The Volmarro (Arthropelta cranitus) are the intelligent inhabitants of the moon Volorum orbiting the Supermassive planet Locno, itself orbiting HD 197027. They are bipedal, with a partially armored dermis with a distinct tangerine pigment range.
Evolution[]
The dominant clade of land "vertebrates" is a clade of low, squat, heavily armored creatures, which in turn evolved from aquatic ancestors vaguely resembling Earth's long-extinct placoderms. Their armor evolved not for protection from predators, but for protection the cold and desiccation on the world's surface, along with the more intense radiation of the K-type stars of the 61 Cygni system. Humanlike intelligence did not evolve as easily in such circumstances as it did on more temperate world's such as Earth, a large brain being an inefficient use of resources in times of scarcity. The ancestors of the Volmarro, therefore, achieved intelligence through a slightly different route than those of humanity. They were direct descendants of a clade of vaguely sloth-like herbivores that were forced to become ground-dwelling omnivores when Volorum's forests largely disappeared.
Description[]
The Volmarro exhibit an extreme form of sexual dimorphism. Females stand upwards of 2.5 meters tall compared to the males which are only 1.7 meters tall. Males have a slick leathery dermis, compared to females who are covered in a a layer of dermal bone comparable to those of terran armadillos. Traits common to the species are eyes wide facing eyes, a common sinus cavity in which the tear ducts extend to include a simple scent receptor, and a dark beak like mouth partially covered by flexible flaps of skin that enable a wider range of consonants. They sport two sets of ears one larger set above a smaller set at the side of the head, giving them extremely detailed hearing capabilities comparable to certain varieties of terran owls. Their eyes see deeper into the Infared spectrum and less into the Ultraviolet than natural humans. Their skulls sport a Sagittal crest similar to early man, though it is far more pronounced on the males than the females.
History[]
Volorum is a particularly dry moon with only 22% of its surface is covered with liquid in the form of two large equatorial seas and the largest sea mostly covered with Ice near the planet's south Pole. The North Pole features a smaller ice cap, rounding out the planet's 24% surface coverage in ice. Smaller lakes and rivers dot the planet, but on the whole Volorum is extremely dry and cold world compared to Earth. As such Volmarro civilization did not see nearly so extreme examples of geographic isolation as early humanity, and a common culture and global trade network emerged by the 7th century BCE when civilization was still in the late Bronze Age. Volorum has observed three civilization collapses comparable to the Bronze Age Collapse and the medieval era of Europe. All three are believed to be the result of stellar flare activity from one of the two stars in the system which lead to mass death on the surface. Contemporary Volmarro civilization emerged in 1277 CE (Earth standard calendar) and first contact was made in 2125 CE.
Early civilization[]
Early Volmarro civilization emerged around 13000 BCE around the mouth of the Roklee river near the coast of the Lro'Lrik Sea. This early culture actually was not the result of land-based agriculture but fishing and eventually seafood farms. Agriculture would not emerge until the rise of the Kla'mo civilization in the Great Valley of Kla'mo in 11000 BCE. This civilization began cultivating carbohydrate rich thin tubers which could be densely planted together and stored for long periods between harvests. The Kla'mo would come to conquer a significant portion of territory and rival the Lro'Lrik civilizations.
First medieval period[]
Around 10500 BCE HD 197027 experienced heavy flare activity that reduced the planet's population by between 50 and 80%. The die off impacted several ancient dynasties and led to the collapse of most of the planet's major civilizations. A period of warring tribes and eventually feudalistic kingdoms emerged which were themselves eventually consolidated under four large empires by 8200 BCE.
Second medieval period[]
The Four Empires eventually reached a level of technological and social development comparable with with the Victorian ear on Earth, with early steam engines, and some evidence of powered flight being achieved by 7000 BCE, however around that same point in time, a second collapse occurred when HD 197027 began to experience increased flare activity. It is believed no more than 50% of all life on the planet was killed as a result, The resulting dark age only lasted until 6100 BCE, and eventually the planet was unified under a single empire by 5000 BCE. A degree of technological stagnation, but stable social orders emerged during this period, and while the empire never grew beyond early industrial technology, the planet only saw 5 confirmed rebellions and wars during the 3200 years of the Empire's rule over Volorum.
Third medieval period[]
In 1800 BCE Volorum experienced its worst period of flare activity in its history with the planet being struck by extreme flare activity from HD 197027, and 600 years later the planet being struck again by flares from HD 197027. In this 600 year window, the planet's population fell by 89%. Civilization was set back completely after centuries of unrest, wars, and religious purges.
Contemporary civilization[]
By approximately 2000 CE Volorum's population had reached the iron age once again, and planetary communications had resumed. At the time of first contact, the most advanced Volmarro societies had rediscovered the lateen sail and gunpowder.
First Contact[]
First contact between humans and Volmarro began on May 3, 2125 when the ISV-09 Explorer's crew made planetfall near the planet's most developed city, Volga Ka. The initial contact proved to be peaceful, but quite confusing for the Volmarro who could not comprehend human gender dynamics from the perspective of a rigidly matriarchal society. The notion of humanity's less sexually dimorphic, post gender society was seen as a curiosity to the Volmarro females, and a was very attractive to the Volmarrow males. The notion of males attending higher education was utterly alien to their society. Thus it nearly caused an interstellar incident when First Contact protocol was explained to the planet's political leadership.
In the 35 years since first contact the Volmarro has undergone a prolonged period of social and political upheaval, kept from reaching a point of utter chaos by the introduction of human technologies that have radically improved the quality of life for much of their people.
While Volmarro society still finds human egalitarianism strange and alien to their customs, some progress has been made to grant more rights to males and members of their society who do not identify with the sex they were born with. Males were permitted full education privileges after First Contact, and voting rights were awarded in 2153 after the planet was politically unified. While humans and Volmarro maintain peaceful relations, there is no serious movement for the Volmarro to join the American protectorate as a Free Association.