Karkarodon
karkarodon
Special Abilities: Karkarodons begin the game with one rank in Athletics. They still may not train this skill above rank 2 during character creation.
Amphibious: Karkarodons may breathe underwater without penalty and never suffer movement penalties for traveling through water.
Jaws: When a Karkarodon make a Brawl check to deal damage to an opponent, they deal +1
Karkarodons, a divided people once unconcerned about galactic affairs, now find themselves conflicted about their place in the war. Though their homeworld has remained officially neutral in the Clone Wars, their new war industry has definitively allied with the Separatists, so they find themselves participants in a war they never asked for. Some have been enticed by the prospect of forming a strong Karkarodon identity and the promise of a fledgling empire with colonies. Others want to retreat back into their solitary tradition. Still others want the people of Karkaris to unite under no banner but their own.
Tall and lanky, with webbed feet and hands, Karkarodons have a short, flattened face but a large, powerful jaw. They have gills but can breathe air. Their skin tones range from gray and brown to blue and white. They sometimes have dark-and-light patterns, spots, or stripes on their skin.
Other than their partial bone skeleton and a flexible cartilage frame, Karkarodons’ bodies consist of almost solid muscle. As their hearts are undersized compared to those of other species, Karkarodons use constant motion to boost their blood circulation through muscular action. Their physiology makes them powerful swimmers, but on land, they become sluggish if prevented from constant movement; still, they always remain strong.
The Karkarodon political landscape is both exceedingly simple and maddeningly complex. Karkaris has a weak global government, and the Karkarodons prefer it that way. They have a representative in the Galactic Senate, but all politicos know the open secret that the representative has no real authority. Karkarodons simply did not care about having an official voice in the Senate.
Officially, Karkaris is neutral in the Clone Wars, but the Republic sees full well that it has unofficially backed the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In the Separatist Parliament, Karkaris has strong, almost aggressive representation, and the other senators find the enthusiasm infectious, unaware that those Karkarodons actually represent a minority group.
Karkarodon society traditionally focuses on smaller social groups rather than adhering to a broader Karkarodon identity. Their complex, contradictory, and fluid societal norms confound offworld anthropologists. Most Karkarodons have no interest in galactic politics, focusing on their individual success, security, and wealth. Perhaps not surprisingly, offworld Karkarodons have no problem associating with other species, viewing them on an individual level, through personal relationships. Among themselves, Karkarodons tend to engage in aggressive competition.
A minority of Karkarodons have engaged with the galaxy on a higher political level, proclaiming themselves representatives of their homeworld. Count Dooku and the Separatists have enticed members of this group primarily with promises of riches and empire, to make the galaxy their ocean. While a declaration of allegiance to the CIS seems inevitable, other Karkarodons are beginning to see the host of problems this would bring.
Karkaris, an ocean planet, lies in the Outer Rim. It belongs to the Nilgaard sector, an area of space strongly allied with the Separatists at the far end of the Perlemian Trade Route. The temperate planet does have small, scattered landmasses, but its biodiversity primarily lies in the oceans. Life is abundant throughout the seas, from the warm equatorial currents to the thick waters under the polar ice caps. For most Karkarodons, this pelagic paradise provides everything they need.
Like most temperate ocean planets, Karkaris has massive storms, so Karkarodons live deep in the undercurrents. Due to heavy volcanism, their cities rest in the middle of the tectonic plates, though compared to their land-based equivalents, Karkarodon cities are fairly decentralized and spread out over longer distances. Due to the Karkarodons’ industrial ramp-up, they have built geothermal plants over vents. The new military factories sit nearby, shoving out weapons and cybernetic war beasts at a rapid rate.
Karkaris used to have only a few small, unofficial starports on those scattered landmasses, but now towering structures reach up out of the water. Dozens of freighters, all from the Confederacy of Independent Systems, carry weapons out and bring supplies and specialists in. The rapid pace of industry means that these areas suffer from thick industrial sludge, a result of waste product and cooling water drainage. The reef die-off in these areas concerns many Karkarodons, not due to environmental concerns, but due to potential poisoning. In keeping with true Karkarodon nature, most have simply left those areas or obtained work in the factories. Still, a growing number worry Karkaris could become blighted and uninhabitable.
Multiple mutually unintelligible Karkarodon languages have forced Karkaris to accept Basic as their common language, and even then, plenty of Karkarodons have not bothered to learn it. This has made it easier for Karkarodons who have allied with the Separatists to control the political conversation; those who don’t understand Basic tend not to be overly concerned with galactic politics.
The minority group of Karkarodons who allied with the Separatists saw a chance to establish colonies and claim territory, propping themselves up as sovereigns of other ocean worlds, like Mon Cala. The CIS has promised them those worlds, but many of these Karkarodons desire more. Other Karkarodons struggle with this alliance, however, often arguing among themselves over even the subject of unity.
Apathetic Karkarodons only care about the material benefits of the alliance. The money from the Separatists has brought prosperity, but it has lulled its people into a false sense of security. A few Karkarodons see the danger in allying with the Separatists and giving up control over their own planet. Unfortunately, their peers can only see as far as their own prosperity, not caring that their homeworld could get swallowed up like a single drop in the ocean of the galaxy.
The Karkarodon war machine makes extensive use of the natural resources of Karkaris’s oceans—their wildlife—and melds them with cybernetic implants. The Hydroid Medusas, giant jellyfish outfitted with cybernetics capable of enhancing and harnessing their electric fields, can withstand blaster fire. Karkarodons have outfitted other, creatures with similar cybernetics to enhance and control their natural abilities. Many creatures have died to fuel these experiments.
Karkarodons also use these technologies to modify themselves. A secondary artificial heart or gill implants can hyperoxygenate blood and enhance performance on land. Criminals and soldiers alike want powerful cybernetic jaws for cosmetic reasons. Cybernetic technologies offer Karkarodons the chance to become stronger, faster, and richer.