Arborians

Walking Trees

Arborians, nicknamed 'walking trees' inhabit a planet known as Arboria Prime that orbits the large hot blue star, Alpha Regnus. They have no gender as any of them can flower and pollinate themselves to produce a single large round seed. They encourage cross pollination however for genetic diversity.

Arborians are unusual in that they possess a metabolism and body structure that has both animal and plant characteristics with a thick tough outside skin of cellulose.

Correct pronoun usage would be hir (singular), hir’s (singular possessive), hirn (plural), and hirns'(plural possessive). When in doubt 'it' can be used, although that conveys conotations of non-sentience.

Physical Appearance

Tough durable rubbery cellulose skin covers hirn bodies and limbs such as that found on dolphins or elephants but slightly wrinkled and range in color from of white and beige, golden yellow, to terra cotta to brown black in color. Arborians have lots of root legs that join together at a trunk that is approximately at middle of the thigh on an average human.

The top part is composed of upper tree branches with leaves such as those of a quaking asp that shake and rustle when speaking. The breezy whispery voice is generated through the leaves themselves by vibating them at specific speeds to achieve various frequencies. ‘Leaves’ are a silvery green. The main trunk is roughly 2.5 feet and connects the ‘legs’ or root-like structures to ‘arms’ or branches. Overall height at full growth can reach approximately 8 feet tall. Main branches that at rest stretch out anywhere from 90 - 135 degrees and can number from four to seven, but are flexible and can bend down easily.

Arborians see using vine-like appendages with eyes that can open or close and can number anywhere from 3 to 5. These are attatched at the crotch of the main branches or 'arms.' The eyes are often pigmented brown, green, golden yellow or blue and can look at times startlingly human with dark pupils at the center. They can extend from 1.5 to 2 feet in length depending upon the age and height of the individual.

Hearing

Arborians can hear by detecting vibrations through touch and the air. No ears or other hearing appendages are visible.

Cultural Practices

Seeds are planted in a grove or nursery by the parent. Upon awareness and sentience after germination and development of locomotion, the young are raised in a group and taught by local elders, often the parent creatures. Arborians have a strong code of ethics, and will not cheat, steal, murder or lie, though they will act to defend themselves in instances of life threatening danger, and are dangerous when provoked due to the crushing damage their roots can inflict.

The Arborian society has a biological warp capability with giant sentient beings that are able to travel at warp speeds and are shaped like gigantic seed pods or kernals. These creatures called the Turine travel through space in the Alpha Regnus solar system and then sail in the skies of Arboria to mate and give birth. A symbiotic relationship had developed between the flying seeds and the sentient trees many hundreds of human years ago.

Medical Notes

Arborians eat through root tips on their ‘feet’ that can open or close with large pores in rich loamy soil. They require a few hours of sun with plenty of UV rays in which to rest, eat and conduct photosynthesis each day. Arborians need rich loamy soil with plenty of mineral content. Without that they potentially suffer from a large amount of problems that can include leaf loss, swelling of joints, general withering and loss of vision.

Notes

Species Traits: Arborians can generate notes and sounds besides that within human range. These include subsonic and ultrasonic as well as detecting sound in these ranges. These can be used to communicate for hundreds of miles planetside and are one way the Arborian people communicate long distances.

Shayhiloosh was chosen to go into the Federation to learn more about the other species and the universe.