The Trahnz-Ooldane Collective

Description

The Trahnz-Ooldane Collective are actually two different species living in symbiosis with one another; the brutish, powerful Trahnz and the sophisticated, fungus-like Ooldane.

The Trahnz resemble a cross between a warthog and some sort of beetle larva - they are squat, six-legged creatures with rubbery flesh and large tusk-like protrusions on their faces.  They are able to use their forefront pair of legs as arms, and are able to manipulate things with their large three-toed feet, albeit somewhat clumsily.

On the other hand, the Ooldane are descended form their world’s equivalent of fungus.  They have multiple large mushroom-like bells, which occasionally break off to grow into a full Ooldane of their own, with a new bell growing to replace it.  Descending from the stalks of these bells are thousands of tough prehensile fibers, which act as appendeges, sensory organs, and digestive system all at once.  When in symbiosis, the Ooldane’s fibers take root in the Trahnz’s body, typically along the spine.  New Ooldane bells are known to crop up from the Trahnz’s own flesh - these bells are not known to have ever produced viable offspring, however.

Architecture

Trahnz-Ooldane construction all shares a certain bluntness to its design.  They are not as dextrous as some races, and so their buildings and ships tend to be chunkier, with hard edges and simple geometric shapes.  It would be ugly, were it not for the plant and fungal life that grows in abundance on the rough structures, and instead it looks as if nature is attempting to lay claim to Trahnz-Ooldane civilization in hauntingly beautiful fashion.

Background

Once, the Trahnz and the Ooldane warred for dominion of their shared homeworld, but after centuries they realized that their fighting was destroying the planet.  Putting their differences aside, the two species restored their planet, and joined together in peace.

It was soon discovered that the Ooldane were capable of symbiosis with another individual, drastically augmenting their host’s physical ablities and linking them to the Ooldane’s mental network, the Hyphaeza.  In modern times, nearly all Trahnz are paired with an Ooldane partner, and the two are treated as one creature.

Having since taken to the stars, the Trahnz-Ooldane now seek to educate other races on the dangers of warfare, and to welcome them into their collective.

Faction Affinity

Hyphaeza Network - Population bonuses are doubled if the Trahnz-Ooldane Collective is at peace with that population’s native faction.  Trahnz-Ooldane populations in factions that the Collective is at peace with have their bonuses doubled as well.  Propoganda output increased by 50% in factions with a Trahnz-Ooldane population.

Population Bonus

Trahnz-Ooldane populations mimic the bonus of the next largest population, as well as giving +1 to Influence.

Political Ideology

Pacifist

Gameplay

Diplomatic

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The Trahnz-Ooldane Collective makes heavy usage of its population, and it’s recommended that it has traits or unique improvements that reflect this.  One possibility of a unique improvement might be a Hyphaeza Hub, which grants bonuses to FIDSI based on population ideology, or something similar.  The Collective’s reliance on population means that it will play slightly differently every time, and thus it should aim for flexibility, while still focusing primarily on diplomatic relations.