“We are the Enlightened Chosen by the Gods and we will take what is ours!”

—The Enlightened Ereus, 152 EE



After thousands of years of wars on their home planet Eura, the Eurans are at last united under the wisdom and guidance of The Enlightened. With their technology rapidly advancing and having fully explored and extracted most of the valuables resources in their star system, the Enlightened is now looking for the next destination in the galaxy to launch a full-scale expansion to.

The Eurans believe to be chosen by the Gods. The discovery of not one but two temples of the Endless on Eura’s moons and the events following the discovery, were taken as yet another proof of that believe. Being chosen by the Gods they consider themselves superior to the other races. Arrogant in diplomacy they do not hesitate to use power in order to achieve their goals.



Temples, Dust and Essence Discovery



The discovery of the ruins of temples thousands of years old marked the beginning of a new Era for the people of Eura. Whatever traces of technology had been left in the ruins by the Endless were carefully studied, reverse-engineered and used to boost Euran science. Eura’s highest ranked scientists, called the Foreseers, focused on researching and developing advanced energy weapons and new ways of starship propulsion.

One of the temples, subsequently named The High Temple, contained even more mysteries waiting to be uncovered. When High Councilor Ereus and a group of Foreseers entered the ruins none of them expected that what they were about to find would change Euran history forever. It was their first encounter with Dust and Essence, a moment that would shape the future of their kin.

High Councilor Ereus’ contact with Dust was extraordinary, it was as if Dust chose him among the people who entered the temple. Ereus felt this strange phenomenon reacting to his thoughts, the established connection wasn’t like anything he had experienced before.

The explorers were up for another surprise when they found the crystals… Preliminary analysis showed extremely high energy readings and unstable nature. This material was unknown to the Eurans, they would later name it Essence while to the other races of the galaxy it would become known as Quadrinix. Existing in phases between matter, anti-matter and alternate universes, it possesses most unusual properties and is a source of immense energy.

When Ereus approached one of the crystals it started glowing with iridescent colors. Dust giving him confidence and curious to unveil yet another of the mysteries the Gods have placed for him to discover, he stretched out to touch the crystal. The following burst of energy and blinding light left him unconscious but unharmed…







The Enlightened



“You have no idea what it feels like... the light… the power…”

—The Enlightened Ereus, 1 EE



The thorough medical examination conducted back on Eura revealed shocking results. Ereus’ cellular structure and DNA was changed and his body had absorbed part of the crystal’s energy. At this point it was impossible to determine whether these changes were caused by his interaction with the crystal or Dust was involved. Shortly after the incident Ereus regained consciousness and it would soon became clear that what had happened at the temple affected him not just physically…

Claiming that he had achieved enlightenment and a vision, a message from the Gods, thousands were eager to follow him. His words and physical appearance were most convincing, his body was emitting light, the power he gained through this unexplainable transformation was awe-inspiring. This was enough for many to see in him the Avatar of the Gods. His followers began calling him “The Enlightened”. A new calendar was created marking the importance of the events that took place at the High Temple and reflecting the expectations of a new bright future for the Euran race.

By the year 10 of the Era of Enlightenment (EE) the cult to the Enlightened had become ubiquitous. The Enlightened Ereus’ growing influence met no serious resistance, or at least it was made to look that way for the masses. But when the majority of the Councilors voted him President of the High Council, it was the final step towards concentrating the ultimate power in his hands. In the following years the High Council, once at the very top of the Euran political hierarchy, would become nothing more than a puppet in the hands of the single true leader.

The Enlightened was now in the position to choose the course of the whole Euran civilization. His life and that of the entire race were to be dedicated to Understanding. The Gods, the temples, Dust, Essence, they were all involved in his vision and had an important place in the future of the Eurans. Through Enlightenment Dust and Essence showed him infinite possibilities but he needed answers on how to achieve them.







New Future



“We embrace your Legacy and we will prove that we are worthy of it…”

—The Enlightened Ereus, 144 EE



For years the Foreseers had been experimenting with the small amount of Quadrinix crystals found in the Temples in order to explain and take control over the reaction occurring during interaction with them. Many of the closest followers of the Enlightened Ereus voluntarily subjected themselves to these experiments. The results proved to be inconsistent, some of the subjects absorbed energy from the crystals similarly to Ereus, others died painfully when their cells disintegrated from the powerful energy. The material was given a name “Essence” due to its so called “fusion” with the subject. During and after this process the crystal remained intact and gave away just a fraction of its energy to an Euran. Those who survived the interaction were retaining this energy and it was becoming part of them for an undefined period of time, possibly till their death. The full scale of the effects still unknown, once absorbed the energy substantially increased physical and mental capabilities that would have been equal to millions of years of evolution.

The effect of Essence on other Euran, however, was notably less powerful compared to what The Enlightened had experienced at the High Temple. Therefore the Foreseers assumed that it was the combination of Dust and Essence that had been responsible for such a high level of fusion. It was theorized that Dust could alter the DNA of the one who commands it thus giving him not only higher chances of survival during the reaction, but also making possible for more energy to be absorbed.

Understanding the nature of Essence and its effect on them became a priority for the Eurans. The Legacy of the Gods would not be revealed until they were ready. Enlightenment had shown their leader the path but not the destination. In his vision the Gods had built countless temples throughout the galaxy, and he believed they were the key to Understanding, if this was the test the Gods had prepared for them Ereus was determined to prove the Eurans were worthy of calling themselves Chosen by the Gods.

Confident in their technological superiority and fate the Eurans are harnessing all their ingenuity into a preparation for a massive colonization. The Enlightened Ereus aims at taking over any temple of the Endless within Euran reach. With the possibility that any temple might contain invaluable knowledge on the Legacy of the Gods, Dust and Essence the Eurans are not willing to leave them in the hands of the other races, which they consider unworthy and incapable of Understanding.



General Description: The Eurans are a race with good skills in science, large planet populations, big and well armed fleets comprised of fast ships. The accent is on weapons rather than on defense. Considering themselves more advanced than the other races diplomacy is not their strong side, but they are not at war with everybody. Dust and Quadrinix are of special importance in their research.



Affinity Trait:

Affinity Traits should be well balanced so I’ll just point out my ideas on what the Euran Affinity Trait could be, based on their History. I’m thinking: 1) Faster Dust generation by planets, 2) Faster Quadrinix mining/collection, 3) Bigger bonuses from controlled Endless Temples, or particular types of Endless Temples…



Traits:

/Population/

Growth Plan: -8

Optimistic: +6

Crowded Planets: +10



/Science/

Scientists: +15



/Buildings/

Militarists: +8



/Ships and Fleets/

Fast Travelers: +5

Big Fleets: +25



/Ships and Fleets/

Optimal structure: -5



/Space Battle/

Dust Recyclers: +5

Deadly Weapons: +10

Hunger for Battle: +5



/Diplomacy/

Naïve: -3



/Heroes/

Power Masters: +6



Total: 79

Origin of the Fal' Hadei



Birth of the Hadei



When naiveté and weakness seemed to be the impending doom of Dariesh, we vowed to stop them. All know that we failed...

-Executive commander Thir'chajót, speech to the nation when activating heaven's wrath



The Fal' Hadei are the remnants of a race of a nitrogen based heavy gravity dwelling lifeform. Sturdily built by nature, this race called the Variesh had only tiny limbs and their bodies were covered in natural scale armor. They never mastered the upright walk in a 10 g -environment (10 times earths gravity), instead growing their bodies parallel to the ground.

The Variesh were emotionally unstable, tending to rather ram into others than hit them, as a normal social interaction, since their heavy bodyarmor was nearly impenetrable by such means. During their evolution, they had become the single species on their homeplanet, Dariesh, that could not be eaten by another, when fully grown. In their slow but steady technological advance, this was reflected by the fact, that for ten thousand years they were not capable of inventing handheld weaponry that could harm one of them. Machinery we'd call siege weapons were known and used for executions against criminals for a long time, but wars were unknown. If two factions disagreed, they hit each other until one faction complied or got bored.

In their golden age, the Variesh had spread over their whole homeplanet, dwelling in cavelike houses full of silicon based technology. The design of their homes was as flat as their bodystructure and building stairs would have been a ridiculous notion. Instead they plastered their roofs with solar cells and dug down into the earth on long flat ramplike structures. A large part of Dariesh, seen from space, was one large solar cell, shiny and reflecting.

When the population grew, they naturally extended their homesteads downwards, until they found the one thing on the planet that could harm them: Large uranium deposits. Many died of radiation sickness after excavating a new home until finally the effects of this strange material were discovered and understood. For the first time of their history, the Variesh started to look into medicine to cure the sick and had a weapon in hand to cause that sickness.

Some of the most intelligent of their species were horrified by the implications of giving deadly weapons into the hands of their brethren and gathered in secret to research dangerous new technologies. They found nuclear fission and x-ray in a matter of only a few years and understood that the Variesh would very probably start killing each other, if presented with the means.

One of the younger scientists, called Thir'chajót proposed to keep these technological advances from the rest of their species, until they were ready for it. His plan was to remove a good part of the knowledge of the population and hide it remotely, hard to access and in secret, slowly giving away technology for technology that was deemed harmless.

The result was a series of freak accidents, killing three quarters of the worlds scientist population. So it seemed... The fact that there was no murder of adults in their world helped them to hide that they had recently discovered genetic cloning and used it to cover their own deaths. There simply was no forensic science. So the exodus of the intellectuals began, to six places on the planet that were deemed uninhabitable by the rest of their species: The poles and four further cities beneath the ocean floor of the sea, on the equator line. They called themselves the Hadei or guardians of wisdom and each one of them vowed to save the Variesh from their selfmade doom.



The rise to the stars



If there was a creation, we committed sins against it that we can never repay.

-First Judge Vel'Nàsor, on the outbreak of the first generation war



In the following decades, the Hadei made a fortune by selling harmless offspring of their advanced technologies via fake companies to the Variesh who struggled immensely to regain a grip on science after losing such a large portion of their intellectuals, while in the six secret cities, the population and the knowledge grew exponentially. A system for geological energy was designed, that also connected the six cities right through the planets mantle. With nearly limitless energy and space, there was hardly an experiment that was not conducted. Especially genetical science and nanotechnology thrived. A governmental system of five distinct branches was designed, that was voted for by a direct democratic approach. Votes were conducted by network, where everyone was constantly attached.

The Executive Office, neatly numbered as branch zero, was conducting the scientific and econmical inner affairs of the populace, taking care of enforcing the laws.

The Judiciary, numbered as branch one, managed police and courts in one entity.

The Parliament, branch number two, decided on laws in the style of a representative democracy.

The Relations Office, third branch, dealt with organising all covert contact with the Variesh and which things to ex- and import.

Finally the Office of Security, numbered as branch four, kept the Hadei on top of information from the outer world.

Each office head was voted for, once a turn about the sun, while the parliaments occupants and the judges of the supreme court where voted for every second turn.



Each office was assigned to one of the cities as its primary seat of power, leaving only the northern pole city as a common meeting ground.

Meanwhile the Variesh were on the verge of inventing airborne vessels, which could potentially distribute uranium to any place on the planet. The Hadei immediately began investigating their options to mitigate such an approach, developing rockets, high energy lasers and uranium isotope removing nanomedicine in the process. But having these options was not enough, they needed the ability to use them, they needed an organised military.

Each branch of government was decided to have a military contingent equal in power and size to the other branches, all governmental branches in total being equal in military power to the rest of the populace. Immediately, promising and emotionally especially stable individuals were recruited from the Variesh to fill the positions, leaving their old lives never to return. Weaponry and armament were developed, each branch having its own agenda, to accomodate their special needs. The Executive office raiced the 0[SUP]th[/SUP] army with emphasis on attack, the Judiciary the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] army keen on military policing. The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] army of the parliament was specialising on defending ground and populace, while the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] army provided all logistics and the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] army trained their members for recon and sabotage.

After a few months it was clear that the Hadei had created a military that was easily able to overthrow all of Dariesh in a matter of weeks. The prospect of becoming the facilitators of the demise of their brethren frightened them to the point that they decided to move their military power with the seats of the five government offices from the planet. With a new reason in mind, they looked to the stars and improved on their rocket technology. To not be discovered during their testings, they also improved on radar jamming and visual cloaking techniques. Their development at this point was driven by the irrational need to remove the military monster they created from the planet. But when they started the first cloaked rocket into space with one of theirs on board, the rocket performed admirably, but their astronaut hardly survived. Actually, he was underperforming so badly, that all dreams of manned space missions seemed to shatter, instantly. The body form of their kind simply was ill suited for space, with a lot of body mass, short limbs and a very flat profile. Aerodynamics had to be obeyed, so the rockets couldn't be infinitely broad and vertically positioned Hadei could only be described as totally helpless, which put too much psychological stress on the astronauts.

Again, the now heavily aged Executor (head of Executive Office) Thir'chajót proposed a solution, genetically and cybernetically enhancing and altering all the Hadei with nanomedicine techniques to become a spaceborne race. This sentiment was almost fanatically embraced and propagated to the laboratories, which managed to reengineer the Hadei to become upright standing. They also improved on limbs, sometimes adding a few artificial ones for special tasks, fine mechanics, sensory tasks and even more on their impressive physiological imperviousness. Almost as an afterthought, brain implants were designed to enable each Hadei to access all databases and immediately converse with their common network.

While the Variesh were starting to understand nuclear fission, almost all of the Hadei, but a very few who had hard to explain severe adverse reactions to the nanites needed for the process, were altered and became a whole new species in their own right. Their technological advancement sped up even further and their first space vessels managed to undetectedly build five heavily fortified cities on surrounding planets and moons, effectively removing most of the military threat they created on their own from Dariesh's surface.

First generation war



Dying is the one end of duty. So I refused to die. And you won't either.

-Executive commander Thir'chajót, on the installation of the first Monument



The Hadei continued their improvements tirelessly, banishing sickness and even aging from the ranks of the cybernetically enhanced. Around Dariesh, they secretly built a system of satellites capable of destroying any and all rockets, rocket silos and submarines capable of nuclear strikes, to ensure the survival of the Variesh, while the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] army secretly sent mission after mission to halt and sabotage the different Variesh nations' nuclear proliferation.

The tragedy, though, began when the populace decided to extend the implantation to babies in their womb. Nanites were reprogrammed to not only repair and enhance the mother, but also implant their offspring in the womb. The resulting children were strange beings, more agile, strong and intelligent seeming than their parents, but showing hardly any emotions. The scientists could not find a reason for it and the number of children grew...

Executor Thir'chajót, having been elected repeatedly over a hundred years and, being one of the few who were unimplantable, lying on a moving chair, motioned to cease the use of nanites on children, until the effects were known. He was rejected severely and not reelected the next year. In response he used his considerable influence to force the construction of heavily fortified bunkers in the middle of each city, totally independent of other supplies, and started his private research on a new kind of matter they found in abundance on the moon the city was built on. This was, historians later say, the first mention of dust in the history of the Hadei. When the first children of the new generation became ten, being frightened of ones own children was the common sentiment. Suddenly and without any kind of further warning, the babies ripped their mothers throats out with their teeth, fathers were stabbed in the back and the first generation war was on the loose. In these first days, fifty percent of the Hadei population were annihilated, while the rest fled into the bunkers the former Executor had forced them to build. The first generation was physically and tactically overwhelming, using every advantage they could. Til the present day, reasons for the war were never found, but the attacks were synchronously conducted over all the solar system, limited to within the cities and the only thing that halted the advance, was the disruption of the common network of all the Hadei cities.

The war came to a stalemate that lasted for full five years without any possibility to communicate between the cities, where the first generation patiently besieged the leftovers of the Hadei civilisation with the clear goal to obliterate them mercilessly. And it seemed like there was no chance of survival, in the long run. The only thing the Hadei had managed to achieve before entering the bunkers, was to seal the exits and destroy all spacecraft they had, so the first generation was imprisoned alongside them.

It was decided that no military capacity could be spared. Less important tasks were taken over by machines and roboters in the bunker, while everyone who was not a scientific genius or already a soldier was drafted into the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] army. Genetic and cybernetic enhancement for military purposes reached a new peak and this way they hoped to even out the odds when finally leaving the bunkers and fighting their own offspring.

The event when in the Executive offices seat the combined 0[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] army forces marched out and hunted down the first generation army's remnants on the planet til the last one of them was dead, was a surprise for both sides. After years of experiments and rapidly approaching the end of his natural lifespan, Thir'chajót overrode the security commands of the main door of the fortress and slowly rolled out to the enemy. Horrified the inhabitants of the bunker were watching as this old and broken creature approached the worst nightmares they could have created and they were frantically working to close the doors, again.

One of the first generation calmly walked toward the rolling form, pulled him up and stabbed him through one lung with one arm, before he could say anything. The result was cataclysmic, as all the dust on the moon rose as if in mourning and rushed in on the rapidly dying form. Most of the first generation around the bunker died a horrifying death that day, when the dust dissolved them, cell for cell and nanite for nanite, from within. The armies saw their chance and rushed out on the massacres heels. The scientists, who didn't have to go to war as they were performing marvelously at providing new technologies and weapons for the Hadei, came out of the bunker to retrieve the dust-covered remains of Thir'chajót, only to find him barely alive, completely covered in dust.

What rose two weeks after was not even remotely a Variesh anymore. A lot more akin to the Hadei, with four arms, two legs and walking upright, half Variesh and half dust, the first dustborn rose and was named Executive Commander, War leader of all the Hadei, as long as he lives. Of course, of this creature, no one knows how long it will live.

The Executive Commander Thir'chajót ordered the construction of transport vessels to free the other cities, altered as many of the other unimplantable ones that survived the painful process and started the construction of the first Monument. This building, made out of the former bunker, was designed to create a neverending stream of cloned and fully implanted bodies, linked to their original via brain implants, to replace him after death. The method worked for all the cybernetics, but not for the dustborn creatures.

With the first generation being natural killing machines, the death toll was too high to win this war, without replenishing the Hadei ranks continuously. So transport ships were built, the army went to the next battlefield, died, returned and fought again, til the first generation was extinguished from all the five colonies. Then the Hadei returned to Dariesh.



Guilt and Failure - The Fal' Hadei



We are the fallen.

We have taken our pride and paid for it.

We have failed our vows and will neverendingly suffer for it.

We created what ailed us and we destroyed what came from our loins.

Never again will we stand by and fail.

Eternal vigil, vow of the Fal' Hadei



On the return to Dariesh, the planet was a nuclear wasteland being overrun by the first generation. Without the organised power of the governments armies, the cities bunkers fell and the monsters escaped. Confronted with this failure, the Hadei used the satellite defense system they had installed decades ago, to destroy all remaining nuclear capabilities and all first generationers on the surface with the ultimate command to the system, named "Heaven's Wrath". The onslaught was enormous and the rest of the first generation were hunted down and killed in a matter of decades. The last remnants of the Variesh were incorporated into the Hadei and the planet was repaired by all technological means to its former state.

After a century of war against their own children, loss of 75 % of their populace the failure of saving the Variesh, resulting in 99.9 % casualties on their side, the Hadei dissembled their colonies on the other planets of the system to start anew in the ruins of Dariesh. They built the first monument to ensure their eternal vigil and there the first vow of the Fal' Hadei, the fallen guardians, was spoken.

Each new child starts its life as a Variesh, lives to the end of his or her natural lifespan and then joins either the dustborn, if possible, or becomes one of the cybernetic Fal' Hadei. No matter which, as part of the initiation, they get the memories of the first generation war from one of their parents, as if they were their own.

The Fal' Hadei will try to save any of the less tried and tested races from their own inability to understand true loss. No matter the cost. They will not stop. They will not easily die. And they will come to every last corner of the universe, one day.

General description of the Fal' Hadei



The Fal' Hadei are a militaristic and scientifical race. They are very bad traders and their diplomacy could be called protectionistic at best, but they harbor no ill intent from scratch to anybody.

Faction leader: Executive Commander Thir'chajót



Homeworld type

Barren (welcome to the ex-nuclear wasteland)



Affinity Trait of the Fal' Hadei

Name: Eternal Vigil

How it should work: Every colony needs a Monument as a first building, which is quite expensive and slowing down colonization considerably. The effect of the monument is, that the XP of ships in sensor range of a colony are never lost, until the colony or the monument is lost (if ships are destroyed, the next ship that is built there will get the XP of the formerly destroyed ship) and ground battle resistance is enhanced by 1.



Traits of the Fal' Hadei



Economy

Merchants, lvl -1, -3 points (the Fal' Hadei are unaccustomed to trading due to a century of civil war)



Population

Cloning, lvl 3, 15 points (Cloning is as natural to them as breathing)

Growth Plan, lvl -3, -24 points (Farming is done only by automated machinery or by Variesh, which severely reduces effectivity)



Science

Scientists, lvl 3, 45 points (only scientists performing well do not have to serve in the military, which gives a lot of motivation)



Building

Builders, lvl 2, 16 points (they are used to build big scale structures, fortifications, bunkers and underground facilities all the time, fully automated and standardized. This is mainly done by the pioneer corps of the fourth army with cybernetic efficiency.)

Militarists, lvl -3, -12 points (their ships are always stuffed with the latest most advanced technology and customized to the army they are built for, therefore extremely expensive)



Ships and Fleets

Big Fleets, lvl -2, -12 points (their military structure is divided into six portions of equal size, letting each individual fleet become smaller)

Strong alloys, lvl 2, 20 points (they build ships as heavy and impenetrable as their bodies and fortresses. As a race they never got the idea of "slender" or "slim".)

Optimal Structure, lvl -2, -10 points (their large bodies, many limbs and previously underground dwelling lifestyle has made the crew quarters on each ship oversized and unwieldy. There are, of course, no stairs but only long flat ramps.)



Space Battle

Snipers, lvl 3, 15 points (cybernetically enhanced visuals and direct neural interface ship control)

Deadly Weapons, lvl 3, 15 points (try to kill genetically and cybernetically enhanced monsters for a century and you'll get to like monstrous weaponry. Since siege weapons were used as execution methods, the size of the new weaponry just seems traditional.)

Optimal Defense, lvl 3, 15 points (they build ships as heavy and impenetrable as their bodies and fortresses)



Defense

Fearless Warriors, lvl 1, 6 points (precious few of the Fal' Hadei never died, the rest have become oblivious to death)

Rebellion, lvl -2, -6 points (if they lose a system, you can bet that there's no one left capable of defending it)



Heroes

Power Masters, lvl 2, 6 points (the dustborn heroes of the Fal' Hadei are extremely powerful)

Heroic Medicine, lvl -2, -6 points (but since their physiology differs from the rest of their folk, they have basically no grasp how to heal them conventionally, so they have to help themselves with large quantities of dust)



Total: 80



Physical description: If you managed to read through all the lore, you'll have a pretty good idea.



P.S.: Damn it, that took me about 5 hours... o_O

Race Name: The Sil’indari

Description: The Sil’indari or Children of the Wind are a wayfaring species that had roamed the galaxy since the Serraq’ahn Holocaust that decimated their homeworld of Sael’enorin ( the Breeze Throne) 2000 years ago. The civil strife saw the Sil’indari prevailed against the upheaval caused by their rebelling cousins, and without a homeworld, the Sil’indari was doomed to travel the plains, like their namesake. The ever optimistic Sil’indarians soon rallied the surviving remnants of the race formed a colony revolving around their remaining space fleet.



Led by the sole heir to the throne, Lady Elyssiana, the Sil’indari slowly rebuilt their strength, whilst keeping a relatively isolationist stance against the other races for fear of confrontation. After a long voyage, almost 2 millenniums of relative peace, the winds of fate have brought the Sil’indari into the realm of the Endless. What fate beholds the Sil’indari?



The Sil’indari are masters of subtle technologies, with their craftsmanship often exuding grace not found in the works of other species. They see beauty is simplicity, and that often translates into the designs of their spacecraft and weaponry, simple and elegant, yet lethal.



Due to their long confinement to deck life, Sil’indarians will find it close to impossible to adapt to land-life, instead of colonizing a planet directly, Sil'indarians send in extraction modules and artificial workers to extract needed materials from a location.



Affinity: Guided by the Wind (travel and movement bonus for fleets, up to a maximum of 25%), Magnificent Craftsmanship (Ships have 10% more hp), Advanced Fleet(starts with +1 Extraction module (colony ship) and +1 Corvette)



Homeworld: None (The Sil’indari doesn’t have a home world, they start off in Sael'edaris, a superstructure mothership)



Visual: Humanoids with slightly pointy ears, (think elves), whilst not as lanky as one, their average height would be 5’5-5’8 for males, and 5’2’-5’5 for females.



Traits

Positive

Optimistic +20 15 (Naturally optimistic, even after the horrors of the Serra'qahn Holocaust, the Sil'indari looks forward to a bright future)

Fast Travellers +2 10 (Optimization of their fleets formation and engines allows the Sil'indari to travel swiftly)

Big Fleets +1 10 (Being part of fleet-based race allows the Sil'indari to learn how to manage a big fleet effortlessly)

Optimal Structure +20% 20 (The sleek design of their crafts allows them to fit in more parts than most)

Masters of Illusions 40% 10 (Elusive, and deadly, the motto of the Sil'indarian military doctrine)

Deadly Weapons +10 10 (Advancement in weaponry design allows the Sil'indari to strike with lethal force)

Swiftness +10% 15 (Ships gain chance to evade incoming attack)

Blockade Breakers 6 (Using stealthy and swift blockade runners, the Sil'indari can, and will break any form of blockade aimed at them)

Pin-point Assault +20 15(Chances to inflict critical damage increase with the effectiveness of Sil'indarian fleet tactics)



Negative

Militarist -20% -8 (Whilst the Sil'indari are armed to the teeth, they are not militaristic, due to the lingering memories of the Holocaust)

Builders -10% -4 (The quality of design incurs a penalty when repairing as equally quality materials need to be sourced)

Perfectionist (Ships take extra 20% time to build) -15 (The craftsmen of the fleet are so meticulous, that it ended up holding a backlog)

Material Shortage (Ships cost 15% extra) -10 (The scarceness of materials drives up the cost for the Sil'indari)



will update this after my finals >.<

Elysian Transcendence



Origin



It is said that when the goddess cried, a single tear fell into the pool of radiance. Her sorrow, her grief, her hatred, of what had became of her people concentrated into a single droplet. As the tear struck the water it turned to crystal and sank into its depths.



For many aeons the crystal tear sat at the bottom of the pool, and slowly the emotions contained within spread into the waters as it gently glowed. Slowly the pool itself became awash with emotions in their rawest form as it itself began to glow; and as it began to glow the air was filled with a gentle melody of crystals. Soon the plants and trees that drew their life from the water of the pool began to crystallise, and the crystal forest was born.



It was during this time that the first Elysians were born, or rather, came into being. As the mist from the pool spread throughout the crystal forest the first Elysians were born of the mist. They are beings of pure emotion, though their serene and peaceful exterior hides this. Each Elysian can feel the emotions of every other Elysian, no matter how far apart they are, and when one of their number should die, the grief felt by the Elysians is unimaginable to the scope of humankind, even causing them to experience a moment of physical weakness. Along with this empathic link to their kin, Elysians can feel the emotions of those near to them, almost as clearly as the individuals themselves.



Despite their ability to feel great grief and anger, the Elysians harbour no malice or spite. No Elysian would harm another living creature with intent unless it was to defend itself. All an Elysian needs to sustain itself is water from the pool of radiance. They are, so far, unaffected by viruses and other illnesses.



History



The Elysians were a solitary people. They were, and still are, few in number and find themselves at piece in small communities within the crystal forest. It was not long before the Elysians discovered that introducing a single drop of water from the pool of radiance to any other source of water would cause that water to take on the properties of the pool of radiance over time. This allowed the Elysians to spread and explore their planet and forests of crystal began to spread all over the planet.



It was not long after the Elysians first started to explore their world that they discovered another unique ability. Through meditation and mental manipulation they could cause the crystals of the radiant waters to grow and take on new properties. Soon the Elysians built villages out of crystal, then grand architectures which held new pools from which they could drink without turning the nearby vegetation into a crystalline substance.



Exploration suited the curiosity of the Elysians, and they were always careful not to impact too much of their environment as not to disturb the wildlife, but soon their curiosity took them beyond their world, and to the stars in great crystalline ships. These ships were not built, nor crafted, but grown over decades. At first the Elysians explored in peace, though this was not to last.



The first race the Elysians were to encounter was, rather unfortunately, the humans of the United Empire, who sought only to conquer, and viewed the Elysians as a threat to their goals. The Empire destroyed many of the great crystalline ships that the Elysians had grown, and many Elysians died. This was known as the time of great sorrow. Before this the Elysians had no though of weapons, no experience of war, no sensation of death on such large scale.



Now the Elysians arm themselves, harnessing the energy of their radiant pools to create death. This causes them sorrow. They try now, in vain, to heal wounds through diplomacy and stop the genocides amongst the stars. Despite their past experience they always approach with open arms and are willing to forgive past trespasses.



Visual Style



An Elysian appears predominantly human in appearance though their skin glows with a luminous blue radiance. They are always tall and slender and their hair ranges from pure white to a radiant blue. Their eyes have a similar shape and form to that of a human though the whites of their eyes glow gently and sparkle. Their exterior emotion is almost always one of passiveness. An Elysian will not speak unless they feel that they have something worth saying.



Elysian ships are not built, they are grown. Originally their ships were great floating cities that took decades to grow, though their interactions with other races have caused them to change their methods. Now most ships are much smaller, and, due to the small amount of their number, designed to be crewed by only a single Elysian.





Unique traits



If it is possible for the race to have unique traits not already in game the following would work well.



Crystal Growth – replaces industry. Is a set value representing the amount of crystal that can be grown on a particular planet at any one time.





Affinity



Born of Sorrow – Born of sorrow the Elysians are beings that are the embodiment of emotion. They are empathically linked to their kin, and are bound to each other in a way beyond the understanding of other races, no matter their distance. When one dies ripples are sent through the stars, causing such grief as to impart a brief moment of physical weakness. This sorrow is not one that the Elysians wish to impart on others.



Elysians may not declare war. Furthermore, they must accept any peace treaties that does not require them to pay any form of compensation.



Traits



Through their empathy the Elysians wish to keep the peace amongst the stars so that all may live in peace and harmony.



positive



Power Masters -50 [6]

Heroic Medicine – 80 [10]

Legendary Heroes +20 [10]

Diplomats +50 [15]

Symbiosis +30 [15]

Naïve +16 [10]

Knowledge Gathering +50 [10]

Mutual Understanding +10 [10]

Meticulous Information Analysis +2 [6]

Tolerant 25% [20]

Scientists +30% [45]

Optimal Structure +20 [20]



+167



negative



not Militarists +30 [12]

Small Fleets -2 [15]

weak weapons -15 [10]

Distaste for battle -10% [6]

Builders +30 [12]

Slow travellers -2 [6]

Weak alloys -30 [10]

Flawed defence 15 [10]

Rebellion -80 [6]



-87



Total+80

Fashar Republic



The people of Fashar know little of the ancient past that brought about their creation. Many scientists and scholars have tried but none have succeed completely. What is known is that they were created by a small faction of endless that wanted to restore order and balance. What the created were the Fashar a race of bio-synthetics. Their bodies are fully carbon based organics that during early development are infused with a type of dust that merges with the nervous system to create a hybrid system that could be interfaced with Virtuals. However the planet on which they were created was bombed back into the stone age with very little of the cities left the Fashar almost died off. Very few of synthesis facilities survived and those that were, were treated as the most holy of holy ground. Since they came so close to extinction the Fashar have learned to cooperate with each other to make sure that all parties are pleased with the outcome. This has caused them to develop a Republic that in primitive years each state was allowed to send two members to the Council. When space exploration toke off and the Fashar expanded their republic so to did their ideals, each world is allowed to send two representatives to the Council. Every six(6) cycles the Council elects a new Vizer who acts as the leader for the whole Republic.



With time they lost the ability to make sure that their synthetic uplinks could communicate with Virtuals, however they have since recaptured much of the lost technology and have found out how to connect to their ships AI. This has allowed them to create smaller ships with the same amount of weapons and armor than their contemporaries. This had lead to to develop hit and run tactics with the motto of "Hit Fast, Hit Hard, Hit often." They are not warriors by nature as they believe that nothing is truly accomplished by destroying one another. Trough many hard lessons they have adapted, they now have a professional volunteer military that anyone can join and can stay for as long as they like with many people leaving and rejoining several times through their long lives. When they first found the other races they were viewed as weak total pacifists , since then they have become equals to the vast majority of the other races. Many have since tried to take territory from them only to find that they are outmatched by the Fashars Intel networks who feed the military constant locations of enemy fleets that are not prepared for a guerrilla attack. The unaware fleets are quickly hit by the long range and hard hitting particle beams mixed with their pin point accurate missiles.



Appearance



They are a race of all female humanoids. They highly resemble humans(think of them as a slender elf human hybrid without the pointy ears), and it is believed that the original template was that of humans given the ability of humans to adapt. They have nearly perfect white skin that evolved due the the desert that their home planet of Shar was turned into. The white skin reflects almost all damaging rays from stars and helps keep the heat off their bodies. With the help of the dust synthesis they have much longer lives and do not age in the same way, the only may to really tell an age of a Fashar is their hair, for only the old(400ish in earth years) have pure white hair. Their eyes are almost always red and appear almost cybernetic upon close inspection(Think “The Illusive Man” from ME). They have silky hair that is a dark shade of either red or blue. When they first met many humans seen them as long lost cousins, however to their surprise they found out that while similar they were indeed very different for the Fashar have a very unique Triple Helix DNA strand.



Their ships and architecture are known as being small, sleek, and stealthy. Since they don't need the crew that other races need they can have the same amount of weapons and armor on a smaller frame. Most of their ships are angular so that the most firepower can be brought to bear while keeping the smallest profile. Since they rely on speed as much as shields and armor most of the engines are sunken into the hull making them hard to destroy.



Empire Traits:



Everyone is equal trading(Merchants +2)[+12]

Desert Planet(Terraformed B')[-5]

Blockade Runners(blockade breakers)[+6]

Genetic Engineering(cloning 2)[+6]

Slow Population(growth plan -20%)[-16]

Equal Say(Optimistic +20)[+15]

Advanced Civil Engineering(crowded Planets 1)[+10]

Tolerant 50%[+10]

Not Warriors(militarists +20%)[-8]

Masters of Speed(Fast travelers +2)[+10]

Volunteer Military(big fleets -2)[-15]

Unique Alloys(Strong Alloys +15%)[+10]

Masters of illusion 40%[+10]

Shared Intel(Meticulous Information Analysis +2)[+6]

Targeting AI(Snipers +5)[+5]

Hit and Run tactics(deadly Weapons +10%0[+10]

Few fortifications(fearless warriors -1)[-3]

Early Warning(Stellar Guardians +2)[+6]

Foreign Relations Group(Diplomats 25%)[+6]

Effective Medicine(Heroic Medicine -40%)[+5]



total of 80

Joabaw



Story;

During the war between the Concretes and the Virtual Endless its well known about the creation of the Cravers by the Virtuals. What is not so common knowledge is that the Concretes, after witnessing the birth of the Cravers began to create their own warriors for a counter to the Cravers known as the Joabaw. Similar to Golems, because essentially that's what they were, at least in the beginning, the Joabaw were designed simply as war machines and basically cannon fodder so to speak, to take out any attack from the Cravers, to minimize Concrete casualties. Although self aware, they had no concept of death or self preservation, yet their battle skill subroutines were very complex and as good as the Concretes were themselves in many respects, though they lacked a certain adaptability and could not evolve to deal with situations encountered outside their original programing. A grave mistake on the part of the Concretes as it turned out.

At the time, just before the Virtuals bombed and isolated the Cravers back into that distant arm of the galaxy, the Virtuals captured some of these Golem like Joabaw and planted some of their technology within them to turn them against their creators. The effect was viral in nature and relatively soon after, all the Joabaw were tormenting their original creators. This gave the Virtuals the opportunity to deal with the Cravers while the Joabaw did the job the Cravers where originally designed to do. The Concretes suffered badly from this turn of events and they stopped any further Joabaw creation immediately. However they didn't give up on the idea, as they thought surely the Virtuals will be creating some new Craver like weapon against them. So soon after they developed a new version with far more sophisticated subroutines and firewall protection to their programing. This time the Virtuals were the ones to suffer, as they had no plans to make another warrior like race to do their bidding.

Eventually though, in an act of desperation the Virtuals's did manage to plant another viral like alteration to a loan Joabaw with their superior programing abilities, after a brave crew kamikazed into a Concrete cruiser at the end of a battle the Concretes would have just won by the barest of margins. During the impact, just in the nick of time, the virus was uploaded just before the sole surviving Joabaw drifted out into space amongst all the wreckage of the recent battle. Only this time the only way to stop them was to essentially make it sentient and convince it that it was pointless annihilating themselves just for the Concretes benefit. The new sentient Joabaw saw wisdom in this and was soon picked up by Joabaw reinforcements sent to bolster the recently destroyed fleet. Soon after, first the reinforcements and eventually a good 10000 more were all sentient before the Concretes realized. The Concretes, when realizing what had happened, destroyed what remained of the Joabaw and tried to wipe out the new sentient's. Since they were actually the creation of both the Concretes and the Virtuals, and being fully aware of the fate of the Cravers also, they decided to flee.

So flee they did and hid on a distant world and promptly began to developed a way to recreate and better themselves to be better able to overcome any attempt by their creators to destroy them, or anything else that had bad intentions towards them. Although at first relatively small in number, eventually, after many generations, they numbered too many to remained confined to a single world. They developed space faring technology and began exploring space. And since there was no evidence of their creators continued existence, they began to expand into space as well. This is the time the Joabaw enter Endless Space.

Joabaw today are very hardy, but are best suited to temperate worlds where their inner workings function best. Energy is their food which they obtain by numerous industrial refining techniques of common & rare organic and mineral resources. Also for manufacturing of their components, that are further augmented with dust. They are not outwardly aggressive, but are formidable opponents when attacked due in large part to the original design as a defence against the Cravers for the Concretes. Quite introverted they prefer to just go about their business and are not bothered so much by other races, unless they encroach upon their resources. They will gladly do business, but are quick to end deals if they see they are losing value with out care for diplomatic backlash.



Visual Style;

Golem like. Various sizes, Fierce but noble looking mechanical humanoidish bipedal beetles with metallic mechanical inner workings with round luminous bright green power cells riddled with conduits that is sometimes visible through gaps in beetle like armor made from carbonite-( dark gray to black, rock like texture with tint of multi colour iridescence like petrol or oil on the surface of calm water), with various weapons and equipment attachments. Long, thick arms that when fully extended can reach the ground and can be used to walk with gorilla like if needed.







Affinity Traits:

These guys are extremely effective defensive warriors and as such any invaders are going to find it really hard going. +25% defense effectiveness.



Economy:

Merchants; -1 trade routes per system, cost -3

Terraformed Planet; Home planet Rich minerals, cost 5



Population:

Growth Plan; 10% food per star system, cost 15

Optimistic; +10 Approval bonus per star system, cost 6



Science:

Tolerant; Begin the game with the ability to colonize all

Planet types, but with a malus in FIDS production

of 25% until proper technology is found. cost 20



Building:

Militarists; -10% Industry cost for ships when being

constructed. cost 8



Ships & Fleets:

Fast Travelers; -2 warp speed per fleet. cost -6

Strong Alloys; +15% HP max per ship cost 10



Space Battle:

Dust Recyclers; +10 Dust per destroyed CP( allies & Foes)

if battle is won. cost 5

Optimal Defense; 10% efficiency per defense mod cost 10



Defense:

Fearless Warriors; +2 Ground defense per star system cost 12

Rebellion; -40% ownership loss per star system captured

by enemy faction cost -3



Total = 79

Too many humanoids up in this. Let's fix that!



1. Fimetarions (Fimetarion Intelligence)



2. Although first discovered by the United Empire - who game them their unflattering common name, referring to their unique growth cycle - it was not until Empire traders gave a small working sample of material to Sophon scientists that it was realized the mold-like beings known as Fimetarions were possessed of a great intelligence dispersed over colonies across the stars. Idle stories of strange spore clouds shooting through space and affixing to engines soon became connected to the recognization that the Fimetarions were, in fact, sentient. Remnants of Jungle and Terran-class worlds settled by the Concretes, prolonged exposure to dust hastened the growth of colonies of mold, which grew and expanded into the Fimetarion Intelligence. Inexperienced in space travel, the Fimetarions had to overcome the limitations of their biology to travel -slowly - upon the stars. Without the advances possible through Dust, they would have likely been nothing more than a pre-spaceflight tourist attraction. With their vast Dust absorption, however...



Terrans especially have trouble recognizing that there are in fact many beings composing the Fimetarion Intelligence. Though the Intelligence is friendly, it is also largely isolationist and focused on a goal of slow expansion of the ideal habitat for its own drift; this, luckily, is habitable by a majority of known races, but it has been noted that for every day that passes, the more Dust seems to be transferred from the Intelligence to local flora, which are absorbed into the Intelligence's organic collective...



Travel for the Fimetarion is a hard slog - they have only organic 'ships' which are in actuality large fungal blooms. These blooms are capable of expelling absorbed rock matter (kinetic), or using dust to fire manufactured weapons (missiles) or accelerants (beam weapons), but consume population from planetary surfaces to create; and as each bloom contains uncounted Fimetarion lives, it must be quite a blow for them to lose in battle or exploration... Something which may contribute to their increasingly isolationist nature. On the other hand, the Fimetarion grow quickly, and can uplift fungal matter into their collective given time and Dust, which they gather efficiently, but use in addition to non-sentient organics as food sources. Unless completely destroyed, Fimetarion blooms can regenerate 'lost' lives through the Ceremony of the Sun - a semireligious occasion which has proven a headache to Empire Fleets attempting to remove a stubborn Algae drift from their borderlands.



3. A little pony that talks like a painful, yet inexplicably popular science fiction caricature from a certain movi- Er. Fimetarion city-drifts can vary in size from small enough to fit within a soup bowl, to the size of vast citadel-drifts of epic proportions. The coloration of the contingent molds that make up their mass varies widely based upon the system, planet, and terrain the growth first arose from. In Fimetarion mythologo-history, it is even stated that the ancient Progenitors of Old (Concrete Endless who may have been attempting to create a counter-weapon the machinations of the Virtuals) were great towers of bloom that could change coloration rapidly as a sign of status. Fungal blooms affixed to land move over time, spreading or declining to maximize soil yield and obtain the most Dust.



4. Fimetarion Affinity - Neutral, possibly Good if we have an unequal ratio of alignments.

- Terraform overtime to Jungle/Gaia class worlds, pop severely limited (-4 harsh, -3 semiharsh, -2 almosthabitable, -1 Terran, minimum of one pop) on non-Jungle/Gaia

- Consume an additional point of Dust in addition to food, but are better at gathering Dust (Buinessmen 20%)

- Start on a Terraformed Planet (Jungle, Rich Soil) most efficient to Fimetarion life.

- Population Growth 20%, to represent rapid growth and assimilation of local flora.

- Slow Travelers, -10% due to organic drifts having low speed.

- Ships regenerate 10% per phase, and 25% per turn.



There we go! Knew after a cuppa coffee or two I'd have my thoughts composed. Really like Saba's golem-people, and Sadi had me at 'Jovian'. Let's keep it people!

A non-humanoïd Jovian race, created by the endless in order to exploit ressources.

I will probably improve their history later.





The Apparatus



History:



The Apparatus are a race genetically created by the concrete faction, more precisely by the Explorers and the Technologists, as a conscient tool to explore and exploit asteroids and gas giants.



After the disparition of their creators, most of them continued their job until their death but some of them followed their own way, developping a very industrised civilization in the upper atmosphere of their jovian homeland. Their society is based on the respect of the experience of the elders (a kind of gerontocratic society): when an apparatus decided to stop labour work (generally for a physical reason), he became a important part of the society life, procreating, educating the young and starting politic.



The Apparatus easily exploit luxure and industrial ressources but unfortunatly for them they are not adapted to live in O2 based atmosphere, hindering them to expend easily across the star. They are also poor negociants and not really creative, more interested by repetitive tasks and looking for more and more luxurus ressources to exploit, a clearly drawned genetical trait.



Visual:



They are a strange cross-over between «*aerian*» jellyfish and crabs, resisting to the void and the very hard conditions of live of gas giants atmosphere. Their encephal is protected by a very resisting carapace (even resisting to the voïd) and connected to a dozen of tentacles and claws that they can retract to keep their protected to the cold voïd. They use amovible part of their carapace to propulse themself in the voïd.

In the jovian atmosphere they can deploy a sort of organic dress to float but they prefer to grab a support with their tentacles and use this "dress" most of the time in a seduction or intimidation way.

Their physical resistance assure them a long functional and life esperancy.



The aspect of their ship should be very functional, like the craver's one.



Affinity:



- Apparatus' alignment is neutral due to their lack of interest in other races.

- (If possible) Their terraforming politic is the inverse of other «*classic*» races: from terran to gas.

- And so is their population politic: +3 population slot and +3 food per population on giant gaz and asteroids.

- +50% of FIDS on gas giant and astreroïds

- -50% of FIDS on every other type of planet

- Begin with all luxury ressources discovered



Traits:



Population:

Growth plan +15 => +15

Optimistic I => +6



Science:

Scientist -III => -24



Building:

Builders III => +24

Militaristic I => +8

Master of Destruction I => +10



Ship and Fleet:

Fast Traveller II => +10

Strong Alloy I => +10

Optimal Structure I => +10



Space Battle:

Dust Recycler II => +10



=> Total: 79 points

Very cool submission so far! Would it be an option to change the process for contests like this so that submissions can not be viewed? The reason being: They are just too good and I've lost all hope and spirit when considering submitting something myself

Sol Templars



Story:

As Human beings the Sol Templars originated from the Same Home system the United Empire came from, but this is the only thing they have in common now. While the live of a single Man was not of worth in the Empire resistance was not uncommon against the Corporations and the Monarchy, but even though the People had supporters in higher Ranks the labouring men had no chance against the fast and merciless retribution of the Empire. But when the Empire began to expand in regions far away from home a woman calling herself Sol formed Resistance in a remote system. Her teachings told the people about mercy and the worth of live but also they saw violence as a necessary tool of liberation. A manifest of hers was spreading through the empire and soon the corporations saw the danger of such a semi-religion that praised resistance. So it was inevitable that the empire tried to destroy this cult before it could grow in strength and become a real threat to the empire. Ironically it was this witch-hunt, this fear guided pogrom that united the followers of Sol and brought them new believers. It was on the Terran World of Gaia when the Empire found the woman called Sol and though her followers fought for her, they were not able to protect her. What happened next was a broadcasted execution. The CEOs thought that this would frighten the People off but finally they achieved the utter opposite. Whole planets declared their independences, small fleets fell from grace and in the need to survive against the united empire they formed an alliance called the Sol Templars. And with this alliance they gave an oath, to start a crusade and conquer their ancestors home, the domains of the empire and far more. Only few really know that some passages from the book of Sol originated from fragments of the endless ones, found by an archaeologist on Gaia, her name will be ever forgotten but when she disappeared, the women Sol unified the sufferers.



Visual Style:

Their Style should take their heritage as humans into account and therefore the style of the united empire though it could be more archaic. Additional the ships should be more bulky for their purpose of bringing war into the systems of the united empire and any other unclean xeno. Even some decorations like gold and silver would make sense because the Sol Templars view their battleships as their fortress and cathedral all in one. Perhaps even the design can orientate on sacral buildings with a long nave and so on, something to represent ate their fanatical believe and militant devotion to their cause.



Homeworld:

Terran



Affinity:

Fanatical Warriors

The Sol Templars devotion to war is both, effective and dangerous. Their commanders seek for the closest confrontation possible and hunt down their enemy with complete dedication.

(No long Range modifier)

(Mid Range +5% Damage +5% Accuracy, 25% Longer Phase)

(Short Range +10% Damage +10% Accuracy, 50% Longer Phase)

[TheLongerPhasesrepresenttheirmanoeuvringtohuntdowntheirenemiesuntiltheyareutterdestructed]

+10 Xp Per Battle



Trait:

Optimistic xx / +15

Strong Alloys xx / +20

Snipers xxx / +15

Deadly Weapons xxx / +15

Optimal Defence xxx / +15

Critical Chance xxx / +15

Fearless Warriors xx / +12

Death before Dishonour xx / +10

Merchants -x / -3

Businessmen -xx / -16

Terraformed Planet – C' / -6

Builders -xx / -8

The Triants



Story:



The Triants evolved from small trees that were affected by a failed experiment that the Endless made on their planet. They soon obtained consciousness and morphed to a humanoid being with short legs and arms but a long torso. As time passed they discovered their natural telepathic communication abilities and soon build up a free society without a political system living in harmony with nature and each other. Facing no real enemy they grew unharmed and soon populated the whole planet. At first they limited their rate of birth but soon realized that this would not end the problem because Triants get about 500 years old before they suffer a natural death. They reproduce themselves by growing a sapling every year at their back and then let him grow in clammy soil. After two years in the soil the saplings are grown up and get consciousness. With their planet being overpopulated they tried to find a solution and after a while they came to the conclusion that they have to explore new planets and build a fleet of spaceships. It took them a lot of time to invent such a high technology because living in harmony with nature comes with the price of having little industrial knowledge. But their telepathic communication allows them to spread their knowledge very fast and now they finally build their first ships and are ready to find new homes in the endless universe.







Visual Style:



They have short legs and arms and a long torso where the head is embedded at the upper end without a neck. Their dark brown skin is still very hard and inflexible like bark which makes them very robust and let them act slowly. They have no gender and grow saplings at their back. On top of their head they have some green leafs instead of hair. When Triants get older their skin gets pale and their leafs start to get brown until they fall of completely. They have 3 long fingers at each hand and 4 to 7 uneven arranged toes around their feet which look like shortened roots.







Homeworld:

Jungle





Traits:



Affinity trait:



As they love every living being they are not able to declare war on other races and start in peace with +30 relation instead of cold war with other races, except for the Cravers. However other races can still declare war on them.





Positive:



Diplomats: 50% | Cost: 15



Symbiosis: +30% cooperation treaties bonuses | Cost: 15



Growth Plan: +10% Food per star system | Cost: 15



Crowded Planets: +1 Max Pop on tiny/Small/Medium Planets | Cost: 10



Optimal Defense: +10% efficiency per defense mod | Cost: 10



Naive: +16 Approval per star system for each faction at peace/allied | Cost: 10



Merchants: +1 Trade Routes per star system | Cost: 6



Blockade Breakers: Cost: 6



Optimistic: +10 Approval bonus per star system | Cost: 6



Masters of Illusion: -20% Industry cost per ship without weapon mods | Cost: 5



Terraformed Planet: B) Rich soil | Cost: 5





Negative:



Businessmen: -10% Dust per star system | Cost -8



Builders: +20% Industry cost for infrastructure.. | Cost: -8



Militarists: +10% Industry cost for ships | Cost: -4



Hunger for Battle: -5% damage per weapon mod.. | Cost: -3





Total: 80 points

The Plague



The idea of only be able to Steal technology is a hard balancing problem. They should be a CPU only race, that can be turned on/off for a game. (like Pirates?!? )

Or they wait in a deserted system until a player explores them and then are activated.

I will not give Positives/Negatives because they are not a playable race. But they should be able to build fleets fast and use one extra technology they can build into their ships to steal technology (use a card as a combat action)



Story:

A Failed experiment by their creators the Endless .Build as a Weapon in their internal War, in a distant system (Planet Naiva), but soon out of control they destroyed many planets and exterminated every life they found until there was no life near them.

With no Target close, they returned to their Homeplanet and fell asleep waiting for new biological victims.



Visual Style:

Like evil looking Bio-mechanical-Insects on two feet.



Game Design:

-Can't research

-Have a chance to aquire technology through battle (no matter if they survive)

-one extra ship that has a extra module to increase the chance to "steal" technology

-no Diplomacy

-no Heroes

-"Dust" & "food" =supplements

-No Approvel or Influence

-Naiva = If they are defeated their conqueror gets a Planet that should be a strong scientific jungle Planet.

-they should be able to get new planets but they "replace" the population with their own. breeding and building new ships.

@Xeper:

It is not a critic, but your race idea is close to what Cravers are.

@sadi

hmm just read their background... You're right somehow. but i had a more non living form in mind, i should delete the "insect" aspect and think of something else.

-Backstory, Biology, Community, etc...

They are a bipedal race with 2 arm and 2 legs, with skintones varying from yellow to light brown color. Their face resembles squids, with short and multiple tentacles that look like facial hair. They seem not to possess gender, and their community seems to be very connected. They have no known hierarchy which leads other races to believe that they possess a single shared mind; some call it perfect democracy, some call it perfect slavery. Most of them seem to lack verbal skills, or they just prefer not to talk with outsiders. They are probably capable of communicating with each other without the need of verbal skills; telepathy in other words. This also supports that they may share a single mind.



As each race is dependent on one or multiple substances, this race seems to be dependent on the Dust itself. They seem to avoid any planet where they cannot get Dust. While other races fabricate/replicate it, this race seems to possess unique lifeforms that can produce the Dust naturally (in other words, this race doesn't produce food, but they produce more dust, and they consume it aswell...).



They are the closest race to the Endless. They think them as their gods, and worship them as so, even in their absence. They think the Dust is their creation, and thus, they are their creation. Hence the name, Children of the Dust the others call them. No one knows their exact relevance to the Endless, or what they call themselves.



They are oddly primitive compared to other races. They seem not to possess any complex technologies, but maybe they don't need them. Their buildings, ships... They look like living animals/ Maybe their symbiotic relationships also exceed what we've seen; and these are actually living beings that are being tended by the Children. Maybe everything are from the same race with different shapes, goals, and functions, but no one is sure.



-Traits

Please keep that in mind, there aren't enough traits or gameplay diversity for my idea to make it into the game anyway (maybe just for now? :P). They possess all +dust benefits; however dust isn't just their currency, dust is their source of life. So, they would need special traits related to dust for them to work. But since there isn't/they won't, I picked all dust related stuff below. Also, here is the link for this idea, and a recap section for you guys to see what is actually on my mind. /#/endless-space/forum/28-game-design/thread/11016-race-idea-children-of-the-dust



-Power Masters II (6)

-Heroic Medicine II (10)

-Dust Recyclers II (10)

-Tolerant II (20)

-Businessman III (45)

-Terraformed Planet B (5)



-Militarists Malus II (-8)

-Builders Malus II (-8)



Total: 80

The Amirachi



Story:



The Amirachi are the Result of an Attempt of the Endless to fasten the Evolutionary Process. Before the Experiment, they were small antlike, eusocial Beings, that lived in the Canyons of thier Arid Homeworld. The Endless tried different Methods, but the Results were not, what they desired, so the Endless left the Planet.



After the Endless left, the Experiments died slowly off. But in one remote Corner of the Test Area, there was an small Colony of geneticly manipulated Amirachi, that had something, that would give them an Edge in the Game of Survival: A functional, 4-Chambered Heart and a Pair of Lungs. These Taichi could grow bigger, move faster and were more fit then there Competiors. After serveral Millenia, the Amirachi of today emerged victorious from this Game.





Description:



They are an resourcefull Race, which are very skilled in any practical Task, as for Building an House or an huge Spaceship, but that comes with an deficit in abstract thinking. They tend to have few ships, that are slow, but are very resilent to damage and offering more space than other Ships of the same Size.





Visual Style:



They have two long, chitin-covered legs and four arms, that Hands and Feet are ending in four Fingers / three Toes. The Torso and Head are humanoid and covered by Skin. They have brownish-golden skin. On thier hair covered Heads they have two Antennas, which are detecting chemicals, air currents and vibrations. Thier two Eyes are completly Black and offers the same Eyesight as Human Eyes. The Mouth ist the same as that of any humanoid Being, but two devolded Mandibels, covers the Side of the Chin and give the Impression of a two-pieced Mouth.







Homeworld:

Arid



Affliction:

Neutral





Traits:



Affinity trait: Natural Industriualists



As they have an Hand for anything that revolves around Industrie, they get:

+1 Production per Population Unit

+15% Production per Star System





Positive:



Builders 3: -30% Industry cost for infrastructure.. | Cost: 24



Militarists 3: -30% Industry cost for ships | Cost: 24



Crowded Planets: +1 Max Pop on tiny/Small/Medium Planets | Cost: 10



Optimal Defense: +15% efficiency per defense mod | Cost: 15



Strong Alloys 2: +30% max HP per Ships | Cost: 20



Optimal Structure 2: +20% storage per Ship | Cost: 20





Negative:



Big Fleets Malus 2: -2 CP per Fleet | Cost: -15



Fast Travelers Malus 2: -2 warp speed per Fleet | Cost: -6



Scientists Malus 2: -20% Science per Star System | Cost: -16





Total: 76 points

english is not my mother language so i hope this is readable



The Sarakis Dominion



Alignment: Neutral



History

On the distant Planet of Sarakis evolved two dominant Species the Rectors and Saraks.



Rectors:

7 feet tall at average,slim but strong build, the two-legged Reptiles of Sarakis have always been a primitive but strong and war-loving race. Living in Clans their Tribes had been wandering for thousand of years through the jungles of Sarakis until somehow a Religion had formed. Manipulated by the other dominant species the Rectors began to prey to the parasitic, highly intelligent, plant race called Saraks. Thanks to their connection through their spores (see Saraks) they fight as one, if there is a Saraks in range that can connect them. It works in their subconscious mind and they believe it's the blessing of their gods.

Rectors are, thanks to their Spores, almost as intelligent as a Human being. They have to communicate with each other like most species but have a hard time learning new languages.



Saraks:

Saraks are tree like Plants that can discharge spores. Those spores are able to control primitive or willing creatures. Spores normally sit down onto the neck and eat themselves through the flesh into the spine. every adult Rector gets a spore planted into his neck and is from that point a accepted part of their adult culture. If a spore is able to find a willing host, It will make him Stronger, faster, more intelligent but also has a strong influence on him (host is not loosing his/her personality) and is shortening the span of life.

when the Saraks finally had hosts that had Hands they where able to invent technical advances and the rise of the Sarakis Dominion began.

In every Huge ship there is at least one Sarak used as a Altar and to influence the Rectors.



Visual Style:

Rectors:

starting with their heads, a nightmare of cold starring eyes sharp synthetic teeth that can bite through steel, Rectors are going into battle in some kind of heavy steel Armor using a fighting staff, in their leading hand, with blades on each end and a laser pistol assembled on the wrist of the other hand.



Saraks:

Look like Tropical Plants with extremely long leafes that end in their Spores. A Spore is a little ball with a lot of strong little branches that are able to move the spore over the ground.



Traits:



Positives:

-Hunger for Battle +10% 10

-Fearless Warriors +2 15

-Revenge +50% 10

-Optimistic +20 15

-Terraformed Planet A&B 10

-Rebellion +80% 10

-Masters of Destruction 50% 20



negatives:

-diplomats -25% -6

-Scientists -10% -8





76 Points

The Wol Commune



Background



The Wol are a race that evolved out of sight of the stars, and the Endless, beneath the waters of their ocean world. Their physiology reflects this, with their large eyes, tentacles, and lack of lungs. They feed by maneuvering bits of food close to their jaw-less mouths with a tentacle, and then gulp in the food item along with any of the surrounding sea water. The Wol do not communicate with sounds, but rather with intricate flashing of bio luminescent organ clusters along their bodies.



The Wol live in a strange communal society, where any individual is expected to sacrifice their all for the good of the whole. A single Wol will not hesitate to give up his life if it would benefit the Wol species as a whole. That being said, there is not a great deal of observable structure to Wol society. Any individual Wol will jump in to assist in any task eagerly, should they have the requisite skills. You could often see a single Wol move from a high-tech research lab one day, then the next, helping raise one of the majestic coral structures that serve them for buildings. The Wol are not a hive mind however, each individual is still just that, an individual who retains an identity separate from the whole. Wol art and culture is quite beautiful and striking, if somewhat un-varying from piece to piece. What they lack in creativity, they make up for in quantity, adding art into everything they do, from municipal buildings, to starships.



The Wol expansion into the stars only came after their expansion onto the few patches of dry land found on their native world. In this respect, they have a leg up on other races when it comes to dealing with alien environments, as the switch from an aquatic environment to one of air and land was almost as shocking as outer space. They look upon most other races with mild curiosity, and are open to trade and treaties when it benefits them. Mostly the Wol are interested only in their building projects. They are masters of construction, haveing adapted the coral life forms of their homeworld to construct almost everything their society requires. They are fond of creating massive super-structures; some of which can take more than a single generation of Wol to complete. They are enticed by the ruins of the Endless they come across, regarding them as master builders, if a bit stuffy in their aesthetic designs.



When the Wol do find it necessary to go to war, they will rely on their ability to quickly construct and field large numbers of ships. While they may not be natural warriors, their numbers, and determination to protect the Commune as a whole make the tough foes.



Visual Style



I wanted to get away from a standard humanoid race, and give them a look like they wouldn't belong walking around on land.







I imagine their color scheme to resemble all the colors you would find along something like the Great Barrier Reef, a lot of bright colors and bio-luminescent glow.



Homeworld



Ocean



Traits



(I'm not sure about all of these, I want to focus the race around production bonuses and bonuses from having such a tight knit society)



Growth Plan = +10% Food per system

Builders = -30% Construction costs

Big Fleets = +2 Max CP per fleet

Optimal Structure = +20% per ship

Fearless Warriors = +1 Ground Defense per star system

Bad Snipers = -5% accuracy per weapon mod