Aurix

The Aurix are sapient tentacleiosaurs indigenous to the planet. They are the second Vuunegan species to rise to sapience—the first being the mysterious Zomm. Although, as a species, they do not support the Kravvyns, numerous members of their species have still joined the Kravvyns' Intergalactic Invasion Force. Although each has joined of their own accord, their numbers still easily reach into the thousands. Kresh-Ra is the highest ranking member of their species who has arrived in the Dragon Ball universe.

Although Aurix do no naturally possess the ability to properly manipulate ki to use energy attacks, they have used their prowess in Neogenetics to splice their forces with races which can use ki, thereby unlocking the capability within themselves as well. As a side effect, they have also gained some level of transformations.

Statistics

 * Locomotion: When on land, Aurix walk bipedally with average-length legs, and are balanced by their head and tentacle-arms on one side and the curvature of their tail on the other. When in water, they use undulations of their body with the occasional water jet push, and sometimes will paddle ineffectually like a frog with both feet—arms typically are held forward.
 * Environment: Amphibious; spends much of its free time underwater, yet hunts on land.
 * Diet: Quirlax and Grendon meat, combined with photosynthesis obtained due to their symbiotic relationship with the Chlorolomba. Whipscales are fed upon annually when available and are considered something of a delicacy. All of these species are kept on their ships.  They are not above tasting other flesh, however.
 * Average Lifespan: ~110 years


 * Personality: Cautious yet intelligent, but vicious in combat
 * Affiliation: Independent (those found in the Dragon Ball universe are members of the Intergalactic Invasion Force)
 * Archetype(s): Warrior
 * Primary language(s): Unnamed covert electroplaque communication, Unnamed vocalizations
 * Alignment: Chaotic neutral
 * Biochemistry: Carbon-based lifeform


 * Lifestyle: Social Predator


 * Armor: Aurix possess very little natural armor, namely consisting of a leathery neck plate across the top of their neck (but not the lower section), and shark-like dermal denticles which cover their entire body as a type of scaling. These dermal denticles are also strengthened in order to support and anchor more powerful swimming muscles throughout the body, and thereby serve a dual purpose in this fashion. Due to their lower amounts of armor, they can die moderately easy when an attack gets through their offenses and defenses.  However, they often wear battle-ready suits to make themselves more durable.


 * Defenses: Aurix possess electroplaques stored in their tails, which produce a low amp voltage capable of causing both dizzying discomfort and weak migraines able to cause incapacitation to terrestrial foes as well as being capable of dealing actual physical harm to their more aquatic opponents. They also possess weak poisonous skin and decent poison resistance, as well as their bony skeleton, which has been strengthened by thicker bones, chiefly in the ribs and legs. They also possess both a leathery neck plate and dermal denticles, which are described above. Their skin coloring helps them blend in with the murky swamp waters of their homes within the Deep Mangrove, as well. A sapient Aurum may utilize energy shields or similar defensive tools that they have invented, as well.


 * Weapons: Aurix possess a row of cnidocytes on either side of all four of their tentacle-arms which possess weak neurotoxin to incapacitate smaller prey or creatures with thin skin. They also possess a radula which usually lies within a tiny "nook" deep within their split jaw mouths; when used, it sticks out this tongue and whips it around, trying to saw against chitinous armors. As mentioned earlier, they can also use their electroplaques to stun or even kill some prey. Another weapon they possess a large bone stinger at the tip of their tails, which possesses a hollow center in order to release venom by way of a venom sac located at its base. They possess a spitting organ as well, which they use to fire a projectile venom attack from their mouths at foes, sometimes from the safety of their watery homes, like some kind of poisonous archer fish. The more recent addition to the Aurum's arsenal is elongated claws on its second pair of tentacle-arms; these are used to rake at prey or opponents, or even at foes during fights; this has even more recently been supplemented by a pair of killing claws on their feet, located on their inner toes—these can be used to attack prey either by slashing from a standing position or jumping at prey, where they can inflict relatively deep wounds. The final weapon they possess is the split jaw mouth itself—known as the death petal, which is actually separated into four jaws, allowing it the capability to open wider than a regular mouth to bite huge chunks of meat from foes and prey. This mouth is filled with a large complement of very sharp teeth, which are used for tearing rather than chewing; this means the Aurix, when feeding, typically tear large chunks off of prey, and then set this down, and tear it into smaller chunks that will successfully glide down their esophagus.


 * Tools: Two pairs of tentacle-arms, capable of simple manipulation of objects, or for wrapping around prey. The first pair of these tentacle-arms possess a split tentacle style of hand (which is formed when the tentacle-arm splits into four or five shorter tentacles, which are used like makeshift, yet far more flexible, fingers), designed to allow further manipulation of objects. The second pair possesses hunter's claws, which are long and slender; they are used for raking against foes and prey alike. However, they are also capable of a little manipulation.


 * Reproductive Rate: Sexual maturity is reached after 5 years. Can reproduce any amount of times during their lifetime, although they generally will limit themselves to twice during their lifetime.


 * Offspring Incubation: 4 weeks until egg hatches after being laid.
 * Number of Offspring: 10 aurumlings per litter
 * Singular/Plural/Possessive: Aurum / Aurix / Aurixan

Physiology
Below you will find information on the Aurixan physical appearance, and explanations of details spanning from (but not bound to) their skeletal structure to their senses.

Skeleton
The Aurix possess a simple skeletal structure, capable of simple abuse without breaking. This however is not to say that their skeletal structure is brittle.

The Aurixan skeleton is typical of those that you might find in your every day Earth-bound creature. The skeleton consists of 28 vertebrae from the base of the neck to the end of the tail/beginning of the scythe stinger, with only two vertebrae in the neck, nine making up the ribcage, and seventeen in the tail. The tentacle-arms do not possess a single bone within them, as the Aurix rely strictly on muscles to move their manipulators.

The skull however is worth mention. It had for millennia been long, consisting of two separate bones which had eventually fused to strengthen both, which were the skull itself and the proboscis; used in the Aurix's old hemophagic tendencies. Eventually after many, many centuries of evolution, the proboscis bone melted away, leaving a gargantuan hole in the front of the skull, where a mouth formed instead. This mouth, known as a razor gullet, was full of twelve razor-sharp teeth which had actually been adapted from the various barbs that could once be found attached to the proboscis, flanking it to help aid the Aurum in battle. Eventually, this too had disappeared, having elongated outwards over time, leading to a far more useful tusked trap mouth which sat in roughly the same hollow spot in the skull. This large hollow remains to some extent, leading to them still being included in the Therocoelognathus subclass, which means "Jaw Opening Beast". But, like the razor gullet before it, the tusked trap has also disappeared; the bones making up this mouth were four extensions of the minuscule remnants of the proboscis, and as time went on, they no longer were held together by encapsulating flesh but instead allowed to separate, forming the split-jaw, more commonly known by its nickname, the Death Petal. This weapon is on the cutting edge of mouth evolution, and awards the Aurix a savage, massive bite.

Another point of interest is the eyes, which are set into eye socket bones. Curiously, these eye sockets are not attached to the skull at all and instead float within the fleshy eyestalks which extend outwards, up, and forward from the skull itself. It is also interesting to note that they still possess both pelvic and anal fins, which are leftover remnants from their ancient seafaring ancestors.

Aurix walk bipedally, walking on two legs that extend straight down due to an ornithischian, or "bird-hipped" style pelvis, which they are balanced upon by their tentacle-arms and tail, although the tail typically extends over their heads in a likeness to a scorpion. Their feet are designed almost like a hybridized cross between a miniature tyrannosaurus and a dromeosaur's feet, and possess very little climbing ability, although the Aurix are indeed capable of climbing—albeit slow, weak and clumsy, by using their tentacle-arms to wrap around tree branches or other things and then digging their toes into whatever is around, pushing themselves up with their legs while pulling themselves up with their arms.

The tail bones are designed to allow the tail to comfortably rest while curled over the top of the head, which comes to a dangerous end found in the form of a curved and somewhat sharp extended bone stinger, sometimes referred instead to as the bonescythe or bonestinger. Over time this bone adapted to become hollow and now sports a venom sac at its hilt, filled with the same neurotoxic venom found in the mouth's venom sac, which helps an Aurix with its offensive tactic of stinging. The tail has become rather stiff and inflexible in most directions in order to allow the tail to sting forward more powerfully, but is capable of being uncurled and held flat; it is typically held in this manner during swimming.

Musculatory System
The Aurix musculatory system is far from fancy or spectacular. Typical muscles criss-cross areas, although more muscles inhabit the mouth than your typical creature, from a time when they possessed movable teeth used to push food down into the esophagus (many of these muscles are now unused and atrophied), while other muscles power the four-way biting mechanism. Muscles exist that are more powerful in the tail and although once used for their main propulsion system through water, it is now typically all used for a powerful strike in their bone scythe stingers which have become their main line of offense.

Circulatory System
The Aurix circulatory system is fairly uninteresting, although it should be noted that they possess both full-fledged lungs and feathery gills, which remain closed thanks to muscular "gill flaps" while not in water. These gills stem from their days as spinocephalopods and allow them a highly extended time period in which they may remain underwater, although they still need to gulp down large breaths of air before submerging due to the relatively small size of the gills in comparison to the rest of the body; the gills just do not provide enough oxygen into their system as they stand.

Brain & Nerve Center
The Aurix have become extremely intelligent over time, and are noteworthy for their sadistic cleverness.

With the onset of the Permitted crash-landing hundreds of thousands of years ago, they have also become experts at sneak attacks. They also tend to speak to other sapients vocally, all the while also speaking cryptically towards their own kind in their electric language, discussing whatever their true intentions might be.

Digestive System
The digestive system is a simple one, with the Aurix possessing only a stomach and one set of intestines to process their meals. They also possess a vestigial organ known as the Blood Processor—not found in many species on other worlds—which is specifically designed to process all the nutrients out of a strictly-blood diet.

The stomach acids have grown powerful enough to properly process chitin, although are still incapable of processing metals like the Human's stomach can. The intestine works like a large intestine, and is filled with various microorganisms which help break down nutrients and absorb them into the body.

Respiratory System
Aurix belong to a unique taxon of tentacleiosaurs which possess both gills and lungs, allowing them to breathe properly in both environments. The Aurix species prefer to spend a significant portion of their lives on land; but will swim around in the swamps on occasion as they do not have any requirements such as prey located therein. Both gills and lungs are fully developed, although the gills are considered too weak to indefinitely extend water breathing as they are built more for cat-sized creatures, whereas the Aurix are now horse-sized. The gills possess muscular flaps that are typically closed while on land in order to prevent their drying out. These muscles are controlled by the subconscious, preventing them from drowning due to lack of experience with them, such as if their nest while still full of aurumlings were to flood over for some reason. The Aurix can stay underwater for up to an hour before needing to return for a breath of fresh air.

Senses
The Aurix hunt particularly by sight and electroreception as most of their other senses remain weak and unadapted. Aurixan eyes are set within thick eyestalks, with the eyes themselves capable of human-equivalent chromatic vision with focusing allowing them to see up to a half-mile away, although not in tremendous detail. These eyes have also become capable of sight so long as there is some form of light source, again like human eyes.

Their main sense is actually electroreception. Along the sides of their head are located several very sensitive ampullae of lorenzini; specialized jelly-filled canals which open to the surface by a pore in the skin and end blindly in clusters of small pockets and canals full of electroreceptor cells. These are used to detect objects (typically living objects) through the use of electroreception. The Aurix have increased this to such a powerful level that they can detect bioelectrical life signs up to a mile away in 100% salinated marine waters. While this is considered an extreme ability, its range is significantly lowered in brackish water to a half-mile distance, while in freshwater it is only a surprising 25% range. On land, it is lowered to 10% of its natural range, although this can be increased or decreased depending on the local humidity level.

Although they do not possess the necessary means to smell through their nostrils, they have adapted a pair of insignificant, downward-facing clubbed antennae that they can gently brush against the ground. These serve the purpose of smelling, although they are rather basic and are not particularly great at tracking.

Aurix also possess simple nerve endings to allow them to know generally how cold or warm an area is to prevent both overheating and freezing, which is good considering the fact that they remain a cold-blooded species.

Other senses they possess include simple internal ears (primitive tympanic ears), basic magnetite sensors for magnetoception and very weak extra-sensory perception, used specifically to detect things like earthquakes or huge storms up to an hour before they happen.

However, they have yet to gain any form of taste, which is a strange trait to be found. They also do not possess any form of echolocation, although this is a far less strange occurrence and is actually seen as relatively normal.

Neogenetic Hybrids
The Aurix often utilize chimeric versions of themselves, half-Aurix and half-other creature, typically species from their own homeworld. These are their highly specialized troops, launched against opponents under specific conditions. A small list of examples of these hybrids follows:
 * 1) Auzhoax: Aquatic scouts and espionage agents
 * 2) Brachixan: Arboreal ambush stealth soldiers
 * 3) Crimson Vuurix: Aquatic assassins
 * 4) Diarix: Amphibious shock troopers
 * 5) God of Swimmers: Aquatic superheavy assault
 * 6) Poacher: Terrestrial martial soldiers; capable of utilizing Permitted weaponry.
 * 7) Quirix: Intelligent tacticians and scientists
 * 8) Reconnasaur: Terrestrial scouts
 * 9) Seatyrant: Amphibious heavy assault
 * 10) Zrrmzarix: Oceanic retrieval agents and aquatic assault

Weapons
A typical Aurixan weapon is the Quad-barreled Plasma Projector, which is a rapid-fire plasma weapon. These objects are built specifically to take advantage of an Aurum's split-tentacle, and is therefore entirely useless to species with typical, humanoid style hands as they cannot possibly operate the weapon.

Notable Members

 * Dr. Dvodia, paleontologist
 * Dr. Eronus, paleontologist
 * Dr. Euvaris, paleontologist
 * Dr. Threshun, paleontologist and neogeneticist
 * Kresh-Ra, Interdimensional Invasion Squad Commander
 * The Golden Seer, oracle of the planet Omess
 * The Hero, ancient prehistoric hero