Drazi

The Drazi are a sapient, spacefaring species of reptilian humanoids from the planet Zhabar. Their government is known as the Drazi Freehold.

They were members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and its successor, the Interstellar Alliance.

Biology
Drazi are a reptilianoid species with a typical humanoid body plan: two arms, two legs and no tail. Their skin is hairless and covered in scales. Skin coloration varies widely, including many shades of grey, green and purple. Their blood is white.

Male Drazi have a hidden pouch under the left arm, which is part of their reproductive system.

Culture and society
In the past, the Drazi were an outdoor species which only came indoors when necessary. Their houses were accordingly built with small internal spaces and very large balconies. By the 23rd century, however, this lifestyle has been largely abandoned and most of them live indoors, like most other humanoids. Drazi cities are traditionally built with very narrow streets, to make it difficult for invading armies to penetrate them.

Every five years, the Drazi population engage in a traditional combat, more sport than civil war, but taken extremely seriously by them. The Drazi split themselves into two factions: one wearing green sashes and the other purple sashes, and fight each other continuously. They usually don't go as far as to kill members of the opposing team, but such occurrences haven't been unheard of. The winning faction becomes the dominant one for the next five years. What sets this tradition apart from similar disputes among other species is that no cultural, religious or ideological factor determines which side each Drazi is on, they merely choose green or purple randomly. In spite of that, participants still see the other side as inimical and can become downright ruthless in their ambition to defeat them. Leadership of the green and purple factions is also fickle: whoever successfully takes the sash from the leader becomes the new leader. Even non-participants, such as members of other species, can become leader of a Drazi faction in this way.

History
The Drazi achieved spaceflight in the 15th century.