Now, here's something a little different from the all the military tech before. This is an example of a species from my setting, the Vingresan. They are the secondary species of the Vogelian Supremacy, and were conquered at a pre-FTL stage despite being a star system away from the main species, the Gesan. Here's some info!

The second current race is the indigenous sentients of Vingreg, the Vingresan, a species of semi-sentient pseudoreptilians from the Gaolic region of the Chivragir continent. Avoiding the utterly inhospitable higher-altitude regions (conveniently for the Gesan, who find the relative chill far more suitable), they tend to nestle in the regular volcanic nooks that give the planet its jagged, harsh features, feeding on local extremophile colonies in the vents. The relatively recent (within the last ~50,000 Terran years) emergence of a nutrient-dense, rich cruciferous bacterial culture able to thrive in the fumaroles endemic to the invasive geophagic keys pushed species development ahead comparably to the Gesan invention of fire. By the time they made first contact with an alien race, they had effectively cultivated over 3,000 fumarole subspecies across every geologically-active coastline save that of the "Tahnem," the pathway of a recurring tropical storm cycle that puts the average Terran hurricane to shame. Their technological development, from stone-age to nearly information era within a mere ~10,000 Terran years remains an astounding feat achieved at a strange cost. As Vingresans are not terribly genetically diverse and most Vingresan biological systems - including their blood filtration (liver) mechanisms - are broadly distributed throughout their bodies, their development of a resistance to the sulfuric intoxication of their new food source is extremely poor. Even to the modern era, a key component halosulfide protein of the predominant food cultures may remain in circulation for nearly half a week, where it acts analogously (albeit weakly) to several known groups of hormonal stimulants - the primary attributed cause of the otherwise inexplicable absurdity of the common culture. Throughout their roughly tricircadian feeding cycle, a given member of the species will shift through varying degrees of judgemental impairment and euphoria, followed by a stage of inhibition and brumination until the beginning of the next feeding cycle. Notably, this brumination cycle may continue indefinitely and slows down all physical processes enough to allow easy transportation of Vingresan captives on long journeys with minimal supplies. Otherwise, it is the source of endless complaints, as it is a rare thing indeed for a Vingresan's personality to be describable as even approaching the realm of "sanity."

Further adding to the difficulties of integration, Vingresan communication is entirely physical, with vocalization limited to the rare (and quiet) hiss in extreme scenarios. Basic expression is performed via a myriad of hand, eye, body, and head movements generally constructed from a common set of roots which appears to be innate behavior, though varying dialects and even languages had, until enforced standardization, splintered into distinguished identities. Contrary to human expectation, this actually greatly facilitated their development of written and digital languages, as hand signals were easily translated into characters and followed a linear pattern. Early long distance communications essentially via morse code remained dominant for a significant span, but modern Vingresans communicate almost exclusively via wireless tactile gloves which transmit and receive pressure at a number of finger locations and a set of electrical braille pads, which they read quickly enough to outmode vocal speech in most cases. This communication method serves their primary role in Gesan society extremely well, as a team of Vingresan engineers can work silently and often demonstrates exceptional team communication so long as they're well acquainted or, ideally, close friend groups. Unlike many other reptilian species, they exhibit extremely strong bonding and pack social behavior aside from the few isolates which, ironically, tend to take on roles of elected leadership within their culture.

Biologically, the Vingresans appear and act very similarly to Terran lizards. Their movements are slow and calculated, but very sudden and they tend to stand still for extended periods of time simply to observe their surroundings, giving them a sense of oddity that many find unnerving (and some find incomparably adorable). Internally and chemically, however, they are incredibly distinct. The first autopsies of arriving Gesante scientists were almost completely inconclusive due to the sheer seeming complexity of every single component - aside, perhaps, from the primary digestive tract which is essentially normal. Most difficult to wrap their heads around, nothing could be identified as a centralized nervous system - rather, neurons are distributed throughout the body in proximities and densities relating to their biological focus, with only a few small and diffuse lumps stacked in the head to speak to any form of higher order thinking. Indeed, close subsequent cultural analysis revealed a strange convergence in evolution. Whereas Gesan thought processes tend to be linear or threaded, Vingresan consciousness is as diffuse as the organs in their bodies. The incredibly high order intelligence they demonstrate is the result of collaborative intercommunication of all component parts cortices, allowing them to consider and react to extremely complex and diverse situations simultaneously. The most immediately obvious manifestation of this distinction, for example, is an almost excessive reliance on what one might call "intuition," solving problems and reacting without necessarily any insight into their own thought processes without much deliberation.

The same theme is demonstrated in numerous other aspects of their biology. From the semi-flexible composite (and thus blood-bearing) endoskeleton, to the lack of a centralized "heart" which is replaced by sometimes several hundred small tetravalve blood processing chambers, to even a distributed respiratory system consisting of a set of nasal and oesophagal openings similar to (but far larger than) insectoid spiracles supplying a branching tracheal network and a set of recirculating pulmonary chambers that can allow them to stay submerged (or survive in inhospitable atmospheres, such as those of ultra-sulfurous volcanic vents) for several minutes at a time. Although these differences make mechanical augmentation a rare feat (albeit with literally thousands of willing and even enthusiastic test patients), Vingresan medical studies served as one of the major keystones on which Vogelian bio-augmentation and medical technology is based.

This species was designed by my friend in both biology and art, with the original concept being lightly formed by me. They're quite the unique addition to the setting, and something that I still love the originality of. If you like it, do give the artist and dear friend who helped make them real in the first place a look!