The Cochkala (Kosh-call-a) are a race in the Galactic Union.
They look like tall bipedal badgers. They have a smooth, flowing stride with long prehensile tails.
Their primary body language involves various motions of their tail, which are complex, sure, and capable of expressing any emotion. Facial expressions and movements of their forepaws tend to be minimal and serve to emphasize and supplement their tail expressions.
Much like terrestrial badgers, Cochkala are often determined and aggressive. However, these tendencies are usually directed them toward commercial, rather than military, endeavors. They have created an intricate system of corporations, stock exchanges, and trading networks which compete with all the ruthlessness and tactical acumen of the greatest generals in Earth's history.
Cochkala society is centered around a number of large clans, currently twelve major ones along with about forty smaller yet distinct clans. These serve in many ways as nations do on Earth. The primary difference is that clans are not geographically concentrated and borders, as understood on Earth, are not terribly relevant. Members of all clans can be found throughout GrBatch, and many customs and traditions have grown allowing for clans to work together without serious armed conflict.
Within each clan is a number of kinships. If clans could be considered nations, kinships might be considered provinces within the nations. Rivalries between kinships can often be more violent and damaging than rivalries between clans, but woe betide anyone from outside a clan who dares to involve themselves in such a conflict. When that happens, the kinships turn their wrath upon the outsider before resuming their own conflict.
The normal Cochkala naming convention is Clan'Name'Kinship. For example, Rhan’Kiial’Tala is Kiial, member of the Tala kinship of the Rhan clan.
Each of the clans and each of the kinships have their own corporation. These corporations invest as they see fit, not necessarily in clan and kinship businesses, but in whatever seems prudent. They also provide most charity works, serve to increase clan prestige, and run their educational systems. There are also more normal, inter-clan corporations, but the entire structure of Cochkala society revolves around these business arrangements. In other words, delving into corporate structures on GrBatch is much more challenging than those on Earth.
Each corporation is run with a number of regents. Many of these regents have specific tasks, serving as CFOs, COOs, and positions of that sort. Many others, however, are regents without portfolio. These regents are sometimes given specific tasks within the corporation, such as opening a new franchise or creating a new marketing campaign. Often, however, they simply serve as voting members within a corporation. As such, they are tremendously powerful and most Cochkala seek to become a regent during their life, as it is a great honor.
This combination of aggression and commercial focus combines, at times, to create a tense undercurrent to Cochkala society. Those members of the families who tend to be more pugnacious do not always fit well within their various corporate structures. This was a major problem for them until they joined the Galactic Union, which provided an outlet for their more fractious members. They can be found throughout the Galactic Union, often as mercenaries, criminals, and adventurers.
However, with their commercial focus, they are more commonly seen as merchants. It is no surprise they are members of the Wathayat Trading Consortium.
Home Planet: GrBatch
Pronunciation: Kosh-call-a