Homo Sapiens Alter: Stunts

Stunts are on the whole smaller by 2 ft smaller than the average human. They have muscled bodies compared to most, and usually pronounced facial hair, even in the females. Other than that they appear human.

The genes responsible for Thyroxine and growth hormone (GH) seems to have been altered in Stunts, and two types have been noted. The first grouping were altered from human stock in laboratory conditions by many big tech companies looking into the effects of growth hormones. At the same time many of these companies were looking into ways into rewiring the neural pathways of humans to create lineages who were natural explorers, miners, and builders (especially on a technological level). These were combined when off-world colonies were set up as the Stuns proved to be excellent at maintain the equipment needed off-world, and space was at a premium.    The second had human ancestors but were forced to adapt in regions underground, whether on Earth or off-world, that caused them to put on some muscle mass while growing shorter in stature. In many cases these were caused genetics to kick in to allow them to survive. The more hostile planets could be bathed in radiation, or chemicals that drove the Stunts towards adapting technology to survive better.   Either way they are so close in outlook and build they can interbreed easily.   Most of them can see into other spectrums when normal light is removed, increased strength & resilience, and an ability to tolerate quite a few extreme environments that would kill other Hominids.

Similar to humans, Stunts have a dimorphic sex attributes with males & females. They can easily breed with each other, though less chance of doing so with other Homo Sapiens lineages. They mature slower in the womb, with pregnancy taking on average between 48 & 52 weeks. The genes responsible for Thyroxine and growth hormone (GH) seems to have been altered, whether through bioengineering or through the effects of genetic adaption to an environmental conditions depending on the subset.

The Stunts grow & mature slower than humans, so they stay in the baby, toddler, pubescent, and adult stages longer. This usually works out to the earlier stages lasting to 1 to 5 years longer, the pubescent period to about 10 to 25 years longer and the latter stage to well over 100 years longer.

Smaller more cramped spaces with minimal light, and hotter or colder conditions favoured by the Stunts. They are regularly found in the bowels of ships working as crews, in areas of mineral rich veins, or in hazardous environments where most others can't survive for long.

Like all Homo Sapiens they eat & drink pretty much anything a human can. The only difference is that they can tolerate foodstuffs & drinks that have a higher level of dangerous elements than the average human.

The Stunts have an inclination to be very family orientated, partly due to their early stages of development needing more care & attention. They seem to hold grudges for longer than most, and can be quite aggressive if pushed to far.   One major psychological factor that many Stunts have is the ability to craft items of exquisite craftmanship, and also to seek out the best raw materials for it. This gives them an advantage in being quite technologically advanced, and the need to explore for the best materials available.

To combat others who would try to abuse their people & with their need to protect their slower growing children, Stunts generally live in extended families. They are generally led by one of the elders, and backed up with a group of other elders. Many clans have also formed over the decades due to intermarriage & shared goals. This adds a further level of protection, and usually led by a chieftain elected by the highest ranking elders who form an overall council. Age & experience is the most important aspects here, with many decisions made by the older members and it followed by the rest.   Saying this, many ideas and philosophies are found at all levels of their society, and the council of elders & the chieftain will listen to any decisions put before them before ruling whether to follow them.

Stunts seem to regularly develop facial hair to a greater or lesser degree, and more so than any hominid. Their faces overall are like the rest of their build and quite pronounced features.

The Stunts are quite intelligent and slightly more so than the average human. Saying this they are more inclined to the practical side of life and excellent problem solvers along with having a more innate understanding of technology. Also, they somewhat lack an understanding of the arts, and to a degree, biological based sciences. Though saying this, the odd Stunt does develop strong working knowledge of these, and is a rare boon for their societies.

The main difference between humans & Stunts, is the latter have a higher tolerance to heat, cold, higher gravity, and cramped conditions to humans. They also are able to see better in dim & dark areas with better clarity.

Any symbiotic or parasitic species found in or on humans are present in Stunts. These organisms have usually mutated to a hardier version of their base species to be able to overcome the hardiness of their hosts.

All Stunts are given a birth name of some sort, and take their family or clan name as a surname. These depend entirely on the society they live in.

Two major organizations exist with mainly Stunts involved: Richelieu Technologies and The Shipwrights Guild.   Richelieu Technologies specialise in the manufacturing & building of spacecraft, off-world habzone components, armour, and weapons. Based out of Paris, France, it is primarily run & staffed by Stunts. They are run by the Richelieu family, with Phillipe Richelieu and his elder brethren as the chief CEO and board members. Spacecraft of all types & sizes are built by them, usually in orbital docks around Earth, the Moon, and Mars. the habzone components are usually electronic in nature of all kinds, from door locks to cameras and far more. Their weapon & armour divisions supply many advanced & high grade military & security force equipment. They also supply a good number of their wares to Stunts exclusively, though will take & undercut most other companies. Ruthless business dealings, backed up by their own security forces (kept quietly of the books of course), they will make sure they are always in demand. And of course this same force is always the first to be supplied with the best, and latest, gear possible.   The Shipwrights Guild is a major union based out of Dover in England, UK. They make sure that all Stunts are taken care off along with their families. They are for Stunts only and willing to incite trouble, including riots, to make sure their members are protected. As an organisation they cover all those Stunts that work building, maintaining, repairing, and Stunting ships where possible. This can be anything from a garbage scowl to a Dreadnaught Capital ship, as long as the crew has a good number of Stunts running the show. At least behind the scenes.

Stunts follow similar ideals to humans when it comes to the human societies they live in or have contact with.

Most Stunts believe in gender equality and make little difference between the sexes. Other than this they generally keep to themselves when viewing this side of life.

The Stunts normally follow the standard human courtship ideals in their respective societies but are more inclined to be more reserved in doing so.

Stunts are very family orientated and this structure comes first & foremost. Friendships & clan come second, and honourable conduct between different groups of Stunts are strictly adhered to. They expect, if not demand, that others act the same as this when doing business or even in a more relaxed setting.

The Stunts are highly advanced technologically. They are some of the best miners, ore processors, and ship / weapon / armour makers. They have a good understanding of computing as well as AI, cybernetics and robotics in the industry. If anything they are not as skilled in the medical & biological fields as others though acknowledge this, as well as looking to get as much information as possible concerning this from any other source.

They share the basic languages as their forebears, the human race, and have their own they call Dwarvish. This specific language is highly technical, and filled with technical jargon & even binary strings in rare cases.

Stunts are highly proud as a people due to their technical acumen, and can easily be offended if not treated with a modicum of respect. They try to lead with example, being known to be formal in many cases where it isn't needed. The older one Stunt gets the greater the respect they are meant to be shown, and will default to this  thinking when in other groupings.

Stunts usually dress one of two ways. The first is a very formal way of dressing usually taking care of the way they present themselves. Clothing can range in specific details but will be of the highest quality one can afford.   The second way many Stunts dress, is based on their jobs, at least in general Stunt work clothes. These are built to last, being versatile, durable, and with some level of protection built in.

From a cultural standpoint, the Stunts have a tendency of having similar traits to humanity with a blunt, straight to the point aspect. This appears to be them having a no-nonsense approach to life and they prefer it that way. Experts with stone, metal, and gems, they make full use in these in all manner of artistic expression as well as personal items, ranging from cybernetics / bionics to items as simple as pens & jewellery. The craftmanship is highly sought after outside Stunt society and can be found in some other cultures where only the wealthy can afford it.

Stunts venerate the dead in one fashion or the other, pretty much practising ancestor worship. They can be quite superstitious and will call the aid of the ancestor spirits if they are in any way trying to wrestle some conundrum.

As a group as a whole, the Stunts are loath break any deal or agreement. It borders on an anathema to them to do so. They avoid doing so at all costs no matter the outcome. They take great offence to any who do the same and will make them pay with swift retribution if they do.

The first records instances of these suborder of Homo Sapiens was in the early 2060s when manned flights between Earth and the other colonies in the Solar System. Few crew were seen entering or exiting the spaceships and in many cases the companies started to become suspicious as to why. After a tribunal was held by the European Union of Business (EUoB), they mandatorily summoned many crews to be checked. What they found was a generation of the first Stunts born in space to the crews of the ships, as well as off-world mining colonies, and science colonies.   The companies were interested in this discovery, and immediately started testing them to see what caused the changes. When it was found that many had been born with a stable set of biological traits to survive in the harsher settings the Stunts were born into, experiments followed in laboratories. Taking sets of petty criminals with high IQs, they managed to create the right grounds to get a generation of Stunts that closely resembled them, and experimented further. Eventually they arrived at the present set of Stunts that were bioengineered two generations later.   Because they were classified as being closely related to humans, the EUoB were forced to release the Stunts who immediately started to mix with humans, take jobs, and create their own identity. Many went off-world to create their own colonies, and a number stayed on Earth to work for many corporations, along with starting their own.

The Richelieu family is generally the most well regarded out of all the Stunts, due to their wealth & power. No particular member of the family stands out but are meant to represent the pinnacle of Stunt society.

Stunts are sometimes referred to Dwarves of old legends due to their general build & personality traits. They don't like this as much as being called Stunts, both of which are somewhat offensive to them.

Stunts generally get on well with most humans, sharing many of the same ideals. They get on quite well with some of the other alters too, though friction can still occur for a variety of reasons. Usually, the Stunts have a hatred of the Abominations. This is in part due to the alters being mistaken for the latter.