The Verduran planets discovered that occasionally they have to send representatives offworld. Being Verduran, they bred a caste of Verdurans to take on this onerous task.
Appearance
Negotiator
A Negotiator looks like the male version of a Verduran Nymph: humanoid, with green skin and leaves for hair. They always look like they’re wearing a fashionable suit, even though close inspection reveals it’s actually just folds of the Negotiator’s skin in the shape of a suit.
Assistant
Each Negotiator has from half a dozen to two dozen Assistants. Assistants are androgynous enough to pass as either human gender depending on their clothing, a fact which they take advantage of from time to time. Like the Negotiator assistants have green skin and leaves for hair.
One in six of these Assistants is an “Executive Assistant” whose mission is not trade or logistics but intelligence gathering and spycraft.
Groundskeeper
Groundskeepers look like gnarled, gloomy old “elves” who move slowly. Apart from acting as drivers and, yes, groundskeepers, they also serve as bodyguards. When they need to they can move frighteningly fast.
Special Abilities
Negotiators are, if anything, even more charming than the Verduran Nymphs. They have multiple adaptations to make humans and humanoids like them, and to remember the details of every conversation.
Executive Assistants and especially Groundskeepers can move astonishingly fast, and defend themselves with retractable claws if no better weapon presents itself.
Otherwise the Mission Personnel seem like “ordinary” Verdurans. Like all Verdurans, they seem to be part of the pheromone-mediated Verduran hive mind … although they wield human tools especially well.
Tactics
Verduran Mission personnel always keep their eyes on their purpose:
- Get the best prices for Verduran goods.
- Leap any logistical, cultural, or economic hurdles.
- Discover if the “animals” are preparing some nasty surprise.
- Keep the humans (and others) happy and distracted.
The Negotiator, especially, will adopt the mannerisms of the humans around him to make them feel safe and confident. The Assistants, even the covert Executive Assistants, will project an aura of harried bureaucrats. The Groundskeepers will tend the grounds and keep the others safe.
Should the worst happen, the Groundskeepers have a contingency plan to load everyone into a starship – a picket refitted as a fast transport – and bug out.
Ecology
All Verdurans in the Mission – Embassy, Consulate, Branch Office, whatever – form their own little island of Verduran hive mind within the larger, colder city in which they live. They prefer to make their home in green spaces, but on some planets that’s simply not possible.
VERDURAN NEGOTIATOR (Nomad)
| Size | Stamina | Armor | Damage | C | K | P | So | St | T | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | 20 | 4 | 1D | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Archetype: Diplomat
Talents: Charming (FTLN p 21), Eidetic Memory (FTLN p 21)
Xenofauna Traits/Special Abilities:
- Hands
- Hive Mind (FTLN p 249)
- Hyper Touch (FTLN p 251)
- Immune to humanoid diseases
- Pheromone Communication (FTLN p 249)
- Sapient
- Vulnerable to fire (+1D)
Equipment: OmniComm (human tech), OmniComp (human tech)
VERDURAN ASSISTANT (Nomad)
| Size | Stamina | Armor | Damage | C | K | P | So | St | T | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | 17 | 4 | 1D | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Archetype: Merchant
Talents: Logistics Expert (FTLN 23), Eidetic Memory (FTLN p 21)
Xenofauna Traits/Special Abilities:
- Hands
- Hive Mind (FTLN p 249)
- Hyper Touch (FTLN p 251)
- Immune to humanoid diseases
- Pheromone Communication (FTLN p 249)
- Sapient
- Vulnerable to fire (+1D)
Equipment: OmniComm (human tech), OmniComp (human tech)
VERDURAN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT (Nomad)
| Size | Stamina | Armor | Damage | C | K | P | So | St | T | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | 17 | 4 | 1D+1D | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Archetype: Agent
Talents: Intelligence Analyst (FTLN p 23), Eidetic Memory (FTLN p 21)
Xenofauna Traits/Special Abilities:
- Claws/Teeth (FTLN p 248)
- Hands
- Hive Mind (FTLN p 249)
- Hyper Touch (FTLN p 251)
- Immune to humanoid diseases
- Pheromone Communication (FTLN p 249)
- Rapid (FTLN p 250)
- Sapient
- Vulnerable to fire (+1D)
Equipment: OmniComm (human tech), OmniComp (human tech), Stealth Pistol (2D)
VERDURAN GROUNDSKEEPER (Nomad)
| Size | Stamina | Armor | Damage | C | K | P | So | St | T | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | 23 | 4 | 1D+2D | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Archetype: Soldier
Talents: Bodyguard (FTLN p 19), Eidetic Memory (FTLN p 21)
Xenofauna Traits/Special Abilities:
- Claws/Teeth 2 (FTLN p 248)
- Fast (FTLN p 251)
- Hands
- Hive Mind (FTLN p 249)
- Hyper Touch (FTLN p 251)
- Immune to humanoid diseases
- Pheromone Communication (FTLN p 249)
- Sapient
- Vulnerable to fire (+1D)
Equipment: OmniComm, Semi-Auto Pistol (2D), Pulse Rifle (3D+3)