Pyke

The Pykes were the first non-Plane species encountered by any of the chosen races. Standing at only 3’6 (1.1 meters) and generally red-skinned, the Pykes are somewhat impish in appearance. They are reptilian creatures with roundish bodies, black orb-shaped eyes, short arms and legs, and a crown of horns atop their heads. Despite not being a physical threat to most races, their intellect is not to be underestimated; even without being gifted Architect technology like the chosen races, they were space-faring and beginning to make strides into null-energy based tech at nearly the same rate. The Kugraw found them only twenty years after the Ascensions when they attempted to make preparations to colonize a planet and discovered, to their surprise, that there was someone already living there. It was not the Pykes’ homeworld, but a neighboring planet in the same star system that they were attempting to terraform. Sensing the potential opportunity to further their race’s advancement, the Pykes volunteered to cohabitate the world instead, allowing Kugraw colonists to live with their people as opposed to one race keeping it all for themselves. The Kugraw agreed to this, and the first step of the two races’ future partnership was complete.

Throughout the Expansion Era and into the current millennium, the Pykes have proved themselves to be invaluable allies. They increased the technological productivity of the Kugraw people tenfold, developing new processes and devices with which to help ease the hardship of all life in Spectra. They helped establish the galactic economy and its value, and were the original proponents of the project that would become the Mercantile. Without their contributions, the galaxy would be far different than it is today.