Physical Characteristics
Scalagos are smooth-skinned creatures with round heads and black hair on top which is often styled in various ways. The front of their heads are slightly elongated and have big, round eyes and two small nostrils below that. About a quarter of the snout’s end is cut open in a mouth. The head curves into a short neck which goes to a slender body, and thin arms go down just below the neck down to the waist. Their legs are half as long as their arms and end in feet similar in shape to the hands but stubbier. They also have a mostly limp tail half the length as the rest of the body, and they stand at an average of 1.8 meters in height.
Scalagos don’t produce sweat, but instead a sort of mucus that is similar to sweat, if a bit thicker. Their feet, being similar to the hands, can be used to roughly grasp things, but most scalagos wear shoes anyway. They generally wear a single shirt that hangs down to their waist or all the way to their ankles, no pants. Scalagos come in a range of colors, and on Zhop the males are often brightly colored, which fades as they grow older, and female scalagos have rather dull coloring. On Derantu both male and females have bright colors all their lives, though they do lose their luster as they grow old.
When scalagos mate, the female carries an egg within her body for about half the growth period, during which she is hampered physically. The eggs are laid halfway through the development period and eventually hatch on their own. Most scalagos keep their eggs in water, although unlike their evolutionary ancestors this is not required. Scalagos reach maturity around age 20 and have an average lifespan of 70 on Zhop, while the average lifespan on Derantu has been increased to about 80.
History and Culture
On the planet Zhop, scalagos generally remained inside the forests and never built any particularly big cities, staying mostly in small villages or towns. Although they did spread quite far throughout the planet, this forest village stigma remains. They’re seen by most species as hicks or hippies or some combination of the two.
Unexpectedly, a near-identical species of scalago lives on the planet Derantu, where they did build quite impressive cities and kingdoms, including two major kingdoms of Derantu, the Salenth Kingdom and the Thraundlus Kingdom. Though from two separate planets, the two species are able to mate and everything. No one knows why this species has existed on two planets for millennia before ever coming into contact, though many have theories, most to all of them crackpot.
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 