Full grown Histah are about 2.5 meters in height. On their head is a tall, fin-like dorsal ridge that extends through the center of the scalp and down the back to the base of the spine. They have sharp teeth and claws, and a large tail that is longer than their legs. They have three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand, and three claws and one dew claw on each foot. Their reptilian appearance distracts most humanoids.
Histah reflexes are sharper than normal Terran reflexes, and they can move quickly for a creature of their size and weight. Their skin provides extra protection from damage. They have nictating membranes to protect their eyes from extremes of light. Their eyes are on opposite sides of their head, giving them peripheral vision in addition to forward vision. They are used to a hot climate, and do not like cold. They have a second sense for dangerous situations. They live much longer than average, and have a very strong will.
Despite their danger sense advantage, they do not like psionic individuals. Their danger sense reacts to psionic use with "psychic static" causing mental discomfort. Other crewmembers with psionic abilities can use their powers outside their range of "psychic effects".
Histah once had a very violent society, with a lot of fighting between families, tribes, and clans. In addition, they had to overcome other predators on their homeworld. Over time, this feuding was replaced with a desire to excel in fields like science, business, or engineering. This was not an overnight conversion, but started with a single family and spread slowly; first to the rest of their tribe, then to the rest of their clan, and finally to the entire race. This has continued up to the current time.
Their Code of Honor devotes them to family first, tribe second, clan third, and race fourth. They still have some clan, tribal, and family feuds, although these have mostly been changed to the "We can do better than you" stage. Enemies" frequently take the form of a different clan, tribe, or family. They also have close ties to the Histah race. Given the choice between anything and another Histah, a Histah always chooses another Histah first. The interrelationships between family, tribe, clan, and race are considered by Federation historians to be similar to Terran Native Americans.
Histah society is now exploration/colonization based. They have finally reached the borders of the Federation. They have several dozen systems under their control, called the Collective. Strangely enough, Histah never had encountered any other intelligent races up to the point when their border met the Federation. The Histah and the Federation are tentatively investigating a union of their borders, in a compact similar to the Klingon peace treaty. This is the first time in Federation history that an intelligent race has contacted them first.
Histah have a three-part name. The example we will use is: Barshen'kas Li'Ar Shan'hadar. (This is pronounced: Bars- hen-khas Lee-Arr Shan-ha-dar.) The first part is really more like a planetary rank than a name. The "Bars" section shows that this individual has been decorated by the government of the Histah more than once. One decoration is indicated by "Bar". No "Bar" or "Bars" would indicate no decorations. The decorations are not given by the Histah government easily or lightly. It is considered a great honor to be decorated once. More than once indicates an exceptional individual. The "Hen'kas" is a rank, in this case close to our "Captain". The "Li'Ar" is similar to our first name. The example would allow friends to call him "Lee", but only in private. The "Shan'Hadar" is a combination of a family and a tribal name, with the "Shan" being the family name, and the "Hadar" being the Tribal name. Clans are indicated by decorations on their clothing or bodies.
Histah prefer to eat their food live, but have made small concessions in their diet since their meetings with the Federation First Contact teams.
