90% ocean, with small archipelagos comprising all of the landmass on the planet, Maroc is considered to be a low-gravity planet at around 846 gal. The dominant species of Maroc is Aaten, with Siladen secondary (although there is a certain amount of debate in this regard). The Aaten live under the oceans, with six countries in allied governments. Siladen are more anarchic, with most islands acting as independent city-states. More Siladen leave the planet than Aaten, possibly because there are more opportunities for travel and personal growth on Maroc for Aaten.


Siladen biology:

    The average height of a Siladen is 190cm, which does not vary with sex. Skin is varying shades of blue, from pale to dark depending on heritage, occasionally with white-colored irregularities. Locomotion tends to involve jumping as much as walking, due to the low gravity and subsequent height of many structures. Siladen skeletal structure is pneumatized, due to low gravity and to allow for greater height in locomotion. Musculature is not particularly extensive or powerful, most of the work in that regard having been offloaded to tendons instead. Siladen have two legs and four arms, with three digits on each hand and four on each toe. These digits are possessed of setae arranged in lamellae that provide the ability to adhere to surfaces, and Siladen have a certain capacity to control this ability consciously through bloodflow.

    Short cephalic tentacles behave semi-autonomously and are used for sensory input analogous to taste. Siladen have binocular vision with front-facing eyes, with two eyelids and a third transparent membrane. Siladen have two kinds of color receptors and pupils have an irregular appearance, with yellow being the standard color for a Siladen iris. The Siladen tongue is possessed of taste receptors as in most species, and is prehensile, with the capacity to reach an average of 30cm.

    The high toxicity of much of the land-based plant matter has resulted in a specialized system to filter poisons, externally visible on the left side of the neck. Poisons are thus filtered first in this system and secondarily in the liver. In Siladen anox, the pouch on the right side is instead used for mating displays, though this has been culturally deprecated.

    Siladen are possessed of three sexes: anox, tiun, and exuk. Anox carry spermatozoa to fertilize eggs, and are possessed of external genitalia. This organ is stored internally until breeding conditions are met, and cannot be accessed outside of those conditions without physical harm or permanent damage. Tiun also carry genetic material, and are possessed of both internal and external genitalia; external have similar limitations to those of anox, though these organs are generally smaller. While tiun carry eggs, they cannot act as host for fertilized eggs, and must instead pass these on to exuk. Exuk have only internal genitalia, and are the only sex capable of carrying children to term. They are also, therefore, the only sex featuring wide hips and breasts.

Siladen culture:

    Despite the autonomy of Siladen city-states, there can nonetheless be said to exist a predominant Siladen culture. While they do not believe in gods, there is a strong belief in something like fate, nix. Astrology is a large component in this belief. Where a person was born, when they were born, who they were born to, number of siblings, etc, are believed to determine the entire rest of a person's life. Because of this, ritual scarification is used as a way for Siladen to easily know about a person with only one glance. While the accuracy of these observations is debatable, many Siladen consider it more than possible to learn all they need to know about a person from the scars on their face.

    Predominant Siladen culture has there being eight genders, two for exuk and three for the other two sexes. These genders are determined not only by a person's sex, but also their desire to mate, desire to breed, and with whom they would prefer to do these things. A current cultural conflict is a pushback against the idea of exuk as being asexual, defined only by whether they are or are not willing to bear children. Exuk are widely considered to be pigeonholed as mothers or matriarchs, and viewing them outside this lens is seen as something of a perversion.

    Gender divisions for anox and tiun can thus be said to exist along the lines of: asexual and aromantic; sexual but aromantic; sexual romantic. Gender is indicated with prefixes of qen, zaat, and ita, respectively. For exuk, the prefixes qen and ita are intended to convey the presence of lack of a desire to bear children, rather than any desire to mate independent of breeding.

Scars

    Ritual scarification begins shortly after a Siladen is born, and begins on the face. The application of scars to the face is done by doctors, who have inherited all of the old responsibilities of shamans. This is also true of scars on the arms. This is because scars on the face are meant to represent basic and objective facts about a person, while scars on the arms are 'awards', akin to medals of valor. Scarification in these areas uses a tightly controlled ultraviolet ink to prevent the counterfeiting of scars. Siladen who scar themselves in these areas are considered untrustworthy, because they were unwilling to verify the facts about themselves to an independent third party.

    Naturally occurring scars are considered to be nix scars, informed by fate. Ritual scarification cannot be done over nix scars, and scars beneath them are considered void. It is believed that this means a person's destiny has been determined, or changed. Siladen children are taught from an early age to be cautious of hurting themselves for this reason. If a Siladen who becomes a hero must naturally have room on their arms for the scars that mark them as such, a child who fails to be cautious and gains such scars is destined to never be a hero. Siladen in very risky lines of work may therefore wear heavier armor over at least the upper areas of two arms to be sure there is room for at least one explanatory scar if they suffer an injury in the line of duty.

    All islands are represented by their own unique symbol, placed low in the middle of the forehead to indicate where a Siladen was born. These bear cultural connotations, anything from laziness to eccentricity. Above and around this symbol are placed stars to indicate by star-signs their time of birth. These tend to have the most significant effect on how a Siladen is perceived by others, because when they were born is believed to influence not only their personality, but the overall arc of their life. People born under one star sign may be destined for fame and fortune, while another might be meant to become a great teacher, and so on.

    Lines along the cheek indicate the type of family that a Siladen come from. While possessed of three biological sexes, there are at least eight genders determined culturally, and a large number of potential family configurations. An exuk can simultaneously bear children from up to ten different anox and tiun pairings, and all children born together are referred to as 'cousins', regardless of biological heritage. These lines are therefore intended to convey the number of parents by whom a Siladen was raised, with adjacent dots to indicate the number of cousins they were raised alongside.

    Because of the unusual configuration of families, as well as the Siladen gender system, Siladen are given an identifying name at birth, and a secondary name upon deciding their gender. The identifying name is based on their birth order, as well as their behavior immediately following birth, which is thought to be representative of their personality to come. These behaviors are categorized in a manner that makes it easy to represent their identifying name in symbols, which are placed near the ears. Even after choosing their own name, the name that was chosen for them is thought to say a great deal about an individual.

    The nose is intended for information about families. The number or nature of mates and children go on the nose, with special symbols for qenanox, qentiun, and qenexuk to indicate that they are 'married to themselves'.

    Underneath the eyes and below the chin are left empty until a Siladen reaches adulthood, at which point they may use these areas to mark what they feel are important milestones in their lives. They do not choose the symbols used to mark these milestones, that being done by a doctor.

    Cosmetic scars are also possible in the areas between 'reserved' spaces, but these often go out of style in short order, and are overall seen as an irresponsible frivolity.

    The higher on the arm an 'award' scar has been placed, the more important. A scar recognizing a great service done for the entire planet of Maroc would be near the shoulder, while recognitions of good deed would go near the wrist.

    The chest is something of a 'free space' where Siladen can be marked by doctors, themselves, or even loved ones. These are the things that they believe are important about them, or define them. Things nearer the center of the chest are more important, vital, or possible braggadocios, because traditional Siladen clothing does not cover this area.

    The legs are intended to be scarred only by a Siladen themselves, and the scars here are marked upside-down for this reason. The symbols are generally not formalized, because the intent is to memorialize regrets. While a certain amount of scars on the legs are normal and considered necessary to having lived a full life, a Siladen who manages to get scars as far down as their calves will be viewed with a great deal of suspicion or pity. Because these scars are so personal, most Siladen leave their legs covered as a matter of course, baring their legs only around people who they love and trust a great deal.

    Kotii is classified as an Earth-like planet, though it is significantly larger and with much more livable landmass. The Jobari are the only sapient species on Kotii, and are notable for being one of few plant-based humanoid species in known space. The majority of life on Kotii is plant-based or evolved from plants, in contrast to the mammals common on most planets. Due to the nature of the Jobari, Kotii is also one of few planets considered to be at a high tech-level without any sign of negative impact on the planet's environment.


Physical traits:

    Jobari are a monosex humanoid species with an average height of 150cm. Skin is a light green with slight variations, a color that is uniform to their hair and other features. This is sometimes, but rarely, manually altered by Jobari. Technically androgynous, Terrans interpret their androgyny as female, and Jobari are willing to identify as universally female in order to avoid being considered male. The ears of Jobari come to points, and they derive significant amounts of energy to function from the absorption of sunlight through their skin.

    The most famous trait of the Jobari, who may otherwise seem very similar to humans, is their fine control over their own biology. All Jobari have a significant amount of control over their own bodies on a cellular level, although they are not shapeshifters. In their most 'natural' state, Jobari are toxic and poisonous to all other known species. They are able to modify their biology so that their fluids, the gases they exhale, etc, will be more or less hostile to other forms of life. They are also able to adapt their respiratory and digestive systems in order to handle different atmospheres and process poisons.

    Jobari are also theoretically venomous, possessed of needlelike retractible fangs. These are generally not used by modern Jobari, and fangs do not descend except consciously, unlike many other species possessed of similar features. While harmless to Jobari and certain other species, Jobari venom is deadly to both Terrans and N'sazz. An antidote has not been shared with the Terran Alliance, if any such things exists.

    It is theorized that there may once have been a second sex for the Jobari, and certain vestigial traits seem to support this.

Intar:

    The intar is a variety of tree on the planet Kotii with which the Jobari have a symbiotic relationship. Facts about intar are closely guarded, but extremely necessary in understanding the culture of the Jobari.

    While the Jobari are not a hivemind in the traditional sense, they can be said to have something of a hivemind through the intar. Intar are capable of exchanging information through their roots, and their biology is compatible with the Jobari in such a way that Jobari can exchange information with intar.

    When a Jobari is born, they are given an intar cutting that has been isolated from the main root system. They learn over time how to sync themselves with the intar, usually during a resting cycle resembling sleep. It can be thought as comparable to a hard drive, or backup: after the day is done, a Jobari connects with the roots of their intar to 'upload' the memories of that day. When they are old enough, the intar is planted so that it can join with the main root system, a system which spans nearly the entirety of the main continent of Kotii.

    The intar forest of Kotii therefore contains all of the memories and information ever obtained by Jobari, and Jobari are able to access this information by interfacing with their intar. The preference for a specific tree is cultural rather than biological, but may also be psychological in that interfacing is easier with familiarity.

Lifecycle:

    Once the intar is understood, it becomes easier to understand the Jobari lifecycle.

    Jobari consider themselves to be effectively immortal. Rather than breeding, Jobari reproduce through a form of cloning. Children are not considered to be independent beings, but rather, a continuation of the life cycle of the parent. Names are reflective with this, beginning with the Jobari signifier for 'zero' and increasing by one with each child. The intar cutting given to a newborn Jobari is specifically cut from the tree of their parent, and through interface with that cutting – and eventually with the intar of the parent – a Jobari is able to 'regain' all of 'their' memories and knowledge. The death of a Jobari is considered not a true death, but instead the death of a body, one of many that they will have. True death necessitates death before cloning.

    Most Jobari are only capable of cloning themselves once, with a few 'family' lines known to be able to clone up to four times. These bloodlines are forbidden from cloning more than once without explicit permission in order to keep the population in balance, as the population very rarely varies. Jobari bodies are capable of lasting between two-hundred and six-hundred Terran Standard Years, the lifespan consistent throughout clones.

    Jobari are also capable of altering their biology to allow for more traditional breeding. This is referred to splicing, in that participants are splicing together their respective genetic codes. Because this effectively results in the death of two Jobari to create a new one, it is both the ultimate expression of respect and also a significant risk. It also permanently reduces the Jobari population, unless the splicing occurs between one of the rare multi-clone bloodlines. The first splice is given the name of their parents, with the identifier of zero; if they are a successful splice, then their first clone is able to be given a new name for the new bloodline.

    Splicing with species outside of the Jobari is theoretically possible, but has only officially occurred once.

Culture:

    Jobari consider themselves physically and intellectually superior to all other known species. They prize rationality and objectivity above all things, possibly as a result of the intar interfacing eliminating the need for empathy as experienced by other species. Their ability to control their biology also means that they can control what in other species are involuntary chemical responses. Jobari therefore consider most emotions to actually be a side-effect of poorly managed physiology.

    Technology on Kotii is extremely advanced, but almost all of it exists within a framework of bio-engineering. Food, fuel, energy, shelter, everything is grown and very little is built.

    The relationship between Jobari and Earthlings is technically friendly, though viewed by the Jobari with a certain amount of disdain. Jobari find the concept of males to be distasteful, and consider the breeding functions to be superfluous. Human men, in turn, responded predictably to the existence of small and elfin green women who consider themselves superior. Fetishization is extremely common, and the low likelihood of anyone in Terran Allied Space to actually meet a Jobari means little is done to combat this. The depiction of Jobari in media typically involves painting human women green, and it is a common trope to see an initially hostile Jobari woman falling in love with a human male lead. The only actual Jobari most Terran Allied Citizens are likely to have seen is one Teraka Ido, the only Jobari to have joined the TAF, and one of the crew of the TAS Theodora seen most often in Captain Robinson's famous video logs.

    While N'sazz have joined the Terran Alliance since the end of the war, being in similar sectors of space has seen a great deal of hostility between the two species. The N'sazz were the first alien species encountered by the Jobari, and vice versa; it is believed that the N'sazz gender binary and its matriarchal society are why Jobari have chosen to identify as universally female. The N'sazz prize passion, emotions, and subjective truth far above rationality, making them ideological opposites of the Jobari. The war with the N'sazz is seen by many to have been a result of the hostilities with the Jobari, as N'sazz otherwise have much more in common with Terrans despite their greater physical differences.