"I may not like the Skald' but I will trust a Skald before I trust the OES ." -Francesca Hsu talking to Councillor
Danyal Nielsen.
Skald' are the residents of Skald'ra. They are a reptilian humanoid race that live in a culture largely built around a meritocratic caste system and Honor.
Basic Information
They are humanoid, with two arms and two legs. They are Bipedal.
The mature Skald' possess fangs that contain a powerful poison.
The Skald' do not give birth to live young, instead they lay eggs, that must be given 18 months to mature before hatching.
After hatching, a Skald' youngling will reach maturity around 14 years of age. They are born without fangs and must be protected by mature members of their species, they must also be fed for their first 2 years of life. They grow their fangs and develop their venom when they reach the age of 14. They generally live to be around 65 years of age, though some records show certain Skald' reching ages of almost 100 years.
Additional Information
Skald' Bands are built around a very tight caste structure. These castes are shown on the chart below.
| Skald’ra Name |
English Name |
| Kech |
Warrior |
| Krav |
Poet/Priest |
| Karku |
Broodwatchers |
| Tarek |
Craftsman, Merchants, and Farmers |
| Kurg |
Serviles |
The basic unit of the Skald' society is the band also known as a Zer.
While parings may exist, gender is not really a factor in this as the concept of gender does not really exist in Skald' society. Pairings that result in fertile eggs are needed, but as a clutch of eggs can number up to three or four. The eggs are then given to the Broodwatchers in where they are cared for and raised in common. Roughly 80 percent of hatchlings make it to adulthood. At the age of 9 the young are known as fangling and they are brought before hopeful parents are allowed to pick out one or two of them to raise to maturity which is reached at the age of 14. Those who are not chosen by prospective parents are raised by members of the servile class.
Family groups are usually fluid, one to four parents may choose to live together to raise a fanglings to maturity at the age of 14.
Civilization and Culture
Skald' names are made up of a group name, and a personal name. The group name is usually a shortening of their Tribe or Band.
The Kechikan of a the Hadalat is known as Hada Yul. Hada from his tribe name, and Yul being his personal name.
Generally the personal name is a based upon one's parentage and is one or two syllables.
The Skald' do have a united government on their planet of Skald'ra, The Skald' Tribal Confederation.
The Confederation is divided into eight Tribes or Lat, which themselves are split into bands. Each Chiefdom is lead by a Kechikan or Paramount Chieftain, who are all members of the Kechikanda.
Tribes are composed of bands which are lead by a Kechik (Chief in English). There are three types of Bands and those are Rural, Urban, and Astral. In addition to the Kechik, most bands have a small caste council called a Yalada, staffed by the Kechyal, Kravyal, Karkyal, and Tareyal who are the respective Yal or Pleader for their caste.
There is no idea of gender in Skald' society. Sex does exist, but as the eggs take only a 23 days to gestate, ones sex is almost never know or dealt with.
