Many of my colleagues have described the Mursk as “ugly sonsofbitches.” However, I find such crude descriptions to be counterproductive. After all, they do provide the galaxy with simply astonishing technology and research. Anyways, these creatures are by no means pleasing to the human eye.

Upon reaching maturity, they can be upwards of eight or nine feet for the men and seven or eight for the women. The children, on the other hand, are born at around two feet tall and remain this height for most of their childhood. It isn’t until they reach around ten that they undergo their maturation. They will grow rapidly over the course of a few months until they reach their adult height. I can only theorize the reasons behind this. Perhaps, many thousands of years ago, during their early tribal stage, they needed to grow quickly so as to avoid some predator.

In terms of their skin, it is almost sickly white. The children are born with a hint of blue, but that goes away as they grow older. Their bodies appear to have hardly any musculature as seen with their nearly pencil-thin physical stature. I suppose they have never needed to use their bodies in any physically intensive manners. They have always been ones to use their brains to solve their issues rather than brawn.

The Mursk have spectacular vision, which further contributes to their scientific might due to their inherent ability to see more than other species. They have pentachromatic vision, which allows them to see far more colors than us humans. It is impossible for us to even imagine how the Mursk see.

-Excerpt from A Dive into the Mursk by Diane Morrows

The Mursk are among the most interesting species in the galaxy.

Their cultural and political atmospheres are among the most unique in the entire galaxy. Their entire culture and political environments stem from the pursuit of science. They have entire universities dedicated to a certain field of science. I have had the pleasure to visit a few of their universities, and I must say, the work done there is incredible. I saw the research being done at their Material Sciences University at their capital on Mursk Prime. Their research in that field is decades ahead of our own work. The same can be said for the other universities I toured: the Electrical Engineering College and the University of Natural Sciences. If I had more time there, I definitely would have gone to some of their other schools.

Despite their thirst for knowledge, the Mursk remain faithful to their species’ oath. They vow to never put others’ lives at risk for their studies without their consent. This oath largely holds true for everyone except for a select few.

These Mursk, called Rogue Mursk, reject their oaths and will do anything to further their understanding of their fields. These people are thrown out of the Mursk society and forced to go into exile where they will not be able to access any of the resources they would have otherwise had access to. However, this does not prevent them from researching. These Mursk have been known to abduct members of sapient and non sapient species. In fact, we believe a number of humans have been abducted throughout our history.

Even though these Mursk are rejected from the greater Mursk society, their research has still been used by the species as a whole. While no one can deny the work, they accept it begrudgingly. They might not like where the research is coming from, but they would be idiots for ignoring it.

-Excerpt from Inside Mursk Society by Robert Wilde

Holy shit.

They’re saying I was in a cryochamber for twenty years because of the Rogue Mursk. I always knew they were an issue, but why did they have to abduct me?

I was sitting on my couch drinking some tea, and then bam! A fucking spaceship destroyed my roof and these metal arms plucked me out of my home.

There goes my progress on my Master’s degree. I doubt the university is going to let me continue where I left off though. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw away my research because of my time away.

But, on the other hand, the Mursk did offer me a spot in one of their universities to further my studies. I know they are doing this because they feel bad for the Rogue Mursk abducting me though.

Considering what I heard about them before my abduction, maybe I should take them up on their offer. I bet I could have access to research and utilities far beyond what we have here on Earth.

Besides, I hear the weather this time of year over there is particularly nice.

-Diary Entry from a Human Student

The Mursk are a studious and scientific species. This can go without saying.

However, there is one week in the year where they appear to abruptly change personalities: The Festival of Colors. The Mursk abandon their work and let themselves enjoy a time of relaxation, partying, and color.

Even with human eyes, the festival is something to behold. Through the eyes of the Mursk, however, their pentachromatic vision enables them to see far more colors than us. The streets of their cities are filled with, as the festival’s name would suggest, color.

All throughout the streets, Mursk dress up in various bright colors and dance and eat. It truly is something I would recommend anyone to go see.

The origins of this festival are hazy and vague at best, but I am sure it must have originated from their ancient religion that has largely been forgotten. Now, the festival represents a time to come together with family and friends. This is not unlike Christmas on Earth. It had religious origins, but that ultimately changed as more people from different cultures and religious backgrounds began celebrating the holiday.

If anything, the festival on Mursk Prime bears a strong resemblance to Mardi Gras in the United States.

I have been fortunate enough to attend the festival these past two years.

I have found the Mursk have only minor alterations across the planet with the festival. However, on their other planets, there are significantly greater changes to the festival to account for the differences in gravity, food options, etc. I went to one festival on Mursk Prime and another on their second planet, Beta.

Beta is a significantly cooler planet, and as such, the Mursk there are still dressed up in bright colors, but in much warmer clothing. After all, their bodies do not have very developed temperature regulation due to the mild climate on Mursk Prime.

Regardless, I found the atmosphere of the parties to be more muted on Beta compared to Prime. Rather than large parties in the streets on Prime, there tended to be smaller gatherings of family and friends who would relax around fires sharing stories with one another.

I think I prefer the Festival of Colors on Beta.

-Excerpt from On the Festival of Color by Dylan Yang