Memo: List of Races

Sent: 7-213-784 S.C.T.
Edition: 2.37542345324532
Rule appended:2-417-a
It has come to our attention that there are over two-million complaints being lodged against certain coaches and the teams that are currently in operation very year. It has also come to our attention that 50% of these concern the races which have been brought into the Grid, and also 35% of them are lodged against coach Felmen Dedle's Ohgore Basha's. So, just as a quick recap, there is no rule against having a team made up entirely of one race (even if they are Ohgorez, and even if they ate your daughter). However, there is a set list of preapproved races which are allowed into the Grid, and we shall follow with a brief description of each:
1.Humans
-The Humans who find themselves in the Grid are often drawn from all walks of life, from politicians who were framed for scandals, to hardcore criminals on their final visit. The type of player a human will produce is very wide ranging: from a player who is fast but can't take a hit to tough revolver gun toting maniacs. Even players from the same world won't necessarily play the same way: but generally Neutral space humans are quiet, but determined, B.S.S. are arrogant and gun-ho, Empire humans are simple but loyal, the Syber are Zealous but thick, and the Heresy are shrewd but weak.
2. Trolz
-Trolz are some of the oddest of all the races to come across, Standing at an impressive 7 feet, with three tusks coming from their mouths (two going up on the sides, one going down in the middle), huge muscular strength, and coming in a multitude of skin colors seen only in the greatest of drug trips. The only thing weirder then their looks is their personality. Trolz are very odd creatures: when a single Trol is left to his own devices their first instinct is to get to the nearest population center. When among crowds or races, they will adopt a style of thinking along the lines of the group they are with, but will do so in a very direct manner. When among other Trolz: only their imagination and morals can limit what they do. If one Trol starts dancing, the others will join in. If one of them starts killing, only a full blown military response can stop them, and even then...
3. Technos
-For as long as there have been sentient life among the stars, there have been Technos, but, over the eons, they grew more sophisticated and became smarter. Sadly, there are people who abuse this and turn these minions into criminals, but fortunetly for us, they are quite a show here in the Grid. Amazingly, no Techno has ever been built specifically with fighting in the Grid in mind (mainly due to laws). They come with an array of advanced weaponry and can always be rebuilt, no matter how many times you blow them to pieces; just so long as you pay the janitors for the bits lost.
4. Vergession
-The Vergession Empire is a hollow shell of its former self, devastated by the Werenaughts, still reeling from Da Blud Kersad, and nearly obliterated by the War of Darkness, they have been reduced to mercenaries who will pretty much take any job that comes their way, for a fancy price. On very rare occasions, their mission fails and they are captured by their foes who force them into the Grid, or they are desperate and hire themselves out to a Coach. When in the Grid, their bloody hit-and-run attacks are a crowd favorite often ending in whole teams being wiped out in one go, and their ability to stay alive and make cover out of almost anything means they have a longer career then most.
5.Frawd
- Coming from the Heavy Stars, the Frawd are one of the many races that makes up the B.S.S., but they don't really care for it. They prefer to be left to their own devices, or, to explore the universe and gather many thrilling stories along the way. Yet, some of these adventures, due to a miss-placed word and a "accidentally" fired small arm lead them to the Grid, but that's OK, cause then they'll get even more great stories to tell. They are experts with explosives and are renowned for their skills as sappers and demolitioniers.
6.Shel'veok
-The Shel'veok are another race which makes up the B.S.S., often becoming ambassadors due to their kind and delicate nature. They are very caring, and will try to stop conflicts when ever they can help it. However, this often means they will walk into the middle of gang or bar fights, and get arrested with everyone else and (because they ruined the fun and won't not tell on people) they often are accused of starting the whole thing and get the Death penalty. The Coaches, in the kindness in their hearts and wallets, will take the to the Grid to have them prove their innocence before the "judges". Amazingly, their skills at ranged weapons are second to none, and the fact that some of them can use Force Shields as weapons just makes them all the more interesting.
7.Ohgorez
-Legend goes that, after the Trolz overthrew their masters, there were five main tribes under five Werlads: Big Rad, Blud Spila', Bone Nawa', Skin Flaya', and Blok 'ead. The Trolz under Big Rad went on to conquer Caliwaja, the "Capital" of all the Trolz and the home to Da' Geza Kountzel. The Trolz under Blud Spila' went on to launch Da' Blud Kersad, which wiped out almost an eight of all military personal at the time. The Trolz under Bone Nawa' simple vanished and Skin Flaya's' Trolz went into the Maelstrom and haven't been seen since. The Trolz under Blok 'ead went to a dense cluster of stars known as Da Ded Starz which was filled with a large number of high gravity planets, ion stars, and red dwarfs which would of killed, or at least made very sickly, any creatures. Being Trolz, however, they simply said "SKREW YA LOGIK UND SIENSE!" and actually became incredible muscle bound and tall, and they kept up their skills by hunting anything which strayed into their space. Eventualy they, and their Haflen counterparts, evolved into a distinct knew species known as the Ohgorez. The Ohgorez who find themselves in the Grid are there because, the Heb Gablen who owned him decided that was better then trying to break out of prison, and because they can eat people and NOT get in trouble for it (some coaches encourage it{like Felmen Dedle's Ohgore Basha's-ed.}).
8.Urkein
-Conquer, Expand, Dominate. This is the driving phi of the the Urkein Hegemony. The Urkein are a very expansion based race, and they will launch large scale universe based invasions known by such colorful titles as "Operation: Death to Every Inferior Race", backed up by their top notch military system. To ensure that minimum casualties are sustained, they will plant Envasers ("He who tells us all their is to know about a particular planet that we put him on" is a rough Empirical Speak translation) years in advance to learn everything their is about the culture and to ruin it from the inside. Unfortunately, the Urkein's eyes lake the ability to distinguish skin color, and their short height and blunt nature means the Envasers stick out like a sore thumb at a toe convention.  If the Urkein invasion fails (which it often does), prisons are filled to the brim with them, and a great way to motivate them to join the Grid is to say the Rallsens (The Highest One(s)) want them to.
9.Renten
-The Renten are another one of the {numerous -ed.} races that make up the B.S.S., but they are incredibly trigger happy and are quick to anger, but also very good at hiding. So much so that they are mainly used as assault troops in the B.S.A., occasionally planted in advance to an invasion and hiding out in sewers and the like until the invasion comes. Unfortunately, the invasion sometimes never comes, and they end up surrendering (if the odds are against them), or they attack before the invasion gets there, which results in complete failure. In the instances of their surrendering, the prisons will become filled to the brim with thousands of highly irritable creatures hell bent on making the life of any of their wardens a living hell. It is no wonder that wardens will offer up all of their Renten on a special discount deal to Coaches, BEFORE they actually receive any of them; or for that matter, before the coach actually asks to see any.
10.Serash
-Slimy, creepy and freaky to the extreme. The Serash were once a bane to the Galaxy, with swarms that could blot out the stars. But then their High-Queen died (most likely by assassination) and the lesser Queens are now fighting for dominance amongst themselves. Many Serash attempt to flee and seek refuge among other planets. But the Serash nature (which revolves around gathering what they can and either fleeing from or killing those who stand in their way) gives them a one way ticket to prison. Many Coaches would love to get their hands on a bunch of Serash, because there fights are always filled with blood and gore. The Serash even have a habit of eating the dead, either of others or their own, and their blood is a luminescent green, which can be seen from the furthest seats.

If someone happens to come across another race, and wishes to use them in the Grid, please respond to this memo with a description of what they are like and we will reply at our earliest convenience. Otherwise, please feel free to question this list with a response.

A Breif History of Ferrum Grid, authored by Nathanal Utzle

Ferrum Grid is a brutal game, whose name is derived from the way in which the contestants are contained. Many generations of people have watched Ferrum Grid and all enjoy it, from the youngest human to Vergessions many hundreds of years old, as the game touches at the most basic of desires in any species: a lust for bloodshed. Ferrum Grid started in the Zanabarian Empire shortly after the Blud Kersad, in which prisons were filled to the brim with prisoners of war, as well a deserters, and many planets had to be turned over simply to facilitate all these new convicts. They were a drain on already empty coffers, and the sheer number of prisoners meant that fights would break out all the time over outrageous shortages of even the most basic of necessities. Some of the prison worlds even revolted, as the sheer number of prisoners won over the guards, who were often outnumbered ten-thousand to one. The Emperical Army had to be called in to help deal with these riots, but they were still cleaning up Trols from over a thousand different worlds, and were already stretched to the breaking point.

Then, some people from the newly discovered Binary Star Senate went to the Empire on a diplomatic mission, and were baffled by the large numbers of prisoners. They had also noted that all of the prisoners were still in fighting condition, but did not want to fight for the Empire. Eventually, they went to Zanabar himself, and proposed a solution for all the prisoners. They proposed that prisoners should be allowed to be bought by people called "coaches" who would then have them fight to the death in an arena, where those who survived a certain number of matches were granted their freedom. Zanabar at first refused to allow such a sport to exist, but, at the urging of his military and civil advisers, he reluctantly gave in.

The first coaches were the social elite of the Empire (mainly the advisers) and the games were brutal free-for-all affairs, with death rates almost triple that of current games. Men were thrown into the Grid almost as fast as the bodies from the matches were carried off. In fact, during the first two hundred years only one man ever survived twenty matches. But the crowds loved the game almost as much as the prisons did, as almost all of the prison worlds were shut down due to lack of inmates. After the Analog Rebellion, the rules for Ferrum Grid were changed to restrict teams to only allow five contestants to be in the gird at a time and they also produced an official list which restricted what races and equipment could be taken.

Rather then ruining Ferrum Grid like many experts expected, the fact that their was now objectives for contestants to complete, and also allowing body armor, meant that teams lasted longer and more people actually finished their twenty matches then ever, creating team and contestant loyalty and making Ferrum Grid the single most popular thing in the galaxy since oxygen. The sheer scale of the galaxy means that team loyalty is often contained to a single floor of a city, but the recent advent of image-stream-display-arrays, means that matches can be broadcast around an entire sub-sector, and some teams often have followings on whole star systems. During times of unrest, governments often sponsor tournaments, and on more then one occasion, a revolt has been averted due to a well timed match between well known teams. However, one should not judge how thrilling Ferrum Grid is simply by reading about it in a book: they should go and experience it by watching a local match. Or, if you want the best experience, you can become a Coach, and direct the Grid instead.