Physiology
Vuur are a fascinating mineral-based sentient lifeform with a spider-like appearance and an extremely hard rocky exterior.
Vuur sustain themselves on natural minerals found in rock and dirt, possessing what could be a quite terrifying acidic maw at the base of their head. Vuur spend almost all their time partly burrowed into the ground, devouring and digesting minerals from natural surfaces to sustain their heavy frames.
Vuur have no prehensile limbs, meaning the extremely rare Vuur that do venture out of their space have a hard time interacting with much of the technology and items of the galaxy.
Vuur have relatively low birth rates, but are thought to have quite lengthy lifespans.
While the docile nature of Vuur has lead many to believe them to be either non-sentient, or a hive mind, neither is true and all Vuur are fully autonomous and sentient beings.
Vuur are thought to have an average life expectancy of 135 years, reaching maturity at the age of 20.
Origin
Thought to have occurred towards the end of the Celestial Wars, the Vuur legends dictate that the Vuur were once a happy and docile non-sentient race, that were then ‘uplifted’ into sentience by several gods, or a singular god. If true, this was likely with the intent to use them as some kind of army, a desperate move by a dying god, or collection of gods.
The Vuur almost immediately begged to return to non-sentience, something dismissed by their uplifters, except for a single god, that Vuur call ‘The Understanding’. The Understanding promised to return them to non-sentience if they aided the god in slaying their enemies. The Understanding and the Vuur overthrew and slew the other gods, however The Understanding was gravely wounded and retreated deep under the ground of the planet Polvan. It is said The Understanding instructed the Vuur to defend his resting place and pointed to the stars, where new enemies would come from.
Whether the legends are true, since then the Vuur have very slowly but successfully been colonising their surrounding space, thought to be repurposing the technology of long dead stellar empires, perhaps even technology once used by the gods, and moulding it to their needs. Even so, the Vuur are an isolationist and docile race, that seem to have a singular desire - to return to non-sentience.
Organisation
The Vuur are effectively a theocratic dictatorship, ruled by a priest known as ‘The Dreamer’ – a generationally gifted Vuur that supposedly receive messages and guidance from The Understanding in their dreams.
In effect however, Vuur society is barely organised at all, with Vuur not particularly building up centralised towns or cities, nor claiming much in the way of possession.
Shared Values/Beliefs
Most Vuur are isolationist even from their own kind. They will spend their time finding a spot to settle and burrow into the earth of their homeland, then spend their life enjoying the nutrients of the region. The expectation for this is young Vuur, who are allowed to enjoy the nutrient rich areas of one or both their parents, before being sent out alone when reaching maturity.
Most Vuur are somewhat religious, believing their origin myths and hoping one day The Understanding will return and restore them to blissful ignorance.
In extremely rare cases, there may be some Vuur that seek to explore the stars, either as a religious inquisitor, scouting for potential threats, or as a creature taken by wanderlust. These Vuur likely have a very hard time adapting to much of the rest of galactic society and will often fail and end up perishing along their journey.
Controlled Planets/Population Centres
Polvan (System: Polvus) – The current homeworld of the Vuur, it is not clear in their legends whether it was the planet of their origin before sentience. The world is crystalline, and would likely be an incredibly bountiful mineral world for any other organic species, with an abundance of rare gems forming enormous terrestrial structures. The world supposedly is also the resting place of ‘The Understanding’, so would supposedly harbour a dormant ‘god’.
Presia (System: Denbula) – A rocky world with regularly acid rain and powerful jet streams. It is thought that the acid rain allows more rich nutrients to be exposed to the surface, so that is likely a reason the Vuur found it so suitable for settlement.
Rukto (System: Trisium) – One of the more dangerous worlds that the Vuur have colonised, Rukto is home to giant organic arachnids that are thought to be somewhat hostile to the Vuur. The Vuur’s natural rocky armour and bulk is thought to mostly protect them from the arachnids however.
Cemon (System: Nijil) – A dry world, Cemon harbours symbiotic parasitic lifeforms. These lifeforms are thought to cling to the resident Vuur, consuming a small amount of minerals but acting hostile to infectious and malicious bacteria, effectively boosting the Vuur immune systems and slightly extending their lifespan.
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