Woioko
Woiokos are a race of eel-like humanoids from the ocean planet Heicoron IV. They are split into two subspecies: the Floatborn living in arcologies floating over the waves, and the Deepborn residing deep in the ocean.1
Appearance
Both groups of woiokos have smooth, eel-like skin usually patterned in two or more contrasting hues. The Floatborn remain strong swimmers but have lost their ability to breathe underwater and require equipment for long dives. The Deepborn, in contrast, have re-evolved many ancestral aquatic traits, like gills, but also retain lungs for breathing air.2
History
Woiokos evolved from an aquatic race into an amphibious civilisation approaching global unity prior to the Gap. Some time during the Gap, the sun of Heicoron IV expanded, and the ensuing global warming caused a deluge that drowned most woioko holdings. With their infrastructure ruined, the woiokos began to engage in genetic tinkering, eventually splitting into the Deepborn and the Floatborn. The first Floatborn lived in crude sprawling raft-cities, but have since abandoned them and built vast floating arcologies, while the Deepborn returned to and renovated their ancestral homes, now under the waves.2
Explorers from the Pact Worlds system have only recently made contact with the Floatborn. Bretheda has volunteered to send a barathu-kalo diplomatic mission to open relations with the Deepborn, although rumour has it that the drow, backed by the Aspis Consortium, has already begun to sell arms to them.2
Society
Each Floatborn arcology houses thousands of woiokos, who draw their sustenance from Heicoron IV's world ocean and make up dozens of nations, from arcology-states to large confederations. All Floatborn believe that the few remaining islands are sacred parks that should be free to enjoy and study, and they often serve as neutral meeting grounds between warring Floatborn. Floatborn nations include Clan Ibissa, the Xeshaltic League, the Dabanji Union and Mantara Industries; the latter of which controls the only spaceport on the planet, Welcoming Sky.2
The Deepborn live in sprawling, coral-festooned metropolises, rebuilt from the ruins of their pre-Gap ancestral homes. Belligerent and militant, the Deepborn endlessly wage war against each other, though they are often symbolic, with shows of force but little loss of life. They have an ingrained aversion to the surface and surface dwellers, so they rarely have to make use of their lungs. Numbered among the short-lived Deepborn nations, called 'domains', are Kalarasta, the Grand Collective of Pojat and the Asawayo Paramountcy.2
The two subspecies have little contact with one another, each remaining in its preferred environment.1
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 . “Alien Archives” in Temple of the Twelve, 60. Paizo Inc., 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 . “Codex of Worlds: Heicoron IV” in Incident at Absalom Station, 62. Paizo Inc., 2017