Biology & Diet
Tresh are scaled, bipedal creatures of soft build with a large feathered crest atop their heads. Their much debated current classification is 'reptomammalian' although they do not nurse their young. Tresh are warm blooded and ovoviviparous meaning they birth live young but the young are connected to a yolk sack and not the parent for nutrients. Tresh dental structures are carnivorous and fast growing, with new teeth below the gum line waiting to replace any that become broken or injured.

Short snouts with nostrils positioned above the muzzle assist Tresh in semi-aquatic hunting, as all life for Tresh began in the water. Tresh are able to move stealthily and use their crest to assist in positioning themselves underwater as well as signaling to one another while hunting on land.

Tresh hands and feet are wide and thick paddles equipped with retractable claws. The colloquial term for these are "mits". There is no true thumb on the Tresh hand, but instead 3-4 claw sheaths on each mit. The exact amount varies by region and sub type.

Ancient Tresh would work in groups to corral and stalk their prey, sometimes lying motionless just below the surface of the water for hours until their quarry let its guard down before striking. The scaled underbelly of the Tresh was adapted for lying upon stone riverbeds, lake beds and seabeds for lengthy periods of time without having to endure the abrasive discomfort of sand and grit.

While Tresh prefer to hunt aquatically, they will also use the same techniques for land hunting. The preferable habitat for early Tresh was traced to salt marsh dunes with deep, dense foliage to enable their creeping approach. Modern Tresh enjoy hunting in similar terrain, as well as spear fishing and "prey-wrestling". When unable to hunt for their own food, Tresh will live off of accumulated body fat and supplemental caloric intakes - but they find their appetite dwindles without a sense of communal cooperation involved in meals.

Sexual Dimorphism & Reproduction
The majority of Tresh fall into a binary configuration of sexuality, although personal expression appears to be of a singular Tresh gender and several adopted gender presentations from outside species. However, it is clear that Tresh reproduction results from the fertilization of an egg, which is gestated ovoviviparously. A Tresh identifying as a mother, father, or simply parent can be the carrier of the egg. This egg, like some Earth shark species, is kept within the Tresh body until the pup is ready for hatching.

When it is time to birth a pup, a Tresh will enter the water. The other members of the parent's pack, usually comprised of family or friends, take up points of defense in the water to ensure nothing happens to the newborn pup. A new pup is shepherded to the surface for their first breath of air. The pups are born with some remnant of their egg yolk sack still attached, and so must remain in the water until they are deemed strong enough to be separated from it or until they have absorbed enough of it to do so. Once free of the egg sack, the pup is carried or escorted to the shore by their pack.

Packs take the place of family units and community, and formation is primarily driven by the number of pups to number of adults ratio. They can range in size, with packs as small as 3 individuals and as large as 28 being reported - But on average, older individuals work together to raise one pup. Packs are often made up of younger Tresh with only one older Tresh acting as the leader, but some packs of more homogeneous ages are not unusual.

Courtship for Tresh before mating depends a great deal on signaling, flashing, dancing and displaying with their feathered crest. In fact, crest shape and color is a major factor in determining prospective mates. Tresh are able to see things beyond the basic human color spectrum in the feathers of their kin, and so even a Tresh with relatively drab plumage could be considered quite desirable. Additional considerations for a mate are if they are part of a pack already, what the behavior of their pack mates says about them, their prowess in hunting and their personal interpretation of Danoism.

Language & Culture
The primary spoken language among Tresh while interacting off world is known as Tur-Sashish, and consists largely of an amalgamated Tresh-originated pigin of gurgles and hisses, as well as grinding sounds made with teeth. The sounds are often unpleasant to alien ears. Tresh make a general effort to learn Uni when speaking to other species. Their teeth and lip structure gives most Uni speaking Tresh a slight lisp, which Myches especially find helpful to their understanding.

Tresh have a deep love of nature, and most of their formative philosophies are interpretations of how best to interact with ones' environment without causing too much strain or change to it. Tresh in general have foregone an industrial revolution based specifically on the amount of projected damage it would do to their current ecosystem. The earliest Tresh settlement to attempt any form of consumptive culture, Resher, had such an observable impact on the coastline nearby that it immediately heralded legislative and social change across the globe. Resher today has no active factories, and their buildings are currently used as museums and teaching tools to educate future generations on the importance of environmentalism.

As with most socially advanced species, Tresh eventually developed their own urban settings. The architecture styles founded by Tresh are naturalistic. Dwellings resemble large huts made of mud, sand and plant life. Cities and pack homes are typically found inland from water in order to protect from in climate weather. Tresh structures can be quite expansive and seem almost to grow from the surrounding soil to reach skyward.

The cities of Tresh are spaced much more widely than those of other urban species, each building requiring about 2-10 km of undisturbed nature around them, dependent on structure size. While capable of modifying the environment when survival warrants a need, they do their best to leave the vast majority of their planet - much of which they find inhospitable to dwell in - uninhabited.

Religion & Rulerism
The primary religion of most Tresh populations goes by the name of Danoism, and is a religion with its roots in worship of the natural world. Most important in its iconography is the part of any given ecosystem where the water meets the land. With their ancestors having ascending from animal status by virtue of their ability to hunt both on land and in water, as well as the need for new parents to return to the water and cold weather endured upon the land, this is not surprising. Building upon, modification of and disturbance of seaside ecosystems is seen as pure heresy. Occasionally, beaches on other planets (such as Earth) may find themselves harangued by Tresh protesters.

The philosophy of Danoism is a philosophy of preservation and care for the natural world. A Danoist could not and would not pay for products from a factory which was dumping, but might look the other way on violations of worker's rights as those do not directly affect the immediate environment. They might find a pang of physical pain awaits them with the realization that a building is venting its heat into the environment around it. A 'good' Danoist would recognize that sentient beings are also part of an environment and require rights, and if provided for will have the freedom to take care of their environment in turn, but some Tresh never manage to reach this enlightenment - for whatever reason.

Danoist holidays are largely dependent upon where on Draco-Eye IX a Tresh population dwells, as they mark the passage of things such as seasons and tides. A universally practiced Tresh holiday which can be equated to a celebration of the New Year is known as the 'first taste of mud' and takes place in accordance to when the first spring thaw reaches the most temperate zone of the Tresh home world. The celebration itself involves packs visiting and rolling in the mud and silt of nearby banks and shorelines before washing off in the water.

Tresh do not often take part in Rulerism, as Rulerism's roots to Earth and Earth's suspect history of environmentalism does not feel trustworthy to the Tresh. This, in addition to the Rulerists citing their originators as Human, all but caused the Tresh to laugh it off as a hoax - as to the Tresh, the true humans were the Andoians, and those Humans had no natural environment of their own to speak of at the time of the species' first meeting.

When Rulerist atrocities began to come to light, there was first little interest from Tresh populations to do anything. It was not until the eventual ravages upon the lands where fighting took place was brought before them that Tresh felt a pain of sympathy they could not ignore. Most Tresh now support the anti-Rulerist efforts, and many are involved as uprising strategists and organizers.

Technology & Alien Cultures
Located in a neighboring solar system to Gamma Draconis (Eltanin) Draco-eye IX is over 700 light years from Earth, meaning earliest Humanities interactions were actually the result of fourth or fifth generation mining settlers who would later become known as Andoians. It is important to note that Draco-eye IX is not the same as Draco IX, a binary solar system also located on the constellation of Draco. More than one space faring individual has accidentally found themselves in the barren Draco IX system when they intended for a bird watching holiday on Draco-eye IX.

Generally friendly to other species, Tresh adapt well to living environments with many different species. This has been attributed to their social familial structure of packs, but could also be because as environmentalists Tresh understand that variety is essential in an ecosystem for stability and survival. When in alien cities, Tresh tend to be overwhelmed socially and often only develop a deep social connection with a tight group of friends, avoiding locations like clubs or crowded gatherings.

Tresh technology is, as one might suspect, not particularly advanced. Most of their work is designed as a simulation or on paper without being produced due to a simple lack of dexterity and tool scarcity. While Tresh scientists designed theoretical computer chips, they never moved on to developing computers capable of moving them off-world out of fear for what it might mean to the planet's ecosystem for such production to be started. This has resulted in Tresh being considered less advanced than other species who have been evolving socially for a similar amount of time. Tresh will import most of their tools, or hire other aliens if they are in need of space travel.

With the advent of Jump Gates, Tresh became more prevalent in the wider galaxy at populated hub worlds like Contura. Draco-Eye IX has become a tourist destination for many nature-loving visitors because of the Tresh preservation efforts of their home planet's biomes have made for gorgeous habitats in which natural life can thrive. There has been talk in recent years of limiting the number of visitors to Draco-eye IX per year in order to allow the environment a chance to recover from alien visitation traffic, but so far there has been little evidence enough of tourist damage to advance this beyond speculative talk for the Tresh.

08/2020