Breshig

Basics:

Name: Breshig
Pronunciation: br-esh-ig
Homeworld: Breg
Political Affiliation: UCSB
Incorporation Date: 0.001
Government Type:
Imperial Republic
Genetic Class:
Silicate-Insectoid
Nitrogen Gas Metabolizing
(Right Handed Amino-Acid)
Sensory Organs: AVOTGS
Visual Spectrum: UI
Sexes/Reproduction:
2 (Male/Female)/Egg laying
Gestation: 300 cycle
Litter Size: 6-8
Sexual Maturity: 20-22 annura
Life Span:
_____Male: 150 annura
_____Female: 100 annura
Ave. Height:
_____Male: 3.5 Metra
_____Female: 3.7 Metra
Ave. Mass:
_____Male: 9.3 Kilobar
_____Female: 9.5 Kilobar

Physical Description:

The Breshig are an insectoid race whose entire physical rrangement is in threes. The breshig legs are one and half times longer the rest of their body combined, and are attached in a tripod configuration at equidistant intervals around the lower thorax. The Breshig’s three arms are arranged similarly around their mid abdominal segment but are offset from the legs folding neatly between the legs on either side. The head is similarly arranged with three eyes mounted equidistantly around the head, and between each of these is one of the breshig’s three ears. The only bodily features that do not come in threes appear to be the single mouth and rectal orifice.

The Breshig have no true hands or feet as they are normally defined. Instead the final segment of each of their limbs is a short spade like affair and is covered by long, thick, spiny hairs. These flexible hairs are actually controllable and can be used to grasp objects as well as to cling to surfaces, the finer hairs able to slip into the cracks of most walls leaving only microscopic marks.

Like most silicate-based life the Breshig have no lungs. Instead, they absorb the nitrogen they breathe through their skin. The outer skin that covers their exoskeleton however is rather thin and instead of passing the nitrogen first through the exoskeleton to the blood stream, the blood stream exits the exoskeleton to be nitrogenated. This unfortunate accident of evolution makes the breshig especially susceptible to physical
injury and if left untreated even a seemingly minor cut can cause a breshig to bleed out.

Brehsig females are not easily recognizable except that they are slightly smaller then males and bear markings that are not visible except in the high ultra violet band. Male markings are instead in the Infra-Red band, but none of these markings are visible in the “visible” bands of light.

Breshig females live sensationally shorter lives then the males and this is directly attributable to their egg laying. Breshig females produce a clutch of up to a half dozen eggs an annura once matured and will continue to do so until death. The process of laying eggs however is quite traumatic and most elderly breshig females die while laying eggs. Breshig males will typically only fertilize one or two eggs in a clutch and only after careful examination for genetic flaws to ensure that the hatchling will be strong. The fertilized eggs will then be incubated and cared for by the females until after hatching and the grub stage when the young move off on their own. Breshig do not believe in monogamy though and it is rare when a female has multiple clutches fertilized by the same male.

History:

Breshig recorded history extends hundreds of thousands of annura before the formation of the confederacy back to when they still roamed their planet in massive swarms. The Breshig were slow to develop any form of true society outside of the swarms and even once they did were slow to settle in one place for too long, because of this cities would often be built and abandoned inside of a generation, only to be reoccupied later by another swarm. Breshig history is all but bereft of warfare, the coming together of two swarms rarely resulting in violence. An extremely curious species the Breshig eventually delved into the fields of science and medicine establishing great schools of thought. Most of these would be setup as great amphitheaters where the academics could discuss at length the latest scientific principals. These discussions would invariably turn into massive debates that would quite often turn political in nature.
To this end the Breshig became obsessed with politics and many swarms would artificially adopt new political structures just so that in a few generations more and more diverse debates could be had.

For uncounted generations this continued as the Breshig explored the viewpoints and ideals of every political and ideological belief they could conceive of. The Breshig then turned their eyes to space, the belief that life in some form must exist beyond their world a strong and little debated topic. The first Breshig expeditions moved through space quickly the Breshig’s ability to withstand high G forces allowing even their so called slo-ships to accelerate far faster then those of many other races. The Breshig’s first few meetings with other races were peaceful in nature, though the accidental spread of disease nearly tipped off several wars. Only the Breshig’s keen ability to calm their aggressors saved the delicate race from certain doom.

Not all races were easily swayed by the Breshig’s words however and when an aggressor came for the savvy race they found them with little in the way of home grown protection. What the Breshig did have though was friends, friends with big guns who would be more then happy to fight on their behalf. The Breshig have always believed in having someone else fight their physical battles, leaving the mental contest of debate, politics, and the pursuit of a non-violent solution up to them. In
time the Breshig eventually developed their own warships to defend themselves with, or to be crewed by their allies and their policy of proxy warfare is reflected in the designs, most of their ships having little in the way of fixed armament and instead relying heavily on missile and torpedo weapons instead of cannons.

During the Vedekian invasion the Breshig hired their allies to provide them with support keeping the Vedekian horde at bay and deflecting them towards the other races. A few Breshig built ships did eventually take part in the later cycles of the conflict but all were crewed by Breshig allies. In the aftermath of the invasion the Breshig saw that the tentative Four Race Accord might fall were a more cohesive government not formed around it plunging the core worlds into another war. To that end they enlisted the help of the Donvarion and for the next four annura worked creating what would eventually become the UCSB.

Since the formation of the UCSB the Breshig have been highly sought after as advisors and negotiators. Virtually all high-level Confed negotiations with a new race or a wartime foe have had at least one Breshig present. Though having little interest in law the Breshig are also desired as arbitrators for legal cases and when used in this fashion the Breshig will typically keep the case from reaching the courts, helping the two sides find a common ground.

Culture:

To say the Brehsig love a good debate is true and at the same time false. What the Breshig truly love is bringing a good debate to an end where both sides feel equally satisfied. The Breshig are always eager to learn about a new race and their ideologies. Infact the Breshig are considered one of the most understanding races in the confederation. Breshig libraries are filled with innumerable volumes about other races, their
histories, politics and religions. Before any Breshig is allowed to interact in debates with another race they must first show a great understanding of that race and all of its cultures, religions and politics. In the case of first contact Breshig they are required to have such general knowledge of up to a dozen races, giving them a strong background to work from. As a
result of this however most first contact Breshig are quite elderly and are exclusively male, something that has proven as a problem with matriarchal races.

Major Relgions:

The Breshig were slow to develop any form of true religion and the one that has emerged is most closely akin to Judaism but lacking in ceremony. The Breshig believe that some cycle in the future a great being will appear to lead all into a new golden age of everlasting peace. The Breshig do not see this coming being as a savior of their souls as they believe that their service to others is already salvation enough. Instead they believe that this being, not necessarily a Breshig, but of Breshig sensibilities will be able to bring all races and people together in an everlasting peace that will spread throughout the galaxy.

Philosophies:

Almost as whole the Breshig believe that no conflict, no matter how violent or severe, cannot be settled through peaceful means. The idea of fighting just for the sake of fighting is completely foreign to them and on more then a few occasions Breshig have attempted to break up pugilistic bouts on other worlds. To this end most Breshig are no longer welcome at such events. The Breshig are quite trusting in outward appearance, but when encountering a newcomer they are cautiously optimistic and will constantly prove to discover ones motives and beliefs so as to set up a true dialogue. Breshig are difficult to form friendships with, not because of an distrust but because they require such a mountain of information about someone before starting the relationship that most give up long before in frustration.

Population:

As of UCSB Census Date 1000: 9 billion including all colonies.

Notables:

The Breshig have practiced selective breeding since before the formation of the Confederacy in order to keep their species strong. The unfortunate after effect of this is that their population, once boarding on the hundreds of billions has dwindled to only a few billion. Population numbers have remained steady in recent generations and have in fact begun to rise, but not at a rate that they easily could attain.

Psionicism- Telepathic and Telekinetic abilities, most Breshig Psionics average at a level 7, with a few level 9, as is seen in other races as well the number of psionics grows with every generation.

Sub-Species:

There are no known sub-species of Breshig, but rumors of an armor clad warrior offshoot of the Breshig have been common since before they joined the confederation. No evidence has ever been discovered of these warrior Breshig and some believe the legend was either started by the Breshig in order to keep away attackers or stems from the Breshig commonly keeping Shinekians as bodyguards.