Quote:
“Trade negotiations went well and freighters with Selach goods will be arriving at Proxima colony within the week. All it cost was two small moons…” Erica Praezelis, Human Negotiator
Description:
The Selach are an aquatic apex predator with incredibly long lifespans but a low fertility rate. This species began as pack hunters that in the end formed a complex and rigid hierarchy leading to a dictatorship ran by "The Executive" who works with the Corporate Congress. Their homeworld is completely covered in water, lacking any surface landmasses, and despite being a complex language using species, the Selach never developed the use of complex tools as they lacked appendages for manipulation. This changed a thousand years ago after the last war when an Arcturan now known only as "The Exile" fled to Tuun. Although the specifics in the oral traditions of that time are vague, within a generation the Selach began to use mechanical appendages and began a directed industrial revolution. Realizing that "The Exile" was preparing them to be used as weapons of war, the Selach turned against the Arcturan and murdered him.
Turning their eyes to the stars, the Selach see unlimited resources to exploit for their own gain. Their disposition for cooperative hunting means that Selach prefer trade over open conflict. They seem to always seem to benefit from most situations.
Designer’s Notes:
We felt that the Selach's aquatic trait wasn’t a sufficient trait on its own, so we also made them master traders. One key issue was how an underwater species without limbs to manipulate tools would start building spacecraft? Our answer to this was to create a more diverse story that places them as part of the larger galactic conflict and some manipulation by the Elder species. Players should see the Selach as a type of hybrid between the Trilarians and Gnolam in the Master of Orion series. Initial game play can be more difficult with a species with low population growth, but ultimately the player should find that the additional funds, open trading and luck traits will compensate for the lower population growth. Overall though as a species, their main concern is keeping trade flowing and they will start wars if they feel that player actions threaten that.
