Argenex

Of all the races capable of hyperspace travel, the argenex are comparably primitive. This has not stopped them from becoming a force to be reckoned with amongst the stars. The argenex exploded out from their homeworld and immediately began forceful colonization of surrounding worlds and eventually star systems.

They do not bother to form an empire as traditionally understood as they don’t have interest in ruling but in the act of conquest itself. The argenex only return to their homeworld (or the planets they have previously conquered) when they have fulfilled whatever original goal set out when they left. While not stupid, the argenex as a race are not considered overly wise or intelligent.

Ability Adjustments +2 Str, +2 Dex, –2 Int or Wis

Hit Points: 6

Racial Traits

Size and Type

Argenex are Medium humanoids with the argenex subtype.

Armored Second Skin

An argenex chooses one type of armor, they are always considered proficient with that armor and halve any penalties from wearing that armor (such as armor class penalties or penalties to movement speed).

Lucky Threes

The number three holds a great deal of importance to the argenex.

Once per day when a three is rolled on any one die, it may be rerolled and the second result must be taken.

Melee Specialists

Argenex typically do not love ranged weapons but instead have intensive training in melee weapons of all types. Argenex are always proficient with all melee weapons and gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls using melee weapons for every five levels they possess.

Third Single Eye

Argenex have come to rely upon the custom visor built into their helmets over their natural single eye. The argenex have low-light vision and darkvision up to 30 feet.

Physical Description

Argenex are typically big compared to other creatures of the same size with thick muscles. They are relatively slow moving but their extensive training in combat makes them deceptively quick.

Argenex usually have gray toned skin that is thick and calloused. It is rare to find an obese argenex as excess and creature comforts are frowned upon in their society of warlords and troops. The argenex are almost universally despised across the galaxies since they are seen as the most primitive of spacefaring cultures and the qualities they prize as a species do nothing to ingratiate them to others.

The only thing of value argenex create are robust starships capable of dealing and withstanding great amounts of damage.

Society and Alignment

Conquest is the word of religion for the argenex. They seek to prove themselves in battle against as great of odds as can be. They are not interested in ruling beyond their troops and tribes as warlords and fight amongst themselves as often as with others.

Their homeworld has become a massive proving ground where any offense between argenex are decided in trial by combat. Each tribe or troop of argenex has at least one member who is knowledgeable of spacecraft, and each tribe or troop is capable of building a devastating starship of immense power.

Relations

Argenex are well known across most worlds in the galaxies and are disliked in almost every one. Their starships are one of two main reasons any sort of positive relations exist with the argenex.

The other main reason is their supreme usefulness as shock troops, with many civilizations contracting the argenex to help aid in their own conquests. Argenex are, despite their violent tendencies, fairly easy to deal with which makes them frequently taken advantage of by some races. Argenex that realize they have been taken advantage of will typically immediately seek out the deal maker and challenge them to a fight to the death.

Adventurers

Argenex believe adventuring is the only way of life. Living to a ripe old age in the same home as you were birthed is the highest shame an argenex could imagine. Stolen technologies and treasures, which they only understand enough to turn on, are their main source of income along with a tribe or troop’s starship engineer. Soldiers are the norm but operatives (albeit not necessarily stealthy ones) are also fairly common. Mechanics are not very common but do exist, typically as the sole starship engineer in a troop or tribe, and anything resembling magic or religion is so uncommon as to be nearly non-existent.

Names

Argenex names are fairly common and boring, Alexa or James, paired with a familial surname such as Rockman or Smith. Most argenex introduce themselves by the name they have given to their favorite weapon, which most other races assume is a nickname they’ve given themselves, such as Kneecrusher or The Eternally Sharpened. It is extremely important to call an argenex by their favored weapon’s name if there are more than one traveling with you, as the honor they hold to among their species demands that a slight such as calling them by the wrong name demands one on one combat.

Homeworld

The argenex homeworld is mostly barren and varies in temperature extremes from one part of the day to the next. The surface has all but been abandoned by most species on the planet for the more stable and plentiful second layer, where bioluminescent fungi and algae provide light and food for the bottom of the food chain on up to the top.

The argenex are the only known sentient species to survive on the surface of their homeworld, where great covered stone coliseums serve as village-homes. These massive structures are incredibly thick which serves to function defensively as well as create a more climate neutral place to train, sleep, and eat.

History

The argenex have an oral tradition, unique to each tribe or troop, which every member learns spanning back hundreds of generations. These stories mostly pertain to great conquest and battle maneuvers but some few speak to the creation of their homeworld in the collision of two massive moons that had thrown their orbit. Their oldest creation story mentions the only time all of the argenex had ever been joined together to squeeze the moons together into one singular planet, although this is most certainly an embellishment as this fails to mention how their species existed before the creation of their planet.