Deck Ape

Deck apes are clearly simian but taller and leaner than ordinary apes, with brown body hair, a shaggy mane framing the face, and a jutting muzzle full of long fangs. Loose flaps of skin run between their arms and legs; raising the arms overhead stretches these taut for gliding. They have no tails, and their feet are as nimble as their hands, complete with opposable thumbs.

Natural warriors, deck apes can use any weapon a human can and can wield two at once, gripping them with both hands or with a hand and a foot, without the usual penalty. Long swords, spears and halberds are favorites. Rigging, masts, trees and sheer surfaces pose no problem; they climb as 10th-level thieves, and they glide one foot forward for each foot they descend.

In ship-to-ship battles they leap toward an enemy hull, looking for a place to land and fight. If none appears, they drop past the vessel through its gravity plane, rise on the far side three-quarters as high as they fell, and curve around to attack from the opposite direction.

Though they cannot travel space on their own, deck apes are famous hard workers and are hired everywhere as crew and mercenaries. Young adults of both sexes train together in companies of 20 or 30 and seek a captain to serve. The greatest honor is to sign on with elves, an alliance dating from a great war against the orc hordes, when the apes proved to have more conscience and culture than the orcs they had been lumped with and fought at the elves' side. The elves have paid them well ever since, though they never treat them as equals. Only when too old for adventure do deck apes settle on a world to mate and raise young.

Their needs match a human's, though they will happily eat grubs and insects and prefer warm or tropical climates. Dressed properly, they manage cold weather and human food without complaint.