Race Feature: Harians

Hey folks! This weeks' focus has been on getting the game Codex up and running, and I thought I'd share with you one of the first codex entries: Harian overview! This entry was largely put together by guest writer Errata, who will be doing some of the codex work so that I can focus my time on programming in bugs and writing about dicks.

Harians

Species Name: Harians

Homeworld: Harman

Expedition Assignment: Special Forces Commandos

Physical Description: 

Height: 6'6"/1.98m Male, 5'10"/1.78m Female

Weight: 220lb/100kg Male, 175lb/79kg Female

Appearance: Covered in short, fine brown fur of varying darkness, marked by thin white or brown stripes. Possesses claws and fangs, and large, vertical ears. Eyes come in several color types, including both white and black sclera, and blue, brown, and yellow irides. Exceptional strength, agility, and endurance by GPU standards. Sensory abilities slightly above average. 

Overview:

Harians are a bipedal, mammalian predator species integrated early on in the history of the United Galactic Hegemony (predecessor organization to the GPU). With their keen senses and strong pack loyalty, they rapidly came to encompass the 'tip of the spear', taking their place amongst the GPU's elite military and peacekeeping units. The pack, tribal, or colonial affiliations of a Harian citizen may be displayed in the form of markings on their skin; however, this usage has diminished with the advent of GPU, being largely constrained to diplomatic or ceremonial use, as well as more codified usage as rank markings within all-Harian units. 

Pre-contact, Harian governments were essentially representative democracies along the tribal model. From individual families, representatives would be chosen for a 'pack', then a 'tribe', then a 'nation', culminating in an assembly of representatives chosen by the members of the lower groupings. This form of organization, while informal in comparison to human democracies, proved flexible yet stable enough to persist for centuries prior to Contact. 

In civilian life, many Harians find success as athletes. Hundreds of teams play in dozens of sports on Harman, and Harian athletes are popular on many other worlds as well. In terms of military organization, Harian units follow the Terran model of hierarchy for easier integration  with GPU operational doctrine; however, there are certain significant and critical differences of which Administrators should be aware. 

Firstly, while Harians share the standard GPU rank system, the divisions between ranks (outside the officer / non-commissioned divide) are largely an indicator of seniority rather than an indicator of chain of command. Thus, what might in a Terran unit be consider insubordination may simply be a reflection of the 'pack behavior' typical of tightly-knit Harian units. 

Secondly, Harian units tend to be organized along the lines of traditional pack groupings. While it is rare that a unit will be composed solely of members from a single tribe, subunits such as platoons or fireteams virtually always have at least a national link in common. 

Lastly, Harians can be very aggressive in pursuing military objectives. While this is controlled to a certain extent by the suppressants administered by GPU, the decision of GPU's military administration to maintain higher aggression levels amongst Harian troops means that their suppressant levels may require careful monitoring, and are ultimately under the control of the local Administrator. 

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This is just one of the eight featured races in the game, so you can expect more of these in the future. Your regular update is still planned for Friday, but in the meantime, a little Harian design bonus: