Physical Description

Boerkein are six limbed forward knee hinged quadrapeds with two prehensile arms evolved from six limbed equines.  The Boerkein body is separated into a torso on which the head and arms are situated and and equal length abdomen with two sets of hips for the four legs.  Boerkein typically stand and run on all four legs or can rear up and walk only the hind pair of legs.  Boerkein are mostly hairless, but have a fine layer of hair across their bodies with thick manes of hair down their heads and torso.  Boerkein females are largely indistinguishable from the males, with females having slightly finer facial features and engorging mammary glands on their lower torso and abdomen for nursing their young.

A Boerkein’s head is distinguished by having a pair of eyes mounted midway up the face under a mid-sized brow ridge.  Between the eyes are a pair of long nasal slits that extend to just above the upper lip.  The bottom of the head is distinguished as having a single axis downward opening hinged jaw with limited lateral movement.  The mouth has two U shaped rows of teeth, one mounted on the jaw and the other to the roof of the mouth.  A pair of small paor of elliptical ears are mounted to either side of the head and typically match the eyes for vertical position.  

Boerkein have five digits on their feet and hands.  The digits on the Boerkein’s rear pawlike feet are short with no grasping ability, and in length are barely a fifth the length of their feet.  The forward foot-paws have slightly longer digits with limited grasping ability.

The hand digits however are approximately half to the same length as their palms and are comprised of four primary fingers and a single opposable thumb mounted to the side of the hand at the base of the palm.

Genitals on the males are external, while females house their reproductive organs internally.  Boerkein females are induced ovulators and require up to three matings within a cycle to force ovulation.

History 

Boerkein evolved from a common ancestor to several other six limbed Malidorian native creatures.  Several are herbivore herd animals with several other simian-esque jungle, mountain, and tree dwellers.  Sentient Boerkein appear to have evolved from a cross breed of three early simian-esque ancestors as archeological evidence revealed the oldest
“modern” Boerkein remains at the foot of a major forested mountain range that flowed into Malidor’s largest rain forest.

Early Boerkein spread across their world quickly in massive herds that evolved into nomadic tribes.  Most of Boerkein history was peaceful with contact between tribes mostly leading to trade and intermarriage.  Most conflicts were settled by races, games of counting coups, and in most extreme cases, single combat.  Participants were chosen by setting aside the most fit members of the tribes and the picking one at random.  Negotiators were selected in similar manners with one of the wisest tribe members being picked at random.  This random selection method would continue throughout their growing civilization and form the core of most of their governments.

The Boerkein were slow to develop fixed villages and cities.  Even once they did, their nomadic nature led to the widespread usage of mobile dwellings that could be easily moved between fixed sources of food, water and other resources.  Even once fixed industrial sites were developed tribes would cycle through between seasons with a single home site potentially being shared by members of four different tribes.

Boerkein were slow to develop space flight as volunteers to travel on rockets developed by roving teams of engineers, who rarely communicated face to face, led to numerous failures, were hard to come by.  Even once reliable space transit vehicles were developed the process of finding volunteer candidates forced the use of demarchy once again.  The enclosed spaces of early space craft were a major issue for many early Boerkein astronauts, and led to many having to be sedated and their ships put on automatic pilot for long transits.  Exploration of their solar system was therefore slowed even once faster ships were developed, but on site exploration was atypically fast because of how fast Boerkein could run, even in protective suits.

It was a chance encounter with a Confederacy Navigator’s Guild ship that was mapping their Solar System that led to first contact.  Assuming the off course ship to be a derelict, the Guild crew boarded the craft to find the comatose crew and triggered an onboard system to wake them.  First Contact was peaceful, and despite not having developed hyperspace travel, or even slipstream drives, the Boerkein were eager to join the Confederacy.
They have since become staunch allies, especially when it comes to exploration and reconnaissance.  Representatives to the Confederacy are still chosen at random amongst the most appropriate candidates.

Culture

Boerkein culture is one of sharing and minimal concept of personal ownership beyond what one can carry with them.  Having evolved on a singular massive supercontinent the idea of isolated tribes or individuals was all but foreign to them, as is the notion of complete privacy.  Boerkein therefore work best in group settings.  Boerkein love games of chance and are firm believers in the random chances of micro to macro evolution that led to the modern galaxy.

Major Religions/Philosophies

The Boerkein have three major religions with common core beliefs regarding equitable sharing and random assignments of duties. The variations in the religions mostly are in regards to their creation myths, the particular name, or names of their gods, dietary restrictions, and means by which they pray or make offerings.

“Step up when chosen, every roll of the die or pull of the name is the will of the random universe.”

Population

As of UCSB Census Date 1000:  10 Billion including all colony worlds.

Notables

 Psionicism- Telepathic and Telekinetic abilities, most Boerkein Psionics average at a level 5, with a few level nine, the number of psionics grows with every generation.

Sub-Species

No known sub-species.