The Cizerack race originated on the planet CUP-124 (Commonwealth Uncharted Planet), or to use their name, Kyrrsh (Kih-RR-sh) A large planet with a rather low density, it afforded much land mass at about 1.1gs earth standard. It was a lush, fertile, and varied world, with a mostly temperate climate covering much of the surface, with only transient arctic caps and jungles and savannahs around the equatorial region. Though only 48% of the planet was covered in water, the oceans were very deep and the world had plenty of abundant precipitation, streams and lakes. Life forms were also abundant--in short, your textbook perfect world.

The Cizerack race evolved slowly through the ages. The race had always been organized into 'prides', and as the felines gained intelligence, that carried through to form the basis of their society. The Cizerack were not alone on their planet, however. Another race was also evolving to intelligence on the other side of their planetoid. Known as 'pythons' by best translation, this reptilian-like race had a few generations head start on the Cizerack in terms of evolution, and was a ferociously expansionary race. A meeting was inevitable, and the pythons made contact with the Cizerack race, wrote them off as just another force of nature to be dominated, and went about their business in attempt to do just that. The Cizerack were not interested in domination, and what ensued was a conflict that lasted for what amounts to forever. Pressed with need, the Cizerack began to evolve quicker, each generation stronger, quick to learn, and advancing their tools. The felines learned to walk upright when needed, though quadrupedal movement was still by far the dominant mode of locomotion. As well, they grew better at manipulating fine items, if one could call paws dextrous. After a while of defeats, the Cizerack began to gain the advantage over the Pythons. In the end, the Pythons were beaten back, their destructive territorialness pushed back to a corner of the planet.

At the time of their discovery by Commonwealth scientists, the Cizerack race could be compared to Native Americans in both their technology level and their societal structure (closest comparable would be shades of the Haida people and the Inuit). They continued to live in prides, and were a semi-nomadic people. Their villages/settlements were surprisingly like those of ours, though the construction was of course unique. They lived for the most part in harmony with the land, and with each other, though inter-pride conflicts were not unknown. Prides were ruled by a matriarchal hierarchy, though elders of both sexes were well respected. Pressed as they were by the pythons, nothing and no one was ever overlooked. Gatherings between prides were common for festivities and feasts; games abound as well. Such occasions were also chances for pride-mothers to talk and to coordinate. In this way, no prides were ever isolated from one another, and help in times of need was always plenty. This also aided to keep the 'war effort' against the pythons ever vigilant until the job was done.

Existing on but one world, as large as it was, the Cizerack race remained relatively unknown to most members of the galaxy. Contact with the off-worlders was seen initially with suspicion by the Cizerack (who until then had not had very favourable dealings with any other intelligent race) but the cats curiosity and openness towards nature allowed relations to develop, if slowly. To the curious race, it was hard to resist the lure of other worlds, and many emigrated to the worlds of the Commonwealth. Over the next decades, the outermost edge of Commonwealth worlds were touched by the Cizeracks.

Amazingly, the felines had no trouble adapting to the high tech world they thrust themselves into. They were learners of a feverish pace, and absorbed knowledge rapidly. They learned too about the Commonwealth, the TOG and their 'troubles'. Information was, as before, was spread across the now expanded Cizerack domain, letting those on the home world keep track of their lineage as they traveled and to learn about the universe at large. The home world, however, did not leap up and transform itself into a high-tech offshoot, instead remaining at the level it had been for years. Perhaps even stranger is the return of many Cizeracks to their home world after years abroad, with no re-integration problems, and no need or want to bring the outside with them.

The Commonwealth high command, of course, saw immediate potential in the Cizeracks, and worked to put them to use as spies into the TOG domain. What better infiltrators than a harmless kitty? Some Cizerack volunteers were quickly trained, then sold as exotic pets to high-ranking TOG officials deep within the TOG realm. They would observe, gather secrets, documents, information and send it back. Until the TOG learned of the existence of Cizeracks (through their own spies in the Commonwealth) it was a boon for Commonwealth intelligence. For the Cizerack, it allowed them to check the veracity of the Commonwealth's propaganda against the TOG. For them, the expansionary nature of the TOG, along with their rigid system of castes, reminded them too much of their ancient enemies back on the home world. While the truth was not as bad as it was made out to be, they had no desire to be ruled by the TOG. (TOG's Xenophobia didn't help any either)

Though it has been many years since the 'discovery' of the Cizerack, they remain a minor member of the Commonwealth population. As a race, they are quite well known, and have spread to all parts of the Orion arm. They do exist nowadays in sufficient numbers for the Commonwealth command and military to devise equipment and training specific to them, and many have indeed expressed interest in joining all walks of Commonwealth society and military. Cizerack have retained, however, their roots, as a matriarchal society, with strong ties to their pride and brethren, with the intercommunication as strong as ever.

"Lithe, strong and fast are the three words that best describe this race of felines." The Cizerack are a race of cat-like creatures, ranging in colour from black to grey to beige to near white. To compare them to earth felines, they most closely approximate to the Felis Concolor, or Cougar in physical makeup. They can, however, walk about bipedal if necessary, though doing so reduces their agility significantly. Quadrupedal movement remains their preferred mode of travel, and the cats can run VERY fast when going flat out. They see very well in low-light conditions, have excellent directional hearing, and while their sense of smell won't top that of a bloodhound, it surpasses that of a human. Their claws are retractable, and they are adept climbers as well. Their eyes actually filter out and enhance ambient light sources, allowing them to see as equally well in the day as at night. Most curiously, the cats seem able to easily adjust to differing climes, no matter their origin. If a Cizerack moves from a jungle environment to an arctic one, immediately their coat would begin to grow longer, and within a season or two, she would sport a good set of fur and probably find that the colour has adjusted to better match the underlying terrain.

Paws and Claws do give them serious disadvantages, however, when it comes to manual dexterity. Their paws are different than those of an earth-bound cat, allowing them greater use of 'fingers'. Nevertheless, their fine manipulation skills, while adequate for routine tasks, is no where near the level of most other races. As noted above, their technology wasn't high tech by any means when discovered by the commonwealth, but it was specialized for their purposes. Obviously, Cizeracks have trouble using tools and weaponry that are fine for other (humanoid) races. That did not prevent them from developing some, however. Basic construction tools were the first to be developed, followed by tools for managing fire. Their knowledge of medicine also progressed, and a few tools were created for that. As can be expected, no hand=held weaponry was ever developed, since they already possessed claws and their teeth. However, just as the natives of earth simultaneously and independently discovered the bow, so did the Cizeracks. Their bows (crossbows, actually) were not always paw-held, but often mounted on their backs for an extra fire and run action.

The Cizerack are primarily carnivores, with light omnivore capabilities. And they prefer their meat raw. For those cats abroad (off their home planet) they have accepted the human's taste for cooked meat, and have also picked up a few other likes in non-meat food.

The Cizerack culture stresses discipline, knowledge, achievement and, above all, family (actually, closer to pride-ship.) Every Cizerack is expected to do her part, even if she doesn't excel in one area, then to perform in another. And the cats are forever striving to learn more and to improving themselves. The pride always works together, and takes care of each other. This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, however, that the feline life is all work and no play. Or no sleep. Cizerack gatherings between prides are festivals to end all festivals, and within each pride itself, no day goes by without play, young and old alike. Cizeracks live to be about 80 standard years in age on average.

Cizerack homes are usually multi-tiered affairs of large rooms and often elevated spatial/volumetric design. The cats enjoy roaming the outdoors immensely, and will try to do so at every opportunity. While they tolerate cities, spaceships and the like (and some tolerate it better than others) they would break down if no opportunity exists for a bit of 'r and r' roaming. Those Cizerack that have integrated themselves fully within the Commonwealth are the ones who fall into the category of 'can tolerate enclosure' coupled often with 'wanderlust', a strange combination indeed. There are many who have found a perfectly happy existence within the Commonwealth, with several generations old prides under the commonwealth. They have become a large enough part of the commonwealth population (and enough interest by them has been shown) for the commonwealth to look at their role within the military and specialized equipment for them. Obviously, due to their makeup, the Cizerack find it difficult to pilot high-g starcraft and interceptors, and are therefore found onboard larger vessels, piloting grav-tanks or in the ground forces (and other, specialized fields). BattleArmour has been moulded for the cats, giving them ample protection while not limiting their mobility on the battlefield. As well, they possess look-and-shoot mounts on their back with a low-recoil weapon, allowing them to fire on the fly, making them a potent force indeed. In non-military walks of life, Cizeracks can be found in about every occupation, from artist to engineer.

Legionnaire

  AG  CH  CN   DX    IQ  LK  SP  ST
  +5  -3  +3  +3/-3  +0  +0  +5  +2  - Race Bonuses
  -6  +0  +0   -4    +0  +0  -6  +0  - Penalty for bipedal motion

Cizeraks have excellent bonuses for their prime physical activities--they are, after all, feline. However, their paws make fine manipulation very difficult, giving them two DX numbers, the latter for fine manipulation. The former is for when the DX does not call for fine-paw manipulation, such as firing a ship-borne weapon, etc. Furthermore, while the cats can walk on two paws quite well, they are unsteady should anything sudden occur, giving them the penalties listed above. (Note these penalties are subtracted from their adjusted scores) The penalites are cumulative, that is, firing a pistol while on two paws would give them a horrendous chance to hit.

Cizeraks have excellent night sight, hearing, the ability to walk stealthily, and above average smell. They can also run increadibly fast. However, they are very sensitive to sonic attacks. They also have trouble commanding the respect of others, for one main reason: they are a cat. They are either not taken seriously, or their feline nature (independant, headstrong one moment, not so the next) makes them butt heads with those around them.

Centurion

As powerful as standard infantry, but can move 5 hexes / turn. Also carry 8 TVLGs standard. Heavy infantry move 6/turn, heavier weapons than regular infantry (+1 damage). No mortar groups are allowed, however, nor any engineer groups.

The felines can pilot grav tanks perfectly fine, and, as there are no penalties/bonuses for any other race, neither any here for the felines.

Interceptor

Cizeraks cannot pilot Interceptors, their body form could not take the stress.

Leviathan
No change.

Page design/contents Kannik, 1997 
The Cizerack Race is © ODS/SSDC, from their game BattleLords.