Opifex

The Opifex are an enigmatic, nomadic species; plying space-lanes in their skipjacks and shuttles, most looking to trade, others to plunder. The Opifex are stereotyped by their heavy reliance on robots, their apathy towards most sentient life beyond their own, their ungainly avian forms, and their intolerance to oxygen.

Quick-start Guide

• Opifex are naturals with machines and quick learners, they gain +5 to Cognition and Mechanical. An extra +5 can be gained if their homeworld is chosen in character setup.
• Opifex breath nitrogen and naturally find oxygen highly toxic to breathe, as such all opifexi wear a unique gas mask (Accessed through the load out option, be sure to select this, else you'll slowly die of poisoning)
• Opifex are naturally resistant to electrical shocks and require half as much food as other colonists to survive.
• Perk: Opifex gain the perk "Back Up" which allows them to retrieve a back up wire tool-belt hidden somewhere on their person. The belt comes filled with a full selection of seven improvised tools.

Biology

The Opifex have a simple avian biped structure, often with a long plumage tail, semi-rigid quills, and a beak. Their skeletons are composed of a lighter, more porous bone than humans, and they possess a two-channel redundant nervous system, which works well with the non-conductive qualities of their skin. On observation, one would note the rough almost scale like quality of skin covering their forms, which are actually a complex series of interlocking, organic plates, which can “lock” together to form a rigid seal. Opifex arms and legs end in lighter-colored plumage, while their claws and feet come equipped with sharp talons. Their bones are flexible enough to allow for a larger range of movement. For their size, they have an impressively dense musculature, allowing them to remain active for longer than humans. Though, after great exertions they tend to buildup lactic acid which cause muscle aches should they work themselves to hard. Much of their internal organs reside in their lower body; their head, neck, and upper body are dominated by a robust digestive tract, capable of breaking down most organic matter, and even materials dangerous to humans, such as broken glass and rocks, can be stomached by the Opifex. In fact, Opifex may eat such things anyways to assist in the digestive process.

Though the use of there wings has long since atrophied many Opifex have feathers and wings along the back and arms that once served the purpose of aiding in flight but evolution has made these limbs vestigial at best. Now they are simply there for attracting mates and sometimes aiding in the movement of zero gravity, though it isn’t nearly as useful as Opifex wished. While wings and plumage are common, it isn’t ‘uncommon’ to meet an Opifex lacking back wings or tail plumage with only feathers along the head, neck, or back. Colors range from bright and vibrant to dull tones but usually have two or three variations in texture with the arms, tail, and main feathers have distinct colors in either hue or being different colors entirely. An Opifexi beak is usually darker in tone than their feather coloration and often matches their main plumage if not outright black in color.

But perhaps the most alien part of their physiology is their brains; Opifex are commonly implanted with a nano-gate, a device used commonly to interface with Opifex technology. These nano gates contain the access codes and functionality needed to pilot ships, command Opifex robots, or use most devices made for them. In this way, the Opifex are able to safeguard there technological designs to prevent others from stealing their schematics. However, this implant does not help individual Opifex who are stuck in the frontier, far away from their home fleets where their tech is safely guarded.

Another noteworthy biological adaptation is their reliance on nitrogen; they were seemingly born from a nitrogen-dominated environment, and so, it is the stuff they breath. Obviously, this renders most places inhospitable without the assistance of a breath mask.

The most commonly met Opifex is known as a Populi and usually houses only a standard nano-gate and come with an average height of 4-5 feet. Above them is the upper class set apart by the use of more advanced gates that allow for the simultaneous control of multiple robots slaved to the Opifexes advanced nano-gate. These upper class groups are known as the Dominus, hulking brutes with advanced nano-gates that often control small groups of robots and cyborgs and the Fabricators, the true opifexi who are insular and highly advanced but rarely ever seen as they do not leave their ships. A dominus is easily spotted due to being upwards of seven feet tall, with a maximum height of eight feet while a Fabricator stands at around six feet on average. In addition to size, a a dominus can largely been differenced by the average populi by having sleeker and more expertly maintained augmentations compared to the junk-tech of the average populi scavenger.

Opifex do not typically live long and due to their heavy reliance on controlled ship environments and atmospheric conditions they rarely live past the age of eighty, with most commonly passing away before they turn forty.

History and Society

There is next to nothing known about the Opifex before their days of nomadic traveling between the stars. The Opifex are a notoriously tight-beaked people, and refuse to speak of how their society works or how long it has lasted. What is known, however, is where most Opifex come from; the Scavenger Fleets. Massive, battleship sized ships, the Arks are the largest examples of Opifex craftsmanship, and are almost always covered in the remains of starships both ancient and new. The Opifex tend to take spacecrafts and stations and bring them back to their home fleet, creating new additions to the sprawling, cramped confines. The Opifex typically settle in these new sections of the ships, founding shops, homes, docking spars, and other installations.

As stated previously, the Opifex bear with them a strong moral code tailored to their natural personalities; one that primarily consists of not getting into fights, and ending up with the most out of any situation. Opifex crews follow the Opifex Inviolate, a secret code that emphasizes limiting casualties, limiting waste, and preserving the secrecy and safety of the fleets. An individual Opifex will try bribery, coercion, and haggling before resorting to fleeing, or violence (should things go very bad). Settlements between Opifex are much more straightforward than with other organics; these typically involve sparring matches or verbal debates wherein the two Opifex will try to settle who is correct, often violently. Such matches are typically initiated by both Opifex presenting the scar made by the installation of their nano-gate. Opifex names are a strange concept as opifex do not normally use actual words as names, often time they refer to a binary designation determined by their nano-gates serial number that other opifexi recognize when connected through their unique technology. These binary names however are difficult to pronounce in english and in opifexee they translate directly to words that usually refer to that opifexi's particular skills, attitude, or rank. Common names are "Engineer Populi One-Four-One", "Technician Populi Seven-Two-Five", "Explorer Dominus One-One-Zero" and similar naming patterns, however, opifex within dust-lung space will often adopt easier to understand names, usually defaulting to a 'cover' name that will use a common bird species or human name as a way to seem more approachable by dust lungs. Even with a cover name, Opifexi will still use their real names between each other, usually spoken upon greeting due to lacking the usual connection network that a opifex flotilla provides.

Though several attempts by the Sol federation and even the Mar'qua have been made to capture Opifex fleets they smartly avoid federation space and the few they've managed to engage were blown up when federation forces managed to corner them.

Relations with Other Species

The Opifex typically see other organics through a lens of apathy or distaste; whilst some see potential deals to be made, others see dumb “meat” that can’t possibly be sentient, despite making so many wonderful things for the Opifex to haggle/steal. This has made them a subject of scorn for many species. The Opifex hold no special distaste for one species over the other; all are typically considered “inferior” to the Opifex, though whether that has any real merit is up for debate. The more antagonistic attitude is typically carried by the dominus class that have recently arrived in “dustlung” space; over time, their disposition may change, and they will come to see the merits of other species...hopefully.

Important Figures

The Fabricators

Unbeknownst to most other species, the Opifex have a third sub-species. Or rather, the original Opifex. The Fabricators are considered by the Opifex to be the purest, with the populi and dominus being little more than engineered subspecies, fit for specific tasks. And while one would believe the Opifex in charge would be one of the wealthiest Dominus, or perhaps a particularly savvy Populi, it is this mysterious group of Fabricators that commands the Opifex population across all their scavenger fleet.

The Fabricators themselves are covered head to foot-talon in robes, with a special hood that covers all but their beaks. Their limbs are proportioned longer than their size, giving them incredible reach and speed. Were they are not interested in combat, they could prove quite deadly in hand to hand combat.

Fortunately, the Fabricators are an insular species. So insular, in fact, that they refuse to believe the world outside their chambers is even real. Still, they are the only link between the dominus, and the common Opifex population, and so must tend to the more mundane needs of their species.

Perhaps the most terrifying part of the Fabricators is their mechanical prowess, which is nothing short of staggering. They are capable of controlling vast swarms of robots at the same speed and coordination that an artifical intelligence is capable of. Many of the fabricator class have most, if not all, robots and machines slaved to there nano-gate within a scavenger fleet.

The God Machine

A figure of renown and fear. The master of all Opifex. The High Command. That is what the God Machine is, insofar as the Opifex will admit to the “dustlungs”. What the God Machine actually is, however, they will not say. The only ones allowed to know of the nature of the God Machine are the Fabricators, who interpret it’s commands to the rest of their kind. It’s mind is unknowable, for it speaks seldomly, and it’s existence is protected by all Opifex, regardless of stature. Not even a dominus, under duress or interrogation, will admit what it truly is.

If one were fortunate, or incredibly unlucky, enough to see the God Machine, they would not know what to make of it. It is a massive thing, a hanging mass of dark-purple, techno-organic flesh and metal. Hanging from the bottom of it’s form are tentacles of various lengths, capable of manipulation. It peers at the world through blue eyes, seemingly placed randomly in a split section of flesh between its massive bulk. It’s mind is massive; truly connected to the Fabricators and every aspect of Opifex technology through an ancient network that, should it ever be known, many would think was the machinations of a powerful artificial intelligence.

What the God Machine does is largely unknown to outsiders, but to the Opifex, it is the sacred guardian of all fleets and nano gates. The God Machine is the ultimate judge, communing with the Fabricators on which Opifex will be ranked and how each one shall be used. It is also the job of the God Machine to pass judgement on offending Opifex, which is often swift and brutal. It is not unheard of for a Opifex to be randomly judged guilty, and have their nano-gate removed before being exiled.

Common Opifex Terminology

God Machine: The creature in command of a Opifex scavenger fleets. The ultimate leaders, and judges, of Opifex society (as much as there is one).

Fabricators: The second highest of all Opifex. Purest of the Opifex. Tall, powerful, insular, and unquestioning in their belief of Opifex superiority across the stars.

Dominus: The third highest. Nearly cybernetic, taller in height than the fabricators, and born for controlling large groups of robes slaved to their advanced nano-gates.

Bluespace: A dimension below our own. Utilized by most sentient species as a form of travel, as a form of storage space, and as a means of communication. The Opifex used it for similar reasons.

Dustlungs: A slur common among Opifex, meant to refer to any species that breathes oxygen.

Populi: The most common of the Opifex. Short, squawky, and grumpy. The one you’re most likely to meet. Mind the talons. And the insults. And the feathers.

Skipjack: The term for the scrapped-together junk freighters and shuttles the Opifex use to travel. Their bluespace engines are typically so faulty that they ‘skip’ across bluespace, like a stone across the surface of a pond. Used by all strata of Opifex: from independents, to explorers, traders, pirates, etc.

Kreck: An all-purpose slur, used by the Opifex in place of similar swear words that humans would use. “ Kreck you.”, “The Kreck?”, etc.

Opifex Inviolate: A set of rules most Opifex raid parties and traders use when dealing with other sentient life. Key tenants include: minimizing risks, minimizing casualties, leaving nothing behind, protecting the secrecy of the Opifex at all costs, and adapting to situations whenever possible. Even individual Opifex are prone to relying on the Inviolate, when they need to.

Canon Species in the Sojourn Universe
Core Species Akula - Kriosan - Humans - Mar'qua - Sablekyne - Naramad - Abhuman
Non-Core Species Opifex - Cht’mant - Cindarite - Minor Factions