User:JamOfBoy/vaurca rewrite

Vaurca (Vaur'uyit'zir)

V. esseli / V. sapiens

Home System: Sedantis (Sc'theth'stak, "Blinding Light.")

Homeworld: Sedantis I (Vaur'avek'uyit, "Home.")

Language(s): Hivenet

Political Entitie(s): Zo'ra Hive, K'lax Hive, C'thur Hive.

Overview

Vaurca, (Vore-Kah, Vaurca in singular term and Vaurcae in multiple) are an arthropodal species that naturally organize themselves into eusocial groups. Humanoid in shape, with a pair of arms, hands with four digits, divided equally between thumbs and fingers, and legs, ending in feet perfect for climbing the tunnels and caverns they used to dwell in on their homeworld. The Vaurca are one of the oldest surviving civilizations in the known galaxy, with a history that can be traced back 730,000 years ago.

They form eusocial groups, hives, lead by a High Queen, whom the hive is usually named after. Under them, lesser queens held jurisdiction over specific hive functions. Queens, lesser and high, are the only type of vaurca capable of producing eggs to spawn new ones. Being born under a specific queen places a vaurca in their brood, where they would often hold unique traits compared to others, and a variant carapace color. More information on these structures, and broods, can be found on the Vaurca Hives page.

Their civilisations are separated into three castes, with members of each caste having their biology, psychology, and education determined before they are even even born. Each individual vaurca is made often for a specific function pertaining to their caste. Vaurca are separated further between being Akaix - unbound - and Viax - bound. Akaix are no less of a person than any human, whereas Viax are incredibly simple minded, running on no more than a desire to do what they are told, designed for their function rather than versatility.

Olderview

Old overview, for reference.

Vaurca, (Vore-Kah, Vaurca in singular term and Vaurcae in multiple) are an arthropodal species that naturally organize themselves into eusocial groups. The Vaurca are one of the oldest surviving civilizations in the known galaxy, with a civilization whose history can be traced back 730,000 years ago. Originating from Sedantis I, their civilizations are separated into three castes, with members of each caste having their biology, psychology, and education determined before an individual is even born. Vaurca are mostly asexual, viewing reproduction as a duty to the hive, and as such see it simply as a job one can have because of their caste. That being said, Vaurca often bonds with a group that they commonly interact with, forming 'family' units within a hive known as cells.

The Vaurca life cycle begins, ends and continues on in a shared virtual afterlife. Deceased Vaurca have their minds transferred into this paradise simulation that follows the will of each Vaurca lesser queen, with different landscapes, features and physical laws between them. Between all hosted VR constructs, there is an interstice connecting them. The primary purpose of this interstice is to transmit the massive volumes of data between all members of the hive. Entire perceptions can be shared with individuals by their use. With it, a Vaurca could share its entire life's history from its own perspective in no time at all. Within the interstice itself, the physicality of simulations tends to break down, becoming less indicative of reality at all. Collectively, this hive shared Afterlife is sometimes referred to as the Tenth Paradise, Aether, or more simply, VR.

Vaurca are heavily influenced by smells and produce complex phenomenal responses that reinforce hive and cell groupings naturally. Vaurca government can be understood as a type of collectivism, with each member of a hive working to ensure the continued existence of the hive. This underlying principle is true for every member of a hive, regardless of their caste. In manners that involve entities that exist outside of the hive, corporative arrangements are common-place. Vaurca within the Orion Spur originally came as colonists. These three hives of Vaurca, The Zo'ra, K'lax, and C'thur have different situations, each being hosted by a different species with wildly different approaches to the problems had with integrating Vaurca into galactic society, with varying degrees of success for each. Meanwhile, the Lii'dra, a largely unknown and hostile hive has scourged the Spur and its inhabitants since their arrival.

To apply to be one of the insect-like Vaurca, apply here.

Important Notes: Vaurca can't be any Heads of Staff, including being elevated to an Interim command position. In addition, make sure to read the Vaurca Fundamentals pages in the Navbox.

Mechanics

• Global hivenet, accessible via ;9 and heard only by other Vaurcae and station-bound synthetics.
• Pressure & Cold resistant, allowing them to survive in space with internals.
• Unaffected by Phoron gas but require it to breathe
• Have natural insulation.
• Immune to slipping.
• Can only healthily consume food consisting of K'ois paste and byproducts.
• Do not self-heal.
• Takes 2x the toxin damage.
• Suffer from additional blood loss
• Can be permanently rendered blind by flashing them several times in a row.
• Cloners will not clone their non-organic organs.
• Vaurca Warriors can bite and are more resistant to burns.
• Vaurca Workers cannot bite but are more resistant to radiation

Non-mechanic traits:

• Dislike light.
• Generally very specialized, often no inter-department knowledge.
• Face severe discrimination in human space.
• Be incredibly sensitive to smells.

Biology

The vaurca of today bear little resemblance to their original forms. Appearing as humanoid insects, with two pairs of eyes - a larger pair and a smaller - four arms, with two being vestigial, two digitigrade legs which can end in a variety of feet structures, and antennae that sprout from their heads. These antenna are used for a variety of senses, with the predominant sense being smell. Vaurca are capable of smelling two different types of rock apart - and this is because of pheromones, which, along with the hivenet, are key to communicating with others of their kind. Pheromones are like words encased in very fine smells. What one could infer from an inflection or tone of a word, a vaurca could from the intricacies of a pheromone.

Ka, The Workers (Type A)

Type A are the most common and can be seen as the 'backbone' of Vaurca societies. Their most prevalent feature is their hardened exoskeleton, varying in colors in accordance to their hive. It is approximately half an inch thick among all Type A Vaurca. This exoskeleton provides protection against harsh radiation, solar and otherwise, and acts as a robust pressure-suit to seal their soft inner core from the outside world. This allows most Type A Vaurca to have extended, several day-long EVA expeditions, assuming they have internals. They can be bipedal or quadrupedal, with bird-like talon toes. Their hands consist of two middle fingers with small talons at the end, and two opposable thumbs, a left and a right, on either side of their hand. Type A ranges from 5ft to 7ft tall on average, though outliers of both spectrums are not unheard of for the more specialized tasks.

Za, The Warriors (Type B)

Type B are the second most prominent of Vaurca society, taking the form of heavily augmented warriors. Type B can range in size from 6ft tall to 8ft tall, with Za Bound rising to as much as 20ft tall. They can be bipedal, quadrupeds, or hexapods, which are called types BA, BB, and BC respectively. They usually have weapons physically attached to their bodies, making them unwieldy or impractical for any situation other than combat.

Warriors, unlike other types of Vaurca, are not typically passive. This means that they tend to be more suitable for combat orientated positions, while worker and breeder types tend to be poorly suited for the disposition these types of occupations demand. Unlike workers, their exoskeleton is not as well equipped for such extended EVA expeditions, however it can withstand a few hours long excursions.

The majority of warrior caste Vaurca employed by NanoTrasen are drone tier type BA, meaning that they are deprived of most advanced augments and mostly differ from other types simply in that they are more mentally suited for combat or are involved in the function of something that could be considered a weapon.

Ta, The Breeders (Type C)

Type C are rare among Vaurca, in that they make up around 2-3% of their entire species. They are the only individuals in Vaurca hives that are fertile except for the Queens and Lesser Queens themselves. The males are raised as bound while the females are raised as unbound, and both of them historically served little practical purpose beyond ensuring that their respective hive-cells possess the resources they need to function and to fertilize eggs or to replace a dying Lesser Queen or to even become an additional Lesser Queen if the hive needs more growth. The males are considered CA and the females CB. Lately, Breeders have been used as representatives for their respective queens, a departure from their traditional duties of overseeing eggs and maintaining the numbers of the hive cells they oversee.

This extension of their duties comes about from their keen social intelligence, making them ideal candidates for negotiating with aliens on economic and political matters. They easily grasp the nuances of social context, contracts, and systems that other castes have difficulty navigating.

It is possible to play as a Ta as the Liaison/Representative role.

Playing a Hive Representative

As a Ta, you are more valuable than workers and warriors, simply due to the virtue that you are capable of making them. You aren’t a logical thinker or a fighter, however, you are the head of the hive cell you produce, providing emotional support and advice, like a mother would. Sometimes you will be called to represent your Queen of your brood, perhaps speaking their message or sharing their ideals.

Below are rules for playing a Ta. Any bends of these rules must be clarified with the species maintainer prior to playing the character. Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in punishment.

• No height taller than 11 feet tall.

• Auto-hiss basic (s becomes z(zzz) or not at all). You’re made to work on a station full of aliens that speak Basic, so you’d have a vocal implant aiding this significantly due to your status.

• Avoid combat, avoid doing any labour or specialised work. You are neither warrior nor worker, do not act like them. You can, however, inspire others to do something.

• Avoid social ignorance. You possess a high social intelligence, being literally made for this job, so you’d be knowledgeable on whether trying to clean a unathi’s horn would upset them or not.

Cephalon (Type D)

The Cephalon is the strangest of all Vaurcan beings, if it can still be considered such. They are bombarded from birth by special hormones designed to expand their brains. In this case, however, their bodies are bombarded with special treatments designed to hypercharge their thyroid and pituitary glands. This results in a brain that will continue growing far, far beyond the needs even of the Unbound - it will grow so much that they the Cephalon's handlers can cut live samples, spread them across trellises and racks, and treat them with more hormones and chemicals to keep them growing further. After a decade of pruning, racking, and tanning, and some cybernetic wire-work besides, the end result is a new Cephalon - a biomechanical supercomputer that houses a large portion of the Virtual Reality Network, and will live for hundreds of years. Its processing power is somewhere in the tens of zettaflops, if it can even be measured that way. Each Lesser Queen tends to keep several of these, acting as servers from which their Virtual Reality is hosted. Cephalons are not generally considered Bound or Unbound, but inert, motionless equipment. As such they hold no name or designation to any hive at large.

The Unbound

The Unbound make up the upper castes of Vaurca society and form the only sentient and self-aware parts of its greater population. Their eggs and larva are given more graceful care by bound workers and they are born with fully developed organs, though Unbound not meant to become Ta or Lesser Queens are still sterilized. They are perfectly capable of making rational, thinking decisions, and are naturally intuitive and curious, much like a human. However Unbound are not raised in a traditional manner. While in its early years VR was meant as an escape from reality, for modern Vaurca in known space it's become every aspect of their lives and supposed afterlife.

Although Unbound are sentient and self-aware, they still typically maintain unwavering subserviency to the respective hierarchy of their hive, due to a combination of pheromone excretion and indoctrination methods imposed during the growing process of an Unbound. However when they are not under the direct instruction of a Lesser Queen, they will typically pursue their own or their own hive cell's interests.

Unbound disconnected from VR can still connect themselves to the 'internet' of a hive, called the Hive Network, where the Unbound all connect their consciousness. Unbound Vaurca can share their knowledge, memories, and even feelings through the Hive Network. The Bound are barred from most non-utilitarian aspects of the Hive Network, due to biological constraints.

The Unbound take up jobs that require more critical thinking skills or greater abstract thought than simple Bound. In this respect, Unbound Vaurca can simply be considered on the same level as any human. Integration in the Orion Spur and other alien communities has some of them living alone or in small groups in their own apartments like any other citizen or family, working to support themselves. Rarely having monetary aid from their Hive.

The Unbound can be any of the types mentioned above except for Type D.

The Bound

While all Bound are specialized for a specific job or instruction, all are still capable of simple labor.

Bound Vaurca are chosen even before their egg is laid. Eggs designated to be Bound are put in a warm, moisture-rich environment while Worker Bound oversee their care. The larva that hatches from the eggs is then taken to another specialized, moist environment to be raised and slowly augmented before the Bound are then quickly and efficiently sterilized. Bound are incredibly simple minded, due to effectively being lobotomised - grown with some parts of their brain missing.

Social

Language

With the learning of Tau Ceti Basic and other languages, some Vaurca have been forced to simplify their names. Naming is based of a numbering system, determined after birth. This name includes a caste and biological designation, the number they are, and finally what hive they are from.

Vaurcae language structure, to non-Vaurca ears, sounds extremely archaic and cryptic, like simple clicks and grunts more than a language. However, to a creature that knows the language, all types of Vaurcese is extremely complicated and each syllable has many thousands of different connotations it could convey. Combined with subtle antennae movement and pheromone release, it is not hard to say that it is a language that can never be spoken or understood by another species. While each hive has their own small variations of Vaurcese, the language can be universally understood.

It is produced by clicking the mandibles and mouth pieces together, while sending air through the mouthpieces as well as the vocal chords. It is described as sounding like clicks and high pitched squeals. The Vaurca, however, utilize synthetic throat implants that synthesize a very alien-sounding, but intelligible, Tau Ceti Basic or any other language.

Inter-caste Relationships

Relationships between each type and each caste tend to be a universal constant among Vaurcae hives. The Bound are thoroughly exploited by the Unbound whenever an opportunity for such arises. It is typical for an Unbound to delegate any menial labour to the nearest Bound whenever possible. While especially "lazy" Unbound are not prevalent on human stations, all Unbound tend to display this mindset towards the Bound to a degree. When encountering a dangerous situation, the response is similar - the Bound are expected to attempt to make the situation safer for the Unbound in any way possible. Bound are perfectly subservient to the whims of the Unbound, and do not begrudge this exploitation.

Worker Vaurcae tend to be esteemed more highly than Warrior Vaurcae, especially in Unbound circles, and especially in these difficult times when the value of labour to the Vaurca is more important than the value of defense. Unbound Breeder Vaurcae are esteemed very highly, especially those at the top of the hierarchy. Bound Breeder Vaurcae tend to rarely interact with other Vaurcae, except for Bound caretakers.

As for different types of the same caste, Unbound Ka or Za of the same 'duty' tend to organize themselves into hive-cells. For example, a worker who works in construction may live, sleep and work with the same people within their hive-cell. A hive-cells size can vary drastically, but ultimately, they tend to organize the labor of Ka and Za into the most efficient means, with each hive cell reporting to a particular Ta, usually their birth mother. Vaurca tend to be closest to those that they work with, and so many Vaurca consider their hive-cell their closest relatives.

Inter-hive Relationships

The Zo'ra and K'lax hives maintain warm relations, while officially the diplomatic tension between the C'thur and K'lax hives is tenuous at best. The Lii'dra hive is universally hated. The Zo'ra percieve themselves the rightful rulers of the K'lax and C'thur, and the K'lax have thus far made no official statement against this. Meanwhile, the C'thur changes their announcements constantly. The Bound of each hive serve other Vaurcae of their hive firstly and are completely subservient to the will of their hive's rulership. The K'lax Bound however will also serve Zo'ra Vaurcae should there be no conflict with the desires of K'lax hierarchy. The same can be said to a lesser degree with the C'thur. Zo'ra Bound will rarely ever service K'lax Vaurcae, and only when instructed to do so by Zo'ra Unbound. Zo'ra, C'thur and K'lax Unbound typically do not intermingle except on an individual basis and remain subservient to the desires of their respective hierarchy.

Inter-species Relationships

The Zo'ra tend to be cooperative with humanity out of necessity, but on an individual level, opinions vary between each Unbound. This approach is largely shared in reference to all other aliens, viewing them as potential benefits to their hives. Perhaps in response to, or as a result of this, the Zo'ra hives have begun to reimagine themselves as something aliens can identify with. Supporting cross-species initiatives that further increase cooperation between each species feeds into this idea of ultimately benefiting all species involved. Besides this, the servitude that Bound abides by is a topic of concern for humanity in particular, because Bound are hard-wired to satisfy the needs of other Unbound of their hive firstly, it creates the possibility for conflicts of interest between the humans that use cheap Bound labor, and any Unbound Vaurca of the same hive. However, such situations are unreported if they do occur, and the cheapness and effectiveness of Bound labor tend to surpass potential dangers.

Skrell of the Jargon Federation have taken to using a work drafting system to assign duties to Vaurca of the C'thur hive. The Federation or an empowered representative would requisition an amount of C'thur for a particular job, which would then be supplied by the hive. These C'thur would complete this assignment and then return to their hive. This entire process is overseen by a legal counsel comprised of both species, providing fair and equitable exchanges for all parties. The largest orders of labor come from the Federation itself and the Nanotrasen corporation.

K'lax tend to maintain terse, but warm relations with the Izweski Hegemony, sharing cultural and sometimes technological advances for the betterment of both species. Beyond this, they maintain little contact with the galaxy at large, save for their begrudging but needed trade relation with the human owned Nanotrasen corporation. Due to their unfavorable circumstances within this deal, the K'lax tend to view humans in a negative light.

Overall, the approach all hives have taken when sending their populations to work with aliens is to treat their 'workplaces' as an adopted hive cell. All hives encourage the development of social bonds that normally come with working closely between Vaurca in the same hivecell. This has led to some Vaurca considering their co-workers a second family.

Queenless

The Queenless are simply Vaurca that do not fall into the lineage of any current queen or lesser queen but remain from the same hive.For whatever reason, these Vaurca were sourced for the hiveship outside of the lineage of the lesser queens, perhaps for different traits only found within their line or brood. In the case of the four hives, The Queenless is only an issue within the K’lax and Zo’ra hives. Cut off from the high queens, these 'Queenless' Vaurca may believe that the lesser queens currently in command of the hive have gone outside of what the High Queen originally intended for them. Other broods may view them with pity, or see them as restless servants of the hive without a queen to call their own. In general, they are often ignored by the larger hive populations, with many having little to no oversight by the other hive-cells or broods within their own hives. Despite this, the Queenless are still supplied eggs, albeit at a greatly reduced amount than other cells, and given access to their hives VR when available, though, they are the most likely to be denied access, if limited. It's partly because of this that most Queenless Ta tend to hide within the interstice, VR worlds hewn from the vast data streams of the hive. These VR realms are small in comparison to the queens, and vary in their multitudes.

Instead of the queens, these communities of Vaurca tend to build themselves around their mother Ta, and try to be as self-sufficient as possible. They may idolize Xakat'kl'atan brought with them when they first left Sedantis. Indeed, it is these two pillars, the Ta and Xakat'kl'atan, that define the Queenless Vaurca populations. No matter which hive, however, the Queenless recognize the authority of only the true high queen or their own nonexistent lesser queens, and to that end, seek above all else to recontact Sedantis.

In reality, the Queenless of Tau Ceti’s Zo’ra and K'lax hive is amongst the poorest, and secretive of the Vaurca upon Tau Ceti. Some may resort to crime, drugs and other less than legal means to maintain any comfortable standard of living they might possess. Typically the mother Ta of a Queenless Vaurca is the highest authority one can go to, but there have been documented cases of multiple Queenless Ta working together, though, for what purpose, none can say. As for the Ta themselves, they are comfortable with ignoring and being ignored by the lesser queens as a whole, recognizing the shadow that they live under, and the roles that they must carve out for themselves and their spawn if they are to survive. Above all else, they believe that the light of their high queen will never truly be lost, that out of the horrible illumination of the unknown, The High Queen will return to right the direction of her wayward daughters, and to align all surviving broods under her will.

History Overview

More in-depth information on the history of the Vaurca can be found on their history section.

Vaurca civilization traces its roots to at least 730,000 years ago. They developed on Sedantis, a violent and barren moon where life struggled to survive. Vaurca lived underground in diverse and productive hives.

Vaurca successfully cultivated k'ois 560,000 years ago, growing it en masse and causing explosive growth.

Cybernetic augments entered Vaurca society over 50,000 years ago. The hives augmented each caste of their hive extensively, leading to the modern caste systems. Around this time Vaurca also discovered and perfected early Virtual Reality, allowing them to withdraw from their harsh daily lives into a virtual paradise.

33,000 years ago Vaurca came to realize that their world would soon come to an end from the ozone layer being completely stripped away. The Vaurca showcased their astonishing skills in adaptation and engineering by constructing the venerable Hiveships that carried entire Hives off-world in the Great Evacuation. Since, only 2000 years of relative time for the traveling Hiveships have passed for the hives that have arrived within the Orion Spur.

The Vaurca first encountered our known species in 2456 CE. Their arrival has become a source of tension and growing problems as the refugees continue to arrive in their huge ships by the millions. Each major galactic government has struggled to respond to these refugees adequately.

Modern Day

Hives

For most hives, cohabitation with the other species they have encountered has led to large changes to their way of life. Already suffering a shortage of resources, their advanced weaponry has lead to a lot of fear regarding their potency and supposed ease of mass production. While it is unknown how rumours circulated that the vaurca had large-scale means of producing weapons, and the materials to do so, no one can deny the military domination a war-ready hive would impose. From tachyon-based weaponry, gauss cannons, condensed thermal energy and the infamous warforms, most believe it to be a miracle that the vaurca have yet to attack and seize control of the galaxy.

However, all hives (barring the unknown machinations of the Lii'dra) do not have the potential to do this. Weaponry was a lower priority on the list of supplies brought on hiveships, as though while large, there needed to be space for broods as well as materials. Figures such as Ta'Akaix'Zoleth'akeh Zo'ra were insistent on bringing a plethora of weaponry, to ensure their survival among the unknown threat of the stars. Their pleas, however, only resulted in minor increases to ship defenses. During their long journey, the majority of resources they had brought were used for maintenance of the ship, and by the time they arrived in the Orion Spur, their lack of materials, and subsequently, repairs, have resulted in the pitiful states the three known hiveships are in. Their food supply was limited in terms of places to grow aboard the hiveships, and as a result, a high majority of warforms and the larger bound workers were culled, due to being unable to sustain many of the cryogenic storage pods used to contain them.

Politically, all but the Zo'ra have yet to make any substantial political hold in Tau Ceti. The C'thur and K'lax are being used primarily as either labor or military by their allies, with the K'lax as vassals/tributaries to the Hegemony, and the C'thur reliant on the Federation for the survival of their High Queen. However, especially with the recent investment into the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, the Zo'ra have begun their ascension into the political web that connects the inhabitants of the Orion Spur, despite being locked into debt with Tau Ceti. Though some may attribute this to certain queens over others, the Zo'ra hive as a whole is benefiting from their increased power.

Technologically, all but the K'lax have failed to make much progress in terms of adapting to their lack of advanced materials. In recent years, batches of new-generation thermal drills developed by the K'lax and manufactured with common materials were shipped and often cheaply sold across the Orion Spur, with mining facilities seeing huge increases in yields as a result. This was inspired by the hive's collaboration with the unathi on Moghes, their agreement to help terraform the planet. Requiring terraforming technology to efficiently carry out this task, the K'lax have been attempting to re-create the machines of old using newer parts and materials. The Zo'ra hive's most notable technological advancement was the hybridisation of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion's current weaponry and their own personal designs. These resulting weapons are currently employed by the Foreign Legion, and while not the most high quality or effective weaponry, many agree that it is a certain improvement compared to their last.

Economically, all but the C'thur have struggled to make any real money, reliant on collective money pools brought in by employed bound and unbound. Being harboured by the generous Jargon Federation has opened up a large amount of opportunities. Queens often hold a share of the total funds of a hive, an example being Ta'Akaix'Athvur'zekt'azi Zo'ra recently investing the majority of her saved personal funds into the reformation of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. The C'thur have bought a significant portion of Einstein Engines, opening a connection to the Eridani Corporate Federation, and many job opportunities. These factors have resulted in the C'thur being the most economically progressed out of all hives.

Individuals

For many unbound, adapting to their new lives has been a tough ordeal, but one that is short suffered. Once settled, most hive cells are capable of sharing a single bedroom apartment due to their tolerance of confined spaces and their tendency for practicality over personality. Personal possessions are not uncommon, however, but usually serve some sort of purpose. An unbound may purchase a refrigerator, but instead of preserving food, it may instead use it for the construction of an experimental device.

Workers mostly shifted from serving the hive to employment well, with only a few incredibly specialised unbound finding difficulty. While confusion was apparent at the complicated process of the simple act of going to work, once clarified, many vaurca brought their specialised knowledge and pragmatism into like-minded fields, typically able to share their intricate knowledge with great practical success. On a social level, however, many unbound are prone to varying levels of discrimination. Such acts can be extremely discreet, such as being made to do a less desirable task. On the other hand, some overtly voice their dislike - often showing their ignorance of how vaurca operate and live. The recent incidents involving tajara gangs reacting violently to the Lii'dra invasion, going as far as to murder, have demonstrated a more obvious dislike.

Warriors, however, did not have such an easy transition - while there were some who could transition as well as most workers, many of the unbound purely bred for combat struggled to find applicable work. Some of these soldiers slowly managed to trickle into work as private security, bodyguards, and alike, while some found trivial work doing menial or laborious tasks. K'lax warriors mostly serve in the Hegemony. Recently, many Zo'ra Za, and a few of other hives, finally found a place doing what they do best in the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion.