Teshari

Overview

• Teshari speak Schechi, which consists of various chirping sounds.
• Teshari are omnivorous though tend to favor meat.
• Teshari often have a strong pack bond with other members of their species (situation dependent).
• Most Teshari prefer to wear clothes, but require specially tailored clothing.

Biology

The Teshari are very small, rarely reaching more than 3 to 4 feet (1 to 1.2 meters) in height, and weigh less than 100 pounds (45 kilograms). Teshari stand bipedally, with digitigrade poise not unlike most anthro species. They are covered from head to toe in feathers of varying length and soft fuzzy fur which acts as a good insulator or pillow. Teshari also posses two large wings like appendages that serve as arms with four digits at the 'wrist' that offer the Teshari great dexterity despite their stubby nature.

They have rapid metabolisms and very efficient digestive systems, and thanks to sharing in the medical technology of the Skrell, they tend to have robust and effective immune systems. They are naturally adorn in earthen colors such as browns, greys, whites, etcetera; however, more modern Teshari have been known to utilize Skrell gene modding to permanently change the color their feathers and skin.

They evolved for very cold and very barren areas, generally the polar regions. Because of this, their skin is a fine insulator and many of their internal processes are not particularly energy-efficient; they cannot cope well at all with high temperatures.

Teshari also have four long, rabbit-like ears on the tops of their head which the Teshari can control either purposefully, emotionally, or through expression. Their hearing is exceptionally sensitive to the point that they can detect a person moving on the other side of a wall, but comes at the cost of being extremely vulnerable to sonic weaponry like flashbangs, which has been known to cause long-term hearing damage or even permanent deafness in some recorded circumstances.

The Teshari are omnivorous but generally prefer to eat meat wherever possible.

Reproduction

Physiologically, both sexes of the Teshari are similar, lacking sexual dimorphism between the sexes; however, the male Teshari are known to have a small sheath where their penis is stored until arousal much like some terrestrial species. Teshari penises are large for their size to help facilitate in breeding, the average being 6 inches (2.54 Centimeters) in length, and are tapered to the tip for ease of penetration. Some people have likened them to marine mammalian penises; conical shape with a 'bend' upwards towards the belly. Females poses a slit that is cleverly hidden in the belly fur of the Teshari and is not visible unless the Teshari is purposefully exposing themselves. The slit will become moist and the lips will 'puff out' slightly when they are aroused to further expose their slit for the male to commence breeding.

After fertilization and a short gestation period (usually two or three days), the female will lay up to two large, leathery eggs. They're in this soft and leathery state mainly because of their larger size which makes hard shells impractical. The amount of nutrients required for the production of an egg and incidentally a hatchling makes large clutches nearly impossible, but there have been cases where well fed and cared for Teshari have laid up to three or four eggs per clutch. Teshari eggs typically take upwards of 12 weeks to hatch in a natural setting. Thanks to Skrell medical technologies, however, the eggs can hatch in as little as a week using various advanced breeding techniques.

Eggs tend to be left in the care of a communal hatchery before and after hatching. All of the pack's eggs are tended to as a singular clutch traditionally done by members of the pack, though increasingly modern Teshari prefer to use incubators provided by the Skrell. After hatching, the young hatchlings are then raised and educated by the pack rather than their natural parents. The intimate parenthood of the hatchlings as seen by most cultures is generally irrelevant to the Teshari; the hatchling's entire pack is their family and their protectors, although their blood parents may have a status similar to that of an favorite uncle or aunt in human culture. Depending on the local culture of their pack, as well as how tied to the Skrell they are, Teshari hatchlings may enter the workforce as soon as they are old enough, be placed into further education, or take up a vocation where young Teshari undergo an apprenticeship-like education.

Behavior

Relations

• Human: Following a bumpy start after the Teshari representative was mistaken for an exotic pet by the human representative when the Skrell brought them to the galactic stage for the first time, the Teshari maintain decent relations with humanity.
• Skrell: The Teshari are a protectorate of the Skrell, maintaining excellent relations with the race that uplifted them.
• Clown Planet: Extremely poor relations ever since the rubber chicken incident of 2551. Not a single Teshari will elaborate on what exactly happened during the incident, so the situation that led to the name remains unknown.

Background

Teshari centralized government consists of a grand parliament made up of representatives from major Teshari populations throughout the galaxy. Originally, the Skrell had a representative to help guide the government process and to prevent the Teshari from making any major mistakes, but in more recent times the Skrell's position has become less active to the point of being honorary.

Culture

Teshari culture is extremely social and open; privacy is not important to most Teshari other than the most Skrell-integrated groups, and communal activities like grooming, eating or watching entertainment are part and parcel of Teshari life. A Teshari pack tends to share a bedding space, often sleeping in a communal pile as a method of conserving body heat originally, but is continued as a social sign of trust in the pack. Those Teshari who are able to leave the planet via spacecraft will generally be more aware of the social expectations of other cultures, especially if they have spent much time around Skrell in a social setting.

Some Skrell cities, generally those bordering Teshari territory, may have sections of the city inhabited by Teshari exclusively; this is largely because standard Skrell construction and buildings are utterly unsuitable for Teshari habitation. While each district tends to differ in societal nature, these quarters tend to be open-aired and heavily decorated, and due to the communal nature of the Teshari are often treated as a single large dwelling.

Generally speaking, modern Teshari living in urban areas will find work easily as hospitality staff, clerks, technicians, or any number of tasks that require little heavy lifting. Many of them also work as personal assistants and house staff for Skrell individuals or businesses, although amongst the Teshari this is seen as rather demeaning as they feel it leaves them being seen as a pet race. Teshari are also found in more intellectual programs, often sponsored by or apprenticed to Skrell.

Technology

Teshari rely heavily on the Skrell for most of the formal sciences, having easy access to their mentor race's knowledge base. Most of the technology that they use is converted from Skrellian technology, but Teshari produced technologies are becoming increasingly common.

Military

The Teshari military is practically non-existent, relying on the Skrell for any situations that would require a military presence. What they do have to help out, however, is the Teshari Auxiliary Spacefleet, which is dedicated to the more logistical aspects of the military, made up of supply ships, ship tenders, hospital ships, and survey ships. The fleet is mostly made from donated Skrellian ships, retrofitted for ease of use for their Teshari crews, though the fleet is gradually adding Teshari built ships.

The TAS only has two warships at present. The TAS Raptora Victore, a Teshari built destroyer that serves as the flagship of the fleet, and the TAS Curiosity's Endeavor, a Teshari built corvette used as a testing platform for experimental weaponry.

Species on Vorestation
Station Crew Akula - Angels - Demi-Humans - Demons - Dionae - Hanner Lleill - Humans - Lleill - Nevreans - Promethean - Rapala - Sergals - Shadekin - Skrell - Synthetics - Tajaran - Teshari - Unathi - Vasilissans - Vox - Vulpkanin - Xenochimera - Xenomorph-Hybrids - Zorren - Alraune - Custom Species