New Nation: The Dominion of the Shagwa, Part 1
A History of the Shagwa and the Chakwa, and the planet of Wa
On the Planet of Wa
The isolated planet known to its inhabitants as 'Wa' (lit. 'soil') lies on the fringes of known space. It has gone unnoticed by many of the sentient species of the Galaxy, but now, as the Shagwa go forth on their quest for slaves and glory, soon the rimward fringes of the Galaxy shall fear their fury.
Wa is a large planet, (roughly 1.2 times the size of the Earth), with a terrestrial structure and multiple biomes. The landmass is divided up into two large continents, one of which stretches around most of the Equator (approximately the size of Asia) and the other which is smaller further to the south and is an island continent (approximately the size of North America).
Wa is distinct and unique among other planets in that it is the only known planet in the galaxy to develop two sentient species independently of each other. The species are distantly related at best, with one being descended from the Gartak order of scaled, arboreal beasts of the Equatorian jungle, while the other is related to the peaceful grazing beasts of Antipodea.
On Equatoria and the Shagwa
The continent of Equatoria stretches across much of the Equatorial regions of Wa. It is almost entirely a densely wooded jungle, where it rains almost constantly. The rich biodiversity of Equatoria is matched only by its danger. Almost every plant on the continent is highly poisonous, with many being actively predatory - the Geksha vine in particular is happy and willing to prey on species up to the size of an Earth hippopotamus, using its immense strangler vines to ensnare prey and drag it into its cavernous building sized maw. On top of the vast array of poisonous and predatory plants, almost every animal in the continent is some form of predator or a violently protected omnivore. All species native to Equatoria are vicious survivors bred and built for combat, and the Shagwa are no different.
The Shagwa are a sentient species which evolved in the harsh jungles of Equatoria. They have long, heavily armoured bodies, with their backs covered by a series of overlapping plates stretching from neck to their long, prehensile tails. They evolved from the highly intelligent Gartaks, an order of small, arboreal animals which developed eight limbs, four of which are short and come out of its chest, though nimble, and designed to assist it cling to trees. The Shagwa have retained these vestigial limbs, though they have become shorter and with far less reach. However, the Shagwa are no reptilian earth-monkeys. They have developed heavily armoured backs, to resist the predations of the great Dactyls that fly across the continent. Their primary forelimbs have lost their grasping hands and instead grown long, scythelike bone projections which descend almost to their feet, capable of slicing a lesser species in half with a single blow. Their rear limbs have become stocky and powerful to support their lithe, muscular bodies in bipedal motion. Their snouts are elongated, and full of sharp, ripping teeth, and their four eyes are keen and sharp, granting them near 360 degree vision that is crucial in the fight for survival that is the jungles. In short, the Shagwa are fighting machines, geared for survival.
However, these adaptations have come at a cost. The Shagwa are highly intelligent, on par with the many sentient species of the galaxy. However, of their four pairs of limbs, one is for feet, while another has lost its grasping appendages in favour of the immense scythes they use for combat. The remaining four are vestigial and rudimentary at best, stretching out only a foot and a half from their bodies at max and with their grasping appendages being very small. The Shagwa are unable to build or use tools, and never developed them on their own - the existence of their arm-scythes were sufficient for hunting and fighting, and they never required any other weapon that would have eventually led to the usage of tools.
As such, the Shagwa lived a nomadic existence in the jungles of Equatoria. They operated in tribes of almost five hundred, cooperatively hunting and herding the other creatures of the jungles. Despite a lack of tools, they developed a complex and nuanced language, though writing was unknown to them. They developed a strict hierarchy based on size, with moving up in the ranks decided by combat. The Shagwa were very fond of combat with each other, with the leader of a tribe being the one who fought its way to the top. The young and eggs were raised by collective, with all Shagwa being raised as part of a creche by a rotating member of the tribe - Shagwa are asexual and reproduce by self-fertilisation, laying two to three eggs per laying season. If they are lucky, one egg will hatch into a Shagwa - as they lack maternal or paternal feelings for their offspring. The Shagwa warred for thousands of years, tribes fighting over valuable hunting lands while individuals fought over power within the tribe itself. It is believed that the early Shagwa did have some form of religious belief (they certainly understood the concept, and believed that the Chakwa worshipped the soil itself), but due to the lack of writing it is unknown how or what they worshipped. However, their chaotic and complex existence was changed for good when the Chakwa landed on their shores.
On Antipodea and the Chakwa
The Chakwa were, by contrast, a peaceful species of sentients descended from the grazing species of the continent of Antipodea. Antipodea is a large continent of open spaces and plains, with dense forests being rare and the dominant plantlife being the Fugri moss which spreads across the entire continent like a carpet. Many animals evolved in Antipodea to live off the Fugri, with the moss being high in nutritional value, and other animals evolved to eat those animals. The Chakwa were descended from the former species, and evolved into light, quadrupedal beings which could run fast along the plains of the continent. The Chakwa were capable of standing on two legs for long periods of time, though this was not preferred. Eventually, the Chakwa came to develop agriculture, tools, and a functional society, with a complex social structure and a system of ancestor worship. As the Chakwa spread out across Antipodea and established settlements, they developed black powder, and sporadic warfare continued in the manner of settled species across the galaxy.
However, the potential of the Chakwa was lost when they first landed in Equatoria. Initially, settlements were built on the coastlines without the Shagwa knowing of them, but as the settlements grew they became overpopulated and the settlers began exploring the inland of Equatoria, where they encountered the Shagwa. The Shagwa were very envious of the wealth and technology of the Chakwa, and responded in the only way their culture knew - by warfare. The smaller Chakwa were initially able to hold back and even expand against the Shagwa using their gunpowder weaponry. However, for every Shagwa victory they gained slaves, which they used to build gunpowder weaponry of their own and were able to operate it using their vestigial arms. The technological advantages of the Chakwa were lost, and they were swept up and enslaved by the Shagwa.
On The Enslavement of the Chakwa
Within two hundred years of the first contact between the species, all the Chakwa on Equatoria were enslaved. The Shagwa put them to work doing almost all the labour required of a society - the herding, building, farming, technological research and almost everything but hunting and fighting was done by Chakwa slaves. The Shagwa grew more and more devoted to martial pursuits, needing them to keep the vast Chakwa majority in line. The Chakwa were forced to raise great pyramid cities in the jungles of Equatoria for the Shagwa masters - the largest of which, Parko, is currently the centre of the Wa dominion. As the gleaming pyramid cities of the Shagwa rose from the jungle, still they demanded more and more slaves and power. Meanwhile, the naturally warlike Shagwa were growing overcrowded and overpopulated, being unused to such prosperity, and conflicts and internecine fighting was becoming too common. And so they grew jealous when they heard of the vast empires of Antipodea and the billions of Chakwa there to be potential slaves.
The Shagwa armed themselves for another war of conquest, with both their natural gifts for fighting and weapons designed for them by their slaves. For the first time in their history, all of the Shagwa came together for a great war of conquest against the Antipodeans. 600 years after the arrival of the Chakwa to Equatoria, the Shagwa landed on the coast of Antipodea to begin their war of conquest. However, the Chakwa knew of the fall of their brethren and had not been busy, and having heard of the oncoming great invasion force, had united as a species against the slavers and armed themselves for war.
The resulting Great Enslavement War was brutal and violent, lasting for a another 300 years. The Chakwa's gave no quarter, believing it better to die fighting than to be enslaved, while the Shagwa fought brutally and frequently enslaved whole cities and shipped them back to their Pyramid-cities or the new Pyramid-forts on the coast. As the war dragged on, going for generations, the Chakwa became desperate, and began detonating nuclear weapons on their own cities in order to spare them from enslavement. However, despite the immense casualties the Shagwa fought on, revelling in the wars and the bloodshed, and detonated nukes of their own, though they preferred to capture Chakwa alive for enslavement. Eventually the Chakwa were enslaved or annihilated, save for the last free settlements on the Protruding Islands to the east, a chain of small islands that spiralled out of a peninsula on Antipodea. When the Chakwa of the Protruding Islands heard that the Shagwa were coming, they nuked themselves, destroying their settlements as well as the oncoming Shagwa invasion fleet. The Shagwa ended their invasion there, believing the Chakwa to be all either dead or enslaved - technically incorrect, as small communities of free Chakwa still survive, if barely, on the rocky, glassed beaches of the Protruding Islands.
On The Empire of the Shagwa
Regardless, the Shagwa were now the dominant species on Wa. They named themselves the Shagwa, meaning 'Those who conquer the soil' and gave the Chakwa their name 'Those who serve the soil', stemming from their belief that the Chakwa were in fact worshippers and servants of the soil and mistaking agriculture for a religious ritual. The Shagwa had created an entire species of slaves, spreading out along their captured territory and Equatoria and building the first great Shagwa civilisation. The Chakwa continued to do all the tasks for them, while the Shagwa become more and more skilled in war as time went on to maintain their control over their gigantic slave underclass - there were nearly a hundred Chakwa to ever single Shagwa, and each owned an average this - owning Chakwa was not a sign of prestige, but a standard thing in Shagwa Empire
However, Shagwa are not suited for peace. Eventually, their warlike nature manifested itself, and the Pyramid cities of Wa went to war with each other once more. The resulting Great Nuclear War was brutal and vicious, and killed billions of Chakwa and Shagwa alike. There were no sides - it was merely a nuclear free for all between cities, with even the cities themselves being wracked with civil war as the Shagwa practiced their ancient way of choosing leaders - unannounced, brutal combat. The Great Nuclear Wars did not end in a peace treaty or conquest - merely, the Shagwa settled down with the end of the overpopulation.
However, the Great Nuclear War had a devastating effect on the Shagwa Empire. The Chakwa slaves, who the Shagwa depended upon for literally everything, had become unbreakable. Many had become infertile due to the high background radiation (which barely affected the Shagwa), and it would take almost twelve generations for the breeding stock to recover. However, in three generations without slaves the Shagwa would collapse, and their luxurious lifestyles of doing nought but fight would be destroyed. Desperate for a solution, the Shagwa arm themselves aboard the Chakwa-built spaceships, searching for a solution. Indeed, they find it - a galaxy full of alien species, all of which are easy to enslave. The galaxy is the Shakwa's oyster, and they intend to devour it.
