Physical Description

Krad are quadrapedal forward hinge kneed reptiles who have evolved to walk on their hind legs with short thick tails.  Their bodies are covered with a bumpy yest smooth scales.  Coloring is largely spotted green and brown and varies by ethnic region with females being larger and far more colorful.

Krad have a wide flat head with large yellow eyes with slitted pupils behind a short snout.  The snout features a wide mouth with two U shaped rows of teeth, one mounted on the jaw and the other to the roof of the mouth. Long ear slits run behind the jaw giving the Krad amazing hearing despite not having external ears.

Krad have four digits on their feet and hands.  The digits on Krad feet are long with great grasping ability, and in length are roughly double to the length of their feet.  The hand digits however are equally large and prehensile, making up for the lack of thumbs.

Krad have typical reptilian cloaca making distinguishing between males and females difficult.  Female Krad have up to three fertile periods per annura, but can initiate egg production when the proper external stimuli are applied.  Krad are Oviparous and after fertilization females lay clutches of up to five eggs, of which typically only 2-3 will hatch viable young.

History 

Developing primarily in small city states separated by great swathes of forest and desert, the Krad fought more against their own environment than each other for most of their history.  Krad love to tell stories and when explorers and traders would meet they would often exchange great tales of glory of their most notable warriors fighting back against massive predators and the environment itself.  The Krad of the southern continents were some of the first to develop industry and move away from their agrarian society.  Krad technological development was slow for the most part as the reptilian race found little need to progress faster than that.

A largely social race, the Krad typically put the needs of the whole ahead of personal gain and so when it became evident that industrialization had accelerated global climate change, it did not take much to convince the Krad to take action to slow the devastation.  However, doing so led to key individuals within the various city state governments to consolidate power far more then had been done before.  The Krads efforts to slow and reverse climate change were too effective and led to massive global cooling that endangered the reptilian species even more.  This convinced the Krad to set out into space in search of answers and the Krad erected massive solar arrays in orbit to heat the planet.

Krad continued to expand into their solar system over the next century kicking of a series technological revolution.  The Krad actually developed hyperspace fairly early on in their space exploration and expanded out into the Vega Sector where they happened upon the expanding Galactic Federation.  The ensuing war against the Galactic Federation lasted for six annura, during which Krad suicide attacks halved their population before they finally sued for peace.

The Krad were quickly subjugated as the first major Galactic Federation vassal race, supplementing the more minor slave races it had inherrited from the Sirian Empire.  Though largely seen as a slave species, Krad and their clans are able to earn full freeman status.

Culture

Krad culture is largely one of great social and family networks with the needs of the many always placed over the self.  As such Krad are often seen as “Cannon-fodder” amongst military commanders.  Tales of brave individuals however bolster their armies and brave warriors can find themselves given greater power and allow them to rise into the ruling oligarchs.

Major Religions/Philosophies

Krad religion largely revolves around household and local gods unique to each region and clan.  The Galactic Federation has not squashed these beliefs and has instead used them, through the Oligarchs, to manipulate and control the populace.

“Protect the clan, even if it means your end.”

Population

30 Billion as of last GF Census

Notables

Krad are often seen as dimwitted, but are actually quite intelligent, especially social settings.

Psionicism:  Krad sometimes seem to have a low level telepathic link but is infact a pheromone response.  However, some older Krad seem to develop an even stronger pseudo-telepathic link if they love long enough.

Sub-Species

Krad have no actual sub-species, but have significant variation depending on where their clans evolved.