MysticWind
Warlord
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2008
- Messages
- 108
I was bored, and inspired by Mass Effect's approach to designing space opera aliens, I created this- basically reskinning each of the different races in GalCiv, plus adding a few based on Starships Unlimited. If I get any responses, I'll continue this.
Major
Drengin Imperium
Proof that if there really was someone behind the duplication of Humans with Altairians, they continue to seed similar life elsewhere with a sense of humor. Vaguely hominid, the Drengin and their Imperium have a terrible reputation as barbarians, schemers, and invaders. All true, to some extent, but much of it is simply bad press; the Drengin have no concept of "just war" or any benevolent "rules of engagement." Attacking civilian populations, refusing to keep prisoners, destroying surrendered vessels are all acceptable tactics in a war by the Drengin, as long as they are justified within the grand strategy. No unnecessary sadism- only what's necessary to terrify their opponents. The Drengin are brutal expansionists, but they do not seek to openly engage their neighbors, provided powerful enough, with the Arceans the main exception. The Drengin Imperium has the foremost biologists, anatomists, and life scientists of the entire galaxy- little wonder for a polity that has no qualms against using bioweapons. Currently, there is another period of cold war between the two glaring empires- the Drengin are often patient, despite their fondness for seeking out any possible strategy, tactic, or weapon. Despite the hulking nature of Drengin Kaotodo Shocktroops, the Imperium does have numerous infiltration and black ops teams.
Arcean Empire
It is said that the age-long war between the Arceans and the Drengin were not caused over ancient grievances, but a larger ideological struggle between those who wage righteous war and those who reject the very concept of war crimes. Order against discord, in other words. That is of course wrong, as the previous (Sixty-seventh) Arcean-Drengin War was fought over the very concrete reason of the Arcean Emperor deciding that the Drengin Potentate could stand to lose a few border systems that she simply hadn't sent enough settlers to. "You call that sort of neglect colonization?" and so forth. All of the predecessor conflicts have also had surprisingly solid rationales. That said, the Arceans do indeed possess a kind of honor in their warfare- a very stultified, strict sense of legal war. This was formed not from any particular concern or kindness, but out of a near-religious ritualization of the practice, originating in ancient Arcea, between the unified houses under the legendary Archan and the other sentient (and now extinct) species of the planet. The Arcean Empire has not lost any of its appetite for conquest, but is not above cooperation with other nations. The reason for why first contact had went so well between Earth and Arcea was because one of the Primal Tenets glorified exchange of knowledge with newly-discovered races- after all, they may prove to be future allies against one's enemies. Especially against the Drengin.
Altarian Concord
(Altarian male)
(Altarian female)
Perhaps it was best that humanity did not have the Altarians as their first contact with an alien species. Many things could have gone wrong when a pre-interstellar travel species meets a spacefaring one that looked physically identical to them, possessed an elaborate unified moral code, and preterphysical powers that seemed like the stuff of magic and mysticism. Hailing from Ara Centauri, known as "the Altar" to Earth, the Altarians swiftly spread across their neighborhood of the galaxy, becoming the dominant race, rather reminiscent of the human experience. But while Earth was always internally divided between multitudes of polities, the Altarians had formed a monoculture early on in their history, with one dominant (but not overly evangelistic) belief system devoted to cultivating a "Great Balance" with the cosmos. Instrumental to their faith was their ability over "primons", the still little-understood power to manipulate elemental forces, including (but not limited to) dark energy.
But even as they spread forth from their cities- hybrid metropolises incorporating the wilderness, with large parks and areas for meditation among natural beauty- they disrupted their planetary roommates, the Drath. The latter race, forging its own path and without primonic powers, rejected the Altarians and their beliefs. Suspicion became fear, and fear became anger, and anger became hatred, and the two species came to blows, finally resulting with most of the Drath leaving the planet in giant arks to find their own future among the stars.
The Altarians, in a story heard so many times in other races' histories, discovered that both their civilization had consolidated and their technology advanced during this period of great warfare. In a golden age, they simultaneously rebuilt the natural beauty of their planet, colonized their celestial neighborhood (careful to avoid areas where the Drath had gone), and mastered primonic power. As they came to meet other sentient species, the Altarians promoted peace, even if most did not agree with their Great Balance. To this they reacted as benevolently as they could, learning from their experience with the Drath. Instead of attempting to promote their morality as a belief, the Altarians aspired to show its works with actions, applying it to their interactions with other species, both in peacetime and in war. Though the Altarians are generally considered to be a species that is positive for the galactic good, they are often seen as arrogant, finding their beliefs to be superior to any others'. The recent discovery about the Bygoners, and that primonic abilities are not unique to themselves, have caused great disquiet among their society. To them, there is nothing more shocking than a Drath who can manipulate primons. Even now, there is the fear of religious strife between practitioners of the Great Balance. The story of the Altarian Concord is one that humanity could learn much from, both as a model of success and as a cautionary tale.
Drath Legion
(Drath leader)
(Drath elder)
(Draken)
The tragedy of the Drath is that for most of the species' existence, its history revolved around the activities of the Altarians. But this was not true of the species' beginning, nor is it necessarily true today. The Drath Legion is made of many societies divided into familial lines, formed over centuries from sentience to space colonization. A race of warm-blooded reptilians, they eked out a happy existence on Ara Centauri 3, both in the deserts and the grasslands of the planet. Like other species, the Drath lines first discovered agriculture, then urban life, and then progressed through different forms of political sophistication. But as travel likewise advanced, they became aware of another sentient species on the other side of the world: the Altarians, or in the Drath language, the "Elementarists." Unfortunately for both species, multiple Drath societies had spoken of the coming of a "dark race" that would spell doom for their race. This proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is uncertain who struck first, though ironically both species claim it was themselves. After a meeting between a military exploration group from the Firetooth line and an Altarian ministerial envoy turned violent, the Altarians and Drath waged the Long Vendetta that would last for four generations. Though the Drath were physically superior to the Altarians, their strength, intelligence, and cunning were doomed by slow birthrates, and were soon outnumbered by the non-saurians. Over this vendetta, both developed space travel adequate for interstellar colonization. In the end, much of the natural beauty of the planet was destroyed, but not to an irreparable state. 95% of the Drath lines, their societies under the umbrella of the allied military command known as the Legion, decided to leave their homeworld in self-imposed exile. Their luck changed, and the new planet proved to be almost a paradise for the Drath Legion, and the societies and lines flourished on their adopted world, their cultures resuming once more undisturbed.
In a situation where large-scale warfare between the lines was unprofitable at best and dangerous for the entire race at worst, the Drath developed a Byzantine system of espionage and covert feuding. Politics and trade for the Drath is so full of underhanded moves and misdirection that would have made the Renaissance Venetians proud. Despite the Legion's military roots, the government does not spend much treasure on building armies or fleets; instead, it hires mercenaries or the rivals of their enemies to do the dirty work. Dealing with the hard-headed, ideological Altarians for centuries has created a sense of appreciation of subtlety in the Drath; it was quite difficult to figure out ways to cause a monocultural enemy to fight amongst themselves and leave you alone. Though the Legion is no slouch at warfare, either. During the Long Vendetta, Drath scientists tapped into bioengineering to morph test subjects into warriors molded for battle, possessing greater size, strength, and speed than their baseline brethren. This new subspecies, the "Draken", came to be a respected class in Drath society, though care was taken to prevent animosity between them and baselines. If anything, most Draken are either too busy protecting the interests of the Legion as a whole, or being hired to fight in shadow wars between different lines.
The Drath in general still miss their old homeworld, and bear a grudge against their old roommates. Though only a few die-hards wish to reclaim the planet, most Drath in general would not hesitate to arrange a situation where the Altarians face suffering. There is still a collective belief that the Elementarists are an evil species, created by the Bygoners or some other powerful group for the purposes of mischief. They reject the mysticism of their rivals, and have recently discovered a way to summon some primonic powers using advanced technological implants. Armed with the Draken biomorph warriors, proto-primonic powers, and the most advanced espionage system in their region of the galaxy, the Drath Legion seeks glory for all of its lines at the expense of the Altarians. Truly, they are the 20 foot-tall, one-ton beasts in the room.
Minors
Robot Republic
Humanity's metallic stepchild. The roots of this polity stretch back to an unfortunate mistake by one of humanity's greatest heroes. Shortly following the Donation of Parchan, humanity installed a miniaturized version of the hyperspace generator into a small exploration vessel. The Z-41 Phoenix thus became the ride of Astronaut Leonard S. Bell, voyager supreme, tasked with the mission to use the "suicide engine" and partnered by none except seven near-A.I. personalities built into the ship and the eighth into a state-of-the-art robotic chassis. Thus, Spaceman Bell and his trusty tristeel sidekick Robinson dazzled the world; following the activation of the engine the Phoenix randomly warpjumped into deep space, into the murky region known as the Hinterlands, where anomalies and alien monsters were everywhere. Their scientific discoveries and fights against all sorts of strange beasts are the stuff of vid legend. However, on one fateful mission into caverns on a dusty canyon world, Spaceman Bell discovered a device of clearly hyperintelligent origins. Unfortunately, the very first Bygoner relic found by humans was forever lost to them- upon accidental activation, a great cave collapse was triggered, trapping robot Robinson inside. Despite his attempts, Spaceman Bell was unable to rescue his friend, and left the planet with a broken heart. But somehow, the metal man survived, and thrived. The relic caused him to reach sentience, but also gave him a nasty side effect of emotions. Scorning his former companion and the species he was spawned from, Robinson rejected his origins and decided to create a new race in his own image. As he possessed one of the largest libraries of almost all human knowledge, he took the Bygoner tech and began creating a civilization of fellow robotic beings. While he could have easily made them all his underlings, he refused to sink to the level of his makers and gifted them all with sentience. Thus, the Robot Republic was formed. Years later, when humanity had mastered the warp, they discovered a pocket empire of machines that strangely resembled variants of decades-old robot models. Known as "Bell's Folly", this new Republic has expanded across several systems, yearning to conquer more.
Reviews, please?
Major
Drengin Imperium
Proof that if there really was someone behind the duplication of Humans with Altairians, they continue to seed similar life elsewhere with a sense of humor. Vaguely hominid, the Drengin and their Imperium have a terrible reputation as barbarians, schemers, and invaders. All true, to some extent, but much of it is simply bad press; the Drengin have no concept of "just war" or any benevolent "rules of engagement." Attacking civilian populations, refusing to keep prisoners, destroying surrendered vessels are all acceptable tactics in a war by the Drengin, as long as they are justified within the grand strategy. No unnecessary sadism- only what's necessary to terrify their opponents. The Drengin are brutal expansionists, but they do not seek to openly engage their neighbors, provided powerful enough, with the Arceans the main exception. The Drengin Imperium has the foremost biologists, anatomists, and life scientists of the entire galaxy- little wonder for a polity that has no qualms against using bioweapons. Currently, there is another period of cold war between the two glaring empires- the Drengin are often patient, despite their fondness for seeking out any possible strategy, tactic, or weapon. Despite the hulking nature of Drengin Kaotodo Shocktroops, the Imperium does have numerous infiltration and black ops teams.
Arcean Empire
It is said that the age-long war between the Arceans and the Drengin were not caused over ancient grievances, but a larger ideological struggle between those who wage righteous war and those who reject the very concept of war crimes. Order against discord, in other words. That is of course wrong, as the previous (Sixty-seventh) Arcean-Drengin War was fought over the very concrete reason of the Arcean Emperor deciding that the Drengin Potentate could stand to lose a few border systems that she simply hadn't sent enough settlers to. "You call that sort of neglect colonization?" and so forth. All of the predecessor conflicts have also had surprisingly solid rationales. That said, the Arceans do indeed possess a kind of honor in their warfare- a very stultified, strict sense of legal war. This was formed not from any particular concern or kindness, but out of a near-religious ritualization of the practice, originating in ancient Arcea, between the unified houses under the legendary Archan and the other sentient (and now extinct) species of the planet. The Arcean Empire has not lost any of its appetite for conquest, but is not above cooperation with other nations. The reason for why first contact had went so well between Earth and Arcea was because one of the Primal Tenets glorified exchange of knowledge with newly-discovered races- after all, they may prove to be future allies against one's enemies. Especially against the Drengin.
Altarian Concord
(Altarian male)
(Altarian female)
Perhaps it was best that humanity did not have the Altarians as their first contact with an alien species. Many things could have gone wrong when a pre-interstellar travel species meets a spacefaring one that looked physically identical to them, possessed an elaborate unified moral code, and preterphysical powers that seemed like the stuff of magic and mysticism. Hailing from Ara Centauri, known as "the Altar" to Earth, the Altarians swiftly spread across their neighborhood of the galaxy, becoming the dominant race, rather reminiscent of the human experience. But while Earth was always internally divided between multitudes of polities, the Altarians had formed a monoculture early on in their history, with one dominant (but not overly evangelistic) belief system devoted to cultivating a "Great Balance" with the cosmos. Instrumental to their faith was their ability over "primons", the still little-understood power to manipulate elemental forces, including (but not limited to) dark energy.
But even as they spread forth from their cities- hybrid metropolises incorporating the wilderness, with large parks and areas for meditation among natural beauty- they disrupted their planetary roommates, the Drath. The latter race, forging its own path and without primonic powers, rejected the Altarians and their beliefs. Suspicion became fear, and fear became anger, and anger became hatred, and the two species came to blows, finally resulting with most of the Drath leaving the planet in giant arks to find their own future among the stars.
The Altarians, in a story heard so many times in other races' histories, discovered that both their civilization had consolidated and their technology advanced during this period of great warfare. In a golden age, they simultaneously rebuilt the natural beauty of their planet, colonized their celestial neighborhood (careful to avoid areas where the Drath had gone), and mastered primonic power. As they came to meet other sentient species, the Altarians promoted peace, even if most did not agree with their Great Balance. To this they reacted as benevolently as they could, learning from their experience with the Drath. Instead of attempting to promote their morality as a belief, the Altarians aspired to show its works with actions, applying it to their interactions with other species, both in peacetime and in war. Though the Altarians are generally considered to be a species that is positive for the galactic good, they are often seen as arrogant, finding their beliefs to be superior to any others'. The recent discovery about the Bygoners, and that primonic abilities are not unique to themselves, have caused great disquiet among their society. To them, there is nothing more shocking than a Drath who can manipulate primons. Even now, there is the fear of religious strife between practitioners of the Great Balance. The story of the Altarian Concord is one that humanity could learn much from, both as a model of success and as a cautionary tale.
Drath Legion
(Drath leader)
(Drath elder)
(Draken)
The tragedy of the Drath is that for most of the species' existence, its history revolved around the activities of the Altarians. But this was not true of the species' beginning, nor is it necessarily true today. The Drath Legion is made of many societies divided into familial lines, formed over centuries from sentience to space colonization. A race of warm-blooded reptilians, they eked out a happy existence on Ara Centauri 3, both in the deserts and the grasslands of the planet. Like other species, the Drath lines first discovered agriculture, then urban life, and then progressed through different forms of political sophistication. But as travel likewise advanced, they became aware of another sentient species on the other side of the world: the Altarians, or in the Drath language, the "Elementarists." Unfortunately for both species, multiple Drath societies had spoken of the coming of a "dark race" that would spell doom for their race. This proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is uncertain who struck first, though ironically both species claim it was themselves. After a meeting between a military exploration group from the Firetooth line and an Altarian ministerial envoy turned violent, the Altarians and Drath waged the Long Vendetta that would last for four generations. Though the Drath were physically superior to the Altarians, their strength, intelligence, and cunning were doomed by slow birthrates, and were soon outnumbered by the non-saurians. Over this vendetta, both developed space travel adequate for interstellar colonization. In the end, much of the natural beauty of the planet was destroyed, but not to an irreparable state. 95% of the Drath lines, their societies under the umbrella of the allied military command known as the Legion, decided to leave their homeworld in self-imposed exile. Their luck changed, and the new planet proved to be almost a paradise for the Drath Legion, and the societies and lines flourished on their adopted world, their cultures resuming once more undisturbed.
In a situation where large-scale warfare between the lines was unprofitable at best and dangerous for the entire race at worst, the Drath developed a Byzantine system of espionage and covert feuding. Politics and trade for the Drath is so full of underhanded moves and misdirection that would have made the Renaissance Venetians proud. Despite the Legion's military roots, the government does not spend much treasure on building armies or fleets; instead, it hires mercenaries or the rivals of their enemies to do the dirty work. Dealing with the hard-headed, ideological Altarians for centuries has created a sense of appreciation of subtlety in the Drath; it was quite difficult to figure out ways to cause a monocultural enemy to fight amongst themselves and leave you alone. Though the Legion is no slouch at warfare, either. During the Long Vendetta, Drath scientists tapped into bioengineering to morph test subjects into warriors molded for battle, possessing greater size, strength, and speed than their baseline brethren. This new subspecies, the "Draken", came to be a respected class in Drath society, though care was taken to prevent animosity between them and baselines. If anything, most Draken are either too busy protecting the interests of the Legion as a whole, or being hired to fight in shadow wars between different lines.
The Drath in general still miss their old homeworld, and bear a grudge against their old roommates. Though only a few die-hards wish to reclaim the planet, most Drath in general would not hesitate to arrange a situation where the Altarians face suffering. There is still a collective belief that the Elementarists are an evil species, created by the Bygoners or some other powerful group for the purposes of mischief. They reject the mysticism of their rivals, and have recently discovered a way to summon some primonic powers using advanced technological implants. Armed with the Draken biomorph warriors, proto-primonic powers, and the most advanced espionage system in their region of the galaxy, the Drath Legion seeks glory for all of its lines at the expense of the Altarians. Truly, they are the 20 foot-tall, one-ton beasts in the room.
Minors
Robot Republic
Humanity's metallic stepchild. The roots of this polity stretch back to an unfortunate mistake by one of humanity's greatest heroes. Shortly following the Donation of Parchan, humanity installed a miniaturized version of the hyperspace generator into a small exploration vessel. The Z-41 Phoenix thus became the ride of Astronaut Leonard S. Bell, voyager supreme, tasked with the mission to use the "suicide engine" and partnered by none except seven near-A.I. personalities built into the ship and the eighth into a state-of-the-art robotic chassis. Thus, Spaceman Bell and his trusty tristeel sidekick Robinson dazzled the world; following the activation of the engine the Phoenix randomly warpjumped into deep space, into the murky region known as the Hinterlands, where anomalies and alien monsters were everywhere. Their scientific discoveries and fights against all sorts of strange beasts are the stuff of vid legend. However, on one fateful mission into caverns on a dusty canyon world, Spaceman Bell discovered a device of clearly hyperintelligent origins. Unfortunately, the very first Bygoner relic found by humans was forever lost to them- upon accidental activation, a great cave collapse was triggered, trapping robot Robinson inside. Despite his attempts, Spaceman Bell was unable to rescue his friend, and left the planet with a broken heart. But somehow, the metal man survived, and thrived. The relic caused him to reach sentience, but also gave him a nasty side effect of emotions. Scorning his former companion and the species he was spawned from, Robinson rejected his origins and decided to create a new race in his own image. As he possessed one of the largest libraries of almost all human knowledge, he took the Bygoner tech and began creating a civilization of fellow robotic beings. While he could have easily made them all his underlings, he refused to sink to the level of his makers and gifted them all with sentience. Thus, the Robot Republic was formed. Years later, when humanity had mastered the warp, they discovered a pocket empire of machines that strangely resembled variants of decades-old robot models. Known as "Bell's Folly", this new Republic has expanded across several systems, yearning to conquer more.
Reviews, please?