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Names: Drazi names granted to the males and females

of their species often have subtle inflections of suffix that designate their sex, which many other races easily miss. This, combined with the difficulty of identifying Drazi sex by mere appearance can often cause confusion, though Drazi themselves are rarely embarrassed by this.

Male Names: Bamar, Makarar, Tubar, Zukar. Female Names: Janalla, Makka, Shallisa.

Starfarers: Though lacking the passion of the human

race as a whole, the Drazi are an eager people, keen to leave their mark on the galaxy and elevate their position above the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and become one of the major races. They can be found throughout the galaxy in a variety of roles, from simple merchants to hired mercenaries willing to fight for anyone for both monetary reward and the simple joy of battle.

Drazi Racial Traits

This traits section is an alternative to that given in the

Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game and Fact Book and the Games

Master is free to use either as he sees fit.

G +2 Strength, –2 Wisdom: Drazi are extremely strong for their size but rarely consider the consequences of their actions.

G All Drazi are of Medium size. G Drazi have a base speed of 30 feet.

G Having been taught to fight since infancy, Drazi learn to use their hands, feet and even teeth to great effect in a fight. They gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.

G Drazi are quick to use brute force to resolve problems and are always ready for a fight. They gain a +2 bonus to all Initiative checks.

G The thick scale-like skin of the Drazi grants a natural Damage Reduction 1. This stacks normally with any armour worn.

G Automatic languages: Drazi and English.

G Favoured Class: Soldier. A multiclass Drazi’s soldier class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.

Drazi Biology

The Drazi are in many ways as simple physically as they are behaviourally, though as mentioned before there are certain levels of complexity to their character. They are heavily scaled and obviously of reptilian derivation, yet seem to be comfortable at room temperature and do not show signs of being cold-blooded. The Drazi may seem slow and ponderous, but when pushed into action they react with incredible speed and strength. Their biology may be

simple on the surface, but they are as complicated as any other race on Babylon 5.

Drazi

Lifecycle and

Sociology

The Drazi are a surprisingly long lived race, much like some breeds of reptile found on Earth and other temperate planets. Their homeworld may be partly responsible for this; while the Drazi have had to fight their way through their evolution, they have also been well-cared for with a fertile, if dangerous, environment. With a sentient mind and a physically powerful body, the Drazi may be erratic and violent at times but they have many advantages and very few biological drawbacks.

Genesis

Drazi are remarkably similar to the Abbai in their method of reproduction. The females of the species are the egg layers, generating one or occasionally two at a time in the lower part of their abdomens. Instead of immediately laying the eggs and having them externally fertilised, the shells of Drazi eggs remain soft while inside the mother’s body. These shells are uniquely permeable, allowing nutrients and, during copulation, genetic material in but trapping all egg contents inside through an impenetrable cell wall barrier.

After fertilisation, the egg or eggs swell over the next month until they can no longer fit comfortably in the female Drazi’s abdomen. When her stomach scales begin to physically separate and fall out, this is the biological indicator that the eggs need to be removed and transferred to the male. This process is afforded a great deal of ritual in Drazi culture and has never been documented by another species.

During the transfer, the egg actually ruptures as the force of the Drazi female’s diaphragm and her pelvic contractions prove too much for the object. This is actually part of the process, as the month of gestation has caused a second ‘inner egg sac’ to form around the foetal Drazi inside. This smaller egg passes with some effort out of the female and into a pouch inside the Drazi male. Apparently, this process is considered both agonising and intimate to the Drazi; in any case it is rarely discussed outside their own kind.

The Drazi male carries the infant for the rest of its five- month gestation, his lower abdomen swelling greatly and shedding its protective scales during the process. Male Drazi are especially vulnerable during this time and typically remain indoors with as much protection and tending as their place in society and personal wealth will allow. Their mate (or mates, as the Drazi do not mate exclusively and a marriage or union can have anywhere

from one to four of each gender) usually handles all of their duties in addition to her (or their) own. It should be noted that only the gene-contributing father can perform this gestation, though modern medicine can provide incubation should the need arise.

Foetal Drazi are technically born premature by natural design, as exposure to the air is one of the biological catalysts for them to develop their scale layer. When first born, a Drazi infant is a mottled grey colour (the actual colour of their skin) and has at most a few small scales along the brow and face. These are quickly joined by a fragile layer of scales over the entire body over the course of three to four weeks. By the end of an infant Drazi’s first month of life it is typical for them to be completely covered in bright green scales from head to toe.

This layer of scales is not permanent. Drazi moult several times in their first two years of life. This is not a skin moult per se, as the entire epidermis is not shed, but it does come away in patches. Traditionally, a mother Drazi keeps the largest section of her children’s first moult as a keepsake in a dark place to preserve it. The rest of a Drazi’s shed scales and skin grow brittle and translucent in the light, eventually turning to powder.

Drazi do not remain helpless for long; their infancy period is generally only two years long. During this time, they must be cared for carefully, as their bodies grow disproportionately with their minds and they are capable of great injury to themselves and others if they are not closely monitored. They also have a great need for sustenance during this time, consuming roughly twice what most sentient creatures their size would require. Some of this goes towards replacing their scales; the rest is spent developing their extremely dense muscle mass.

Childhood

At the age of two, whether they are ready or not, Drazi children are taken from their homes and gathered in a thruush, an academy of sorts, where they learn many of the rudimentary skills of their people. Each city and colony of the Drazi has its own thruush; some are more prestigious than others but all serve the same basic purpose. While education is a vital part of life at the thruush, its main curriculum is combat.

Unlike most schools in the galaxy, fighting is not only encouraged in the thruush, it is part of the lesson plan. Meals, which come around four times a day, are prefaced with a half hour of combat training. ‘Combat training’ is usually just a fancy term for brawling in the hall outside the dining chamber, but some thruush provide a modicum

Drazi

of actual fighting instruction. These are usually military academies and their graduates go on to join the Drazi war machine in some capacity. Other schools simply lock the dining hall doors and will not open them until 30 minutes have passed or the fighting ends. The effect is pretty much the same either way.

The end result of life at a thruush, the terms of which last most of each year until a Drazi turns ten, is a toughening of the scales, development of muscle mass and an appreciation (or at least a tolerance) for violence. The Drazi also learn to endure punishment and come away from their early education with a knowledge of history, language and the certainty that Drazi must be the greatest race in the galaxy because no other species could have survived the last eight years of their lives.

During their time in the thruush, Drazi children are carefully evaluated and their class loads constantly altered to provide an increasing challenge for them. The Drazi do not believe in an easy life and if lessons are too simple and a given Drazi student seems to be doing too well in his classes, the difficulty is increased until he is struggling like the rest of his classmates. This is not a fair or equitable school system, but it does teach Drazi youths discipline and determination.

When the last year of thruush training is over, Drazi children are returned to their broods and given six months to settle back into their families and apply what they have learned. During this time, most Drazi are content to let their children acclimatise at their own speed, but some broods keep up the pressure and beat down their progeny with physical abuse and complicated intellectual work. This is not considered ‘abuse’ in the normal sense, as none of it is done with the intention of harming the child at all. In fact, Drazi parents would be shocked and offended if such an implication were made to them. The Drazi people believe strongly in strength through adversity and consider it their duty to ensure their progeny have every opportunity to better themselves. If that means their children require medical care every night of their lives until they grow strong enough to avoid such injury, so much the better. Pain is an enemy to be overcome, and one cannot overcome an enemy one does not know.

Adolescence and