The Farngashes are a race from the west of the galaxy, from the peculiar planet Farngash. In time they became the dominant power on their own world — not through technological development, but by growing a particular organ: the Farngash third horn, a kind of telepathic organ that works only on creatures of the Farngash fauna.
Having first subdued their home planet and then reached space, the Farngashes began to spread further and soon founded colonies on thousands of planets. Here and there one even finds Farngash mini-empires.
The chief role in Farngash society belongs to the power of the third horn: the most influential and powerful Farngashes are able to subjugate others — both fellow Farngashes and fauna.
In war they often use beasts, which act as a single mechanism under telepathic orders.
One peculiarity of the Farngashes is that they hunt the Avigaru race: an extract from the Avigaru spine markedly strengthens the third horn.
The Avigaru were the first race the Farngashes met after leaving their home system — and they were at once appraised in gastronomic terms. So began the long saga of the Farngash–Avigaru wars, in which the Avigaru were only prey. The wars ran for centuries, and over that time the Avigaru gradually developed and grew considerably in number, yet the wars went on all the same.
The Farngashes often remake their surroundings to suit their own notion of comfort. This is called Farngashforming, and it proceeds in several stages.
First, aggressive predators are released into the area to “clear” it of other dangerous animals. Then come the semi-sentient Farngash walking trees — exceedingly slow creatures that convert the planet's flora, making it edible for animals of the Farngash biome. Only in the third stage do the Farngashes themselves land.
Part of the Farngash holdings lie in the Grey Zone — a stretch of space that is hard to traverse and therefore convenient for those who avoid meeting other races. The Farngashes frequently leave it to raid civilised systems, and for neighbouring states this is a standing threat: expeditions into the Grey region are mounted from time to time, but the improvements they bring are short-lived, and the raids soon resume.
A Farngash is a dark creature on long, thin limbs, with a crest of sharp outgrowths on its head and red eyes. The beasts of the Farngash fauna betray the same stock: black angular bodies, spined withers and the very same red eyes.
In the order of the illustrations: a Farngash with his beasts beneath the vaults; a Farngash at full height; and the fauna itself — four of its forms, which go into battle under telepathic orders.