+++Subject & Author+++
The Dead Races: Squats, Beastmen, Zoats, Slann and Jokaero - Jeffrey Nagy
+++Thought for the day+++
The reserved Black Channels have been filled with communication and inquiries into origins of several dying races. I, Inquisitor Darius Magnus have decided to share my research, decrypted from an ancient archive, recovered by one of my many undisclosed Rogue Traders, the following is a profile of several races classified and forgotten by many over the last millennia. The first two the Exterminated Abhuman Races, while most homeworlds have been purged both races can be found in far corners of the Imperium, the Squats and Beastmen. The third is a description of a now rare slave subspecies of the Tyranid. The fourth the Slann an ancient race that is on the brink of extinction. The final race, the Jokaero, a race Orangutans that may have had accelerated evolution due to the Slann. Further inquiries may be made, and further passages of these so ancient texts may appear. These texts should hopefully help you in your endeavors.
-Inquisitor Darius Magnus of the Ordo Xenos and Officio Exterminatum
+++The Races Dead, Extinct, or Obsolete to the Modern 40k Universe+++
Squats - Homo Sapiens Rotundus " Generations of life on high gravity worlds has caused changes in physique of long-established humanoid populations. They have a tendency to become short (averaging 1.4 metres), but also very squat, bull necked and generally muscular. Humans of this appearance are known as Squats– but also as Dwarfs and by other often less than complimentary names.
Along with physical changes, Squats have associated psychological adaptations which make the extremely practical and skill full with weapons and technical equipment. They are also very abrupt, taciturn and difficult to befriend, preferring the company of other Squats. They are especially intolerant of other aliens, especially Orks who they loathe and despise. In the Imperium, Squats are the only abhuman type commonly seen occupying positions authority, even entering the priesthood and ranks of the Inquisition. They are tough fighters, and are regarded by many as the most reliable warriors in the army (175 Rogue Trader)."
Beastmen - Homo SapiensVariatus "The popular term to describe mutations of the human stock which combined the physical appearances of humans and animals, usually goats. Beastmen do not necessarily look alike, and different animal traits can manifest themselves, but apart rom this the are genetically fairly stable, and are considered to be a form of abhuman rather than an unpredictable mutaion. In temperment as well as appearance they are often bestial, having a reputation for crudity, aggression and indiscipline. Companies of beastmen in the imperial army are regarded as useful fighters, and are ideal for suicidal assaults where brawn rather than brains is required. Other warriors dislike them as they are rowdy and insanitary (174 Rogue Trader)."
Zoats - "Zoats are the most common of Tyranid's many specially engineered slave races. Other slave races are little more than animals, mere blobs of protoplasm dedicated to cleaning and maintaining the Hive Fleets they are apart. Even hulking spacecraft which compose the Hive Fleet are in a sense races as they are grown and nurtured from a common, albeit much modified, biological stock. Spacecraft are mindless monstrosities and the vast majority of other slaves are so dedicated t a single purpose it would be inappropriate to think of them as creatures. Zoats, on the other hand, are completely independent living creatures much like their masters.
The Xenobiologers of the Administratum believe Zoats were created purely for combat. Tyranids, being creatures of space, suffer discomfort if they spend too long on a planet. Zoats, however, are stocky animals that feel quite at home in a variety of atmospheric and gravitational condition. Like Tyranids, Zoats are centauroid. Their two rear sets of limbs and are heavily built providing the creatures with its means of locomotion. The front limbs are manipulative organs of great strength and are used to wield a variety of weapons. Unlike Tyranids, Zoats will eat anything though they are largely subsist on a daily diet of three reconstituted protein based woven biscuits called Zoatibix. Zoats are common Hive Fleet inhabitants, often equaling the number of Tyranids themselves.
Although Zoats are a slave race, Zoats occupy important positions throughout the Hive Fleets and individual Zoats can gain great power. Rebellion from Tyranid control is not unknown, but is extremely rare. This is because Tyranids secrete a special slave-hormone which suppresses the Zoats' natural sense of independence. However, renegade Zoats do exist throughout the universe, where they have broken away from the Hive Fleets or have become lost during scouting or exploration missions. Without the inhibiting influence of Tyranids slave-hormone, Zoats are able to develop strong psychic powers. The path of independents Zoat civilization is incredibly diverse, with small groups isolated from each other on widely scattered planets (202 Rogue Trader)."
Slann - The Ancient "Of all the races in the galaxy the Slann claim to be, and may actually be, the oldest. The bright days of their empire are waning, but still they remain amongst the most enigmatic creatures of known space. The Slann evolved, matured and spread throughout the galaxy many hundreds of thousands of years ago. During the heyday of their empire they discovered and nurtured many primitive creatures encouraging the evolutionary process on countless worlds, eradicating or moving dangerous species, and seeding many planets with promising stock. For millennia they experimented and played with the galaxy, possibly creating many of the races of modern times in the process. But their empire dwindled, the pace of their civillisation slowed and their genetic experiments were largely abandoned. The Slann retired from an active role in galactic affaires, falling into a long dream of indolence and introspection. They do not seem to have suffered from any physical conflict, there are no records of destructive wars or disasters.
Instead, their racial motivations appear to have undergone a sudden and drastic change, so that they have lost interest in material conquest and power. Perhaps the Slann discovered something yet unknown to other races, some secret to the universe, a spiritual truth or supreme mystical insight. In the realms of psychic-philosophy and mystic-technology the Slann have no equals, fulfilling themselves by study of spiritual life-forces and the secret powers of other realities.
The Slann originally evolved from amphibian stock, and even today traces of their ancestry are not hard to distinguish. Their hands and feet are long and webbed, their skins cool and moist, and their heads large with protruding eyes. They are quite at home in water, and are capable of breathing oxygen from water (or other poorly oxygenated atmospheres) directly through their skin. Slann vary in colour a great deal – green and blue are common, yellow is fairly well represented, and there is a scattering of other, rarer colour morphs as well as albino and melanistic forms.
Brightly pigmented Slann are often extrovert, talented or especially noteworthy in some way. Skins are sometimes mottled, stripped or otherwise marked. On some Slann worlds especially among primitive Slann, these markings represent tribal divisions. Height is fairly constant, with an adult reaching 2 metres, females are sightly larger and bulkier.
The Slann inhabit an area to the north of the galactic pole, living upon a number of proximate, prosperous worlds. Their society remains closed to other races, but appears to be homogeneous throughout, with a similar technical base, language and culture on each planet.
Exceptionally, groups of Slann live as primitive savages on a number of worlds beyond Slann space, including planets of the Imperium. Strangely enough, these primitive Slann are scattered throughout the galaxy, and probably comprise the remnants of what was once a much larger pattern of Slann settlement. These primitives have little or no contact with their technologically advanced kin. The Slann are a curious people, rarely trading with other races and unpredictable when dealing with territorial dispute or any form of rivalry. There is little that the Slann want or need, and traders often get the feeling they are getting watched and studied, and that the exchange of goods is of no importance to the Slann (194 Rogue Trader)."
Jokaero - "The Jokaero are a fascinating race. For one thing, no outsider has ever decided whether they are intelligent. They are certainly capable of tremendous feats of engineering, construction and problem solving, yet they have no language, culture, or motivation higher than survival. Their physical appearance is of a heavy, orange-furred ape, similar to the orang-utang which roamed ancient Earth. This may or may not be coincidence, for it is an established fact that the Slann created and modified many races at the dawn of time, and appear to have visited the Earth on numerous occasions. The most amazing thing about the Jokaero is their technical brilliance - they appear to have an innate, genetically structured understanding of technology. Given sufficient pieces of battered machinery, a group of Jokaero can make almost anything, from a spaceship to a las-cannon. Their comprehension of astro-physics is baffling; they seem able to tap power-currents which flow imperceptibly through the galaxy.
Their understanding of such matters goes far beyond that of even the most advanced of other known races, with the possible exception of the Great Mages of the Slann. Jokaero spacecrafts are a case in point. A Jokaero spacecraft looks like no other form of space transport, consisting entirely of an open framed lattice structure, forming a unique polyhedral shape.
This structure draws energy from galactic power-currents simply by virtue of its shape, in a similar way to which weapons channel psychic energy by virtue of their spiral patterns. Jokaero spacecraft move, manoeuvre, and transcend warp-space by means of making physical changes t the ship's shape, thereby altering the craft's relationship to the universal powers it employs and modifying its place in the natural galactic order.
Jokaero live in large family groups, roaming the galaxy at random, concentrating on survival. They frequently land on inhabited worlds, usually to scavenge for oddments or specific components they require. If necessary they will band together and attack other creatures in order to gain what they need. Because of their extraordinary talents, they use weapons and equipment and tactics in a similar way to intelligent creatures, and are capable of mounting coordinated and complex attacks. Usually they will single out a lone station, a farmstead or a distant mining ship as their target, attacking, looting and making good their escape before they attract retaliatory action. It is impossible to argue or even reason with a Jokaero. Even giving them what they want is difficult, scince they are incapable of communicating.
If the Jokaero could be controlled they would be very useful to other races. However, this has proved largely impossible. They tend to build things which meet their own immediate needs. Attempts at capturing Jokaero and compelling them to work can have disastrous effects - they build things with which to escape (197 Rogue Trader)."
Fall before the might of the Emperor, pray for forgivenes for all who stray from his path of light and glory for mankind, shall falter and die!!!
