Menkmack
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Menkmack
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The Menkmack are a fast-talking species known for being friendly, open, and completely untrustworthy. Although their habit of swindling every sapient being they come across would make them natural candidates for extermination by the Scryve, when the ruling Scryve Legate who discovered them found their antics amusing, they were incorporated into the Empire as jesters, and made to perform for their survival.
In recent years they have become nomadic, seemingly abandoning their traditional territory and moving about the stars.
Biology
The Menkmack are presumably reptilian bipeds. They posses four arms, all of which are utilized for piloting their ships. They have four eyes and two ears.
The Menkmack reproduce in large quantities, their mating involves the female laying her eggs in the sand, as the male crawls to fertilize them.
They are classified by The Measured as a level A7 sentient species.
History
The Menkmack evolved from sea turtle-like creatures on the planet Menkmack (now known as Old Menkmack). Their early society was disorganized and violent, random stabbings were a form of entertainment. Eventually, the Menkmack were able create a civilization, but not long after inventing writing, they invented forging, bringing about what is known as the Age of Fraud.
Records from said era are obviously unreliable, but it is said that it ended when a Menkmack named Mikemack owned everything on Menkmack. He ushered in the Era of Less Fraud, despite ironically owning so much due to his skill in forgery. He ruled as a "benevolent dictator" for several years, until he was assassinated via stabbing.
This brought about anarchy once again. What followed was the Age of Fraud 2, the Age of Stab-Chaos and eventually, the modern Menkmack civilization. It is worth noting that it is unknown how much of this history is true, due to the pathological lying of the Menkmack.
The Menkmack were made members of the Scryve Empire after they stole a Measured vessel, due to the ruling Legate finding their antics entertaining. Their role is as a Clown/Jester species, with individuals being sold and traded amongst the Scryve. Most of the Menkmack were okay with this arrangement, even despite the fact that the Scryve would occasionally kinetically bombard their weddings and apparently steal pets. Two of the few exceptions were the parents of the mercenary Helt Numitor, who routinely ambushed Scryve ships.
The Menkmack have relatively recently become nomadic, due to having stolen the egg of a moon-sized creature known as The Ancient One. The creature devours the atmosphere of every planet the Menkmack settle on, leading to them eventually giving up on changing the name and settling on calling their home, New New New Whatever Menkmack. The Menkmack wanted to get rid of the egg to stop the slaughter, but they simply could not conceive of giving back something they had taken.
Some Menkmack recently uncovered an enormous supply cache of fake ears. In order to capitalize on this discovery, the Menkmack known as Morckbeck impersonated a Scryve Legate and tried to give an order that would convince the Drenkend race that they needed to have three ears. The Drenkend however interpreted this as an order to exterminate all non three-eared species. The Menkmack, a two-eared species, soon fell victim to this but were able to use some of the fake ears for themselves to stop the Drenkend from attacking them. Selling the ears to the Drenkend has become a big profit source for the entire Menkmack civilization.
The Captain was able to resolve their conflict with the Ancient One, returning its egg. After which, the Menkmack somewhat reluctantly became allies with humanity. The Captain also "resolved" the Drenkend situation by helping Morckbeck, who tricked the Drenkend into thinking they needed four ears instead.
Society and Culture
Menkmack society is built on the basic principles of lying, theft and treachery. They will often steal things they have no use for and are psychologically incapable of giving something back with nothing in return, even against their better judgment. They don't even have a word for "steal" in their language. They enjoy blowing people up but have their limits, mercenary work is seen as unsavory. In marriage ceremonies, the female is known as the Menkbride, and the male Menkgroom.
Territory
Due to the pursuit of the Ancient One they have had to abandon their homeworld. Thus their territory can be around one of the following systems: Gamma Spica, Pi3 Orionis, Beta Lynx, Alpha Mus, Eta Chaudhary, and lastly Vega.
Relations with other species
The Menkmack don't particularly get along well with other species as their morals quite often conflict with theirs, and they find them ugly. But they claim they get along great with "handsome species" as well as gullible ones due to them being easier to swindle.
Scryve
The Menkmack claimed they loved the Scryve... but clearly only because they didn't see another alternative. They knew how to get on the Scryve's good side by complimenting their Empire, but the Scryve regularly antagonized the Menkmack, for possibly no reason but amusement. Some Menkmack however weren't okay with the Scryve buying and selling them as slaves/pets, Helt Numitor's parents regularly ambushed Scryve transports. Once a opportunity arose to join what could be the next big alien empire, the Menkmack were adamant to get in on it.
Mu'Kay
The Menkmack enjoy the Mu'kay due to their trusting nature, allowing them to get away with tricks and scams. They often give Mu'kay false coordinates to Ice Worlds for pay, but the worlds are usually desert worlds, volcano worlds and they even once painted an entire moon white. They once expressed desire to send them to "The World of Acid" which doesn't exist.
Humans
Ships
Menkmack Negotiator
The Menkmack Negotiator is premised on the two core precepts of Menkmack civil life: 1) Explosions Are Funny, and 2) More Explosions Are Funnier. The vessel's primary ability deploys powerful mines, which upon detonation, are funny and also pretty dangerous. The ship's secondary ability calls in other Menkmack vessels to join the fun.