Tursu

The Tursu are a species native to the planet Lecarud, which is infamous for its highly acidic environment.

Physiology
Tursu appear as pickle-shaped humanoids with four long legs and two arms, each with two fingers and an opposable thumb. They are green in color, covered in bumps. They evolved two large eyes on the sides of their heads which can look around in any direction, essentially giving them nearly 360 degree vision. Their eyelids can clean off dust, and it provides them underwater sight comparable to Earth's amphibians.

Like all animal life on Lecarud, the Tursu have acidic blood. To non-native species, it is extremely corrosive, but life on Lecarud has evolved for such a low pH to be the analogue of neutral pH for most environments. As a result, they cannot tolerate a pH at neutral or higher, and whatever water they drink must be diluted with sulphuric acid.

Culture
Tursu evolved a society that descended from aggressive, expansionist empires. They have reached a point in history where these imperial colonies have broken off to form their own nations. Already, they have had two planet-scale wars, and ever entered a period of unstable peace.

Being a pre space-flight species, the Tursu have limited knowledge on astronomy. They hypothesize the existence of extraterrestrials, but previous evidence has proven a hoax. They currently hold the belief that star systems are actually galaxies. Hence, they erroneously refer to interstellar travel as intergalactic travel. They also believe that the Milky Way Galaxy is actually the size of the universe, and Lecarud is just at the edge.

It customary to wear hats made out of aluminum as it is believed that these devices prevent one from being mind controlled.

Government
Being a pre-space civilization, the Tursu are not united. They are divided into at least 300 sovereign countries. The most powerful country, the Yoosaricka, is Lecarud's only superpower nation led by a democracy. Their economy relies on mass production. The country has large expanses of cornfield analogues and large industrial cities.