Vaurca Culture and Society

Values
Vaurcesian society values and respects the authority each Hive has over its own Vaurcae. This is considered one of the highest values, and the golden rule, so much that an individual that deviates from this norm will be considered defective. While unique ethos and understandings of how to serve the Hive are as plentiful as there are Vaurcae, they mainly resonate that, especially when working in human space, an individual Vaurca takes the role as the representative of the Hive and thus should act accordingly.

Loyalty and Bound treatment
The Vaurca concept of loyalty differs from humanity’s in that it is not ideological in any respect. Loyalty to one’s Hive is not considered unique, and is not flaunted, due to the simple fact that all Vaurcae are loyal to their Hive, and disloyalty is an anomaly. Loyalty is furthermore purely biological, the result of pheromone excretion, augmentation, and indoctrination.

While Vaurca Bound are exploited by their Unbound brethren, they are not typically discriminated against. Their value is apparent to the Hive, and except for extreme and rare cases of excess Unbound Vaurca will treat Bound with the same regard one might treat a hammer —a tool and nothing more, nothing less.

Competitiveness and individual conflict
While Vaurcae have their own understanding of sports, some broods are rarely competitive, as sport is often seen as a leisure or part of one’s training. Despite such, many have adopted and enjoyed human sports and activities of the sort, though they will rarely be seen as upset as a human may be if their team loses.

Certain individuals may have feuds with each other. This is rarely taken as anything other than friendly banter, and enemies have a passive relationship. Aggression between Vaurcae is rare if not in the context of war, and not often will one see Vaurcae picking a fight. If the situation leads to that, however, it will mainly happen between Warriors, and sorted in Virtual Reality —fights that do actual damage being uncommon. Workers and Warriors alike, however, often sort their differences, if too great, with their respective hive-cell Breeders.

As busy as the Hivenet is, with many voices and thoughts coming together all times, Vaurcae learn to ‘ignore’ those they disagree with, and filter out conversations that are not their concern. There is an implement block option in the Hivenet, which allows users to cease to listen to others they deem too troublesome. This, however, requires the permission of a Breeder and is seen as a final measure.

Death and afterlife
While the normal Vaurcae may claim to not be scared of death, as their afterlife is the Paradise molded by their own Queens, natural instincts are hard to suppress, and survival is seen as a priority, whether the Hive culture has intended for that to be the case or not. Individuals are often mourned, but there is more joy in death than what would be common in human societies, as they remain assured they will meet again. However, the loss of an alien friend can be painful, since they do not form part of the Virtual Reality the Vaurcae have available.

The deceased Unbound’s neural socket is removed and permanently has its data moved onto its respective Lesser Queen’s VR before being reused once more in a new Unbound Vaurca. The loss of a neural socket before this ritual is a high offense, and stealing one’s socket after death, no matter from which Hive, is considered one of the lowest actions an individual can do. An offense of this magnitude does not go without retaliation, even if the culprit was not Vaurca.

Wars and honor
Vaurcae, like humans, are tribalistic when it comes to their own surroundings. Hive pride is common, and the history of conflict with each Hive has led to many clashings. After the Great Hive War, due to the death toll, there has been a great effort by some of the broods to reduce their military strength and avoid such a catastrophe again. Once a war is engaged, however, there are strict honor codes a Warrior should engage in, as war crimes are a huge offense to all parties. The abduction of Unbound Vaurcae is frowned upon, and the killing of another Hive’s Lesser Queens or ultimate Queen is especially taboo.

Warforms and other types of Bound Warriors are regarded as tools, but they are also valued as important assets. As such, while the battle will aim to overcome the strength of the opponent, even to the point of killing their Bound Warriors, the vandalization or sabotage of these assets is also frowned upon, and not honorable.

These rules and values are understood and enforced by Bound Vaurcae too, even if they may fail to grasp the concepts behind such. Punished communities, individuals in exile or Queenless hive-cells may have acquired different notions of values, or even dropped them altogether, as their conditions are poor in their environments. The Lii’dra do not follow these ethical codes.

Taboos
Perhaps unlike other sophonts in the Orion Spur, Vaurcae are the most ashamed about their evolution, and would rather pretend that they were always augmented and biologically engineered. Even at Sedantis, the Leto brood would be shunned for their interest in pre-Augment archeology. One of their highest taboos, however, would be references to trophallaxis or their natural language, which relied in mouth-to-mouth hormone distribution for more complex messages. While an Unbound will likely shrug off slurs that superficially link them to Terrestrial insects, if someone were to imply that Vaurcae practice trophallaxis, they would likely take great offense, akin as a human offending a Queen.

Mouth-to-mouth contact is regarded as gross and primitive. A Vaurca would find humans kissing to be disgusting. The pre-contact fashion of covering one’s mandibles was common with some groups that considered showing the mandibles in public to be indecent, but the new filter ports and contact with other societies has rapidly changed their views. Nowadays, only a few older Vaurcae are too prudish to hide their mandibles.

Tas will often cover their faces with shrouds in public, but for the followers of the Modern Pantheon this is particularly required. While a regular Worker of this religion would never force a Breeder to cover her face, it would believe that staring directly into her face would be immodest and blinding, and thus the Worker would turn away or cover its eyes.

A High Queen, if she has begun a hive of her own, will shed her old name and take the short form only. Any mention of it is the highest of the taboos, perhaps in an attempt for other hives to not link the High Queen with her mother. The full birth names of Zo’ra, K’lax and C’thur are considered hidden words. Even with High Queen Lii’dra, despite their hatred of the Hive, the name would not be mentioned. As much as some of the K’lax may despite C’thur, mentioning her full name would be grounds for voiding by their own Queen.

Holidays and calendar
Like other sapient societies, there are days deemed special for Vaurcae. The traditional Vaurcesian calendar did not follow the moon or the sun, or even agricultural cycles, but rather predictable tectonic movements that were timed and repeated. Because time in Virtual Reality follows a different logic, often seeing as if there was no time at all, keeping track of time in Virtual Reality is not a common practice in those that reside or remain linked in it. However, Cephalons and traditional Vaurca clocks (Bound Workers meant to count time ever since they left Sedantis) have allowed for the notion of time to not be lost in Vaurca society. The Sedantis calendar has become a niche as of late, since Vaurcae quickly adapted to the calendars of the cultures they now interact with.

Individual Celebrations
A regular Vaurca will have some celebrations they may wish to commemorate. One that is universal among Unbound is Transubstantiation Day, or Vata’keilvetk. Typically occurring at or close to half of their lifespan, this day is significant in that the Vaurca’s neural socket has copied the functions of their brain, thus cementing their place in the virtual afterlife. Many Unbound celebrate this day and go to great lengths to celebrate the Transubstantiation Day of their peers.

Vaurcae do not keep track of birthdays, but they may celebrate the day they left their training. This is a common practice with younger individuals that were born after they were introduced to other cultures. Some broods, such as Vetju, reject this idea altogether. Others, such asAthvur, have embraced it and it has become almost universal.

Additionally, there are several milestones a Vaurca may wish to celebrate in their life. This can be any kind of accomplishment, and more often than not are decided among a group of individuals. An example may be a group of Unbound Workers, celebrating together their architectural feat every year. Schools of thought, groups and cliques may produce these days for anything they deem worthy of remembrance.

By request, and if approved by their hive-cells overseeing Ta, an Unbound may forgo incineration upon death for a far older practice of Reclamation. In this practice, the deceased unbounds implants are removed, and their body is specially prepared for consumption by their hive-cell. It is the belief that by consuming the physical remains of the deceased, they may move on into the Aether without worry of what they leave behind. Skrellian historians believe that this practice likely came around between the Era of Agriculture and the Era of Augments, and probably served a purpose for the hives then. Regardless of its history, this practice had fallen out of favor for the more efficient methods, but it has recently found a resurgence within all Vaurca Hives.

Hive Celebrations
Some other holidays, such as the victory of the Zo’ra over the Lii’dra, are commemorated every year. While some broods may adopt the end of the Hive War as a celebration too, it is only in the Zo’ra Hive that is deemed official. In the human calendar, the 27th of August is when this is celebrated. Since 2461, the Zo’ra Hive has had a parade in Flagsdale to commemorate it.

A popular holiday among K’lax is Technology Day, which in the human calendar is celebrated every second Sunday of October. This is a mass event that celebrates and remembers the great individuals of each brood, as well as their technological advancements. Originally called Yix Day, Technology Day has spread to broods such as Mouv and Scay.

C’thur celebrates Independence Day every February 1st, which is when the Zo’ra recognized them as an autonomous Hive. Ever since the injury of High Queen C’thur, however, the celebration has become more solemn, as her future is uncertain. However, Xetl is known to be even more excessive this day, and other broods try to avoid contact with Xetl’s spawn as they can really misbehave.

Entertainment
Within the VR, many various activities are performed, and leisure is a vast category. Things from sports and physical activities, to what can be understood as video games, to even esoteric and strange pastimes are what Vaurcae tend to do when connected. However, many working Unbound have become more separated to their Virtual Realities, as the changes in their lifestyle in these past years has required for them to remain in the real world more often than not. Unbound have found new ways to entertain themselves, be it simply socializing with coworkers, performing different activities or just consuming alien media. While seen primitive in some aspects, Vaurcae are known to enjoy human or Skrell media, and find the methods of storytelling in holovision to be novel. Many other hobbies, often considered of other species, have been adopted too.

The strong work ethic in Vaurca society means a Worker will often find pleasure in rendering service to their Hive. While other forms of entertainment are widely sought, many broods will not find themselves bored when performing their designated duties. The Bound are completely deprived of pleasure and have no desire to entertain themselves.

Fashion and Cuisine
Throughout Vaurca history, fashion has remained nearly non-existent. Lacking any kind of genitalia, they have nothing to be embarrassed about. Traditionally, they would often go nude or with small garments covering their mouths. Since the Hiveships were built, some Vaurca prefer to wear thin blindfold-like cloth over their eyes to prevent the light from giving them headaches or discomfort. Recent human fashion, however, has had a huge boom in the Vaurca society. While some prefer to remain as naked as possible, the recent surge in robes and clothing built for Vaurcae are some examples of clothes they have adopted. Others prefer the saggy look of human-tailored clothes on them, sometimes even to show their affinity to alien lifestyles.

Vaurca cuisine is viewed as extremely bland and tasteless to the other species. Generally consisting completely of their genetically engineered fungus that they grow en masse, it is grinded down into a paste, boiled, or eaten raw. It is described as tasting like boiled cabbage to humans that lived to tell. For Vaurcae themselves, because taste is rarely an issue with their cuisine, many traditional Vaurcesian dishes often have wildly different textures. The more different it is, the more fancy the meal is considered.

The fungus, K’ois (‘The Substance’), is a translucent, bulbous mushroom that thrives in any environment it is placed in, apart from being overly wet. While it appears this fungus is genetically bred to be so adaptable, it is also presumed it was naturally abundant over the Vaurcae home planet. It glows a sickly yellow, and this gives the entire plant a yellow hue.

A dying breed of Sedantian flora, the Sye’mok is a bioluminescent fungus that can be fermented into mead. Unlike humans, Vaurcae don’t get drunk from alcohol but fluoride. Since the Vaurca arrival to Spur, Skye’mok has been mostly forgotten because toothpaste has proven to be a better drink for the Vaurcae. However, this doesn’t stop some traditionalists from making their own Sye’mok breweries, advocating that while not as strong as toothpaste to get somebody drunk, the taste is better.

Math and numbers
While math is deemed universal, the Vaurca understanding of numbers goes beyond the other species’ conception. A proof of this is how Vaurca are named, as each number can have a long connotation, and Vaurcae are known for being able to count to high numbers. Because of such, non-mathematicians have misinterpreted Vaurcesian numeration as simplistic, often regarding that all the numbers assigned to the common Workers translate simply to ‘infinity’. This is untrue, as they are quantifiable.

Base ten and binary systems are seen as primitive to Vaurcae, and the success of their computers depends greatly on their overcoming of this. The complex calculations and immense storage capacity are what made the Cephalon caste possible.

The Arts
Besides their mathematics, Vaurcae have no written language anymore. Instead, all that can be deemed literature is stored in the same Virtual Reality and retold by priests or authorized individuals. The way a Vaurca can consult the data stored in the VR is with an advanced peer-to-peer protocol that allows information to be absorbed and shared easily. Because of this, there has been no need to write or type.

Art still remains an important subject today, with new masonry and sculpture subterranean projects. The word ‘art’ in Vaurca society is similar to the classical understanding of it in human societies, involving technique too. As such, a Vaurca highly knowledgeable in their field of study can be deemed an artist or artisan.

Reliefs and rock gardens are also popular means, and have been the supplement for painting or photography. As Virtual Reality advanced, however, digital art, with its complex avatars that have more dimensions and are seen as ‘beyond real’, has been considered a noble medium through which an artist can develop.

Music is an important part of Vaurca culture, with unique instruments that rely heavily on vibrations and rhythm. As their calendar and antennae, these patterns are deemed superior to any sound. However, introduction of Skrellian and human instruments to the Vaurca repertoire has opened new veins for Vaurca music to follow. It is considered heavily Taboo to take a picture of or depict the Queen or Lesser Queen of a Hive in non-VR media, as it is considered a disgrace to their spiritual beauty. Because of this, they rarely make public appearances to humanity or any species outside of their Realms. Queen Athvur is an exception to this.

Xakat’kl’atan
One of the highest honors a Worker or Warrior can normally receive in their respective Hives is to be bestowed the title of Xakat'kl'atan or Master of Ideal Forms. Usually achieved after death, this title can only be bestowed by a Queen or Lesser Queen. It recognizes the recipient as an authority in their particular field of study, and it is these respective masters that are approached by those newly born or training, seeking to benefit from their mastery. To become a Xakat'kl'atan while still alive is rare, but when it does occur the Ka or Za in question becomes something akin to a celebrity amongst their Hive, or even others. Regardless of what they choose to do, living or dead, they remain staunch advisors of their Hive Queens.