Creature:Bryder

Bryders are a race of spacefaring merchants, indigenous to an unspecified planet. Despite their carnivorous nature, they are in fact surprisingly pleasant individuals. Their "empire" is known as the Great Trade Organization, and while the Bryders are willing to allow other species into this organization, the Bryders themselves still make up the majority of the affiliation.

Nothing means more to a Bryder than the art of the sale. While certainly a capitalist species, their culture has been defined by an advanced yet simplistic bartering system. Interestingly, it is not the overall amount of cash that raises an individual through the "sale classes" of their society, but instead how well they are at selling items, including bartering skills and ability to give the consumers amazing deals.

Bryders are very weakly territorial due to their carnivorous nature but their equally passive and peaceful culture causes this to never end in violence, or little more than a pleasant discussion when two Bryder merchants discover that they work close to one another. Even with this, they often do research to make sure they are not in operation within the same ships and the like. Because of their merchant culture and their trustworthy nature as they only wish to sample their wares, they are not picky in which affiliations they operate in, and therefore can be found in any affiliation that is not prejudice against other species. As such they are found in such a variety of affiliations as The Iskian Empire, the Space Pirates groups the Crux and the Scourge, the Zolacian Liberation Front; however, this is not the limit of the affiliations Bryder merchants are found working amongst by any means.

Statistics
Type: Warm-blooded bipedal terrestrial vertebrate Lifestyle: Social Carnivore Hunt/Forage Success Rate: 100% hunt Armor: Armored plates extend out of their spinal column that serves as protection against their former predators. Defenses: Outside of their armored plates and its offensive weaponry, a Bryder is defenseless. Weapons: Being evolved from a species of predators, Bryders possess clawed phalanges for slashing at and holding prey, as well as very sharp teeth for tearing through flesh. Tools: Two "scrawny" arms which end in two-digit hands. Method of Eating: Stereotypically, Bryders hunt down prey items which they chase and once within range, step down upon with their clawed feet, to pin them in place, sinking their toe claws in to injure the organism. Oftentimes the creature will be incapacitated by this and they will lift the leg pinning the creature, closing their toes around the being and bringing it up to their small arms. The arms will then grasp the incapacitated prey by digging their own claws in and bring it to the jaws to deliver the killing bite. Consumption of the flesh follows. Reproductive Rate: Bryders reach sexual maturity after approximately 40 years. Breeding occurs once every 3 years after this point, and will hold merchant vacations or have employees work for them during their absence. The mating ritual is approximately a month and a half long. Gestation: 7.5 months then lays a clutch of eggs. Offspring incubation: 2 months until egg hatches after being laid. Number of Offspring: 2-3 Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity): 98% -- they are raised by the mother within a closed-off section of their store, which allows them to be properly monitored and protected.