Jun 8, 2022 10:11 pm
I haven't thought of doing this earlier with Sorrack the Dralasite, but with 2 more players introducing SF races, I'll have to seriously look at this.
Dralasite
When the Erakai arrived it the Chaynik-kai system in -362 GFT, they found a strange race of "blob people" living on what would become Chaynik Prime. They were limited to living in a few isolated valleys where the level of moisture was just right and very rarely seemed to venture outside those valleys. At first, they did not paid much attention to what they considered a primitive life form, nothing more than a scientific curiosity, and were content to leave them to their few isolated valleys. After all, the Erakai had the rest of the entire planet they could settle on while leaving those strange beings alone...
A few scientific expedition were later undertaken to learn more about the strange amorphous creatures who called themselves Dralasite, and found them to be rather gregarious and extremely curious. The Erakai discovered the creatures to be far smarter than originally thought, and that the reason they limited themselves to those handful of valleys was because of their susceptibility to water. As such, those few valleys where the Dralasite lived allowed to filter in just the right amount of moisture for them to thrive there. While they could venture outside their valleys to hunt or gather resources, such expedition was kept relatively short due to the great danger posed by the very humid environment of Chaynik Prime. This strange biological fluke and the climate of the valleys meant the Dralasite were sort of stuck living in small tribes despite their great intelligence.
The Erakai decided to help the Dralasite out, crafting envirosuits for them which allowed them to thrive in other areas of Chaynik Prime as well as help them settle part of nearby Vlasa-kai. They also decided to hire the Dralasite to help them grow their organic merchant frigates; the amorphous Dralasite would be a perfect workforce to squeeze in tight spots to help the Erakai grow and prune their organic ships as well as hunt the Gaxins who often infected those living frigates...
When in -295 GFT, the catastrophic first contact with the Humans resulted in the destruction of one Erakai merchant frigate, the Erakai thought of another role for the gregarious Dralasite; to become the "face" of the Erakai race to the rest of the frontier. The Erakai felt their own insectile appearance might have been a bit too alien for the other species of the frontier (the existence of the Vrusk was not known to them yet as the Novim would only arrive and discover them 13 years later). Despite a questionable sense of humor and a strange gelatinous appearance, the diminutive Dralasite were deemed less threatening, and as such more appropriate to socialize with other species of the frontier. The Dralasite readily embraced their new role of ambassadors, diplomats, and representatives of the Erakai race, and relations with other species of the frontier improved.
Vrusk
When the Novim arrived in this sector of the galaxy and explored the star systems near Inaecia (circa -282 GFT), they discovered a race of industrious and sentient insect-like beings one one of the planets (which would come to be called Perasia Prime) of the Perasia system. Those beings, calling themselves the Vrusk, were in the middle of an industrial revolution, still several decades away from starting their own space program. This posed a conundrum to the Novim who very much desired this resource-rich planet. The industrious nature of the Vrusk could also greatly help the Novim with the manpower needed to establish themselves in their new home. However, the idea of lording over such being was very distasteful to the Novim who still remembered the cruelty of their former masters who bio-engineered them... Of course, if the Novim were to give those beings new technology and aid them in their space program, both species could greatly benefit from one another.
So it was that the Novim approached the Vrusk. Not as gods, not as overlords, not as conquerors, but as friends who genuinely wanted to help, and wanted to have an ally in this strange new region of space. The Vrusk greeted the Novim with open arms, and gladly traded resources and manpower for the new technology of those strange benefactors, eager to reach for the stars. The Novim-Vrusk relationships remained on very good terms, and in 6 GFT, inspired by the formation of the Galactic Federation, petitioned the Novim to be formerly accepted as citizens of the Novim Council.
This posed another conundrum to the Novim. Though they greatly appreciated their Vrusk allies, they had already established their government as each Ark having a seat in the council. The Vrusk were not from any Arks, as they were not forced to flee their former homes like the Novim had. Could they really created another Ark for the Vrusk, or perhaps cede on of the seats of one of the 3 lost Arks to the Vrusk? In the end, they settled for a simple and elegant solution. They created a new post, that of Chancellor of the Council. Though the post may seem ceremonial at first; it is the Chancellor's duty to present the agendas, bills, and documents the Council will debate and vote on for the day, the Chancellor still holds considerable power since should the Council ever reaches a draw or a deadlock, the Chancellor has the power to break this draw by virtue of a swing vote, or take a decision for the Council to break a deadlock. And of course, the position of Chancellor of the Council will always be held by a Vrusk (though they are encouraged to have many advisors of both species to help keep the Chancellor as impartial as possible). In this way, the Novim have made a promise to the Vrusk: "You will never be our servants, you will forever remain our equal."
To this day, it is not rare to encounter a Novim ship which crew is composed of about 10~15% of Vrusk, with their quarters, tools, and workstations adapted to their unique physiology.
Yazirian
When the early human settlers started colonizing the systems near the Duergan's Star system (circa -310 GFT), one of the first planet they settled was Loridian in the Kassel system. There they met an indigenous race of simian-like humanoids calling themselves the Yazirian and having settled themselves in the Meridian Strip.
Some of the early stories the early human settlers heard from the local Yazirians was of some of their territory lost to "the blinding light" or "the terrible darkness", both event having happened "a long, long time ago" leading the settlers to realize that Loridian wasn't as side-locked as originally though, but that such change of the Meridian Strip would gradually happen over the span of hundreds of thousands of years, if not millions of years, and as such to be of little concern to them. They also heard stories of "worm demons", probably referring to a now-extinct worm-like apex predator, but no evidence of such predator even having existed was ever found...
Sadly for the Yazirians, things were only going to get worse for them after the initial contact; as history has shown us things don"t usually go well for the natives of a colonized area... Word soon spread of resource-rich Loridian and its primitive natives, and many unscrupulous businessman or seedy fortune-seeker quickly flocked to the planet, bartering with the local population to purchase large swaths of land for next to nothing. The local Yazirians were also exploited, put to dangerous work on exploring and extracting resource on the dark side of the planet for a mere pittance as they were seen, and used as cheap labor.
In fact, in -182 GFT, a particularly ruthless businessman decided it would be cheaper to have his Yazirian workforce brutally butchered rather than pay them what little they were owed. The crime was only discovered 3 years later as the mass grave of those Yazirian workers were randomly discovered by another surveying expedition. The brutality of those crimes shocked the human settlers, and incensed the local Yazirian population. It took 2 years to finally apprehend the businessman in question, after a interstellar chase. He was quickly found guilty after the initial trial, but it took another 4 years of him exhausting all of his appeals before he finally got executed for his horrible crimes against the Yazirian people (who were just about to start an uprising on Loridian at that point).
After those events, the Yazirians' conditions improved, and when the Galactic Federation was formed, they were offered full membership within it, both to help them improve their lot even more, and as penance for the atrocities committed against them by humanity. It became quickly obvious to the Yazirians that they would never become a major power on the Frontier and this offer was probably their best chance, what with being limited to living on a relatively thin stripe of eternal twilight on their own planet, and having already ceded large swath of this habitable land to the humans a long time ago. The slope the Yazirians had to climb looked steep...
Help eventually came from an unexpected source: The Erakai. When in 290 GFT, Erakai merchant ships participated in the first and historic cross-species colonization of Loridian with the humans, the Erakai quickly formed a bond with the local Yazirians as both races had many things in common, such as their ability to glide (annual friendly gliding competition between Erakai and Yazirians are held on Loridian to this day), and having suffered bloodshed at the hands of the humans (the tragic first contact from back in -296 GFT). With the help of their new Erakai friends, the Yazirians managed to create their own corporation, and attempt to beat the humans at their own game. Now, today, the Yazirians (sometimes called Loridinians by those who are not in the know) own 4 of the 11 corporations which are part of Loridian's Syndicate Council, including one which is part of the top 3. They've also managed to re-purchase land ceded to human settlers, though, much of it is still firmly in the hands of other corporations, or the Galactic Federation. This might not seem like much, but given where they started, and how much they accomplished with what little they had, and in such a short amount of time, it is simply amazing and inspiring.
Dralasite
When the Erakai arrived it the Chaynik-kai system in -362 GFT, they found a strange race of "blob people" living on what would become Chaynik Prime. They were limited to living in a few isolated valleys where the level of moisture was just right and very rarely seemed to venture outside those valleys. At first, they did not paid much attention to what they considered a primitive life form, nothing more than a scientific curiosity, and were content to leave them to their few isolated valleys. After all, the Erakai had the rest of the entire planet they could settle on while leaving those strange beings alone...
A few scientific expedition were later undertaken to learn more about the strange amorphous creatures who called themselves Dralasite, and found them to be rather gregarious and extremely curious. The Erakai discovered the creatures to be far smarter than originally thought, and that the reason they limited themselves to those handful of valleys was because of their susceptibility to water. As such, those few valleys where the Dralasite lived allowed to filter in just the right amount of moisture for them to thrive there. While they could venture outside their valleys to hunt or gather resources, such expedition was kept relatively short due to the great danger posed by the very humid environment of Chaynik Prime. This strange biological fluke and the climate of the valleys meant the Dralasite were sort of stuck living in small tribes despite their great intelligence.
The Erakai decided to help the Dralasite out, crafting envirosuits for them which allowed them to thrive in other areas of Chaynik Prime as well as help them settle part of nearby Vlasa-kai. They also decided to hire the Dralasite to help them grow their organic merchant frigates; the amorphous Dralasite would be a perfect workforce to squeeze in tight spots to help the Erakai grow and prune their organic ships as well as hunt the Gaxins who often infected those living frigates...
When in -295 GFT, the catastrophic first contact with the Humans resulted in the destruction of one Erakai merchant frigate, the Erakai thought of another role for the gregarious Dralasite; to become the "face" of the Erakai race to the rest of the frontier. The Erakai felt their own insectile appearance might have been a bit too alien for the other species of the frontier (the existence of the Vrusk was not known to them yet as the Novim would only arrive and discover them 13 years later). Despite a questionable sense of humor and a strange gelatinous appearance, the diminutive Dralasite were deemed less threatening, and as such more appropriate to socialize with other species of the frontier. The Dralasite readily embraced their new role of ambassadors, diplomats, and representatives of the Erakai race, and relations with other species of the frontier improved.
Vrusk
When the Novim arrived in this sector of the galaxy and explored the star systems near Inaecia (circa -282 GFT), they discovered a race of industrious and sentient insect-like beings one one of the planets (which would come to be called Perasia Prime) of the Perasia system. Those beings, calling themselves the Vrusk, were in the middle of an industrial revolution, still several decades away from starting their own space program. This posed a conundrum to the Novim who very much desired this resource-rich planet. The industrious nature of the Vrusk could also greatly help the Novim with the manpower needed to establish themselves in their new home. However, the idea of lording over such being was very distasteful to the Novim who still remembered the cruelty of their former masters who bio-engineered them... Of course, if the Novim were to give those beings new technology and aid them in their space program, both species could greatly benefit from one another.
So it was that the Novim approached the Vrusk. Not as gods, not as overlords, not as conquerors, but as friends who genuinely wanted to help, and wanted to have an ally in this strange new region of space. The Vrusk greeted the Novim with open arms, and gladly traded resources and manpower for the new technology of those strange benefactors, eager to reach for the stars. The Novim-Vrusk relationships remained on very good terms, and in 6 GFT, inspired by the formation of the Galactic Federation, petitioned the Novim to be formerly accepted as citizens of the Novim Council.
This posed another conundrum to the Novim. Though they greatly appreciated their Vrusk allies, they had already established their government as each Ark having a seat in the council. The Vrusk were not from any Arks, as they were not forced to flee their former homes like the Novim had. Could they really created another Ark for the Vrusk, or perhaps cede on of the seats of one of the 3 lost Arks to the Vrusk? In the end, they settled for a simple and elegant solution. They created a new post, that of Chancellor of the Council. Though the post may seem ceremonial at first; it is the Chancellor's duty to present the agendas, bills, and documents the Council will debate and vote on for the day, the Chancellor still holds considerable power since should the Council ever reaches a draw or a deadlock, the Chancellor has the power to break this draw by virtue of a swing vote, or take a decision for the Council to break a deadlock. And of course, the position of Chancellor of the Council will always be held by a Vrusk (though they are encouraged to have many advisors of both species to help keep the Chancellor as impartial as possible). In this way, the Novim have made a promise to the Vrusk: "You will never be our servants, you will forever remain our equal."
To this day, it is not rare to encounter a Novim ship which crew is composed of about 10~15% of Vrusk, with their quarters, tools, and workstations adapted to their unique physiology.
Yazirian
When the early human settlers started colonizing the systems near the Duergan's Star system (circa -310 GFT), one of the first planet they settled was Loridian in the Kassel system. There they met an indigenous race of simian-like humanoids calling themselves the Yazirian and having settled themselves in the Meridian Strip.
Some of the early stories the early human settlers heard from the local Yazirians was of some of their territory lost to "the blinding light" or "the terrible darkness", both event having happened "a long, long time ago" leading the settlers to realize that Loridian wasn't as side-locked as originally though, but that such change of the Meridian Strip would gradually happen over the span of hundreds of thousands of years, if not millions of years, and as such to be of little concern to them. They also heard stories of "worm demons", probably referring to a now-extinct worm-like apex predator, but no evidence of such predator even having existed was ever found...
Sadly for the Yazirians, things were only going to get worse for them after the initial contact; as history has shown us things don"t usually go well for the natives of a colonized area... Word soon spread of resource-rich Loridian and its primitive natives, and many unscrupulous businessman or seedy fortune-seeker quickly flocked to the planet, bartering with the local population to purchase large swaths of land for next to nothing. The local Yazirians were also exploited, put to dangerous work on exploring and extracting resource on the dark side of the planet for a mere pittance as they were seen, and used as cheap labor.
In fact, in -182 GFT, a particularly ruthless businessman decided it would be cheaper to have his Yazirian workforce brutally butchered rather than pay them what little they were owed. The crime was only discovered 3 years later as the mass grave of those Yazirian workers were randomly discovered by another surveying expedition. The brutality of those crimes shocked the human settlers, and incensed the local Yazirian population. It took 2 years to finally apprehend the businessman in question, after a interstellar chase. He was quickly found guilty after the initial trial, but it took another 4 years of him exhausting all of his appeals before he finally got executed for his horrible crimes against the Yazirian people (who were just about to start an uprising on Loridian at that point).
After those events, the Yazirians' conditions improved, and when the Galactic Federation was formed, they were offered full membership within it, both to help them improve their lot even more, and as penance for the atrocities committed against them by humanity. It became quickly obvious to the Yazirians that they would never become a major power on the Frontier and this offer was probably their best chance, what with being limited to living on a relatively thin stripe of eternal twilight on their own planet, and having already ceded large swath of this habitable land to the humans a long time ago. The slope the Yazirians had to climb looked steep...
Help eventually came from an unexpected source: The Erakai. When in 290 GFT, Erakai merchant ships participated in the first and historic cross-species colonization of Loridian with the humans, the Erakai quickly formed a bond with the local Yazirians as both races had many things in common, such as their ability to glide (annual friendly gliding competition between Erakai and Yazirians are held on Loridian to this day), and having suffered bloodshed at the hands of the humans (the tragic first contact from back in -296 GFT). With the help of their new Erakai friends, the Yazirians managed to create their own corporation, and attempt to beat the humans at their own game. Now, today, the Yazirians (sometimes called Loridinians by those who are not in the know) own 4 of the 11 corporations which are part of Loridian's Syndicate Council, including one which is part of the top 3. They've also managed to re-purchase land ceded to human settlers, though, much of it is still firmly in the hands of other corporations, or the Galactic Federation. This might not seem like much, but given where they started, and how much they accomplished with what little they had, and in such a short amount of time, it is simply amazing and inspiring.