M'Lak (Unknown, Pre-evacuation)

Biology

The M’Lak are roughly human-shaped, although somewhat more wiry. They have two eyes, ear-like vanes on the side of their heads and nostril-holes. The most notable facial feature are the mandibles: thumb-sized digits either side of the mouth, each ending in a sharp tusk between one and three inches long.

They are, by human standards, strong and exceedingly tough: like some amphibians, they can sometimes regrow damaged limbs. The M’Lak can have the same nutritional and chemical needs as humans, although they can survive on a wider range of foods. They defecate by coughing up pellets, much like owls.

The resilience, ferocity and cunning of the M’Lak make them excellent soldiers (or more commonly, mercenaries), and their curious reproductive cycle has raised the question of whether they are not a natural species but the product of genetic manipulation. Vehedrix scientists once supposedly suggested that they are an artificial soldier-race, but then they reportedly said the same thing about badgers.

Life Cycle

M’Lak have only one sex. They reproduce cyclically, between every 8 and 15 years, and do so by vomiting up a substance similar to frogspawn. The frogspawn is deposited in water and produces tadpoles, which then eat one another. Survivors will grow into toad-like creatures about the size of a small dog: these are referred to as spawn and are the second stage of development. The spawn pass through a phase of eating almost anything to acquire body-mass, and then return to the water to complete the final stage of turning into an adult.

Spawn are genetically identical to their parent. It is thought that genetic variance was inducted by mutation caused by high background radiation on the M’Lak homeworld. M’Lak space travellers tend to replicate this process by leaving their spawn in a bucket next to the engine in the reactor room.

Culture

The M’Lak do not have a central government or permanent decision-making body. They will band together when necessary (usually to attack someone else) but have strong cultural and social taboos about giving orders instead of carrying them out. This, and their lack of interest in luxury, leads to a tough, self-reliant culture that is usually at war with itself.

Most M’Lak belong to a House, a semi-familial group that can range for a few individuals to thousands. The (self-appointed) head of a House is usually its oldest and most pompous member, although strict rulings are rare and frequently ignored. Elders tend to arrange formal war with other Houses, make trade agreements, and generally interfere in everyone’s life as much as possible. Many Houses allow non-family to join, provided that they pass a suitable test. In some cases, it is possible to join several Houses at once, or none at all.

Houses fulfil the useful role of local government and conservation authority. The M’Lak believe fervently in the upkeep of the countryside, especially if it is the breeding-ground of large, angry monsters. Most big Houses have their own pens and gardens in which the M’Lak raise ferocious beings (including their own offspring), prior to releasing them into the unsuspecting wild. Some of the larger Houses, in particular the traditionalist House Ametrin, specialise in this. On worlds without native life, or in cities, the construction of large machines and dangerous weaponry has replaced the monster-keeping urge. Less people get eaten, but more explosions occur.

Houses serve as bastions of comparative culture, and contain smithies, workshops, libraries, galleries and, most important of all, vast trophy rooms. The M’Lak dislike being in close proximity to one another for very long (an attitude other species find understandable), and so many wander far from the actual buildings. However, at the end of the day, home is where your heart is. And other people’s skulls.

Religion

The M’Lak believe in a sort of afterlife, which is very similar to the world of the living, except with less forms to fill out and more violence. Although it is thought that an individual can, and probably will, contact his ancestors (especially if something entertaining is happening that they might want to watch), there is no priesthood or similar group.

The concept of organised religion, like most organised things, is alien to the M’Lak. Asur’ah does not really contain a word for it, just as it contains no word for “dictatorship”. “Graish”, the word used to represent dictatorship, literally translates as “grovelling”, whereas “Graish Amren”, the M’Lak term for religion, literally means “grovelling with headgear”.

The closest the M’Lak have to a god is the old custom of throwing a lucky rock at the sun. This dates back to primitive times, when the M’Lak tribes assumed that the sun was a deity riding a fiery chariot, and tried to knock him off so that they could have a go.

Warfare

M'lak do not have a concept for "war" as such, as this would mean that they stop at some point. Due to their general hardiness, good-natured fights can break out at any time when more than (or in some cases, only) one M'lak are near, and since the start of the war with the Vehedrix, some humans (and M'lak with an enterprising bent) have organised package holidays to the front line.

The usage of guns is seen as vaguely taboo in M'lak culture, which they regard as boring. The exception to this are the harpoon guns mounted to every vehicle, and occasional warship, the M'lak produce- all the better for towing the enemy in.

Even their warships (the few of them they bother to make for themselves, largely relying on human vessels or troop ships) do not carry guns, but instead rely on esoteric devices for disabling a ship's drive in order for them to close in (read: ram) and board.

The Gilled

When a spawn returns to the water to complete its development, it almost always emerges as a fully humanoid adult. Very rarely, a spawn does not change normally, but remains amphibious and becomes much larger. Such creatures enter an axolotl stage, growing to crocodile size and retaining their gills. Their minds mature in much the same way as their normal (third-stage) brethren, although they tend to be less aggressive than standard M’Lak, and arguably more intelligent.

Spawn, which will usually eat anything, avoid these gilled M’Lak. It is thought that this is the result of pheromones, which suggests that the axolotl stage is more than just a frequent mutation. Further, the third-stage M’Lak regard the appearance of a gilled specimen as extremely lucky, and take great pains in protecting them.

Most of the gilled enter a large House, where they presumably act as advisors. However, since the acquisition of large spacecraft, more appear to have been moved off-world. It is thought that they may have some sort of controlling role in the biggest M’Lak warships, and may have some sort of society of their own

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The M’Lak are a race of intelligent humanoids, displaying both amphibian and mammalian characteristics. They occupy a range of planets, both inside and out of territory known to Atlas, at differing levels of technological advancement. They are chiefly noted for their skill at arms, and made up a significant percentage of Atlas' non-human ground troops. They are commonly referred to as "Morlocks" by humans, in accordance with the ancient Earth tradition of giving anyone slightly different an insulting nickname.

Aptitude for Violence

Gain an additional +1 to attack bonus

Strong Attribute (Constitution)

Gain a +1 bonus to your constitution modifier, up to a maximum of +3