PREY WEAPON IDEAS

Universe Backstory and Four Prime Races

Backstory

Universe backstory

For 7 billion years, the Trocaran mother ship has traversed our Milky Way galaxy, fluctuating between sub-light and beyond-light speeds. It is estimated that the Trocarans have orbited the 100,000LY disk of our galaxy five times, beginning when some systems were still forming in the accreting gas of the Big Bang. Of course, it begs the question: are they born of our universe or did they come here from beyond?

Now, the Trocaran mother ship plows like an ice schooner towards its eventual goal—the center of the galaxy. It’s nebulous mission is nearly complete, and it is making its way towards the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The Trocara move through the galaxy in their giant "Dyson sphere-like" ship—three species and the "Keepers." They have peppered the worlds of the galaxy with "seed" worlds, upon which to try out their genetic experiments which have proved most worthy in their combat arenas. The three species wager back and forth to see which worlds and at what times they can "modify" the "seeding"—at times, the Keepers, who are the ultimate judges, can rule that a seed world is "out of play" and it free to evolve on its own. Nearly all life in the galaxy is a result of the Trocara and their heinous cross-species games.

Earth has been a seed world for several billion years—the first "seeding" was from the saurian species (the Kahnchia), and they controlled the planet for many hundreds of millions of years (note: (george) This is where dinosaurs came from), until a "reseeding" was won in a wager, and the Keepers did not step in—the humanoid race (the Hataan), then, seeded the world several million years ago, but the world was just won in another wager to be seeded by the third race upon the dawning of the new epoch (the year 2000).

***

Billions of years earlier, there were only the Keepers, traveling for a time with The One Who Makes. It is unclear of the circumstances, but at some point in time, The One Who Makes left the company of the Keepers (were they then ready to take on their task alone?). The Keepers were given the possession of the "Five Points"—vials of wildly varied genetic material that symbolized the five points of The One Who Makes. From these vials, the Keepers spawned the first procreative life in the galaxy—four species who would populate the millions of planet-bearing suns of the galaxy. As per the instructions of The One Who Makes, the Keepers kept one vial in stasis, for use when the time was right.

The Keepers grew and taught the emerging life, from single cells to complex organisms and onto the fast track of intelligent life. The Trocaran mother ship was nothing like it is now—smaller (though still massive in scale), almost like a galactic nursery. The Keepers coddled and coached their "herd" and began populating worlds with their results. Through a system of automated monitoring drones (with faster-than-light communication abilities), the Keepers kept tabs on their evolving species. They noticed that on worlds in which they placed multiple "representatives," one species often evolved to dominate.

That discovery lead to the creation of the games—the species were intelligent enough now that they could carry on their own genetic extensions and experiments. The Keepers created the game system that allowed the species to "win" a seed world and place their genetic stock upon that world to evolve. Of course, the Keepers also placed monitoring equipment on all the worlds as well and occasionally sent Keepers to intervene if an evolutionary candidate needed a little "push."

As the millennia rolled on, and world after world was seeded, one of the species grew to dominate the games. Their genetic alternates were brutal in combat and seemed to have the ability to assimilate and mirror any threat that the other species would mount. Their dominance became nearly absolute.

The Keepers were frightened that this aberrant species would corrupt the far-reaching plans of The One Who Makes. They decided to eliminate the species. Over several centuries, they introduced pathogens into their metabolism, and slowly the species died away and was washed from the Trocaran ship. The Keepers also shut down all of their observation stations on systems populated by the species, knowing that they would soon vanish under the inescapable tide of genetic entropy without their help. Now the Trocaran species was only three, plus the Keepers.

The Keepers put the three species to work building the behemoth that is the current mothership. It took many thousands of years to build, but now the ship, roughly three times the diameter of Earth, serves as the home worlds for all three species. The ship provides not only interior living space, but three external areas, each with their own atmosphere providing roughly the surface area of Earth.

The Trocaran species are grouped into two generic classifications: primaries and alternates. Primaries are the intelligent members of the species while the alternates are the genetic mutations which first battle in the arenas of the Trocaran mother ship for the right to populate a seed world.

The Keepers are seen, by the primaries of the three races, as a non-factor. They are simply the judges of the game, the arbiters of dispute and the beings who make sure that the mother ship is working properly. They have no idea that the Keepers, led by the Staleene Keeper, are truly the puppet-masters of the galaxy.

The four prime species

RACE 1: The Keepers

The Keepers are timeless, bodiless protoplasmic intellects who must interact with their physical world via prosthetic devices. While they are still seen as the "judges" by the other species in matters of seed world competitions, they are otherwise seen as vermin by the Trocara. The Trocara, though, has no idea of the real power of the Keepers as "puppet masters of the galaxy." The Keepers are fueled by an intense jealousy of the Trocara species, due to their vibrant genetic activity—in this sense, the Keepers are neuter—left only to tend and never to create on their own.

Race 2: Hataan (humanoid)

The humanoids are looked down upon by the other members of the Trocara as inferiors. There is madness in the humanoid species, and it manifests itself in their elaborate rituals, their incestuality and their cannibalism. They are, however, the most technically proficient of the three species. The humanoid’s madness manifests itself most clearly in their genetic "contestants" they rear for competition with the other species.

The Hataan live in an almost steam-punk world, full of manufacturing machinery that is at once advanced and backwards.

*** backstory:

Four five centuries, the current Hegemon has ruled over the Humanoid species of the Trocara. The lineage of the Hegemon is long and unbroken. When the humanoids first evolved from the Keepers’ genetic vial, their initial form was very similar to the primaries of today, except that they possessed a vestigial organ bud that grew from the ventral portion of their heart—this organ bud was taken from the first Hegemon, upon his death, and has since been grafted onto the hearts of all subsequent rulers. In this way, the primary essence of their genetic stock has remained with the Hegemon—an unbroken bloodline. It has become a source of pride for the recent Hegemon, and they now wear a clear chest-window so that all can view their beating heart and vestigial organ denoting royal heritage.

Of course, since the vestigial organ is the demarcation of the Hegemon, there have been many instances when an unfavorable Hegemon was brutally killed as his vestigial organ was ripped out while his heart was still beating, only to be grafted onto the heart of his usurper.

As an interesting aside, a pseudo-clan of royal guards evolved from several streams of alternates—these guards are fiercely loyal to their Hegemon (in fact, they are, more often than not, executed when their Hegemon dies, or is killed). These guards are easily identified from their clear plate over their heart (or hearts), allowing the beating organ to be visible. The Hegemon often carries a small remote blaster, and he merely enters a code and presses the button to shatter the glass plate of a guard and thus kill him instantly. Some of the most depraved Hegemons would keep many eunuchs, children and females as members of the royal guard, and would blast out one of their plates in order to "snack" on the still-beating heart.

For much of their civilized existence, the humanoids have operated with a modified "industrial" feudal system, with the "lords" not being land-owners, but the industrialists who ran the mechanized industries on the mothership. For a long while, this approach brought tremendous growth, prosperity and technical proficiency to the Humanoid species.

As with all interesting stories, though, there was a problem. Early on in their development, and for reasons no historian can quite remember, the Humanoids became almost exclusively cannibalistic. This penchant for their own flesh evolved first into an almost religious fanaticism in which the unfit were seen as being "brought into the world as the manna of the fit." Of course, as with any intelligent race, food and meals became a ritual of a sensual nature—thus evolved their twisted sexual "appetite."

As their technological acumen grew, the primaries began experimenting with cybernetic "augmentation." More and more, limbs and other devices were added to the primaries. Those industrial leaders were the most "over the top" in their augmentations, and eventually, their desires got the best of them—they formed small social "salons" of depravity and let their industries collapse. The workers were increasingly used as a food source, and their numbers declined (as well as the plummeting proletariat moral).

As the striation between worker and feudal/industrialist grew, the higher primaries, called "Lords" would interbreed, and so began the thread of insanity.

Now, it has been several thousand years since the Humanoids have been able to practice competent industry. Lost also was their ability to create viable and competitive alternates—now, more often than not, their alternates loose in arena battles, and hence, the Humanoid seed worlds are being lost. The other Trocaran species look down at the Humanoids now—they see them as squandering their lofty position in the galaxy for petty whims and instant gratifications.

The current Hegemon, the third in direct lineage from an usurper, has done nothing to bolster the Humanoid monarchy, but he is the first Hegemon who is acutely aware of how they are viewed by the rest of the Trocara. A war has raged with the Insectoid for over 100 years, and the Hegemon is increasingly paranoid for his own life—already, many threats have come from within and without.

At the moment, the Humanoids are merely hanging on—going through the motions. Some of their industries are utterly abandoned, while other still churn anemically along. But they have lost the ability to innovate, and even the ability to repair or relearn what they once built. They are indeed a dying species on the road towards extinction.

The current culture of the humanoids can be called almost primitive. There are a lot of parallels with the humanoids of today and the declining Roman Empire of Earth. Authority is flimsy, at best, and communication is almost non-existent. It’s as if a form of "Dark ages" has settled over the species like a dark cloud, robbing them of all hope and initiative. As a result, nearly all humanoids, from all social stratifications, are cursed with a sort of selfish "funk." There is no real focus or direction in their defense of the attacking Insectoids, and often, the troops must be forced to fight, where there is only a slight chance of survival, or chose to be killed instantly.

Needless to say, it is a dark time on the Humanoid third of the mothership.

****humanoid cybervamp backstory:

The vamps are humanoid alternates—they were created several hundred years ago (very recently in the relative time of the Trocara) for use in arena combat. It was thought that these alternates, who were bred as exclusively female (for rapid and intelligent thought, and extreme dexterity), had potential in the arenas. Several hundred were created, more than most alternates because of their expected promise, and they were trained to fight in small combat groups. According to the rules of the game, based upon their mass, total musculature and total neural-processing abilities, five vamps at a time were allowed to enter the arena as a single contestant.

They entered their first combat with the high praises of the Hegemon, and they faced a saurian contestant for the right to seed a world in the Rigil Kentaurus system. Unfortunately, the vamps were no match for the single saurian raptor alternate, a variation of one of their most successful alternate lines. The Hegemon was disgraced and exiled (essentially tossed away) the remaining vamps (summarily discarded in the humanoid area of the Trocaran mothership), though he did keep several dozen in his harem for pleasure purposes.

The surviving vamps have evolved into a tribe-like entity ruled by Hataa-skeen. Since the vamp tribe cannot reproduce, life is very precious to them, and the death of a clans-women is very painful. In their "tribal lands" which are long-abandoned maintenance and service areas under the central Humanoid library, they have created a ritualized grave area (reminiscent of the catacombs of France) where all (included the original 5, who have become martyrs) deceased vamps rest. In fact, the actual area of the mothership that holds these graves is a fragment of the original Keeper ship which was "swallowed" when the mothership was constructed. This grave area is considered hallowed ground by the tribe.

Since all Humanoid stock is cannibalistic, so too are these vamps, yet they foster such disgust for the Humanoids (and the Hegemon) that they have ritualized the "disgusting" practice of eating flesh. The vamps have been able to subsist on Humanoid blood and grains alone. They have cobbled together mechanized "hunting spears." The vamps form into small hunting groups and move through the shadows of the Humanoid region of the ship—here, they stalk their Dark Harvest and fire the spears into them, which pump back the blood and feed it directly into their bloodstream. While they will attack any Humanoid, they particularly relish the thrill of "bleeding" a noble

Since they cannot reproduce and life is so precious, they flee instead of fight whenever they can, but in combat, they are still very dangerous.

Race 3: Kahnchia (saurian)

The saurians are the most powerful and intelligent of the three species. Rippling with muscular power, they are a raw, regal, sadistic and ancient species. While they are carnivores, they are not cannibals, and hold themselves high above the humanoids in this respect. The saurians are also the most bold and ingenious of the three species when it comes to genetic hybridization.

The Kahnchia are the most regal of the Trocara, bound by tradition and ritual—their culture is reminiscent of Roman, Greek and Mayan cultures. They are the main "warmongers" of the Trocara.

Race 4: Cabalite (insectoid)

The insectoid species is the most varied and ordered of the Trocara. Some members of their elaborate caste system are independent thinkers, while other operative via a "hive mind." The insectoids are not bound by gravitational vectors, as all other species are. They "farm" their food in the form of a certain genetic strain of larva.

The Cabalite are by far the most "alien" of the Trocaran species—they are also industrious builders.

Race look and feel

The Keepers

> asexual, deific/deity, eternal, genetics, filigreed, ornate, hoary, prosthetic, secret, mentally-superior, cold, portals, clean, jealous, all-powerful

Saurian

> ancient, bones/bony, concrete color, claws, fossils, hard-rocky, regal, muscular, rend/gore, scales, scratches, sexy, skin, sadistic, instinctual, raw, tails, polished, iconographic, triangular/trapezoid, costumed, ornate, marble

Insectoid

> bindings, chitinous, corridors, damp, dark, eat larvae, emotionless, exoskeleton, goopy, group mind, hexagonal, humid, not, bound by gravity, secretions, soft, gel-like, thick, webs, termite-mounds, cavernous, squishy, membranes, juxtaposition of metal and membrane

Humanoid

> biped, cannibals, deformed, dirty, drills, electronics, hi-tech, incestual, interfaces/terminals, madness, metal/metallic, mutilation, visual sex differences, wires/cables, intelligent, resourceful, cyber-cobbled parts, many weapons, grease, rust/corrosion

Race Architectural thoughts

Humanoid

- A lot of crap, stuff on top of stuff, things that aren’t working and are just built over
- "Hospital grunge"
- Lots of scattered and sloppy tech
- Juxtaposition between dark earth-toned areas and hospital grunge bright areas
- Lots of horizontal and vertical lines—very geometric
- Save the curves for curved staircases, etc.
- Lot’s of layers and heights
- Floor "tongue and groove" motif
- Only real ornamentation are checkerboards patterns
- Alphabet is letter-based, somewhat Arabic

Insectoid

- Light sacs (lights inside of translucent bags)
- Lots of juxtaposition of the organic and the metallic
- Extremely organic—rare right angles
- No stairs
- Open spaces—not too many closed spaces, and when there are, make them claustrophobic
- Open walkways defined by hexagonal arches
- Hexagonal and octagonal doors out of thick metal, jammed into organic walls
- Organic secretions over support welds for columns, arches, etc.
- Lots of membranes covering tech and metal underneath
- Signs are often color-coded kiosks which emit scent—no visual writing per se

Saurian

- More brightly lit than the other areas
- Lots of geometric arches
- Plenty or ornamental architecture—very regal
- Inlays on floors, walls and ceilings
- Trapezoidal shapes
- Refined, polished and elegant
- Tech is hidden or downplayed
- Alphabet is iconographic—very mathematical, based on circles

Keeper

- No visually discernable light sources
- Very cold, clean and antiseptic
- Since the Keepers float, the floors will not be traditional, but layered or implied
- Occasional intrusions (in a dramatic way) of the support architecture of the space station
- No signage
- Floor, ceilings and corridors that vanish in the distance
- All tech is hidden until needed, and then manifests itself elegantly and powerfully