Orphaned Races: Ascorbites & Hironem
If there's one thing I've learned in my years as a merc¸ it's stay away from the Bugs and Lizards. They're both hidin' somethin'!"
Orphaned Races examines two of the sentient races of the Fading Suns universe: The insectoid Ascorbites and the reptilian Hironem.
- The Ascorbites¸ native to the Decados-ruled jungle planet of Severus¸ are perhaps the least understood race in the Known Worlds. Their alien culture -- formed by a hive-mind -- has proved resistant to most of humanity's attempts to understand it. What's more¸ the Church claims that the race worships dark entities - gods the Ascorbites claim will one day return to drive the "soft-flesh" humans into slavery
- The Hironem¸ native to the Decados-ruled planet of Cadiz¸ revere their ancient culture-bringer gods¸ who are now believed to have been renegades from the advanced Vau Hegemony. These gods gave the Hironem their caste system and set a secession of God-Kings to rule them. Some humans wonder: Did these Vau "gods" also leave another¸ hidden legacy in the genetics and culture of the Hironem that is yet to be revealed?
Each book in the Alien Expeditions series examines one or more alien races¸ detailing their histories¸ cultures and planets of origin from multiple perspectives. Orphaned Races features dual-stats for both Holistic's Victory Point System and the d20 System (these rules require the use of the Dungeons & Dragons¨ Players Handbook¸ Third Edition¸ published by Wizards of the Coast ¨).