Alien Race: The Ulgrah Conglomerate

Going through my old Shatterzone books and my old Shatterzone NPC code gave me an idea to add stuff to it. One of the more attractive parts of the game material was the wide variety of art they would throw into the game. Some of that art was simply fluff with no stats or explanation. Here is one that appeared twice by two different artists – once in one of the Shatterzone care books and again in the Through the Cracks sourcebook.

The Ulgrah are a bolter race that arrived into through the ‘Zone long before the Consortium and Fleet discovered the ‘Zone. By the time Fleet arrive in their region, the Ulgrah had established a small sovereign stellar nation designated as Ulgra’han Conglomerate. According to them, they controlled a power empire on the other side of the Shatterzone, until it was conquered by a race they simply called the Others. Once can only assume these Others were some force associated to the Aramgons.

The Ulgrah are a proud and honorable race but some see them as savage and barbaric. Typically, an average member Ulgrah are considerably larger and stronger than the average human, but not as dexterous. They are a proud warrior race with a strict code of honor and complex social protocols.

The refugee fleet that ultimately penetrated the ‘Zone contained only a few hundred ships, a vast majority of them were military. Finding many vulnerable settlements of other Bolter races, they immediately sought out conquering whatever they could find. The first world they conquered was a relative paradise – perfect for human life. They subjugated a small settlement of bolters there, and established a garrison colony. They remaining force continued to conquer other worlds as if seeking something very specific. They found it on the 5th world they conquered – a world they later designated New Ulgra’han.

The Ulgrah say that their original homeworld – Ulgra’han – was a harsh one. They have a word for the type of world they were looking for – Dizel’chebadoxop – that loosely translate to the anvil and hammer that forms a sword, meaning the harsh world that tests and forms the type of warriors they expect in their society. Their young mortality rate is very high, so it is not uncommon to see families of 10 or 12 children. Those that survive to adulthood are granted a warrior name when they are of age and given position within society. Everything in their society is harshly earned and survival of the fittest is a way of life to an Ulgrah.

It is said the Ulgrah are distantly related to the Ixici or had encounters with them. Perhaps a progenator of the Ulgrah were once allies or enemies of the Ixici. Much of the Ixici ancient technology found by the Zeenarches seems to have a strange reaction to the Ulgrah. Additionally, their is a legend within Ulgrah society that non-Ulgrah only know pieces of – because most Ulgrah are not worthy to learn the ways of the Ulgrah – that tells of Ancient ancestors fighting a great war against a powerful enemy with magic weapons. It is assumed that the Ulgrah faced off against an ancient alien advanced force and beat it back – perhaps the Ixici.