Bolida

Bolida

(Creature)

Type

Vermin

CR

By class level

Environment

Any underground

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

bolida

Source: Alien Archive 2, pg(s). 20-21

Bolidas are a race of intelligent tunnelling myriapods native to the planet Zafaiga.

Appearance

Bolidas have six pairs of legs, of which two serve to use tools and the other four support the bolida's weight. Metallic chitinous plates, from head to tail, protect their back from rock falls, the heat near the planet's core and the friction of travelling through narrow tunnels. Their eyes are adapted to darkness, and sunlight blinds them if they aren't wearing sunglasses. The averaga bolida is 7 feet long and weighs 350 pounds.

Ecology

Bolidas are hermaphroditic and can reproduce either with themselves or with others. Sometimes they mate in groups, depositing their eggs in nurseries to be incubated by geothermal heat.

History

For most of their history, bolidas have been unaware of and unconcerned with the outside world, and independently developed analog technology (considered primitive by other races). The bolidas were first encountered by a group of offworld miners who were quarrying supposedly-unclaimed stones. The bolidas were territorial and wary, but the tense meeting didn't erupt into violence. Eventually, the bolidas reluctantly accepted to integrate into the galactic community.

Society

Bolidas tend to be aloof towards surface-dwelling races, dismissing them as capricious 'light dwellers'. They prefer to spend their time alone, with their own kind, or with fellow underground dwellers.

Bolidas enjoy digging and spend a lot of time excavating caverns and dwellings: a small cave can grow by hundreds of miles after a few months. Because of this and their heat tolerance, bolidas are well sought out as miners of rare minerals in deep quarries with harsh conditions.