Hadozee

Hadozee, also known as "deck apes", were simian humanoids with distinctive patagia who were known for their love of sailing.

Description
While their nicknames described them as apes, hadozee were taller and skinnier than apes, and some said that they looked more like baboons. Hadozee were covered in fur of all varieties of brown &mdash;from light tawny to dark chocolate &mdash;and it was so thick that they really had no great need to wear clothing. Their faces were surrounded by a shaggy mane. A hadozee's snout protruded outwards from its face, and the mouth was full of sharp fangs. Their eyes were black and tended to sparkle.

Hadozee had no tails. Their feet were fully prehensile, complete with opposable thumbs, allowing them to hold onto things with both hands and feet.

The most distinctive physical feature of the hadozee were their patagial wing flaps, much like a bat or flying squirrel. This membrane of skin hung loosely between the arms and legs, from wrists to ankles. When hadozee raised their arms, the membrane stretched taut.

Hadozee had a moderately stooped posture, so it was not obvious that they stood about tall when fully upright. Some could even reach in full, outstretched height. Muscularly built, they usually weighed roughly.

Hadozee often wore harnesses or belts to hold their tools and weapons.

Abilities
Hadozee were nimble and dexterous, able to scale poles, ropes, trees, and most walls with ease. They had excellent balance. Their skills at climbing and balance made them especially suited for a life on sailing vessels of all kinds. They had a natural inclination toward all manner of melee weapons and were ambidextrous. They could even fight with a weapon held by a foot!

When the arm-flaps were stretched tight, a hadozee could glide for limited distances, such as between the rigging of two different parts of a ship.

Personality
Most hadozee were innately and actively curious and were unquenchable optimists. This latter quality lent itself to a tendency to tell dark jokes at inappropriate times. They were expressive&mdash;intensely so, resorting to loud whooping, fang-baring, and snarling, depending on the emotion.

Hadozee were naturally as intelligent as humans. However, they were not philosophers. They gave little consideration to the ethics and morals of other races; they simply wanted to do good and happy work. They took great joy in the simplest of shipboard tasks and chores.

The hadozee had a great love of the elves. (The elves employed hadozee often, but did not mutually respect them.) Oftentimes, this love of elves resulted in flattery towards them.

Combat
Most hadozee seemed to favor longswords, spears, or halberds. They felt totally comfortable in the midst of combat; it seemed to come naturally to them. That being said, they were a peaceful race who only fought when they had to. They rarely killed an opponent and were quick to forgive offense.

Hadozee who had spent time on spelljammers&mdash;which was nearly all of them&mdash;had learned how to use the gravity planes of vessels to their advantage. They knew how to dive into a plane, flip themselves, and land on the other side oriented just how they wanted to be to attack.

Society
Hadozee were known as wanderers and sailors. Both sexes served as the latter and as mercenaries.

Despite their superb skill as sailors, hadozee had no spelljamming capability of their own as a race and relied on being hired by other spacefaring races.

As young adults, hadozee formed groups of 20 to 30 persons, who trained together until ready to join the crew of a vessel. Hadozee only took mates after they were too old to sail. After pairing off, they settled on a world with port towns to raise their young, such as the Rock of Bral. Here, children were raised communally, often left for up to months by their parents.

Hadozee enjoyed living in large groups and slept in hammocks in large communal houses. They were hospitable to other visiting hadozee, always willing to listen to the latest stories from sea or space. Hadozee maintained their living quarters well; if hadozee tenants left a house, they left it in much better condition than when they first rented it.

Language
The native tongue of the hadozee consisted of low vocalizations, barks, and hoots, but it also used a component of body language. They enjoyed and were quite capable of learning many other languages, and they were especially happy when strangers could speak their own.

Hadozee did not use surnames. Instead, they created a "ship-name" for themselves, derived from the name of a vessel on which they took great pride to serve. For example, a female hadozee named Dashi might call herself Dashi Pearldaughter after serving aboard a vessel named The Lady of the Pearl. Hadozee who had served aboard the same respected vessels might consider themselves stronger family than even true kin.

Religion
Most hadozee were not very religious, though they did offer respect to the gods and goddesses of the sailors alongside whom they served.

Ecology
Hadozee reached adulthood earlier than humans but had similar lifespans. They had a similar diet to humans, but they were less picky, being content to eat insects and grubs. Similarly, while they preferred tropical climates, they could survive in any environments in which humans were found by bundling up in warm clothes.

History
There was a long tradition of hadozee serving as spelljammer crewmen or mercenaries for the elves of wildspace. This tradition extended back to the time of the Unhuman Wars, when the elves soon realized that the hadozee were far more civilized and cultured than the "unhumans" with which they had first grouped them. The hadozee allied with the elves at that time, and they happily served on elven vessels ever since. Whatever homeland they once had was forgotten to their race. In their cultural memory, they had always been asail.

Background
The hadozee are based on the Yazirian race, also called Hadozee, in the Star Frontiers RPG also from TSR.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Maelstrom's Eye
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards