HOME | DD

Description

The Escko are a race of vertebrates from Yatize. The planet is on an elliptical orbit within the star's habitable zone for most of its orbit. Over the course of around 27 years, the planet draws slightly closer to its sun. The hotter portion of this session is called the summer years while the other end is called the winter years.

During the winter years, the entire planet is covered in a shallow, warm ocean, dotted with small islands. During the summer years however, most of the ocean evaporates, leaving a large salty desert, and killing off most of the ocean going species, whose eggs will hatch come next winter. Unlike those however there are some that simply adapt to these conditions and ride it out across the hot summer months until it is over. The Escko employ this method.

During the winter years the species is born as aquatic style morph-types, with fins and a bluish color scheme. Their long legs are used to grab prey while their shorter arms are used as fins for stability. They mostly use their tail for propulsion, but they can also suck in water through their gill hood behind their head and force it out through exit vents for jet propulsion.

In the summer months the species begin to switch to a desert morph-type. This type loses its gills for internal lung cavities, and grows less reliant on water due to tougher, rugged skin. Their eyelids seal and become clear to avoid moisture loss, and their fins become replaced with stiff spines. In this form they use their feet for dexterous tasks while leaning on the tail as the arms, despite being less finlike, are still quite short.

Located near the great divide, the species was relatively overlooked by most Nations in the area. They were eventually discovered by a colonist group during the winter years. They were known as pests who kept stealing pieces of the colonists’ habitats. Eventually though, one of the mechanics of the colony decided to “teach these Varmints a lesson” and take a colony power suit and some drones to try and scare off the local population. She never returned.

This prompted most of the colony to try and hunt down the local Esko, fearing what they might do to them. Later when a resupply ship came in, they found a Half-deconstructed colony empty of colonists. Seeing that the colonization attempt failed, the crew marked down the colony as taken out by an unknown cataclysm, and the resupply ship turned to leave. Unbeknownst to them, several Escko had snuck aboard. Within the hour the resupply ship returned under new ownership, and The Escko technological development TRULY began.

Using knowledge learned from the colony, they built stabilization habitation hubs to keep from having to rebuild during each seasonal change. By the time a second colony ship had returned to reattempt colonization, they found a thriving city full of Escko. First contact was made, and nowadays one can find Escko throughout Alliance territory, though they are quite rare due to their recent uplift.

Description

The Escko are a race of vertebrates from Yatize. The planet is on an elliptical orbit within the star's habitable zone for most of its orbit. Over the course of around 27 years, the planet draws slightly closer to its sun. The hotter portion of this session is called the summer years while the other end is called the winter years.

During the winter years, the entire planet is covered in a shallow, warm ocean, dotted with small islands. During the summer years however, most of the ocean evaporates, leaving a large salty desert, and killing off most of the ocean going species, whose eggs will hatch come next winter. Unlike those however there are some that simply adapt to these conditions and ride it out across the hot summer months until it is over. The Escko employ this method.

During the winter years the species is born as aquatic style morph-types, with fins and a bluish color scheme. Their long legs are used to grab prey while their shorter arms are used as fins for stability. They mostly use their tail for propulsion, but they can also suck in water through their gill hood behind their head and force it out through exit vents for jet propulsion.

In the summer months the species begin to switch to a desert morph-type. This type loses its gills for internal lung cavities, and grows less reliant on water due to tougher, rugged skin. Their eyelids seal and become clear to avoid moisture loss, and their fins become replaced with stiff spines. In this form they use their feet for dexterous tasks while leaning on the tail as the arms, despite being less finlike, are still quite short.

Located near the great divide, the species was relatively overlooked by most Nations in the area. They were eventually discovered by a colonist group during the winter years. They were known as pests who kept stealing pieces of the colonists’ habitats. Eventually though, one of the mechanics of the colony decided to “teach these Varmints a lesson” and take a colony power suit and some drones to try and scare off the local population. She never returned.

This prompted most of the colony to try and hunt down the local Esko, fearing what they might do to them. Later when a resupply ship came in, they found a Half-deconstructed colony empty of colonists. Seeing that the colonization attempt failed, the crew marked down the colony as taken out by an unknown cataclysm, and the resupply ship turned to leave. Unbeknownst to them, several Escko had snuck aboard. Within the hour the resupply ship returned under new ownership, and The Escko technological development TRULY began.

Using knowledge learned from the colony, they built stabilization habitation hubs to keep from having to rebuild during each seasonal change. By the time a second colony ship had returned to reattempt colonization, they found a thriving city full of Escko. First contact was made, and nowadays one can find Escko throughout Alliance territory, though they are quite rare due to their recent uplift.