Vulkrim
Codex
Name (Singular): Vulkrim
Sexes: Male
Height: Ranges from 4’ (120 cm) to 5’ (150 cm).
Weight: Between 20 and 30 kilograms.
Skin: Stretchy and friction-less like latex, but normal in texture and appearance. Typically red or blue, but in rare cases purple or obsidian black.
Carapace: Loose plates of black, brown, or orange chitin. Most vulkrimi surgically remove them.
Hair: Bald.
Horns: Two small horns on their foreheads.
Ears: Short elfin ears.
Eyes: Human-looking eyes with black sclera and pupils. The iris can be bright orange, red, blue or violet.
Lips: Colored in red, blue, purple, black, pink or orange.
Teeth: Human-like, but slightly sharper.
Tongue: Forked in shape and varies in color, including red, blue, purple, black, pink or orange.
Nipples: Colored in red, blue, purple, black, pink or orange.
Tail: Scorpion-like tail with an obsidian- or orange-colored barb.
Average Lifespan: 70 Earth years
Homeworld: Maggrath
Features
The vulkrimi are a species of impish humanoids with traits reminiscent of demonic mythologies from other U.G.C. cultures. They are an all-male race, as the female sex has been rendered extinct. Those females that do exist are either former males or clones. Their bodies are elastic and smooth, capable of stretching themselves far more than other species while leaving them unharmed. This characteristic gives the skin the benefit of holding itself tight against the flesh, stopping bleeding and hiding scars far more easily than the skin of other species.
Their bodies are covered in chitinous plates, some of them loose while other are tight against the body, taking the shape of a huge armor similar to those worn by the ancient samurai. This armor is extremely inconvenient, especially on the hands and legs, and give them a reputation of being exceedingly clumsy. Most vulkrimi consider these plates as nothing more than a vestigial evolutionary remnant, so they choose to surgically remove them.
Vulkrim cocks are usually four to six inches long, one inch across and are very similar to dog cocks, tapered and with a pointed head, but lacking the iconic knot. When flaccid it will rest inside a sheath of the same color as the skin. When erect it will reveal a shaft covered in a usually darker foreskin hiding a cockhead that can be red, blue, purple, black, pink or bright orange in color. Below is a scrotum of the same color as the skin with a pair of balls, three inches across inside. Without the surgery, these are hidden by a pair of hanging plates that sprout from their belly buttons.
While they come in a variety of colors, a vulkrim’s secondary pigmentation tends to be naturally coordinated, with the most notable combination being orange accents appearing exclusively on obsidian skin.
Modification
Traditionally, in order to become more efficient and aesthetically pleasing to their females the males often surgically removed the armor plates covering their bodies. This cultural tradition carries on to this day, with the vast majority surgically removing the plates at one point in their lives, normally as early as possible. This practice often gives them a more relaxed view of gene-modding than other races, often taking them to fit in more easily within other societies. One good example of this attitude is their willingness to take the Treatment when visiting New Texas, greatly boosting both their height and demonic features, turning them into incubus adonis.
Ninety percent of the vulkrim population participates in procedures to remove the plates, though in more recent times preferences have changed from surgery to specialized mods. They can choose which plates to remove, but most prefer to remove the plates from their whole bodies, resulting in an impish look, with human-looking hands and feet, black claws and an almost prehensile, demonic tail that ends in a spade, tipped with a small black barb.
Their elastic skin hides almost all scars from surgery, except for few pores around irremovable roots that even genemods can’t remove. They take the form of triads of parallel holes above each of their pectoral muscles, and on their arms, legs, brows and head. These scars are often erogenous zones, akin to nipples, although most try keep this a secret from their alien lovers.
Around eighty percent of this race use mods to grow hair on their scalps and crotches, with some going further and giving themselves hair on their faces and bodies, just to seem more enticing to other races. Since their females had naturally black hair, most males tend to pick black for their own hair, making other colors a rare sight.
Habitat
Vulkrimi were originally from Maggrath, a very humid planet with strong volcanic activity and very few predators. This gives them the ability to thrive in worlds that are both hot and humid, and since their accession to the U.G.C. they have settled several colonies in similar environments. These colonies tend to be seedy places due to their higher propensity toward criminal activity.
In the past vulkrimi were divided into several sub-races: the black-skinned from the volcanic zones; the red-skinned from the tropical zones; the blue-skinned from the more humid zones and the purple-skinned from the more arid zones. Nowadays this is a meaningless definition due to technological development and hybridization.
Reproduction
When the female sex of this species still existed, they reproduced like most races of the U.G.C. The male would insert his penis into the female’s vagina and ejaculate his sperm which would fertilize the ovum in the womb and lead to birth several months later. While they can still create hybrids this way, no pure vulkrim can be born this way. Children fathered by a vulkrim are always male, except for those races where gender is not decided by the DNA of the male gamete.
The same virus that erased the females also transformed the tails of the males, changing the glands that they used to produce poison into producing a powerful virus. This virus can create a fertile pseudo-womb if injected in a large and wet enough orifice of any race, which a male can then impregnate. This is the only natural way for vulkrimi to produce more pure members of their race, but it doesn’t require any of their DNA to produce a viable child. After injection, any male of any race can fertilize the temporary womb and many sterile or homosexual couples ask their vulkrim friends to help them bear children with their virus.
This pseudo-womb is extremely fertile and tough, making it almost always guaranteed to bear the child to term upon insemination. These pregnancies usually last seven to eight months and it’s always live birth, even if the mother comes from an egg laying species. After the pregnancy or if not impregnated within one week of injection the pseudo-womb will deteriorate on its own.
History
The vulkrimi, before first contact, were a spacefaring society that had recently developed the capacity to settle in the worlds of their home system. A near-utopian society where the majority of males were ruled by a minority of dominant women. The first contact with this matriarchal society guaranteed they would go through a quick and beneficial accession to the U.G.C.
By the time the gates opened and the rush started everything had changed. The females were all dead and the males had their new strange reproductive method. Vulkrim society had turned unstable and fraught with criminal activity. The males had lost their tall and seductive females that kept them in line and were dealing with changes the virus had caused to their sexuality; expressing themselves through unruly and criminal activity. Because of the rush, and many of the corporations interest on the virus, they eventually managed to reorganize into a somewhat more stable society. Despite being riddled with corruption and criminal activity it eventually joined the U.G.C. In subsequent rushes the vulkrimi have led several colonization expeditions, especially in those worlds with an exceedingly humid atmosphere or high volcanic activity.
It’s unknown where the virus that led to these disastrous changes came from, but the prime suspect was one of the scientists in the first contact vessel. The virus was also known to have the signature of an infamous scientist accused of creating several transformative viruses frequently used by bioterrorists.
Society
The females of this species chose to breed with males with exceptional libidos so that subsequent generations would be easier to control. Once a male vulkrim hits sexual maturity, at around sixteen terran years of age, their libido starts to go into overdrive, increasing exponentially as they grow older. Since then several custom gene-mods have been designed to maintain their libido at reasonable levels, but they are costly and require yearly intakes. If they don’t take any at all, by the time they reach their forties the barest touch in any of their erogenous zones can send them into a rut.
Vulkrim personalities change a lot depending on whether they are or aren’t sexually satisfied. If kept from having sex for a long time, they will grow dominant and unruly and often try to force themselves on others. If on the other hand they are consistently satisfied, they will be obedient and submissive, going to great lengths to prove their loyalty to their lovers, family and friends.
These characteristics are some of the many reasons why the vulkrimi are so inclined toward criminal activity and have a reputation for being sexual slavers. When the females died they left behind an impressive armada of ships that were stolen during the collapse of society and used for piracy. The descendants of many of those pirates still exist to this day and make their living raiding ships throughout the more vulnerable regions of the U.G.C.