Brankian
Burly. Notoriously impossible to bribe. Excellent night vision. Often employed as guards. The males outnumber the females. Female brankians are the larger of the two genders. Two arms. Two legs.
Genders: Male, Female
Ceptac
Eight-legged species in a variety of sizes from about 6 inches to 18 inches. They are often employed to perform repetitive tasks. An example is Panslatch (a groap) who uses ceptacs to catch the exudations from his many orifices.
Genders: Hermaphrodite
Dentharian
Long snout, long neck, hands suited to intricate work. The intellectuals often become scientists and technicians. Many others are employed in jobs requiring manual dexterity. Two arms. Two legs.
Genders: Male, Female
Dog
Originally a four-legged species from Earth that hunted in packs. Generations of selective breeding has led to dogs coming in many different sizes although they are all the same basic shape. They have a remarkably good sense of smell.
Genders: Male, Female
Dwinkle
Body is protected by a carapace. Arms and legs are short. They are inclined towards administrative roles.
Genders: Male, Female
Fractanian
Two arms and four legs. In public they tend to walk on their rear legs and tuck the middle pair under their clothing. Most males serve the Offarian Church in a full time capacity. The females run the businesses and raise the offspring. With the separation imposed by the church no one is entirely sure how this divided species ever manages to procreate. Fractanians are good fighters, nimble, stealthy and have keen eyesight.
Genders: Male, female
Garflung
Three eyes, the central is the largest and most expressive. Skin is blue-grey. No teeth but the tongue is serrated. No neck, small, round body with spindly arms and legs. A species of fairly short stature, Garflungs are often sensitive about their height and tend to wear high shoes.
Genders: None
Groap
A species much unloved due to the disconcerting exudations from their skin. They are also extremely ugly and cumbersome. They have large, bulbous bodies and small, thin limbs. On their home world, at some point in their history, rather than evolve camouflage or speed in order to evade predators, they developed glands that produce a nauseating jelly-like substance that made them unpleasant to be around, never mind eat. Groaps have no control over these glands which makes it rather hard for them to make friends with anyone who isn’t a groap.
Genders: Male, Female
Human
Two arms, two legs. Can be troublesome. They have difficulty cooperating with one another and tend to have an inflated opinion of their importance.
Genders: Male, Female
Jehs
Fur covered. Bipedal. Stubby legs. Slow breeding. Melancholic. Hulger is the last.
Genders: Male, Female
Kynbar
Red skin. Ruby red eyes. Short legs. Thin necks. Head quills. Bony plates on their backs rise and darken when they are angry. Three fingered hands. Three toed, clawed feet. Primitive culture, but nevertheless their sorcerers can work real magic to some extent and have a working knowledge of sympanometry. Most magical rituals involve ridding themselves of devils. Their language consists of series of squeaks and clicks. Very particular about sticking to the many rules in which their culture is bound.
Genders: Male, Female
Lewse
Tiny head, not much more than a stump. Yellow blood. One of these was the creature the technician sent to kill Drome on board the Duggae.
Genders: Male, Female
Muppin
Short, rotund and with huge mouths. The entire top half of their bodies seems to hinge back when they open their mouths. Two stubby arms and two stubby legs. Renown for their rich, deep voices. Make excellent spokespersons.
Genders: Male, Female
Nisix
Face like a Christmas pudding. Nisix’s do not often enjoy prominent places in Hollow’s society. The nisix Bakalwe was unusual in becoming a scientist studying at Skarnelm’s library of Progenitor lore. They have a secretive nature which doesn’t endear them to other species.
Genders: Male, Female
Pirch
Four arms, four legs, a box-shaped head sunk between complicated shoulders, two eyes wide apart, no nose and a lipless mouth. Sticklers for procedures. Get very agitated, even aggressive, if their ritual behaviour is interrupted or mocked.
Genders: None
Ponnomy
Two arms, two legs, very pale. Their limbs are slender but their bodies are globular. Their narrow heads are placed quite forward on their shoulders which gives them a slightly stooped look. They have a complicated digestive system which produces a great deal of gas. This leads to much humour at their expense which they fail to see the funny side of. They have an unfortunate predilection for dining on other intelligent species and their needle-like teeth makes their smiles less than comforting.
Genders: Male, Female
Salagunn
Angular. Their clothing hangs from them like empty sacks on coat hangers, Renowned for their physical cowardice and lack of scruples. It is said a salagunn will sell their children (or any other family member for that matter) their neighbour’s belongings and even their souls – their neighbour’s souls, that is – if it meant a profit and no harm to themselves. The plural of salagunn is salagunni.
Genders: Male, Female
Skalpriss
The skalpriss resemble tall, bipedal beetles with small heads sunk between massive shoulders. They are bioengineered warriors who numbered about a hundred when they first came from their war torn world to Hollow but their number has been much reduced over the years. The only honourable way for a Skalpriss to die is in battle.
Genders: Unknown although most people consider them to be male
Skeeple
Both genders have a blunt, horn-like proboscis in the centre of their faces. With their sunken, dark eyes, proboscis and eye ridges they have quite a menacing appearance. Faces and bodies are covered with hair and the proboscis is often decorated with patterns scorched into the surface. Females are usually shorter and have a less prominent proboscis though they are just as hairy as the males. Males tend to be belligerent while the females tend to be more intelligent.
Genders: Male, Female
Sleamarian
About seven feet tall, very thin. Four arms, two legs. Head is parsnip shaped surmounted by a tuft of hair. Body colouring is greeny-brown.
Genders: None
Sliggum
Generic slang term for anyone of any species. Usually used in a derisory context.
Genders: Any and all
Tirch
A species who have a resolute ignorance of religious matters and invincible obstinacy towards changing that position. Priests and missionaries from all of Hollow’s religions consider a posting to the Tirch’s lands to be the least desirable in the known world.
Washnak
Not much is known about washnaks apart from them being a secretive species who live in deserts. Voormama makes a reference to “those thieving washnaks”. He fed dessicated washnak brain to Drome when Drome was his prisoner.
— Extras —
Everything you ever wanted to know about the world of Hollow but never got around to asking: