Hana Saka
From Traveller Wiki - Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far future
| Hana Saka | |
|---|---|
| Status | Minor Race |
| Classification | Herbivore/Filter |
| Size | 2.8 - 3.5m |
| Weight | 350kg |
| Homeworld | unspecified |
| Multi-world | no |
| Canon | yes |
| Reference | Aliens Archive |
Descended from ocean-dwelling hexapedally symmetrical filters, the Hana Saka ("suckers" or "ogres" to many humans) are a fearsome-looking but friendly race, standing some 2.8 to 3.5 meters tall and massing 350kg on average. They are far stronger than humans, and their three-meter shoulder tentacles outreach their arms. Instead of an internal skeleton, minute calcium deposits in each cell provide an intricate network of thin supporting "bones" throughout the body. Not nearly as strong as human bones, but pliable and difficult to break, this configurable net essentially can form joints anywhere on a limb the Hana Saka desires. The four fingers of Hana Saka hands proper are all mutually opposable and more flexible than their human equivalents. Any missing body part will regrow, taking up to a year to replace a lost limb.
Hana Saka have only one eye with very poor vision: it gives fair resolution, a distinction between light and dark, but no fine detail. In recompense of a sort, they have doglike hearing and a racial sonar ability. Hana Saka senses of taste and smell equal humans'. They have no head, instead clustering all sensory organs in the middle of the torso. Hana Saka do not "sleep" per se: they intermittently rest, but remain aware.
Hana Saka digestion is partially external, in the mouth-pouch, involving much noise, and involves violently spitting out inedible detritus, a practice many humans find disgusting. Oddly enough, Hana Saka are intolerant of human chewing noises, and of excess, unnecessary, or random noise in general: sudden loud noise can, flare-like, shut down their hearing for up to a minute. In general, however, the Hana Saka are an extraordinarily patient race, tolerant of others. Reach, touch, and proximity are of vital importance to them, sometimes to the discomfort of human companions: they even prefer sleeping in groups. Indeed, reach equates to power, and traditional Hana Saka combat is personal and close. They adopt human-designed missile weapons only grudgingly. In an additional cultural quirk, Hana Saka society is highly matriarchal: transients, owning only what they can carry or what a household will hold "in trust" for them.
| This article was copied or excerpted from the following copyrighted sources and used under license from Far Future Enterprises and by permission of the author. |
| – Aliens Archive |
