“There is no "I" in Lhobega”
- - The Lhobega giving more than a spelling lesson
| Lhobega | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Universe: |
Emenata |
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Galaxy: |
Viperius |
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Biochemistry: |
Carbon-water |
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Habitat: |
Underground; desert |
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Diet: |
Omnivorous |
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Height: |
1.6 meters |
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Social Unit: |
Communities |
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Technological Class: |
V |
The Lhobega are a sapient race presumably native to an arid world known as Cxague, a word which in their language simply means "down". These funny-looking fellows are notable for their vastly advanced yet non-spacefaring civilization and for completely lacking the concept of individuality.
Appearance[]
A Lhobega is a five-feet long semi-fossorial creature which looks a bit like an armadillo with four heavy-clawed front paws. Their heads are vaguely reptilianoid thanks to the wide lipless mouth and two pairs of small beady eyes; one located above the mouth, the other below. All four eyes are adapted to see only in extremely abundant light. When underground or at night they rely in other senses to guide them. The posterior part of their body consists of four radially-positioned stocky legs which are glued together when digging and separate and unfold when walking. The Lhobega are slow on the surface, but will disappear underground in a matter of seconds if threatened.
History[]
Good old evolution originally built the Lhobega for the underground life, but in a relatively recent geological past their ancestors began going more and more frequently to the surface. Some say they did that to watch the stars; others say they were actually taking advantage of small surface animals as new food sources. Whatever the cause, this lead the ancient proto-Lhobega to become sapient and develop their own odd version of what other races usually call "culture"
Culture and Psychology[]
The Lhobega are a unique species in that physical individuals have no individuality as we perceive it. For the Lhobega, names and personalities are ephemeral, transferable and communal. They will share identities with others at large, change identities at will or assume any possible identity that suits them at the moment. For the Lhobega, a name is no fixer than a title or a job position, and in fact they have no concepts of either. Instead, a Lhobega city may have a figure named Bygeh the Sculptor; but who IS Bygeh the Sculptor? Anyone can be him at any time, they just need a stone and some tools. There could be more than one Lhobega acting as Bygeh the Sculptor at any given moment, and they can change to another character as soon as they wish.
The enormous plasticity of psychological character displayed by each Lhobega is made possible by the adaptability of their nervous circuits; and it is interesting to see that this will also hold true for all their tissues, giving them amazing regenerating abilities. Each cell can literally transform itself in any other kind of cell.
Lhobega economy suffers no crisis, as individuals can become of virtually any profession that is needed at the time. When Lhobega cities declare war against each other, chaos arrives, with soldiers occasionally changing sides in the middle of the battle! However, war has been nearly eliminated from their society over the decades, as cultural expressions are so easily assimilated by other cities; they can be a very united race. Their technology is also highly advanced, and they have the potential to become a major power should they ever decide to colonize other worlds.
Curiously, however, they appear to have no interest in doing that; probably because they evolved mostly underground and seem to consider the very surface of their planet as a kind of "final frontier". The sky, they say, has no appeal. For now.
Lhobega have had occasional contact with passing-by alien species. They have a deep disregard for these aliens, due to their possessive attitude and their refusal to share their lives with the Lhobega.
The average lifespan of a Lhobega is completely unknown; since lacking individual identities, they have no concept of individual age.