Zoleth, The Herald of Scars

Ta'Akaix'Zoleth'akeh Zo'ra, The Herald of Scars

File:Forge.jpg

The interior mantle section of Caprice, Heated to bring out metals within the rock.

Her brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.

Unbound of any type: (RGB 101, 0, 0)

Bound Warriors: (RGB 121, 0, 21)

Bound Workers: (RGB 111, 21, 21)

The proclaimed 'Warrior' Lesser Queen of the Zo'ra, she embodies the Zo'ra ideals of warfare and has stylized herself as one of the hive's greatest commanders. She is known by many names, The Queen of Warfare, The Herald of Scars, Mother of Victories. Stories are told of how other Lesser Queens are often aloof and untouchable, but Zoleth'akeh is on the front, calling for war. She has been labeled a warmonger by some because of this. Indeed to the galaxy at large, it may seem that way, but Zoleth'akeh does not hate peace. She is just not stymied by its disruption. To her, it is the height of wisdom to make war when it is needed and to make peace when it is not, to not cling to idealistic notions that cannot exist. Even before the exodus from Sedantis, Zoleth'akeh was legendary among the Court of Queens, one of the only cross-hive diplomatic bodies to exist upon old Sedantis.

Within Tau Ceti her brood has been the most negatively affected by the events of the last five years. Once the largest brood aboard Titan Prime, nearly half the bound warrior forms have been culled either for diplomatic purposes or lack of resources. Currently, most of her brood are interred upon scorching Caprice, with all of the remaining bound warrior forms under close supervision by Biesel officials within a large surface garrison that humans have called, Dis. Bound and Unbound often focus upon cavern excavation and kois production to ease the hive's current famine here. These efforts have been largely unsuccessful, with the scouring and oppressive heat consistently stimying any efforts to expand. Despite this, some progress has been made in the last five years, with deeper nested biomes created from regolith to shield from the surface heat and radiation.

The Virtual Reality Zoleth hosts glorify the victories of the past. It's described as an enormous monolithic cavern with countless stories tall moving bas-reliefs depicting the mighty struggles from Zo'ra past. Throughout it, Vaurca of old, and those few yet to be born constantly train for their roles within the hive. Training can take countless forms, from modern battle tactics to espionage, to molecular biology. Training solely depends on what the hive determines is needed for the Unbound. The few Ka within this VR often maintains vast historical records of the battles of yore, raising important figures in those conflicts up as heroes to be idolized. They've also been pouring over the countless new weapons introduced to them by their arrival in Tau Ceti, documenting their form and function.

The Za of Zoleth's brood meant for active combat are particularly tested. More than any other hive or brood, the training they undergo is brutal, with multiple deaths in VR commonplace for each Za. Organized battles that require a Za to survive are common, as death means redoing the entire simulation again. The result of this training is a brutally effective fighting force, one that commands respect among the hives and beyond.

The dead warriors of the Zo'ra often choose to remain here, in their virtual afterlife, continuing their service in perpetuity. One of the most striking features of this Virtual landscape is its center, a massive scale representation of the known galaxy. At the will of those given access to it, It can zoom into any sector of the galaxy, and model that location if the hive has access to the information needed. In a great circle around it, the repeated phrase in ancient Vaurcese Li'etak Vak'klaztoz T'akilozk'iek which translates roughly into basic as "The Everchanging Battlefield."

Of her brood, there are two noteworthy Xakat'kl'atan, acting as the ideal teachers for newly born Za or Ka.

Za’Akaix’Morz Zo’ra

Za’Akaix’Morz Zo’ra is a renown warrior for their incredible ability to adapt immediately to rapidly changing situations. Whether this ability stems from the motto of The Everchanging Battlefield or caused it is a topic of debate. Morz contributed to the development of The Method, a pseudo-martial art employed by vaurca warriors. Aptly named, this is a method for disabling and killing opponents with brutal natural savagery, employing rapid shredding with use of the vaurca’s powerful mandibles, causing severe lacerations and penetrating aggressive strikes. Za following Morz are often subjected to incredibly large scale tournament-esque stages inside VR named Reacting Crucible. Similar to human video games, the Za in question must face simulated, fake ‘enemy’ Za in an arena that changes shape, size and environment at random intervals. One particular stage can last between a split second and thirty, but the fight ever continues. These tournaments can last long periods of time depending on how many make it through each round. Every consecutive round, the difficulty increases through the ‘enemy Za’. What was once a small group of lumbering, slow pawns can transition into a brutal horde or a squad of lightning-fast assassins. At the later rounds, mimicries of the Za would serve as opponents. The purpose of this is not to test or contest or compare warriors, but instead to provide a method of fun, both in spectating and participating, and serve as a method of tutelage. There is always a logical and easy method of defeating opponents - commonly, use of the changing environment - a point encouraged by the fact that the high-scorers often got cheap wins by kiting enemies into dangers, be it pits, spikes, molten rock, or even a simulated precise orbital bombardment.

Ka’Akaix’Iotiex Zo’ra

Ka’Akaix’Iotiex Zo’ra, Zoleth’s personal Archivist, famous for memorizing the living history of the hive. They are known for their acumen in recalling even the most trivial of details from the long history of Sedantis, and the Zo’ra hive. Iotiex has been said to pour over the lives and deaths of every single soldier of every single battle they can get their hands on. They achieved their title of Xakat'kl'atan this way, offering a ‘Totality of War’ experience to the queens they serve, and those few Za or Ka taken as their pupil. The most famous battle that they have Totalled, would be the decisive conflict at the Ryitu’kya Abyss, the turning battle of the First Hive War. Still a young queen then, Zoleth and her forces had marshalled a strength a million strong and held to reinforce the natural subterranean land bridge between the Zo’rane Continental plate and the shared plates of several other hives, already consumed by the Lii’dra menace. Outnumbered and outgunned, this conflict is still studied to this day as a masterclass in critical thinking, and strategic warfare. As loss here would herald the beginning of the end for the Zo’ra hive, Zoleth herself was present in the fight, at one point engaging two enemy bound warforms at once. From the cavern ceiling to the air, to the bloody ground conflict itself, Iotiex left nothing out of their recalling, painting a bloody picture of war that continues to mesmerize and horrify to this day.

Recent Events

The attack of the Lii'dra has caused this hive to redouble its efforts in the construction of their new home. Caprice, despite its relative population in comparison to the other planets of Tau Ceti imports more steel and glass than any other world except for Biesel. Massive amounts of capital are spent, with this economic boom being felt across many of the smaller businesses and private shipping enterprises across Tau Ceti that can afford good heat shielding. Separate form this, this brood has taken it upon themselves to also resolve the domestic issues that plague Vaurcan life within Tau Ceti. Opting to have no confidence in the legal systems, Zoleth'akeh ordered the creation of kill teams to assassinate the leadership of several notable gangs upon Biesel.These attacks were seemingly successful in stopping an extremely bloody gang war, but with the assassinations revealed by a fellow Queen, the revelation of which caused Tau Ceti's legal and political leaders to question whether or not a vaurca Queen could be held accountable for crimes even as a citizen. As of today, no charges or crimes have been brought against Zoleth'akeh.