[hider=Sarmakth Dominion --- WIP][h1][b][color=9e0b0f]THE SARMAKTH DOMINION[/color][/b][/h1] [img]http://i.imgur.com/7tZsVe1.png[/img] [color=9e0b0f][b]Faction Name:[/b][/color] Yel'krusu t'Sar'Makth (literally means "Star Empire of the Great Race") [color=9e0b0f][b]Government Type:[/b][/color] Dominion [color=9e0b0f][b]Faction Leader:[/b][/color] S'cum Ish-veh N'ssan (title: Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma AKA Grand Supreme Overlord) [color=9e0b0f][b]Central Territory:[/b][/color] Tsokal'yel t'Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning, primary star system of the Sarmakth) [color=9e0b0f][b]OVERVIEW:[/b][/color] Sarmakth are a race of alien invaders approaching from the barely charted outer rim of the galaxy. While they hate humans with passion they are not above using them for their devices or lording over them as their masters. With the sudden collapse of the Orion Empire the Sarmakth began their plot to conquer the galaxy. They are enigmatic and manipulative, using pawns and turning allies on each other rather than fighting head on. [h2][color=9e0b0f][b]HISTORY[/b][/color][/h2] Shockingly enough the humans and Sharmakth share a long history. Sentient life evolved in the exotic biosphere of Mars long before humanity made its first steps on Earth. Martian life was harsh and filled with challenges yet roughly a billion year ago it birthed the first sentient life who could be the predecessors of Sarmakth. Records and findings on these prehistoric creatures are scarce and conflicting even to the Sarmakth. Based on analysis of the remains they looked like large medusid beings walking on three tentacle legs. They are referred as the Vesh'makth AKA the Precursors. The details on their history are unclear but apparently their technology easily eclipsed even the Sarmakth. It's believed that their efforts and experiences helped accelerate the formation of life on Earth and likely numerous other planets through the galaxy. Vesh'makth appeared to be a peaceful society but they assuredly had their fair share of clashes and wars with the last of them almost managed to exterminate their race while drastically altering the environment of Mars. The survivors required drastic measures and proceeded to rebuild their civilization while using various genetic alterations until they became the Sarmakth. Through their efforts they took control of the planet and lived in thousands of years of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately their lifestyle was taxing on the planet and by 1800AD it became certain that their planet will die within a few hundred years. To avert their demise the Martians were looking elsewhere, eventually deciding on the invasion of Earth. Living in millennia of prosperity did have an averse effect on their technology and they basically had to reinvent military and spacefaring methods in a rush of 50 years. 1898, after through recon of the planet for decades the Martians invaded Earth, particularly England which was the center of the great British Empire at the time. Their attack was swift and merciless but lacked in numbers and finesse. Their mighty tripods modeled after the Precursors marched on relatively unhampered. Though their operation was rushed and crude they were at the brink of forcing the England to its knees when something unexpected happened. Through their genetic engineering Martians no longer feared diseases and enjoyed a life without illness for tens of thousands of years. While immune to Martian diseases and superior to even the mightiest empire on Earth the invasion forces fell prey to the planet's smallest lifeforms. Diseases which Terrestrial creatures long adapted against struck the Martians hard, decimating their numbers rapidly. The invasion was called off and the Sarmakth fled in a great haste, the rest of them dying on route back home. The Martians were flabbergasted on the news and began a long research to discover the truth and find a way around this invisible threat. Martians conducted through analysis on their deceased but their search for the invisible killer was in vain. Intend to solve this mystery the Martians began to send expeditions to Earth, the source of the so-called UFO sightings. After countless trial and error approaches they eventually understood the threat and immunized their entire species to the disease. Meanwhile humanity was developing steadily and in secret they formed plans to overcome the Martian threat. Late 21st century, the Second Martian War broke out. The Sarmakth were more advanced but their dying planed and thinned out numbers put them at a disadvantage. Using primitive space warships in huge numbers the Martians were facing a hopeless battle. The Sarmakth hastily built a large ship equipped with their experimental warp drive to flee towards deep space. Carrying thousands of Sarmakth in stasis their ship traversed hyperspace, intending to reach a planet with ideal conditions found at the edge of the Horsehead Nebula. Unfortunately in their rush the computer made an error and dropped them off at a lifeless star system near the edge of the galaxy. The Sarmakth faced tough times until they found a habitable star system in the vicinity, which they renamed Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning). After a hundred years of effort the Sarmakth restored their civilization to their former glory and even beyond. With their refined stardrive the Sarmakth began exploring the galaxy in earnest. That was the time they became aware of the Empire lead by none other but the hated Pekh'makth (humans). To say this revelation frustrated the Sarmakth and caused quite an uproar would be a grave understatement. Jealous and frustrated, they decided to take back what's rightfully theirs, the keys to ruling the universe. Yet determination alone could not overcome such massive odds. With such disadvantage they had to be careful and manipulative, they began centuries of preparation and subtle plotting while remaining hidden in dark space. All of sudden the Orion Empire collapsed, leaving their old foe weak and scattered. This is the moment to strike. [h2][color=9e0b0f][b]SOCIETY[/b][/color][/h2] Sarmakth are drastically different from most sentient beings in the galaxy and this is reflected in their society. They are utilitarian and lacking most human emotions. They don't have speech and even writing is just an artifact of their ancient past mostly reserved for communicating with other races. Instead they rely on "telepathy" (quantum entanglement based biological comms) as their prime form communication or even as the tool to interact with most of their technology. The average Sarmakth puts the interest of their race above their personal wishes and they are capable of working on a common goal relentlessly and with unbelievable efficiency. Sarmakth doesn't understand the concept of love or compassion which among others granted them with endless capacity for cruelty. They are also arrogant and view any other flesh and blood creature as dumb livestock compared to them. Those living under Sarmakth rule often don't even realize it. Sarmakth are great manipulators who could gradually take control of a community without anyone noticing it. To the outsider the Sarmakth Dominion seems like just a bunch of small states unaligned to each other. Only the core worlds are under direct Sarmakth control. That doesn't mean they let the others loose. Using subtle means the Sarmakth creates tightly controlled environment to utilize their unknowing slaves with maximal efficiency. Over the time they corrupt the leadership and plant the religion to revere the Sarmakth as their almighty gods. [hider=Sarmakth][img]http://www.lesedwards.com/imagebank/9/7/6/976137.jpg[/img] Sarmakth are large roughly cephaloid creatures with their main body diameter around 2.3-3.2 meters wide, making them often larger than even a bear. They have a pair of huge eyes and large beaks which are surrounded by numerous tentacles. The evolution and deliberate gene alterations of the Sarmakth focused on intellect which means roughly 90% of their body mass is brain matter with all other functions being reduced considerably. Their tentacles are too weak to raise their bodies under Earth-like gravity albeit they can walk just fine in lower gravity. Their overgrown brain includes a biological quantum communication device which allows the species to communicate with each other through thoughts akin to telepathy. Devices can be interacted the same way if they contain a similar quantum receiver. Sarmakth have an underdeveloped and simple digestive system which can only process liquids and specially made food. The small tentacles near to their beaks act as suckers to leech blood from living beings for sustenance, a horrible sight which made the British folk describe them as vampires. The rest of the tentacles are thicker and used to either support the body or work as versatile manipulators to operate complex machines with ease. Sarmakth are asexual creatures with no male/female dimorphism who reproduce through periodically laying down "flesh buds" of their young which they submerge in the blood of other species until those eventually grow to sufficient size. Worth noting that when they refer to themselves the Sarmakth use male pronouns to outsiders, possibly a inherited from 19th century human culture. Sarmakth have no vocal language aside from making various basic noises to express emotions. They communicate exclusively through their "telepathy". In case they require to talk through words they rely on human slaves who are explicitly wired to understand their telepathic waves and speak in their stead. Similarly they don't understand concepts like love, compassion or many of the complex emotions. Instead they have a deeply logical mindset and capacity for limitless cruelty. Sarmakth in general have a superiority complex and view all other races as inferior if not just consider them as soulless animals to exploit. Due to their history they especially hate humans and call them as Pekh'makth which literally translates as "the race of shit".[/hider][hider=Fehmakth]Roughly translates as the "Slave Race", an expression obviously referring to the races under the Sarmakth's rule. Just narrowly escaped extinction the Sarmakth hardly has the "manpower" to function on their own. Thus no matter how much they might have wished to annihilate every sentient life on their path, they didn't. Rather they managed to effectively enslave all the races they conquered and brainwash them to adore the Sarmakth as their righteous lords. Most people living under Sarmakth rule are strangely content with their lives and follows the orders of their cephaloid overlords with religious zeal. The tendrils of the Sarmakth manipulations run deep. Fehmakth live in various level of cultural and technological development, depending on what the Sarmakth sees fit. They could live in medieval styled villages on backwater planets, existing as little more than livestock and raw materials for Tselmakth. Alternatively they could even live in an industrially developed mega cities supported by Sarmakth technology. Or anything inbetween. Regardless Fehmakth live in a meticulously crafted environment under strict control without them truly realizing it. They are also implanted with an "obedience chip" activated by Sarmakth telepathy in case they do anything which displeases their masters. [hider=Pekh'makth]Translate as the "race of shit", this is the name Sarmakth refer to the human race. Humans are used as slaves, brainwashed to blindly revere the Sarmakth as their gods. The majority of the Dominion's slaves are humans and their treatment is perhaps the worst.[/hider][/hider][hider=Rushamakth]Literally translates as the "converted race". They are people who underwent extensive modifications to make them closer to Sarmakth in both appearance and function. For the slaves under the Dominion this is equivalent of the highest gift, offered only to the most devoted and worthy of their kin. Rushamakth closely resemble the Sarmakth in looks yet in terms of genetics and physiology they keep their relation to their original race. same deal with size. Human converted Rushamakth are much smaller than their cephaloid overlords for obvious reasons, effectively becoming a "mini Sarmakth". To attain intelligence at least remotely comparable to their creators, Rushamakth are implanted with Cogitators. These are sophisticated brain interface computers giving them incredible thinking ability as well as some of the same quantum communication capability (referred as "telepathy") as Sarmakth. On the other hand Cogitators pretty much turn the Rushamakth into an emotionless creature, just like their masters are. Rushamakth exist to serve their cephaloid overlords and convey their will. As such they tend to be sub-leaders or officials in areas where the presence of actual Sarmakths is deemed of no importance. [/hider][hider=Tselmakth]Translates as "altered race", they are effectively the opposite of the Rushamakth. They are people forced to undergo transformation into "more pleasing" and "functional" bodies in order to serve the Dominion. They are worse than slaves, they are effectively little more than biomechanical robots. Tselmakth are viewed as a cheaper alternative to drones and pure mechanical constructs of this specific scale. They can be anything from disposable soldiers to slave laborers. There are even Tselmakth invented for nothing but to serve as a piece of the cruel entertainment. [/hider] [color=9e0b0f][b]Important Characters:[/b][/color] [hider=S'cum Ish-veh N'ssan][img]https://flyingren.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/martian2.jpg[/img] Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma (Great Supreme Overlord) of the Sarmakth Dominion since their new beginning. He's a ruthless but calculating person who'd rather conquer the galaxy over the time than waste Sarmakth lives. Being over 900 years old (not counting the cyrogenic stasis) S'cum is one of the few Sarmakth in power who saw both wars against Humanity and how they failed. As such he's intent for his race to not commit the same mistake.[/hider] [h2][color=9e0b0f][b]TECHNOLOGY[/b][/color][/h2] Sarmakth technology is unique and at times radically different from what could be found within the Empire. Their massive intellect grants them innately superior understanding of science. Yet having missed out a millennia of progress they have many fields to catch up on. Sarmakth technology is unique and even weird by the standards of other species. For example Sarmakth relies on walkers moving on flexible tentacle-like legs which requires advanced computers to properly operate while humans merely use wheels and tracked mechanisms to achieve similar road performance. In general Sarmakth only has two kinds of propulsion, gravity and walkers. Their civilians usually equip grav gliders which lift their bodies and save them from physical exertion while their heavier ground machines use a walking mechanism moving on multiple legs. [hider=Notable Techs] - [b]Weinol:[/b] The basis of most if not all Sarmakth construction. It's a versatile family of carbon allotropes akin to fullerenes and carbon-nanotubes. It's generally light yet strong material which depending on its grid structure can have various other properties. It isn't an exaggeration to say that over 90% of everything made by Sarmakth is a type of Weinol. - [b]Yel'yeturek (Stardrive):[/b] Also dubbed as hyperdrive (kwhul'mishu, lit: "hyper engine") it's a device which allows the ship to go beyond the ordinary three dimensional space and touch "kwhulret" (hyperspace, known as subspace to other species) in order to allow faster-than-light travel. Stardrives are effectively the same as warp drives but using different technology unique to the Sarmakth. - [b]Kahla'yeturek (Inertial Drive):[/b] Sometimes also dubbed as Impulse Drive, an arcane device utilizing laws of physics not yet understood by humans. The device allows vessels to ignore gravity as well as use a mysterious force to hover or move at subluminal velocities. - [b]Kwitau'tviyan (Impulse Core):[/b] Reactor which turns any conventional material into nuclear fuel to produce energy. They are compact and efficient as well as generally safe to use which makes them widespread within the Sarmakth community. Kwitau'tviyan are Sarmakth nuclear bombs, most of them are adjusted to induce a chain-reaction with ordinary material to dramatically increase its power during orbital bombardments. - [b]Falek'zehl (Heat Ray):[/b] Using a miniature impulse core it channels extreme radiation through a channel of non-conductive vacuum. Heat Rays are roughly comparable to lasers yet their mechanism makes them extremely different. Unlike lasers a heat-ray dumps its entire energy on the target and unaffected by mirrors or other reflective surfaces. - [b]Khrasaya'wun (Chargegun):[/b] Sarmakth equivalent of firearms, it uses coulombic detonation instead of chemical energy to propel projectiles towards the target. Through fine alignment of field projectors it's possible to induce this "charge propulsion" spontaneously thus Sarmakth guns turn portion of the projectile into its own propellant and require only electric charge to work. Khrasaya'thor (charge bombs) are the regular high explosives used by the Sarmakth which tend to disperse a cloud of molecule-thin shrapnel. Chargeguns that fire high-velocity penetrators tend to have triangle shaped barrels while explosive projectiles are disc-shaped and shot from a wide yet thin barrel. - [b]Mathra'wun (Wardiscs):[/b]Sarmakth equivalent to missiles, these thin cylindrical objects have a compact inertial drive along with a sophisticated AI and a field manipulation system that replaces explosives. Essentially it's a flying disc that tracks the target and has a device which can turn its entire mass into explosive material within a split-second. - [b]Feshel'wun (Disruptor):[/b] Sarmakth molecular rearrangement technology has many scientific and industrial uses but at times it could be also useful as a weapon. It fires a special ray which induces a chain-reaction to disrupt the material composition of the target, effectively dissipating it to constituent particles. The weapon is too sophisticated to be viable as a general issue weapon. It's expensive and requires complete understanding of the target's composition to succeed. More often than not Feshel technology is seen in the mining industry and automated robotic miners. Although said miners may be used in war out of desperation. Another common variant is the disruptor pistol which is a status symbol to signify the Sarmakth superiority. More often than not such pistols are used for execution. - [b]Kwhul'wun (Hypermetric Accelerator):[/b] A term used to describe Sarmakth direct firing weapons which use either matter or radiation originating from hyperspace to project it at the enemy. The mechanism is often compared to opening a dam which is the boundary between normalspace and hyperspace and then let it flow straight at the enemy. These weapons tend to be the main weaponry of warships, albeit smaller ground support vehicle variant also exists. Kwhul'thor (Hyperbomb) is a variant used as a terrifying explosive with colossal destructive power. - [b]Wak'danan (Stasis Barrier):[/b] Alternative usage of stasis field technology for protection. Effectively just a generic energy shield, albeit utilizing way different mechanisms. Commonly used by all Sarmakth vehicles and starships and there are even variants used for personal protection.[/hider] [h2][color=9e0b0f][b]MILITARY[/b][/color][/h2] TBA [/hider] And here's my nation sheet. I still need to fill in the military section and need to think about territory claim but otherwise I'm finished.