Melnorme

Melnorme, as far as we know, are a race of traveling traders in information and technology. They appear as several yellow globs piled on top of each other, with a large smile placed upon it, and a single eye set in the middle.

The Melnorme's basic culture revolves around exchanges of items, info and commodities. They believe that giving without receiving is barbaric. The Melnorme lustly search for new information about biological creatures and the ominous Precursor Rainbow Worlds.

Melnorme are highly sensitive to color. Their bridge has a colorful background that changes to fit their mood. Red is for travel, Purple is for trade and When you meet a Melnorme with a blue bridge, know that he is locking his weapons systems on your ship.

It is suspected that they are the Mael-Num who once escaped from annihilation by the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah but the Melnorme say nothing about it. The evidence does point that way, both because of their similar names and because the Kohr-Ah have referred to the Mael-Num as "one-eyed creatures". The fact that the Melnorme keep the locations of their homeworlds secret adds weight to the claim.

The Trader ship, while not designed as a warship, is still capable of defending itself. Its charging Powerblaster Fearton Torpedos are known as the one thing that can actually absorb an Ur-Quan Fusion Blast and the Confusion Ray is capable of half crippling a ship's nav and special systems. Also of note is the travel mode of the Melnorme ship. They are never found in Hyperspace (unless they come looking for you) and are generally encountered only around supergiant star systems. It is suspected, though unsubstantiated, that they use these enormous gravity wells to access some other dimension for even faster interstellar travel.