Zeylak

Zeylak or snail:
The alien has a thick, heavily-armored round shell around 1.5 meters tall, and in this shell are four openings. Two for arms and legs, one for the head and one forthe tail. Zeylak's arms and legs are quite thin but very muscular, and they're covered with a thin skin. All four limbs are double- jointed. However, the extremities (hands and feet) are large and covered with the same kind of armor as the body. The tail is short and used mainly for balance, and it ends in an armored tip. In emergiences, a Zeylak can withdraw its limbs and tail inside the shell (one of the functions of the double-joints), leaving only the armored extremities outside and sealing the openings completely. The head is a different matter. The opening at the top-front of the alien's shell has a "lid" so to speak. Usually what is seen of a Zeylak's head are its two eyes at the end of long stalks. The alien's mouth is inside the shell, but it can extend a long rasping tongue to feed. Zeylaks are basically good-natured beings. Not very social, but still good-natured.

Their main interest is mining, and they're well-known specialists in hollowing out asteroids in search of valuables. They usually live inside mountains (drilling more and more caves), or sometimes inside larger asteroids that they've found during their prospecting expeditions. Their second interest is (naturally) metallurgy, and they make some extremely strong and durable alloys. When it comes to machinery, they are somewhat perfectionists, always wanting to make sure that "all systems are 100% go". A Zeylak as a ship's chief engineer is a good one, providing you share the same perfectionism. Otherwise the alien will drive you furious.

Zeylaks are hermaphrodites, and they live in family groups. Since they have quite long life-spans around 200 years), it is not uncommon for every Zeylak in a small city to be members of a same "family". Different families often dislike each other, but due to Zeylaks' natural tendency to avoid violence, direct conflicts are very rare. If Zeylaks have a single fault, it is that they've had so little contact with other species and as a result they're very suspicious (and afraid) of members of other species, especially "big and nasty thingies". They can get very nervous in large groups of other races. Zeylaks are almost cowardly, always ready to retreat inside their shells if things seem to get ugly. Still, when cornered, they can become as fierce as berserk Crugons, attacking without fear and maiming everyone in their path. And besides, Zeylaks aren't that cowardly when it comes to indirect violence (like trade wars). The Zeylaks other inhabitants of the Known Galaxy meet are usually either prospectors looking for new mineral deposits or merchants selling ores or alloys. Zeylaks consider fighting "necessary evil", and the profession of a soldier is one of the most valued in Zeylak society (after those of a prospector and that of a metallurgist, of course), since it takes a special Zeylak to overcome the race's natural conflict-avoiding tendencies. Due to the fact that humans find Zeylaks quite "odd" and may never have heard of them, Zeylaks usually trade with other aliens, althought they've got no special prejudices against Humans.
Although a bit alike Hutts, Zeylaks are no way related to that race. Or at least, so they claim.

Attribute Dice: 12D (18D for exceptional individuals)
DEXTERITY: 1D/3D+2
KNOWLEDGE: 1D/4D
MECHANICAL: 1D+2/4D+2
PERCEPTION: 1D/3D+2
STRENGTH: 1D/3D+1
TECHNICAL: 1D+2/4D+2

Special Abilities:
Protective Shell: A Zeylak's shell is extremely good protection against all sorts of attacks. It gives the alien +3D STR against physical weapons and +2D STR against energy weapons. The alien's head doesn't share this protection, nor do its upper arms and legs (in case of an arm or leg hit, roll 1D. On a roll of 4-6, the attack hit an unarmored part and the damage is directly against Strength).

Claws: Like with many other species, Zeylak's large claws are intended for digging (+2D to skill), but they can also be used in melee combat, causing horrible wounds (STR+2D dmg).

Story Factors:
Non-Combatant: A typical Zeylak tries to avoid fighting if at all possible. They may have extremely good weapon skills "for self-defense", but they almost never attack first.

Unknown: Like so many other rare species, Zeylaks are quite unknown to the galaxy as a whole.

Move: 5/7
Size: 1.5 m tall shell, 1.8 m tall with feet extended