“May lightning strike you twice.” – Old Stishak blessing
The Stishak are also known as “The Children of Storms”. Their planet is wracked by lightning and thunder even at the most pleasant times of years and the Stishak use the lightning to give birth to their young.
When a Stishak couple want to bear children, one of them lays a hollow egg, which has a hole in it; the other one then fills the egg with a liquid. The egg is then taken to high ground to await the storms that frequent the Stishak homeworld. The egg attracts lightning and once the egg has been struck by lightning it is fertilised. The Stishak offspring then grows inside the egg, taking nourishment from the egg until it is ready to hatch.
The Stishak were the first alien species that humans had contact with and relations between the two species are very strong. Despite (or maybe because of) their tough upbringing, the Stishak are a generous people, giving Earth the Circle of Stars “book” detailing the planets and species that call this section of the galaxy home. Any Stishak that was on or near Earth when the Draydun came would be chomping at the bit to help Earth defeat the intruders. They will take charge if necessary but realise that clear lines of communication are essential in a crisis and they will not impose their will on the crew of Spaceship 47, but will be there to offer advice whenever it is needed.
For the Stishak, the hostile planet they live on makes them tougher than most other alien species. No other alien species would hope to beat the Stishak in a fair one-on-one fight. It is a shame then that so much fighting is done using these pesky machines.
The Stishak gets:
an additional equipment slot.
A +2 bonus to Fortitude
A better Endurance skill