Drin
A reptilian loricatan species, with their capital world on Eovis.
The Drin are artisans, of a sort. Almost every member of the species does some sort of design or construction, from cottage industries to megastructures. Why this trait seems to be common race-wide has baffled scientists and historians for generations; the Drin create because they must, just as other species need to eat and breathe.
Drin can be found in every corner of the galaxy, their creations spread far and wide, but very people ever get to know an individual Drin. They tend to be secretive in the extreme, rarely sharing ideas or trade secrets with anyone outside their immediate families. They also tend to be very "in-the-moment," making something and then moving on. The few designs that have become common are almost always replicas manufactured by someone else. If you possess a genuine Drin item, it's likely a bespoke creation, purchased via one of the intermittent auctions held throughout the galaxy by industrious (or unscrupulous) traders.
The Drin are ruled over by a monarchy headed by Her Royal Majesty, Queen-Almighty Zarah Madigan Rozek. While most Drin have at least some respect for the royal household, the sheer number of their species that has left for elsewhere has led to more than a few occasions where the Crown and Her subjects have been in opposition. The Rozek's history is complicated: without them the Drin may never have found a new world to call home. But for centuries now they've exploited the people, taking in Drin labor and creations, and profiting off their sale at auction. The Rozek's accept no dissent, so speaking out against their practices is impossible without facing time in prison - and they are very good at building prisons. They've even been known to employ bounty hunters to enforce their will outside Drin territory, so most expatriates keep a low profile.
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Eovis is not the Drin home world. Their home world of Drinash was rendered uninhabitable after the accidental discharge of an experimental proton engine being developed in someone’s shed. Many survivors ventured out into the cosmos in search of new homes, while a large contingent ended up settling on Eovis, led there by the future - and self-appointed - monarchy.
Eovis was a jungle world when the Drin first arrived, warm enough that even the poles were a temperate rainforest. Overcrowding and heavy industry has caused most of the plant life to die off, the only true old growth forest left contained within the Royal family’s preserve - and even that is mostly used for sport hunting and as a buffer for their palace fortress. The jungles were once home to huge game, grown extra large thanks to the super oxygenated atmosphere. Most of these monsters are gone now, although some megafauna continue to roam the Royal preserve.
The rest of the planet has largely been reduced to desert cities and industrial zones.
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Drin are easily identified by their long ears, quadruple eyes, and concave snout. They typically possess a severe underbite with protruding lower fangs; as a result Drin look grumpy, even if they’re perfectly content. They also tend to sound terse; Drin speech patterns are often stilted and without flourish. And that large head does come with special challenges: it’s often almost impossible to find a standard helmet that will fit their noggin.
Drin come in two slightly different varieties, thanks to an odd genetic quirk. Many Drin possess two arms, and are slightly shorter than average anthropoids. A smaller percentage are even shorter, but have an extra pair of arms. These four-armed Drin are seen as more desirable and superior, although there’s absolutely no reason this would be the case.
It may come as no surprise that the monarchy almost always possess four arms. If they do not, they’ve done an admirable job of hiding it. Rumors constantly run rampant that some two-armed Drin are using prosthetics to make themselves “more attractive.” There's no real difference between the two types, although it does effect a Drin's social standing.