Attributes: Body 7, Chi 4, Mind 4, Ref 7.
Schticks:
- ExtraArms
- Camouflage
- Armor
- Pounce
- Infect
Thri-kreen are insectoid humanoids similar in appearance to giant praying mantises. They are quite rare in the DS:DragonEmpire, but not restricted to a single world of origin. Different breeds of Thri-kreen prosper in different environments, but they always prefer warm climes. Deserts, jungles, and warm grasslands are all highly suitable.
Thri-kreen have a hard time getting along with other races. On many worlds, genocidal wars either wiped out the insect people or their mammalian competitors. Only on worlds where geographical barriers kept the Thri-kreen separate from other races have they been able to coexist. One example of a planet where the mammalian humanoids won against the Thri-kreen is Nallar, mention in Imperial Supply, p 70.
Thri-kreen have much less trouble getting along with reptilian humanoids and nonhumanoids. Because the DS:DragonEmpire is dominated by reptiles, and many ThriKreen tribes were saved by imperial intervention on their worlds, the ThriKreen are very loyal to the empire.
Personality: Direct and relentless, Thri-kreen make decisions quickly and follow through with abandon. They almost always prefer a direct approach to any problem. While this gets things done, it can result in a lack of planning and coordination, as Thri-kreen hate loitering and waiting upon others. In this way, Thri-kreen manage to do a lot in their comparatively short lives and yet accomplish very little.
Physical Description: A thri-kreen looks like a bipedal praying mantis. Of the six limbs protruding from the midsection, two are used for walking, and each of the other four ends in a four-fingered hand. Two compound eyes, two antennae, and a complicated jaw structure that includes a pair of wicked mandibles give its head an insectoid appearance. The entire body is covered in an exoskeleton, the coloration of which varies upon diet and origin. In the wild, thri-kreen exoskeletons had camouflage pattern because of the diet and because those who lacked such patterns did not survive. Modern thri-kreen have a wider range of patterns, and often embellish them with inlays or paint.
Relations: Thri-kreen seem cold and emotionless to mammalian humanoids. Their eyes are expressionless and their actions very direct, which is often interpreted as hostility. Tree-kreen voices also seem shrill and harsh to such listeners. This makes most mammalian humanoids instinctively distrust thri-kreen. Lizard creatures, on the other hand, have no such problem and often regard thri-kreen with a sort of admiration for their raw power and directness.
Alignment: Most thri-kreen are chaotic neutral. Good and evil have little meaning to them. Thri-kreen are lone hunters by nature, but as they grew to sentience they developed a pack culture. But packs are not very stable, and each thri-kreen still thinks of himself as a loner.
Thri-kreen Lands: Thri-kreen are predators, and require much open land to live out their natural lifestyle. This makes thri-kreen populations low and their nations weak, so they usually only manage to hold on to arid territories that nobody else wants.
Religion: Thri-kreen honor a concept of individual challenge, a trial of insect versus nature as a spiritual path. This translates roughly into the concept of DS:TheStormlord.
Language: Thri-kreen speak their own language of clicks and snaps of their mandibles. Those in the empire generally speak draconic as well.
Names: Thri-kreen names are mostly incomprehensible and almost impossible to pronounce for outsiders, so they usually adopt draconic naming conventions when they deal with outsiders.
Adventurers: Thri-kreen consider life in the empire to be a kind of adventure in itself. Always eager for action, they might make a snap-second decision to join an adventuring party if the goals seem worthwhile and profitable, but might get bored when people start slouching about and waste time on things like plans.