Name: Geists

Starting Planet type: Barren

Alignment: Neutral

Appearance:

Like a dark gaseous cloud, with what appears to be streaks of multi-colored lightning briefly seen dancing within.  Eyes range from a crimson red to a magnificent blue, and deep purple. The Noble houses had eyes of gold. As they are a plasma based race, they do not have direct appendanges, but they can create them at will. Their normal state is considered a free state, taking on a shapeless form, but often when interacting with other races, especially bipedal ones they will take on more bipedal features, mimicing the other races shape. When interacting with multiple races at once they tend to become more spherical, and have two large clawed hands at each side.

Benefits -

Gunboat Isolation - Gain +1 Production and +1 happiness for each fleet guarding a star system.

Dust Positive -  -10% dust cost on all production.

No Hunger - -1 need for resource bonus.

Negatives -

Slow Growth - -1 population cap on all planets with 2 or more population. -10% population growth.

Controlled flight - -10% fleet speed.

Wormhole Sickness - must wait one additional turn before movement after using a worm hole.

Their planet was one of the many casualities of the Dust Wars; originally used as a dust manufacturing facility by the Concrete, it was attacked by a Virtual Endless armada. A suicide machine, a single ship was given the mission to penetrate the planets atmosphere, upon reaching into the atmosphere it would unload a dust cache used to hijack and link all dust currently on the planet. Once linked, all at once the dust was charged to rapidly reproduce, and begin to overheat. To say that the effects were devasting could not simply give it credit - within seconds what was once considered a jewel of the Concrete empire, became a rocky core within a superheated ball of plasma. The atmosphere was ignited all at once, discharging a blast of light and radiation, scorching and destroying the armada fleet; etching its way across the solar system, leaving great wakes in its turn. Although the mission was officiallly confirmed a success, the cost was deemed unacceptable, and similar attacks were never made, or at least disclosed.

For eons this planet would be considered an oddity, considered too dangerous to get close to, but some studies were still performed. Typically after such an event it the Plasma would quickly disipiate, becoming nothing more than background radiation, and you would find a rocky core within that had its entire surface wiped clean. Instead, the plasma ball remained, somehow containing its self. There was no detectable mass or gravitational change. It was theorized that it could be possible that the plasma was being self contained by the dust within - constantly recreating its self, activating, and destroying its self, sustaining its power from the plasma field; it was possible even that it rained dust on this planet.

The novelty soon wared off, the planet was thought too dangerous to fully explore, and the Dust Wars were only getting worst.  Other, more profitable, venues of scientific study were needed,  and the events of Nuh'Tazaq could be explored at a later date.  This exploration, would never come to being.

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Biology overview/Brief History

The Geists are a composite of dust and cells from the Endless locked within a self contained pasmic field. The concrete on Nuh'Tazaq biologically speaking were immortal, their cells in a constant state of self repair and regulation. When the planet was scorched, some of these cells would become encapsulated within the dust, creating the very basis of what the Geists would become. Overtime these microscopic balls of plasma would begin to split and diffuse, creating more of them selves, and eventually transitioning from a microorganism to what we see now.

Sentience came almost immediately, with the swirling cloud like mass of Dust suddenly becoming aware of its existence and surrounding, but ignorant of the events that had lead to its development. Much of the existing programming within the Dust was wiped clean through the event, only very rudimentary processes were available for them to tap into. This left an ever present and constantly growing sense of curiosity within them; the desire to build, learn, and grow.  The planet barren, they created a world of their own architectural design and filled every inch of the globe with their presence.

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Culture:

During their first steps into life many Geists were free to explore, build, and design as they desired, but their nature left them incapable of having control, without a direct purpose or control they were left to their devices, and consumed rapidly. From this brewed chaos, individuals would fight over what direction were best, or what land was theres to build on, or any number of differences, and from the individuals groups emerged. These groups developed into full scale wars, and the barren wasteland found its self in new turmoil. This conflict gave rise to elders, the first born, who saw the fury that continued to escalate and decided that there was more purpose to life than death and destruction. Their names are now lost in history, but tradition dictates that the Geists had settled and began to follow them in their peace, but as all things differences began to arise again. The elders had different beliefs on how best to live their lives, and soon groups split and formed once more.

Over centuries these systems of ideologies gave rise to the 7 Nobel Greater Houses, called "The Inner Cloud".  These houses would lead the others, dictate the laws  to follow, they would control many of the resources, own much of the land, and live a life beyond the others. Many would look to these houses for guidance under turbulent times, seeking the knowledge. Encompassed within them all was the system known as the 7 Nobel Truths, each holding up a doctrine that was said to be passed down from the original elders. The Inner Cloud would often be in constant disagreement with one another, and although war was seldom, conflicts often did arise.

From the Inner Cloud you will find the Outer Cloud - a group of lesser houses; more often than not these houses will squabble and bicker more than any other, often resulting in infighting. While much of the Outer Cloud do not contribute to the sacred knowledge, they do serve the important role as a connection to the general public.  The Outer Cloud houses will serve as land and business owners, or politicians; in an extent serving a much needed civic purpose. The general population live much of their lives outside of these areas, and are free to do much as they please so long as it does not violate the core tenants of the ruling class.

This system would go on to change drastically, when a Geist who is referred to as The 8th Truth appeared. For much of his beginning The 8th Truth was wrapped in mystery and mysticism, but what is known now is that he was part of a low-class system, imprisoned for theft he was sent to a Prison mine, a mine which had been at one time part of a dust manufacturing facility but now held important resources. During an excavation he would become exposed to an untouched dust cache, unlocking from within further insight into the Geists true nature and power. After the event he began to speak to the other prisoners, about the injustice they had served from the 7 houses and the lesser ones, how they had been cheated from their true cause and purpose. Sparking a prison revolt, he would escape with his new group of followers, and begin to spread his word from any that would hear. His Charisma would draw in those around him instantly, soon he found support from the lesser houses, and not long after he would topple the regime of the 7, creating a unified body of government that would follow the 8 ways.

Despite their different beliefs, one constant remained, a tradition which sprung forth from their very beginnings; a worship of a diety whom they called the Machine God. They believe that the Machine God had created them in his design; aware of the dust components within them and knowing that they bordered something that was both organic and inorganic, they believed that the Machine God had made them as an experiment. The belief is that the Machine God is always present, constantly watching, recording, and reading the data that it gets from them, but the Machine God does not interact. He is omnipresent, capable of being everywhere and anywhere by extending his will through his machines.. That he is omniscient, being the very first self aware thing, with billions of years of experimentation and knowledge. For many The Machine God represents the enigmatic 9th Truth, and from it comes an idealized state of being. What ever their belief, it's clear that they have mistaken the great power that the Endless had so mystically left behind, and created a religion centered around it. Even after having had learned of the Endless many Geists were quick to note that the Endless were just another one of his experiments, and the great Deus Machina lives on, yet to be found.

The Geists have an innate desire to build, and some may succumb to an infliction that leaves them incapable of tearing themselves away from that ambition, as if it were an addiction that constantly needs to be replenished. Building, within the culture of Geists, does not denote just the process of making mechanical things or construction, "building" can be found in all things. One can build a book, a farm, a painting, a new way to do something. It was this exact nature to build that led them into the forray of Space Travel, as well as a touch of their religious beliefs and a population growth that could no longer be stabilized. What was thought to be an extremely difficult task at first, through misconceptions regarding their own biology and  a lack of understanding of space, they found an almost seemless transition into what most would consider an absolute inhospitable environment. What they found was that their plasmic fields would stabalize them selves within zero gravity, a natural shield would protect their biological components from radioactive and cosmic ray harm; space life if anything almost seemed more suitable than terrestrial life, and so it became accustom for them to build large satalite platforms which would orbit a planetary body, the surface world being treated as more of a novelty, a place of scientific resource, or an area to gather resources when needed.

The Geists primary form of communication is through a level of quantum linking that allows them to process and send thoughts, and in a way could be considered a form of telepathy, but this would be an incorrect way to summarize it. The level of communication that a Geist will experience with another exists on all levels of the senses - from feeling, seeing, smelling, tasting, and hearing. A story can be shared in all of the ways that it was truly experienced, even including the emotions that were being felt at that moment; because of this deep level of communication small talk is rather uncommon among them. Some might think that due to their biology Geists cannot speak directly, but this is false. Although they do lack what would be considered vocal cords, they are capable of using the dust within them to synthesize and project a voice, and is used typically with races who do not have the mind or capacity to experience a conversation as they do. This is commonly referred among other Geists as simple-talk, due to its rudimentary nature.

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Goals:

The Geists would appear to be neutral in all of their pursuits, often purposely avoiding contact with other species if possible. They are cold and uninvolved in the ideas of diplomacy and trade, going far beyond the idea of stubborn. The Geists prefer to live among them selves, to explore the stars in solitude searching for their lost god, finding the remnants of his technology, and expanding their own. They do not view them selves as better, but simply too different to have meaningful contact. Many of their star systems will have vast armadas erected  at the edges, attacking any one would would dare penetrate their space.