#pkunk

StarCon2 Ship References

The Pkunk (meaning "peace" in their own language) are wacky, toucan-like beings, an offshoot of the Yehat race. They are pacifistic mystics who claim to be in constant contact with the "spirit-world". They once lived on the Yehat homeworld of Gamma Serpentis I, but now reside in the Krueger constellation. It appears that the Alliance was vaguely aware of the Pkunk presence during the Ur-Quan Slave War; the Pkunk Sphere of Influence appears as the Sphere of an "Unknown" alien race on a 2133 Alliance HyperSpace star map. Anatomically, they are also birds, like their Yehat brethren, though their anatomy is extremely different, including an abnormally long middle finger.1 According to the Pkunk, it was when Weeny Wikki Beeki Birdi sat on the Mystical Egg of Icelike Temperature and gave the Original Squawk -- "Rup-Rup-Rup-BGAK!" -- that their transformation from Yehat to Pkunk began. While they love their distant brethren with all their hearts, the Yehat hate them with gusto. In spite of this, the Pkunk predict a day in which the Yehat will greet them with wings outstretched, beaks stuffed with grubs—which can happen indeed if the Veep-Neep Queen is removed from the High Perch of Caer Zeep-Reep. A Pkunk, Braky Girdy the First, will then replace her as Queen of the Yehat. Pkunk frequently talk about spirits, fortune-telling and other new-age kind of stuff (such as the Pootworm discourse) which usually amuses Humans. However, somehow their fortunes are always correct, which makes it probable that the Pkunk have a highly-advanced "sixth sense". The Pkunk do not value the material world, and consider it unimportant to even talk about such things as alliances and battleships. Because of this, and despite of this, they will give the captain a precursor artifact in their very first meeting, and also some ships for free once in a while. The Ilwrath are currently fighting a fanatical war against them, thinking themselves commanded by their twin gods Dogar and Kazon, and have already exterminated two-thirds of the Pkunk race. The Pkunk seem to take this war very casually though, telling the Captain, "We bear the spidery creatures no ill will. Without darkness there is no light. Without death there is no birth, and thanks to the Ilwrath there's lots of birth." [edit]Known individuals