Races Among the Stars 13: Sarcesian
Back in Pathfinder in the Distant Worlds book, they established a lot of lore bits to make the prospect of exploring the Solar system that Golarion was a part of (They hadn’t thought up the name Mataras for the sun yet, and The Pact Worlds wouldn’t be a relevant name for a long time). One such detail was the Diaspora, an asteroid belt created by the destruction of the planets Damiar and Iovo by the mighty bone sages of the neighboring planet Eox.
This destruction was so great that the backblast from the mighty superweapon blasted open a continent-sized crater in Eox and set the atmosphere on fire, ruining the world for the native elebrians, forcing the majority of them to embrace undeath to persist on their basically dead and blasted world.
And Damiar and Iovo should have been the same, except more so given that they were shattered completely. Nothing could have possibly survived… not without some extreme magical intervention the likes of which rival the scale and might of the very superweapon the destroyed them.
And that’s what the ancestors of the sarcesians did, creating not just several carefully curated and terraformed creche worlds from the largest planetoids, but connecting them with a colossal river of contained water known as the River Between, the column of branching waterways protected by an advanced force field and connected to Nisis, it’s source, all of which allowed the Sarcesians to navigate between these last bastions of their people.
But their world isn’t the only thing that changed, the sarcesians also changed as well, becoming able to survive and navigate the void without assistance.
Nowadays, the sarcesians maintain their various islands of culture, letting those that pass by or perform legitimate business pass unharmed, but defending the belt from those that would exploit or incur upon it, especially against those of Eoxian origin.
Sarcesians are dark-eyed and gray-skinned humanoids that are extremely tall and spindly as one might expect for a people that spend a lot of their time in zero-g and microgravity environments, but their biology really demonstrates its unique traits when they enter the vacuum of space. Indeed, Sarcesians are perfectly void adapted and can suspend their need to breathe for about an hour at a time when they need to. What’s more, organs on their back project rippling, butterfly-like wings of energy that act like solar sails, allowing them to catch and ride the solar winds to move exceptionally fast and with great control in the void. This appearance only mildly revises their Pathfinder appearance, where they had pink skin and blue energy wings that were more traditionally energy-like instead of the rippling “fabric in the void” look that their modern art has.
As might be expected, sarcesians are a patient people, capable of taking their time to make their desires manifest. It was this patient determination that allowed their ancestors to survive the destruction of their homeworld, and it serves them well in the belt where others might panic due to the threat of losing air. They are used to acting on their goals even when they cannot be seen clearly, as befits a species that acts on a scale of the vast distances between individual asteroids and creche worlds. As such, they are content to wait and see before approaching any social situation, though they make an exception for the undead, elebrians in general, and pirates and villains exploiting their home to hide and plot.
Sarcesians are very tall, but extremely lanky. They have good reflexes and social demeanors, but their body plans and low-gravity lifestyles makes for weak musculature.
They also demonstrate impressive night vision, using even the faint and dispersed light of stars to illuminate their way.
Their keen minds allow them to master a myriad of skills as they grow in mastery.
Finally, they can move at exceptional speed and control while in a void, as well as persist without air for an extended period.
Ironically, despite their large size, sarcesians don’t tend to like being in melee, instead preferring ranged combat with whatever class they end up being. Operatives are a good choice, especially those that master their signature laser sniper rifles. Their charisma also makes them good envoys and witchwarpers, and their increased skill points offer much to skilled builds. Again, melee and strength are their weakness, but not an insurmountable one. Either way, they can become truly legendary in their mobility when the adventure takes them outside the safety of a starship.
That will do for today, but tomorrow we’re taking a trip over to Akiton for another classic species.
