Shantor are now a broken race. Suffering from centuries of slavery and forced relocation, Shantor culture barely survives.  The traditionalists cling to their religion, praying for a savior, while the young Darkwalkers sell themselves as soldiers and laborers in return for drugs to satisfy their suicidal addictions.  Although most humans grant Shantor a limited sentience at best, all who have come to know them recognize their enduring nobility.

Etyri: Avians of brilliant plummage and regal bearing, the Etyri fought a hard evolutionary battle for their sentience against a rival lizard race. Advanced tool-use and cunning won the war for the Etyri, and they ruled unchallenged from the treetops of the planet Grail for years -- until humans arrived. While many Etyri still maintain their noble lineages and a degree of freedom, their lands have fallen tree-by-tree under the control of human corporations and eventually noble houses.

Ascorbites: Few Known Worlds races are as enigmatic as the Ascorbites, insects with a different sentience from mammals -- including humans.  While they seem to share a hive-communication, they do seem to be somewhat individualistic.  It is hard to communicate with them and even harder to understand them; their goals are alien and unfathomable. Even the few Ascorbites who have cut themselves from the hive can say little about their race's ways. Nonetheless, human explorers still try to parley with them, for their jungle lands are rumored to host hidden Anunnaki ruins and other ancient wonders.

Oro'ym: Perhaps one of the oldest sentient races encountered in the Known Worlds, the amphibian Oro'ym are a fallen race.  Archaeological evidence hints that the Oro'ym once had an advanced star-faring culture, but suffered a collapse and millennia-long dark age they are only now climbing out of.  Their language and religion holds tantalizing clues to Anunnaki history, but few can now unravel these mysterious traces.  Who knows what ancient wonders the ocean depths of the planet Madoc hold? Only the Oro'ym...

Hironem: The reptilian Hironem are perhaps the closest example Known Worlders have of the mysterious Vau culture.  Evidence suggests that ancient Hironem culture was heavily influenced by the Vau, and this shows in their present day caste structures and religious dogma.  Their belief in S'su (a universal life energy) and its behavior colors everything they do.

Muazi: Fungal sentients whose sentiency seems to grow with their colony size. Natives of the lost world of Sky Tear who drive humans slowly but relentlessly to madness. Harvested by the Vuldrok and Kurgans alike to create powerful drugs granting psychic abilities.

Ishkin: Shy native marsupials of Wolf's Lament whose coats can bend light around them, making them nearly invisible to human and predator eyes. Strange allies of the Lakol of Sunkmanitu and some maghtaw.

Gwindor
The humans of the Vau Hegemony whose existance have been kept secret by the mysterious Vau. Are they still fully human....?

Manshogo
A marsupial race of fierce warriors able to enter a destructive trance where they become fast and furious killers. A proud Protectorate nation of the Vau Hegemony.

Fah Selani
Serpent-like sentients of the Vau Hegemony. Gentle and aggressive at once, extremely hard to read and understand by other races. Known for their bond pairs and excellent medecines.

Velek Zzhum
Huge, strong and silent race of peaceful crustaceans who serve willingly the Vau and have earned great respect in the Vau Hegemony.

G'nesh
Peaceful, garden tending, Insect-like sentients who bowed to the Vau superiority by admitting to the rightousness of auspice, thus earning direct Protectorate status.

Lun'grar
Some old and feared nemesis of the Vau? Their existance is kept mostly a secret to non-Vau sentients of the Vau Hegemony.

 

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