Today I’m revisiting the space opera setting I’ve been toying around with for several years now. Last time, I talked about the Ceranites. The Ceranites are a holdover from another setting, thus their mysterious origins. Each of the other alien species in this setting are the result of a different “what if?” question. This time, I give you the Drox and the Luil – an attempt to examine what it would look like for a predator and prey species to evolve to civilization alongside one another.
The Drox
Drox are large, quadrupedal creatures covered in a light fur ranging from red to orange to purple. Their front limbs are much larger than the rear, and they walk on the backs of their hands with fingers curled in to keep clean and safe. They have a second set of arms midway down their torso which they use to perform fine manipulation. Their broad shoulders give way to a thick neck and a boxy head and snout. The Drox are carnivorous and evolved alongside the Luil. The two cultures signed a non-aggression treaty centuries ago, and it was only through their collaboration that they achieved interstellar travel.
Extended families tend to be very important, and Drox spacers are famous for sending letters back home. Many Drox philosophies center around the idea of excellence and the ability to provide for oneself and/or others.
The Luil
The Luil are much shorter than their planet-mates, the Drox, with an average height of about two feet. Their faces are flat, with long whiskers sprouting to either side. Like the Drox, they live in large family groups. For millions of years, the Luil and their evolutionary ancestors were hunted by the predators of their planet, including the Drox. As a defensive measure, they developed a penchant for quick thinking and problem-solving that makes them well suited to learning new technologies on the galactic stage.
The Luil’s history as clever and canny prey animals have given them a deep seated sense of defiance and a desire to come at problems laterally. Their cultures change rapidly, with movements and countermovements overtaking one another at an almost impossible to follow pace.