New Sapient Aliens??: Scuds (Patreon)

This is still very much a work in progess, but I figured here was the best place to share early concept work.

These guys would be the 5th species of sapient alien in Runaway to the Stars, and knowing about their existance is.... maybe spoilers? The Staraways plot is very loose right now, being my most recent project, but these fellows will be discovered during the story. How contact is handled with them (vs the disaster that was first contact with centaurs) will be a big plot bunny.

Currently I'm trying to mash together amphipods, ostracods, and echidnoderms into a single adorable being the size of an ottoman. I still need to work more on their starfish cape, leg and body structure, but im pretty satisfied with their little retracted tentacle feeder hands. I am concerned about making them more than just a stereotypical "bug" alien... I'd normally solve this by mashing them with a mammal or something, but I already did that with bug ferrets so... we will see. I wasn't satisfied with avians till I gave them 6 chameleon eyes, so it'll probably be something random like that.

They're semi-aquatic creatures (they can breathe on land ok with damp gills) who live in intertidal zones. I haven't decided yet if they are in the swords and printing press civilization stage, or the cell phones and moon landing one. The main reason to not have the latter is: I have no idea how tech would develop underwater! Figuring out simpler underwater tech would be much easier for me... dammit, I'm a biologist, not an engineer.