Created by: Garry Stahl
Appearance: Starbase 600 game
Number of Members: 4 billion
Nature of Members: Ferret/meerkat furries, Lughocee stand about 5'5" on two legs which is their most common posture. They have short legs and arms for their height, and a highly flexible spine. Lughocee carry some manner of backpack regardless of their place in society, all your things go in it. While Lughocee are bipeds they are not obligate bipeds and when they need to move they drop to all fours and can easily outrun a humanoid in that posture.
They are fur covered. The fur comes in a riot of colors from a sable black to a butternut. They have makings down the length of their bodies in the form of black broken stripes and spots in the manner of a king cheetah. The black ones have the markings, but like a black leopard they don't show.
Organization: Barely. The Lughocee have the closest thing to an ad hoc world government you will ever see. From the outside it looks like total chaos. They seen to know what is going on. Starfleet sociologists have a lot to study.
The general grouping is a super tribe lead by an Alpha female. The method of choosing the Alpha is not known. Super tribes can number from 1000 to 50,000 individuals. Lughocee society has evolved so that various Super tribes take the support roles necessary for an technological society to work. You have Factory tribes, farming tribes, research tribes and so forth.
You also see a good deal of fluidity in tribal membership. If a member of a farming tribe has an aching need to work with steam turbines they will go to the steam turbine tribe and marry in. This is considered normal and not commented on or prevented.
When a new technology is discovered you have a rush to adopt it. New tribes will form to deal with the new technology.
There is no hierarchical government as is common among humanoids. War is a thing of their past, and then was only conducted for resources. The idea of conquest and control is alien to the Lughocee.
Game Role: To drive the PCs up the wall.
World Role: See all there is to see.
Relative Influence: Minor. One world with near warp space capacity.
Public or Secret?: Public. I don't think they know the meaning of "secret".
Publicly Stated Goal: Look go see!
Relative Wealth: Medium. A one world nation among one world nations.
Group advantages: Enthusiasm beyond measure.
Special Abilities: An ability to grasp the function of other people's technology with minimum effort.
Group disadvantages: Enthusiasm beyond measure with a lack of planning gets a lot of them killed.
Special disadvantages: Poor planning skills. A group of space explorers that discovers a drifting [Kliges'chee ship is as likely to point it at the nearest big subspace source and drive it there as not.
Those who favor them: The Federation is thinking it over.
Those opposed to them: No one else knows them that well.
Area of Operation: The Implosion Zone
Headquarters Location: Lugho.
Public Face: Happy over-eager explorers.
Notable Members: Cirritter: Alpha of the latest exploration team and of the first contact with Oz. She is as focused as any other of her species.
History of the Organization: Lughocee technological progress comes in spurts with long lulls when nothing is discovered that lasts. A technology is found and everyone wants one to play with. The problems are discovered at great loss of life, and eventually they hammer it into a shape that is useful and not deadly. Status Quo settles over them for a generation to several hundred years and the process is started with some new toy.
The Lughocee escaped the attention of the Kliges'chee by not yet having a space presence. They where muddling around in their version of the industrial age and had been for some time.
Shortly after the Kliges'chee threat ceased to be a threat they exploded into interplanetary space, often literally so. Lughocee are not keen on the latest safety gear if it gets in the way of doing.
Meanwhile on their home planet subspace had been discovered and in their case the first practical application was a radio. The big dish was pointed all over. Lots of signals, but nothing they could understand. What they did understand was that "over there" the signal was very strong. The urge was great in them to find out why.
When an exploration team found a drifting Kliges'chee ship it required no discussion to point it in the direction of the big signal and go! Mind you that they hadn't altered the Kliges'chee life support system and they made the 60 day trip in -180 degree temperatures and entirely in space suits.
Currently the Lughocee are hammering out the details of warp drives and making new friends in the Far Sector. Oz did help the first exploration team alter that life support system. Their first native built warp ships look disturbingly like Kliges'chee warships. They are still copying.