Information about some alien characters:

Abbork

The Abbork are a race of alien who appear somewhat similar to humans.  The Abbork have green skin with chloroplasts - like Earth plants.  Through their skin they absorb solar energy to power their bodies.  Abbork still need to eat to gain nutrients to grow and survive, but because they do not need to absorb energy from food, they do not eat much.  Foods with too much flavor or sweetness can overpower them and result in headaches, dizziness, and fainting.  As such, they usually eat a bland mineral paste made at least partially of space dust.

                Abborks used to be a nomadic culture that lived in scattered spaceship clans throughout their galaxy.  Clan chiefs gathered for meetings once a rotation to discuss issues.  About one hundred years ago, a large company named Qotuminc came to the chiefs gathering to purchase the right to farm in the galaxy.  The company promised to give the Abborks a large, healthy planet to become their homeworld as well as financial compensation.  The chiefs agreed, and Qotuminc took over their galaxy, forcing the Abborks onto their new planet.

                The Abbork homeworld was not as big as promised, and as such it is overcrowded with Abbork people.  It was also not as healthy as promised.  That, plus the overcrowding, made it impossible to farm, and the people spent all of the financial compensation to import nutrients.  This left the race poor and economicly unstable.  In the past years, the Abborks have worked to keep their homeworld stable and are starting to have success in turning it into a thriving planet.  Still, many of the Abborks are bitter and resentful of their treatment from Qotuminc, who ripped them off and treated them poorly.

                No longer a nomadic culture, Abborks now have a centralized government with one Prime Chief who is elected by the council of Minor Chiefs.  Abborks live in cities full of tall buildings to house as many people as possible.  Trade and education are key to Abbork economy, and many other specices come to the Abbork homeworld for school.

Blingg

                The Blingg are a race of alien who live on a large, cliff filled planet.  Blingg have strong, muscular legs and hollow bones – they use these traits to jump extremely high and traverse up cliffs.  Blingg fingertips are adapted with slight suction pods for climbing grip.  Blingg have a soft, beaklike mouth with no teeth.  They are herbivores who grind their food.  Blingg’s eyes are located on flexible, mobile stalks above their heads.  The skin of these aliens varies in shades of pink or purple: most commonly a soft lavender or deep pink.  They are often patterned with tiny speckles of darker color.

                Blingg are a primarily agricultural society.  Their home planet is well suited for farming – provided you can get around the cliffs.  The Blingg have adapted their terrain with sluices and terraces.  The Blingg home planet is fairly large, and the population is low, so they export much of their produce out to other alien races.  This provides a great income to the Blingg race and they are some of the richest species.  They are a simple species, however, and after furnishing themselves with all comforts they desire, don’t have much use for their riches.  Some Blingg have taken to banking, lending money to outside ventures.  This is looked down upon in Blingg culture, however.

                The key teaching of Blingg culture is to farm well and keep to yourself.  All Blingg are female and male at the same time (with both male and female sex organs).  They can reproduce by themselves, essentially creating a clone – but this is looked down upon as it doesn’t further the gene pool.  Instead, most family units assist each other in reproduction.  Reproduction is a painful process, and most Blingg are asexual.  Reproduction is done out of necessity for the species rather than desire.

                Blingg have no concept of masculinity or femininity.  Blingg use the pronoun “Toy” to refer to each other and “Toys” for a group.  They will sometimes mimic the genders of other aliens when interacting with members of that species – this is done out of courtesy for that species comfort and does not reflect their own gender.

Kin Xod and Floee

Kin Xod (Pronounced: Kin Zood) is an Abbork.  Xod is her formal name, and Kin is her familiar name.  She prefers to be called Kin, and will only request her formal name used when she does not like the person speaking to her.  Kin is generally friendly, often flirty, and gets along well with her peers as well as elders.  She likes flying her spaceship (that she bought as a junker and fixed up herself) and listening to music – her favorite band is Limozeen.

While in school, Kin got caught up in an extremist political group called the RRNG (the Revolution to Return the Nomadic Galaxy).  They wanted to take back the galaxy from the Qotuminc and return to their nomadic culture.  Kin’s teachers shamed her when they found out she supported the group, reminding her that returning to the past will do no good, and they should be grateful for what they have and work peacefully toward more.  Kin stopped participating in RRNG activities and took a job in a factory like many of her peers.

When Kin learned that the factory, and many other staples of her planet were owned by Qotuminc, she again became upset.  Qotuminc had scammed her people a hundred years ago and was still profiting off them today!  She knew from her time with RRNG that Qotuminc was using their galaxy to farm STARs (Solar Trapping Atomic Reactors).  These star-shaped devices were placed in the galaxy to gather solar energy.  When enough energy was gathered, Qotuminc harvested the STARs and sold them to the highest bidder or used them to power the factories on the Abbork homeworld to make different products.  Depending on the energy collected, STARs could power factories, spaceships, or more.

Members of RRNG had tried to vandalize or steal the STARs in the past, but were always caught and punished severely.  Kin found that they had always targeted the largest, most expensive STARs.  Kin began stealing smaller STARs and STARs that were only half filled.  These still had value, but less guards.  In many cases, Qotuminc did not even realize they were stolen – they believed they were simply lost or broken, as occasionally happens with smaller STAR units.

Floee (Pronounced: Flow-eh) is a Blingg.  Floee was sent to a space station academy as a young child because toy were a gifted student.  At the space station, Floee began using the pronoun “she” for ease.  Floee was the only Blingg at the space station, and many of her peers believed in stereotypes that Blingg were simple farmers and outdated when it came to technology and culture.  While Floee did have trouble adapting to the many alien cultures on the space station, she was actually very talented with technology and computers.

Floee was bullied often, but was protected by a kid named SHOM.  SHOM was from an aggressive, spider-like alien race.  He was a bully himself, but he saw potential in Floee and didn’t like when other kids bothered her.  Floee wanted to repay SHOM for protecting her.  He asked Floee to help him sell some items that he had stolen while bullying other kids.  Floee agreed and set up several online shops that made it difficult to trace the items.

After graduation, Floee was sent to the Abbork planet with another group of Blingg to test the soil and study possible agricultural technology in hopes of making the planet possible to farm.  Although farming should run in toy blood, Floee found the work intensely boring.  While on the planet, Floee happened to meet with Kin, and they formed a friendship, later renting a room together.

One day, by accident, Floee discovered the STARs that Kin had been stealing.  When she confronted Kin about it, Kin was forced to confess.  Floee didn’t want to admit it, but she was thrilled at the opportunity.  Floee once again got into the black market business, setting up digital shops to sell the STARs at cheap prices to small companies who could use the energy.  Floee was careful to open and close shops, never keeping them around long enough to be caught, and destroying all trace of their existence.

Together Floee and Kin had a great partnership.  Eventually they bought a residential spacecraft to live in, and started a delivery business between the home planets of the Blingg and the Abbork.  This business served as their cover for what they were doing.  Kin also liked the idea of living in space rather than on the planet – not only did it make it less likely someone would find their stash of stolen STARs, but it felt like a return to her culture’s nomadic lifestyle.

No one knows that Kin and Floee are outlaws.  Kin still speaks with her family and keeps up appearances as a model Abbork citizen.  Floee does not speak with toy family, who are ashamed that, even though toy runs a successful delivery business, toy is not a farmer like they wanted.  Kin and Floee have a deep friendship.  Floee considers Kin her family unit partner – a somewhat romantic association.  Kin knows that Floee feels this way, but admits that she doesn’t really understand the concept due to cultural differences.  Kin is particularly flirty with male Abborks and has desire, but does not feel romantic towards them.  Kin may be aromantic.  She still admits she feels a deeper connection toward Floee than anyone else she knows.  They are both open and happy with their feelings toward each other and their relationship.