One thing I really haven’t done in this episode is talked much about the races who make appearances. So today let’s talk about Vark, who is a rather interesting example of the furnsean race.
Vark here is interesting not only because of his insanity, but that he is an interesting fusion of two distinct groups of furnesean. All furnesean share a common ancestor that was a quadrupedal hunter on the planet Hirso, but over time it evolved into something humanoid. Once this new root ancestor was able to control the elements, it began to spread into new terrains and biomes, and thus we see four major varieties of furneseans arise:
- Arboreal: These furnesean are most similar to the common humanoid ancestor. Their features are a mix of feline and raccoon, and they are the most common form of furnesean. Their tails are long.
- Mountain: These furnesean adapted to the mountainous regions of the homeworld; Their overall appearance is far more rodent-like, often featuring large ears, spindly legs, and small bodies. Their tails are short.
- Desert: These furnesean grew tough in the deserts, and ultimately their appearance is more dog-like and they tend to be extremely muscular and ferocious. Their tails are short.
- Polar: The furnesean who traveled to the cold polar regions took on very bear-like bodies with thick fur growth and layers of fat. Their tails are short.
Because of the close genetic similarities of the various furnesean types, there has been a lot of mixing, and thus are furnesean may be seen as a grab-bag of elements from the four distinct varieties. Mixing is particularly common as many furnesean are spacers and colonists, so any distinctions between varieties are usually overlooked. Some colonies do tend to collect a certain branch of the furnesean family tree however, so relatively unmixed furnesean families do exist. Space travel is having a profound effect on future generations however: arboreal traits are spreading very rapidly among spacers due to the overwhelming number of arboreal spacers and the more dominant genetic traits they seem to possess.
Vark, however, is one of the furneseans of mixed ancestry. He exhibits traits that can tie him into the mountain, desert, and polar varieties. The vast majority of his genetic background seems to be split between desert and polar, his bulkier figure is both muscular and has a layer of fat, and his tail is short. His hair is also quite thick, particularly around his face, which is a common trait of polar furneseans. His aggressive nature can be traced back to the desert blood in him. His rounded ears are distinctly mountainous, however.
Hopefully this proved interesting. If you’d like to know more about anything in the comic, please let me know that way I can write all about it.