[h2][center][color=fff200][u][b]PLAYABLE SPECIES[/b][/u][/color][/center][/h2] [center][u][b]NOTE: THESE ARE NOT EVERY SINGLE SPECIES IN THE SETTING BUT THE PRIMARY ONES FOR THE RP. [/b][/u][/center] I am willing to entertain any ideas you have for new species and it is not mandatory to play as a member of these races. Cyborgs/robots are not included as they are constructs rather than organisms. Each accepted species will have its own perks that in most cases are available only to that species. However there will be some that may be similar. Perks can include technology, ethereal capabilities, buffs, weaponry, and other such elements that for the most part only that particular species has. They are all also optional; you do not have to include them for your character if you don't want to. [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Humanity​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Once considered primitive and warlike, humanity demonstrated in the late 2090's to early 3000's that their tenacity was coupled with a creativity and drive to both survive and expand as deeply held as any millennia old empire. Humanity was slow initially to make contact with sapients beyond its own solar system but rather than bringing conflict against the Scielto, their business acumen and ruthless need for growth would result in an alliance with the far larger alien empire that would set down the foundations for the formation of the Unified Celestial League. Impressively, humanity would get an even larger share of the deal arguably, rapidly expanding as the old semi-corporatist governments of Earth began to bring about a sweeping wave of political and economic changes to the Scielto Empire and their associates and the sheer economic power they possessed slowly began to bend whole systems to their will. Beneath their explosive growth, divisions previously suppressed in the wake of the grand wars of ideology and resources were beginning to resurface. The solution was to simply move them away from the growing imperial core whether by exile, forced displacement, or colonization programs. The effects of this would pave the way for years of separatism, interplanetary civil conflict, and the acceleration of anti Celestial ideologies. The Frontier Worlds in particular are where many humans were resettled forcefully or as volunteers though they also expanded to various other often more desolate or previously untouched worlds. The population of humans living outside of League space has rapidly grown to the extent some demographists believe it may achieve quantiative parity with those in a few decades. A large number of these live in mixed species colonies scattered all throughout the stars and between League and Pact space. The latter is the primary agent of influence among them but the Carnazir exiles and diaspora have begun to contest their influence. The League on the other hand tends to primarily have influence in the larger and more affluent settlements especially for nomad fleets and space stations. It is noted that they have a relatively small but rapidly growing number of naturally-born etherealists while synthetic and occult practices to imbue them with ethereal capabilities are becoming increasingly popular. On Chalgheol in particular, humans are roughly the third most populous species after celaderaka and tarrhaidim. They are found in practically every rung of society though they seem in some cases to be rather aloof around those two, often in settlements that have a stronger loyalty with the UCL. A great number can be found participating directly in the wars either in command positions or as footsoldiers. Outside of that, many of them seem to occupy mid to lower class positions nowadays with most of those higher up having managed to hold onto their positions through connections and leeway with the changing rulership scenario. They are viewed with some suspicion in certain nation-sectors due to their ties to the Dolsilvec Regime's old guard where they are often quite wealthy. Their populations in some places even outnumber native alien species. A number exist in less fortunate regions and share this stigma though to a far less severe extent. This appears to correlates with how many other aliens they are living with as well the level of economic disparity experienced. [u]Human Perks:[/u] [i]Subdermal Network Layer[/i] One of humanity's most unique inventions is this experimental piece of cybernetics technology. It is a synthetic skin beneath the skin made of hundreds of little ports, flexible composite materials, vein-imitating wires, and a few specific microorganism colonies. With this complex set-up of components the Subdermal Network Layer allows its human users to interface with powered armor or exoskeletons, vehicles such as mecha and fighters, and certain computer systems far more effectively. While it does not inherently result in better pilots, it does give many humans a notable edge in terms of how fast they can react, move, analyse data and otherwise operate machinery and specialized computers. Nobody has figured out how to replicate this technology for other races in spite of the most cutting edge laboratories undergoing numerous trials with homunculi-fleshvessels and even willing alien volunteers. [i]Psycho-Kinetic Consciousnessness[/i] Human psycho-ethereal signatures in the Abzu are unlike any other species. This is believed to be due to earlier experiments with harnessing the dimension's power prior to dedicated space travel though when they did start exploring the stars, something changed in their collective mental composition and how their brains evolved. They are capable of what we have previously called "psychic powers" but in reality is a capability to finely manipulate physical and ethereal matter using currents of Abzu energy to manipulate matter in a way almost similar to gravitational manipulatory devices. What most people speak about however is the ability to detect other consciousnesses at shorter ranges. They cannot read a mind as one might a book as much as they can detect them and if using said "limbs", detect the emotional state and the most direct, powerful emotions being expresses. If they invest enough power and concentration, they can potentially "hear" what are commonly described as psychic echoes that seem to contain abstracted versios of whatever a subject was thinking which while useful, is not fully accurate. In spite of having had more interaction with the mysterious beyond, the human offshoots of Voidhangers have not developed this skill and scientists are baffled as to why. [i]Etherelectrical Generator System[/i] Another unusually distinct piece of human tech is this life support system that was unsurprisingly heavily weaponized. By using etheral power to modify electrical currents, humans were able to find ways to store it in their body as long as they had an EGS installed. This system can be a biological, ethereal, or cybernetic one (or all three) but it is unknown why the human body is able to use this. Most theories believes it is due to the same reason they can use psychic abilities. With this, even non-ethereality-capable humans can manipulate electricity in strange ways, from causing it to bend in arcing shots or erupt in shockwaves around them. However the effect of ethereal energy causes the electricity to move far slower than its normal counterpart due to the way Abzu-energy partially nullifies realspace electricity; the cost of making it safer to use. Etherealists with an EGS are able to combine it with their own disciplines and manipulate the electricity more finely than normal humans. [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Tarrhaidim​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Pronounced “tar-high-deem”. They are large bipedal organisms resembling rotted eyeless humanoids, covered in hardened fungoid growth, and maws full of jagged pointed formations, noted for appearing to have rotted flesh. They are actually a fungoid like organism, genderless and able to reproduce asexually on occasion or by combining large amounts of reproductive biomatter into communal “spawning globes”. They are capable of heaviliy modifying and selectivley mutating their own biomatter and have an unusual tendency to "bolt" clothing, equipment, gear, and armour into their bodies though this is nowhere near as painful as some would think. They are durable creatures with noted regenerative capabilities and the ability to survive on very little (think dirt, rotting wood, and sunlight). They are one of the most common races though they are native primarily to the Frontier Worlds and the most numerous on Chalgheol. Their homeworld is unknown but some theorize they might not have had one but were simply scattered across the stars on spore-filled comets by some unknown planet-sized void-entity believed to be the so called "Nexus of Teeth" (a colossal, revolting swirl of decomposing, regenerating mushroom-like biomatter filled with hundreds of tooth like jagged protrusions) their religion worship. Many have emigrated as refugees out of the Frontier Worlds to escape the conflicts resulting from League-Pact power games, moving to established nation-worlds or independent colonies. A massive number of them however comprise both the Carnazir and Dolsilvec Regime while many more frequently work on militias and guerilla groups all across the political spectrum. It is known that there is a growing pro-ZSRP movement lead by certain exiled militant groups that took refuge on core Pact that has only grown larger with the recent negotiations. On Chalgheol, many of them were once from the less developed and more rustic areas in the past but now roughly 50% of their populace lives in urbanized or agricultural zones, also comprising many of its armed forces. Some disdain is directed at them but rarely openly, often depending on their political alignment. They have an above average amount of casters often interpreting their powers through the lens of their esoteric religion, which has swelled to include an increasingly larger number of non-tarrhaidim. It is said that while the Celaderaka might be better fighters on average, the Tarrhaidim usually create better leaders. [u]Tarrhaidim Perks:[/u] [i]Necromantic Transgression[/i] Colloquially known as "necromancy", these fungoid beings are able to breathe ethereal life into lifeless matter. This is a fairly advanced skill with its roots in ancient occult practices but now it is understood in a more rational manner. Essentially, a Tarrhaidim etherealist will create a series of "codes, formulas, and algorithims" in an otherworldly construct and analyse the metaphysical complexity and state of the matter that once lived, typically organic though in some cases machine as well. They they then insert the constrct into the matter and "activate" it in a way similar to an automaton. The practice is controversial but it is mostly used to reanimate bio-constructs which are not considered truly alive. It does not restore the memories and personality of deceased sapient beings. Reanimated entities or matter can be remotely controlled as long as they are within range or "programmed" to act in certain ways like a robot. [i]Unearthly Vessel[/i] By ethereally enhancing their biomass (or something or someone else's), detaching it, then summoning an abzu-dwelling void-worm from their fungoid deity-moon into it, Tarrhaidim are essentially able to create what they call a wormgazer. It is not necessarily a summon in a traditional sense as the worm barely has a consciousness and in infesting the detached biomass, becomes subservient to the tarrhaidim's will. This drone is capable of growing and being upgraded with all kinds of augmentations as well as additional wepaonry. They typically fly and are around the size of conventional metallic ones though some can slither, dig, or crawl or another method of movement. The tarrhaidim ones can amplify their master's ethereality and even be used as a launching platform for spells. It can even be absorbed into its master to increase their capabilities both pysical and ethereal though if it is destroyed in this state, it will cause violent feedback effects. No other summoned entities or void-constructs are capable of this yet or are as modifiable. [i]Unity in Decay[/i] Tarrhaidim with sufficient augmentations or who have attained a particular level of mutation or growth are able to combine with up to around seven other tarrhaidim maximum along as there is true mental desire and consent. The new gestalt organism is comparable to walkers or mecha in terms of size and power though far more grotesque in how it is created. Their bodies will rip open as various veins, parasite creatures, roots, stalks, and veins intertwine and wrap while their consciousness-globes enter a hardened shell in the centre of their mass. This all happens in around a minute and a half at its very most. The resulting gestalt creature combines their consciousnesses into many-but-one, often dissolving their sense of individual emotive capability and instead emphasizing higher goals and objectives. Any ethereality possessed will be combined though the range of casting capabilities is limited, trading versatility for raw power. Oddly enough, it is surprisingly easy to break form these combinations though it is often advised to let others know ahead of time. Damage towards it will be damage shared towards all and its centrla core is destroyed, its constituent beings can be wounded or killed. [hider=My Hider] [img]https://i.ibb.co/JmW399n/abomination-infantry-by-The-Drowning-Earth.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/35X825J/abomination-infantry-closeups-by-The-Drowning-Earth.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/ZWsGNv9/cqc-by-thedrowningearth-daji8qq.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/fQqYzvq/scourge-trooper-by-thedrowningearth-d771d8j.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/YT9P8T0/abomination-infantry-2-by-thedrowningearth-daalgfd.jpg[/img] [/hider] [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Vrexul​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Pronounced “vuh-rex-sull”. Massive and mysterious creatures that came from a very distant galaxy in a large fleet of life-seeding ships whose own history they know next to nothing about; something that they have been attempting to remedy to this day. They resemble enormous arthropods with dense carapaces bristling with cybernetics and integrated external biomass like living biomechanical juggernauts. They can move bipedally or on up to around 30 limbs. On average they are between seven and ten feet tall with a few species being around five foot six and a few rare specimens around 20. They are pioneers and leaders when it comes to augmentation technology to the extent some of them are basically small habitats for performance-enhancing symbiotes and hidden integrated tools. In spite of being reminiscent of arthropods such as ground and rove beetles, decapods, myriapods, huntsman and wolf spiders, earwigs, crickets, and so on, their populations are not particularly large due to a variety of ground-up population controls. They do not have many etherealists but those that do so are rewnowned for their terrifying, uncomfortable powers. Attempts to externally install ethereal capabilities have seen only mixed results though their overall numbers are growing. When the Vrexul first entered known space, they did so on clusters of worlds bordering or that were already inhabited the gealtirocht. The then nascent UCL had a number of large mining claims there, formed between larger gealtirocht clans and corporate development fleets used to partially develop ancient tribal ground. The segmented ships were accompanied by a massive half ethereal and half physical entity resembling a cloud of festering arthropod biomatter and self-maintaining cybernetics, the "leader" which communicated to its people through a series of advanced AI's. Neither the gealtirocht clans nor the League were prepared for such an abrupt arrival and quickly they began creating various little hive-communes. Even more surprising was that the ones that were seen apparently were all teenagers to young adults, not fully grown but hatched two decades before their arrival and following the commands the ships were left with before their departure. The League was already having difficulty pacifying the various smaller gealtirocht tribes as were the larger of the highland clans that had forged alliances with them. The vrexul were making inroads with the eel-like aliens, with their bizarre mixture of biotech and cybernetics used in service of a classless society, beginning to attract many of the restless populace of both humanity and the scielto. Attempts to bargain with them economically simply fell on deaf ears as beyond simply living their lives, the bugs had a deeper interest in the history of these worlds; they believed some of them to have been the ancient homeworlds of their predecessors. When they made it clear they wouldn't budge, the League attempted to turn the discontent of the growing gealtirocht civil unrest against them, leading a vicious propaganda campaign that drew the vrexul into a violent territorial civil war. The league would join as well, inflicting grievous losses at first before finding that these enormous arthropods, while they had fostered a gentle giant image for some time, were also destructive titans when angered and thier own were threatened. They compensated for their lack of proper troops and battle experience with careful alliances with sympathetic gealtirocht tribes and independent colonists, distracting and tying up humanity long enough that they found what would be their trump card. The enormous cloud-entity, the Evzredigor, was not even a competed being. Fragments of it had been hidden across these worlds; fragments that when unleashed, joined with the cyber-eldritch monstoristy and finally gave them a true means to contest the spacefleets of their enemies. It is at this point that the not only did the UCL suffer a very, very rare crushing defeat but the flashpoint that would accelerate the creation of an alliance to rival the UCL. It is at the vrexul underground city of Zrovreni that in this newfound alliance formed by the unexpectedly defiant vrexul and the now liberated gealtirocht that the Solar Revolutionary Pact was formed. They are exceedingly rare in League space for obvious reasons but it is known that a growing number of disillusioned vrexul can be found in the Carnazir. Some of them who were sent to assist the Dolsilvec Regime would later join thanks to the charisma of its titular leader, inviting others to form elite cadres of warriors. A number of smaller enclaves are located in the Frontier Worlds but are well hidden subterranean cities. The are not adverse to integrating into society as a whole though it is easier on independent colonial worlds beyond the Frontier as lately, they have grown a fearsome reputation due to the Pact's military involvement in the region. Occasionally, this has been used to justify military intervention to extract them, something that has been used against them in criticism or lauded for as a sign of their dedication to protecting their own. [u]Vrexul Perks[/u] [i]Living Armory[/i] These enormous arthropods are already known for having some of the most brutishly powerful weaponry in the cosmos. However they do not necessarily carry all of them as other species might. Many of their biologically crafted weapons and increasingly many of those with artificial components can be "encoded" into their bodies after standard issue augmentations. This breaks them down at the cellular and/or molecular level with technology only they understand but it saves the "idea" of the weaponry as a kind of code as well as their ammunition if needed. This allows them to store quite a few weapons inside themselves and in a surprisingly safe manner; contrary to what many video games and movies have shown, they will not explode if you shoot them in their ammo storage (assuming the weapon is un-morphed and resting inert). Most of the encodable weaponry they can carry is fairly short range and lower calibre or energy output but tends to have very rapid rate of fire and munitions they cn quickly modify. They're also very easy to modify to increase accuracy, rate of fire, amount of shots fired at once and so on. This also includes a number of limbs intended for melee combat which can sometimes outmatch conventional ones, body-sheathed ones, or non-vrexul weaponized limbs. The firepower this gives them causes a single Vrexul to put out a level of firepower normally equivalent to a whole squad. It is known that recent technology even allows some to encode smaller fleshvessels or their synthetic automaton counterparts into their biomass reserves rather than directly storing them. [i]Envoy of the Decomposing Abyss[/i] While their prowess in battle is well known, the Vrexul threw off the shackles of the UCL not solely due to their expertise in horrific violence. Their so-called Orphan Fleet was protected by a massive cloud-like mass of matter cybernetic and biological in nature and also bearing an unusual ethereal signature. It is known as the Evzredigor. While it was inert for many years, when it was awakened it inflicted horrific damage on UCL fleets and was grievously damaged in turn. Yet this mysterious "cognition engine" as they call it on top of analysing data and leading their kind also lends itself in battle. Certain soldiers of their armies, assuming they are allied with the Orphan Fleet, are capable of requesting the Evzredigor's power and if they deem them capable, will send a fragment unto them and bind it to their will. This is useful as Vrexzul etherealists are uncommon. Unique to the vrexul however are the ability to bind these fragments to their will but also into their bodies. Those selected for this process are known as Voirvordes and they can manipulate this fragment for a number of purposes to an even greater degree than those simply will-bound to theirs. Forming bio-synthetic projectiles, congealing its mass to link mini generators to fire laser beams, spawning mini-abominations from it to attack enemies, and projecting itself as a large smokescreen among others. While it does not compare to a true etherealist it gives them quite a few strategic options while the mostly physical nature of the Evzredigor can bypass many energy and ethereal ablating or resistant defences. It becomes considerably more dangerous if combined with an etherealist whereupon the Evzredigor fragments true powers can be activated and become considerably more lethal. Even better, it also can help to control their bodies and any additional weaponry, organs, sybmiote-parasites, and equipment linked to them, capable of even animating them if they are deceased or unconscious. These fragments are difficult to destry but electrical, incendiary, and ethereal measures can purge it from the body if sheer firepower does not. . [i]Psychoparasitic Synchronization[/i] Biological augmentations come in many forms but for these starborne creatures they are typically in the form of various smaller arthropod-like organisms inhabiting their own bodies. In spite of true etherealists being rare, the Vrexul are able to communicate and control some of these creatures mentally in what is believed to be a rapidly evolving form of psychic communication believed to be linked with their unusual psychoetheral signatures in the abzu. This ability was first noticed around midway through their war to usurp the UCL from controlling the Orphan Fleet when it was noticed they could work around automaton patrols by simply sending out their own symbiote-creatures as remotely controlled drones. Even more surprising is that these symbiotes worked as additional sensory platforms; they could not only see through them but taste, smell, hear, and feel as well albeit not to the same extent as the actual creatures could on their (non-controlled) own. The unztadtlige have attempted to replicate this with mixed and often disappointing results, lacking the same fineness and level of control as well as having to rely on sensory data description rather than simply experiencing what their own drones have. For the vrexul, it makes every soldier of theirs incredibly versatile. Not only can they fully control how these parasites who also perform internal maintenance go about their work, they can also use them to scout and investigate ahead of them, serve as long range surveillance, use them to carry explosive or even ethereal payloads, and in some cases attack or distract enemies. While they cannot grow very large or powerful on top of being difficult to multitask control with even for experienced vrexul, it is a considerable part of how they are known to get the drop of enemies and at times even "overwhelm" them in spite of having less actual soldiers, using a number of lesser psychoparasites to distract enemies during a heated assault. [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Gealtirocht​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Pronounced “gee-ow-tee-rocked” with the "gee" pronounced like in "geese". These tall creatures evolved from some sort of eel like creature, visually somewhere between the Chimera from the Resistance and the Elites from Halo. They are around six and a half to eight feet on average with powerful digitigrade legs, four eyes (two on each side of their bony ridged heads), long multi-jointed six-fingered arms, and slightly elongated heads thicker at the forehead and slimming downwards to powerful fang-filled mouths. Some species even have long lizard like tails and others shorter additional arms that have retractable spines. All however have an eye-like organ called the [i][b]speirfhaire [/b][/i]at the front of their brain capable of detecting ethereological presences though the extent to which depends on how well they have honed their skill. They have a very high number of naturally born ethereologists, coinciding with a baseline slight psycho-ethereal capability involving the ability to visualize an enormous series of extradimensional eel-like creatures in their dreams though some have found ways to remove this aspect from themselves. They are the other primary race that comprises the Zrovreni Solar Revolutionary Pact, having transitioned from nomadic high-tech tribesfolk and feudalism to a sort of de-stratified classless enviro-collectivist society with even more technology albeit after a period of immense upheaval and conflict with the Unified Celestial League. Once, they were split between larger feudalistic clans and free nomadic tribesfolk but the arrival of the UCL allying with the former forced the latter increasingly under their control. While conflict was intermittent, it usually could not go beyond merely harassment and slowing the feudalist-corporatist alliance until the arrival of the vrexul. With their help, they were able to not only repel the League from the region but also to defeat the feudalist clans, exiling many of them or forming large deradicalization programs to ensure they would not be a threat in the future. The gealtirocht have spread fairly quickly throughout the stars though their populations in League controlled space are still growing and often are some of the vocally anti-Pact populations out there. A great number of them are from the great clan-houses that once ruled their native cluster of worlds and often lead the charge in parliaments or on the battlefield against those they see as traitors to their traditions. The Carnazir have recruited heavily from various smaller colonies, taking advantage of their free spirit and usually letting them continue their anarcho-collectivistic societal organization as they often are willing freedom fighters for their cause. A few populations exist on Caracosa but these ones tend to be in the areas that have seen little development. On occasion, a number can be seen in high ranking special forces and military command chain positions; likely League advisors who believed they were better off here rather than heading the counter-terror and black ops groups used to suppress Carnazir and Pact popular uprisings. Public perception of them is usually positive (relative to everyone else) though some find them arrogant or unintentionally dismissive. Many of them have a reputation as athletes and explorers; they are capable of great running speed and no other species is known to jump as high. Those in the League are seen as either bold freedom fighters who are honest and will not stop until they get the truth or egotistical clout-chasers always trying to curry favours with their betters. In Pact space, they are often viewed as very outgoing and raucous folks if having some trouble or needless opposition to the complexities of a growing alliance built a large part on military unity. Those who have joined the Carnazir are seen by the others as wayward and duped typically while the Dolsivecs are trusted by very, very few people given their background. [hider=Reference] [img]https://i.ibb.co/7Cymn0R/xl-34-tracker-battle-armor-by-peterprime-d74ii1u-fullview.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/nrdWjNg/Chimera-Longlegs-on-Boat.webp[/img] [/hider] [u]Gealtirocht Perks[/u] [i]Wraithgaze[/i] The so called "third eye" inside of their skulls is not truly an eye but that has not stopped many from developing ways to use it as if it was. Some gealtirocht have unlocked uses through deep abzu-reaching meditation, modifications to their neurology and ocular functions, or in some cases natural processes that allow them to use the speirfhaire to activate an additional visual mode on top of it being sensitive to ethereal presences. In seeing through their speirfhaire, they can essentially see energy sources against a simplified backdrop of muted details, allowing them to detect even certain cloaked entities (assuming their electrical or ethereal signatures are not well muted), hidden rifts or weakend areas of realspace, even creatures travelling through the liminal space between the abzu and realspace known as the Abyssic Plane. However, the range for this does not get particularly long and usually additional modifications or training are needed for more definite imaging. It is possible to view through the speirfhaire at longer ranges albeit in a narrow conical field, one that often emits an ether-pulse that is possible to be detected even from further distances without some kind of bio/ethereal/technological mechanism to retain it. [i]Life-Pulse Hunger[/i] The gealtirocht have a universe-spanning reputation for being marksmen. Some have questioned that in recent years due to their ability to bend the flight path of certain projectiles utilizing arcane biotechnology and ethereal conditioning for their speirfhaire. Certain projectiles can be modified to maintain a kind of signal with their speirfhaire after being launched through this does inevitably reduce their raw speed and subsequently kinetic force, even for magnetically accelerated ones. This is achieved through basically turning their speirfhaire into a kind of advanced targeting mechanism though it is a fairly arduous process even with new ways of accelerating and streamlining the process. This is primarily useful with energy projectiles and larger dart like projectiles similar to crossbow bolts. At lower levesl of expertise a gealtirocht can usually control from one to seven projectiles. Highly experienced ones have the mental fortitude and focus to control up to around 22. It is possible to control even more but that requires intensive and costly modifications whether monetarily or physically, with the intergalactic record being around 33 mag-darts. While these slowed projectiles are more easily detected and defended against, that is highly relative and it gives them the skill to engage multiple targets hiding in cover or moving in confusing patterns more easily without needed specialized homing wepaonry. [i]Coils of the Abyssic Anguilid[/i] Embedded deep into the subconscious of all gealtirocht is a mental vision of the enormous void-dwelling eel creature many of their mystical sects believed formed them from fragments of its flesh. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen but voyages into Abzu-space correlating to the gealtirocht homeworld has made it clear a number of titanic serpentine eel-like creatures do inhabit its depths. While it is possible to mind-purge oneself of this genetic memory, it is also possible to manifest its power into realspace. It is not an easy skill to learn, typically relegated to older and more experienced gealtirocht but some in their younger years have demonstrated it is not based on one's age. Reaching deep into the psyche and the space that stands between both conscious thoughts and the strange otherworld that feeds on them, a gealtirocht can trigger a physioethereal reaction that momentarily distorts them and the realspace around them by disrupting it with a controlled surge of ethereal energy in the liminal space between realspace and the abzu. This allows for a number of unusual effects as as the air and space around them bends, twists, and coils in a way that imitates a school of eels. It obscures the user, increases their speed, and momentarily interferes with most targeting technology. They can also launch these coils to home in on chosen targets, ravaging them with supernatural force in the form of eel-like monstrosities. This strange field does not last for very long and it requires a talented etherealist to manifest. [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Scielto​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Eerie creatures with semi-transparent vein-filled skin, tall and slender. They have a humanoid shape but sparse, featureless bodies with notably flat, shovel-like heads similar to planarians/flatworms devoid of visible eyes. They are similar to the XCOM2 sectoids but with more reserved, eerily calm features and retractable, wavey, tendril-like “wings” that emerge from their backs, in reality lengthy nerve clusters attached to cartilaginous protrusions that naturally generate ethereal energy. Their “skin” looks more akin to highly stretched membranes and one can view their teeth and bones behind it along with any implants and even ethereal energy coursing beneath it along with their twisting almost darkly metallic and wood looking bones. However, some do not have this skin either by choice or due to their subspecies. They are not very frail in spite of their racial stereotypes with tough self-mending bones. They come from worlds rich in ambient ethereal energy meaning they are all capable of flight if the concentrations are high enough or with certain augmentations if not, usually resorting to hovering if they lack ideal conditions. As expected, every scielto regardless of the particular species is an etherealist; practically born with ether within their bodies and able to manipulate it to an extent even before their births. They were the first race humanity met and form the core of the UCL alongside them. Even before the League, they were a massive empire that had absorbed (or destroyed) most of its competition, undergoing an uncomfortable transition as repeated conflicts amongst the aristocracy manipulating the restless populace was causing them to attempt to modernize their system of rule. Humanity however would help deal with this growing demand for representation and societal movement amongst the lower classes; when both species met, aside from joining their impressive industrial capabilities, humanity also introduced a variety of liberal democratic reforms but at the same time, pacified the more unruly members of the aristocracy. Their societies did grow more stable but at the same time, the sharp divide between their lower and upper classes even more pronounced; something the creation of a middle class now with voting and broad civil rights could not completely obscure. Regardles, this perceived reimagining and restructing of society allowed them to unify enough to catch up with humanity and in the process, match their speed in rapid expansion. They have developed an enormous military just a little bit bigger than their allies, brilling with strange half ethereal half robotic technology and shimmering fleets of unearthly power, continuing to expand their now joint empire. In order to spread their influence, they have positioned themselves as bringers of progress and uplifters of the less advanced, something that has allowed them to rapidly bring various larger colonial settlements under their control. This strategy has seen mixed results across the Frontier Worlds but a number of strategic dealings with the Carnazir and Dolsilvec Regime allowed them to create various large space stations (fortresses is more fitting) and large floating cities wherein they would meet with the local ruling classes and form political alliances. This gave them the ability to influences wide swathes of mainline politics but also to extend their material, economic, and military might further, paving the way for their human allies to further their socio-economic growth as well as ideological grip on enormous swathes of Frontier Worlds. Due to that and the fact that they often inhabit the wealthiest cities or massive floating stations high in the atmosphere, they are seen as distant and indifferent to others and in recent years, many of their supporters in the Frontier have soured on them especially in the wake of revolutionary and insurrectionary movements pushing themselves to unearth much of their dirty laundry. They have a reputation for being haughty aristocrats, either viewed with magical awe or with sneering disgust (or cold discomfort) depending on where you are. A large part of this is due to the fact that all of them are ethereologists with a reputation as “witch-folk” in some corners of space. A large number of scielto can be found in the middle to lower classes of most major population centres. Strangely enough, the "skinless" variants are common though most of them cannot fly for prolonged periods. They often live in tight knit groups as workers and for some reason like to set-up around large bodies of water as well as swamps. Some of them have small airborne bases but these are typically for the ultra wealthy and viewed with either envious admiration or seethng contempt by many of those below them regardless of species. Quite a few of them are known to work security enough that is a stereotype though statistically far more of them are found in manual labour, accoutning, or various ethereal-related fields where there is typically a shortage of positions for the skills many of them were trained in. [u]Scielto Perks[/u] [i]Adaptive Membrane Layer[/i] The scielto naturally are able to shed, melt, or even consume and reabsorb their own fleshy skin-membranes for nutrients as well as to analyse any atmospheric, ethereal, and biological data it has collected. They then reconstruct this seemingly thin, deceptively durable membrane to better shield them against the varying ether-radiation environmental conditions of their homeworld. However, various scientific breakthroughs have allowed them to take this further. Rather than fully reabsorbing their membranes, they can (with the help of augmentations or certain forms of armour or equipment) alter their biochemical and even cellular composition on the fly. This is for far more than solely environmental protection and grants them additional bonuses in a variety of scenarios. While they are often lesser in effect than armor, augmentation, or equipment with that specific purpose in mind they can be swapped out on the fly even if they can often only carry between three and six configurations. In their armies the scielto are known to combine this with the armour they wear over their bodies and modify their membranes as to essentially "buff" them in different ways. They can create a membranous layer that is laced with specialized muscles and tensile pressure-reactive wires that can increase their strength. If they wish it can also morph into a series of nanobot and mini-drone maintained composite flesh and thin metal that allow them to further network with any electronics and cybernetics for enhanced and faster reactive capabilities as well as partially defend themselves against electronic disrupting capabilities by using the organic components to shield and even contain both data and electricity. Some layers even provide additional defence against direct energy weapons when unarmoured or by projecting a thin ablative layer outside of their armour. In fact, their newer armours are lighter and meant to have gaps the AML will fill in while being strengthened with flexible protective covering. [i]Channeler of Unearthly Force[/i] While the wing-tendrils of the scielto are known primarily for how they grant them varying degrees of flight, they also serve another purpose. Due to their metaphysically ambiguous nature, they can be used as conduits between both domains. Subsequently, this allows a scielto with sufficient training and conditioning to use this unusual part of their anatomy to use higher amounts of ether while withstanding a much higher amoutn of feedback-radiation. Due to this, they have a reputation as the galaxy's most capable etherealists at least in the sheer quantiative amount they can safely use. Some go so far as to essentially dip their wing-tendrils into the abzu itself and even directly channel energy though this is quite risky and requires well developed feedback protective measures as well knowing how to not get them chomped off by various unearthly predators. It is an older cultural practice but many scielto are starting to use their wing-tendrils as channels for their own ether-casting abilities. This allows them launch multiple ethereal abilities at once. While the feedback and strain is higher, those who opt to do this likely have various measures built in to protect them wheether it's void-nerve relaxing nanobots or various threshold management devices surgically planted into them. While the offensive options it grants are immediately obious, it also allows them to support their allies to a much wider scope than conventional methods which tend to involve one or two limbs as well targeting only a single target or group of targets. Some scielto have even rencorced these tendrils to use for shorter range striking attacks with ether-blades. While these tendril-wings are not powerful enough to actually grab or crush targets, when charged with ether they can grow tips sharp enough to slice through metal. [i]Spectral Weaponry[/i] Weaponry enhanced with ethereal power (or possessed by abzu-dwelling beings) is nothing new. The scielto homeworld military however have developed weaponry meant to work with their unique biology and ethereality that nobody else has been able to reverse engineer. The specifics of its functions remain a closely guarded secret but some scientists theorize it involves utilizing abzu-dwellers to attempt to consume them and in the process imbue their power into them. Regardless of how they work, these weapons only react to to the presence of sufficiently empowered scielto and in many cases are bonded to one or a few of them. They are not necessarily always more powerful than more grounded counterparts but they offer a number of advantages. For example, their ammo is often considerably lighter and in some cases are sterilized egg-like bio-ethereal lab-grown organisms that rapidly reproduce when infused with scielto-filtered channeled energy. Other times they are solid "bullet-frames" that when launched via energizing solidify abzu-energy into a solid mass that behaves similarly to bullets with far less recoil and a mixture of directed energy and kinetic effects. Due to the nature of how they are "reloaded", in some cases they can fire until their users' ether-radiation threshold has been breached (or beyond if they are feeling risky). They can also be enhanced by ethereal powers to a fare greater extent than conventional weapons and also tend to do better against both energy shields and targets enhanced by unearthly powers. Many of them have very low recoil and are quite light to boot. [hider=Reference Images] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/767593081670598657/769274073754632192/tag_team_by_sttheo-d598w4b.jpg[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/767593081670598657/769274052732518450/team_by_sttheo-d5zrx5n.jpg[/img] [/hider] [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Unztadtlige​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Pronounced “oun-stad-lee-gah”. These organisms are essentially cyborg coral colonies; gestalt beings made of various networked organisms encased and optionally protruding from rocks with high metallic content. Contrary to popular belief, they are not hive minds with each colony being considered its own “state” and the actual states made of many individuals being considered by them massive confederations known as [b]molzentrags[/b]. They are known for being master terraformers which has made them beloved in many corners of space. However in recent years they have also grown a reputation for being ruthless mercenaries as well. They able to manifest in a variety of shapes from hulking four or two legged robots to essentially anti-gravitational tanks amongst others. Etherealists are rare amongst them though some lineages have inherited specialized parasite-like organisms that essentially grant them such capabilities. They are come from regions that are mostly populated by independent worlds with most of them having left their world of origin as it is currently undergoing an incredibly large scale environmental repair due to generations of heavy pollution. With no real outside interference, they spread to the stars and immediately became valued due to their skills not only in mining, repair, heavy industries, and conflict but most importantly, terraforming. While the vrexul do have similar tech, the unztadtlige have far more experience and a wider range. They are fairly committed to environmentalism in spite of their business-heavy culture, helping to introduce various "green" technologies across the stars though it was not really a surprise that largger numbers of molzentrags are increasingly moving into League held space. As the battles in the Frontier Worlds slowly wind down and the League sets its sights outwards, many of these (literally) rocky alien alliances have begun turning their industrial capacity towards a massive armament campaign as well as one of increasing military output. To many in the League's military leadership, the unztadtlige are the equivalents of the towering vrexul or rather, their superiors in combat. Unztadlige had actually moved onto Chalgheol years before the hostitlies started and frequently provided services to various regimes on the Frontier Worlds. On Caracosa, a number of them headed mechanics and engineering guilds with some even having leadership roles. In the initial phases of the war, they comprised a large portion of the mercenary groups fighting and frequently were the heads of armor divisions for the Dolsilvec Regime. Many have gone into hiding to avoid abduction and being forced into slave labour or combat service as the skills they possess have intersolar renown. Many have been working with the UCL presence as of late, with some using it to acquire material and ideological support for a leg up on their rivals. Subsequently, they are seen as figures who while highly knowledgeable and capable, are narrow in their goals and rather cold towards others. In less urbanized and industrialized areas, they have a less cold reputation, often being active in agricultural programs and serving as the (not as literal) bedrock of many smaller communities especially in administrative and leadership roles. [u]Unztadlige Perks[/u] [i]Die Hard[/i] Unztadtlige are the hardest known aliens to kill. Nano-hardened coral and metallic stone make for incredibly sturdy bodies even before they are augmented or replaced by heavy duty armour, some of which is typically reserved for lighter armoured vehicles. Closer to gestalt organisms than conventional singular biological ones, they rarely have a single organ one can destroy to instantly slay them such as a head or a heart. To kill an Unztadtlige, you typically need to destroy multiple large internal biomass centres to cause organ failure and/or sever shock. They can make this even harder by adding cybernetic machinery which only increase their durability and ability to survive horrendous damage. However, this can also cause them to take more damage even if it increases how much they can take due to more targets for foes to select. The shock they will feel from multiple vital sections being targeted will be higher but it doesn't stop them from being the most durable juggernauts in known space. [i]Heavy Duty[/i] Not only do the Unztadtlige boast the toughest armour of all known species but due to their incredibly unusual alien nature, they also are capable of using likely the most devastating weapons. Utilizing various small experimental reactors within their own bodies, numerous power-chanelling vein-wires, and even partially metallic organs for modifying energy output and chemical reactions, these cyborg coral colonies have created heavy weapons that are typically intended for small mecha or vehicles they can mount on their own bodies. The munitions for these weapons are specially designed to react with their internal mechanisms and at their lightest are comparable to crew served heavy weaponry and at their most powerful border on some lighter tanks. Granted they are likely unable to directly destroy true main battle tanks or larger mecha with these but if they can correctly position themselves and attack weak points they can become potent anti-armour gun platforms. Enemy infantry will not fare much better. [i]Strength As Numbers[/i] Sure the vrexul can remotely control and view the world through their augmentative parasites but can they divide their bodies into smaller fractions which each one being bound to the same combined consciousness? The unztadtlige are organisms made up of multiple smaller organisms that are not conventional vertebrates or even invertebrates, being better thought of as askin to coral colonies. As they are made of various biomatter and cybernetic cores, their intenral biology is very sturdy to the extent they can afford to lose whole chunks of themselves and still survive. With that in mind, may unztadtlige frequently divide themselves into smaller components in order to better handle multiple tasks. For those in combat proffessions, this means a single unztadtlige state-soldier can become sometimes up to 14 smaller ones. What they lose in firepower as a whole is made up for in tactical versatility albeit with a limited distance (they cannot move too far from one another or they will lose contact and control). Sometimes there may be a central command module fragment though this is often riskier than simply spreading one's consciouness across multiple body-fragments. However that can leave an unztadlige in a dangerous state if too many subdivisions are lost as opposed to concentrating most of their consciousness into one. Most enemies are too busy trying to fend off a sudden assault of floating, crawling, or striding heavily armoured gun platforms to nitpick. [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Voidhangers​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Voidhangers are a offshoot of humanity with their origins in lost expeditions during the early days of interstellar travel. Many fleets were lost to the unknown in freak faster-than-light jump accidents or wandered into regions of space where the boundary between realspace the Abzu was far weaker. Countless lives were lost but in spite of the numerous mishaps, humanity survived and the unusual celestial forces at play forged them into something else entirely. Voidhangers still retain their humanoid appearance but have darker skin colours in shades including purple, blue, and grey and often more slender and sleek bodies. Their skin is partially transparent almost like the scielto and is occasionally capable of bioluminescence. Some have mutations that cause them to partially resemble certain plankton or jellyfish, manifesting as additional limbs normally used for void-borne travel. They are fairly spread out in various large nomadic fleets, rarely staying in one spot for too long. Many of them are typically seen as pragmatic or skeptical towards interstelllar politics beyond their own survival. This doesn't make them immune to propaganda but they have a reputation for being fickle in their political alignments and are best described as "neutral" in most cases. As hostilities increase across the stars, whereas previously they would go wherever there was work or it was safer, the exiled Carnazir found quite a fertile recruitment base amongst them. The Frontier Worlds was hostile towards them due to there being concerns they could be foreign agents among the legitimate migrants and the Carnazir helped forment their desperation into aggression. Riling up much of the youth as well as older nomad fleets that had been expelled from the Frontier just as they were settling in, a growing number now comprise the Carnazir, causing many to begin migrating away even from the Pact-held worlds they were invited to settle on. Wherever they are, they have a strong reputation as pilots, shipbreakers, cargo haulers, explorers, ether-manipulators, and other careers involving deep space or otherworldly powers. Some do see them as grubby and thieving, little more than parasites taking advantage of a vulnerable status but in other corners they are romanticized as modern day argonauts or swashbuckling adventurers. Due to the massive Carnazir recruitment drive, many have started being stereotyped as potential radicals to outright terrorists waiting to act. They are a somewhat romanticized people; with nowhere to truly call their own and evolved to live in the strange coldness of space, they are also seen as adventurers and noble swashbucklers, something that occasionally works to their benefit and isn't necessarily 100% divorced from reality. In general, they dislike the Dolsilvec Regime but they have a few friends in power that have been able to slowly change the laws and policy regarding them in the wake of Kirvan Dolsilvec's passing. Whether this will amount to larger scale change in the voidhangers' favour remains to be seen. [u]Voidhanger Perks[/u] [i]Unearthly Resilience[/i] Due to the strange conditions that lead to them becoming a genetic offshoot of humanity, voidhanger bodies are adapted for conditions that would normally be antithetical to normal human existence. Their bodies have been changed by radiation and ethereal energy to the point they are seemingly on the edge of passing into the abzu. Due to this, they have an impressively high tolerance for extreme heat and cold, conventional and supernatural radiation, and even to directed energy weapons fire. This is a skill that can be enhanced with augmentations, equipment, and armour especially if tailor made for their distinct biology. While it does not grant immunity to such conditions it has given them a reputation as a sturdy people even if they have an unsually poor resistance to bacterial and viral infections. This is in spite of very powerful immune systems that would be outright dangerous in any other organism but declare total war when foreign microorganisms enter their body. [i]Traveller of Outer Realms[/i] For a few short moments, voidhangers can cause a strange chemoethereal reaction in their body that causes them to momentarily "sink" out of realspace and into the liminal zone between reality and the Abzu. Depending on how deep they sink they can essentially phase out of realspace and become momentarily intangible. This is very difficult to do so most of the time they only partially blur out, making them much harder to see and allowing them to regenerate from damage and absorb additional ether before popping back into realspace. Usually they can remain in the liminal zone for around a minute and 15 seconds at the very most. Some voidhangers are capable of taking this a step further and sinking through liminal space and into the Abzu. This is even riskier even if it allows for even more protection and what many call "teleportation" though they can only stay there for around 15 seconds at most. Both versions will tax their ethereal radiation thresholds heavily and if they overstay their time, they can risk essentially dissolving into nothingness, being torn apart by Abzu-predators, or severe infestation and infection. [i]Choronzon Personal Defensive Shield[/i] Created by a voidhanger scientist who first gave the technology to a company dealing with dangerous vacuum-dwelling creatures, the CPDS is now ubiquitous amongst them. This energy shield device is surgically implanted into their bodies and becomes an additional organ or series of internal parts. It generates a unique shield around them that partially siphons kinetic energy and directed energy away from incoming projectiles as well as lessening the effects of high frequency blades, disruptor fields, and even possessed weapons upon impact. They can be momentarily intensififed to directly block attacks though this is more costly to their energy stores which are ether-powered. Around 15 years ago, some voidhangers found ways to channel the currents in realspace and use them to manipulate physical and ethereal objects at shorter ranges. This lead to sightings of voidhanger guerillas and raiders with gun turrets and glowing blades floating around themselves that mysteriously dropped to the ground when hit by EMP bursts. They would hide in cover, generate a large degree of ether, then these weapons would float again and relentlessly attack targets. The CPDS will affect their ether-radiation thresholds to a point (after which it remains steady) although it also increases one's resistance along with having its own built-in threshold to lessen the strain. That being said, voidhangers often turn it off when using a larger quantity of ethereal skills to avoid overloading the device and themselves. [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Celaderaka​[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] - Pronounced as “sell-durrr-ah-kah”. Also known as lavabloods, the celaderaka are a species of bipedal creatures with flesh that appears to be made of a mixture of dried and solidified molten magma and darkly coloured and heavily charred muscle matter mixed with a kind of calcified bone-like material. Skeletal ridges frequently emerge from their back, shoulders, and arms often sharp or serrated. With mouths full numerous pointed teeth and hands ending in four to eight fingered claws, they have an appearance as demonic as it is predatory. They descend primarily from rocky, mountainous worlds and arid landscapes, capable of living even in borderline volcanic territory. By nature they are adept at climbing and navigating over rough terrain as well as digging and mining though contrary to some stereotypes, they are not immune to flames; only resistant though sometimes to an impressive degree. Many of them however have naturally occurring ethereal capabilities due to high concentrations in their homeworlds to the extent some are capable of naturally absorbing it. They tend to use a mixture of cybernetic and ethereal modifications but struggle to find or develop biological ones compatible with their bodies. The celaderaka were known for having been run by brutal warlords and loosely-aligned coalition groups in territorial conflicts spanning back to the last years of their pre-spaceflight era. Many of these were primarily territorial and resource based, with many of their original fuel sources having long since been exhausted, but as they spread across their worlds quickly became battles for raw power and control justified by any and all prior violence. Some celaderaka had formed smaller (relatively) less warlike kingdoms on Frontier Worlds like Chalgheol after having grown disillusioned with how things were going in their original planetary clusters. Kirvan Dolsilvec, the Dolsilvec Regime's founder, was a celaderaka for example and is the most well known but he was not the only one. Many more came with him, also finding new allies in the tarrhaidim tribes as well as the future foundations of the Dolsilvec Regime and the Carnazir. Some of them still had ties to the petty empires and tinpot dictatorships they had escaped but in the years to come, their desire to separate themselves from them would only intensify. Kirvan knew this well from the start and history would soon prove him correct. The older regimes in their native planet-clusters soon attracted the attention of the ZSRP during a time of renewed UCL aggression and counter-revolutionary action. Seeking new allies and also desiring to deny them to the League, they would enter into the murky world of celaderaka conflicts in what is their most controversial move to date. The "revolutionary" potential of many of these aliens was doubted with some even being essentially corporatist societies hidden under a thin progressive veneer but realizing the potential of a partnership, helped to effectivley contain and combat the renewed spread of the League. Yet it was increasingly clear these old celaderakan regimes cared less so for rapid market growth or forging class consciousness but maintaining raw power; some of the regimes would later on overthrow their Pact-friendly leaders to switch sides to the League when it was clear they would have more military and political weight behind them. These kingdoms of control and might would later be part of the Pact's forays into the Frontier conflicts, resulting in not only harsh criticism from avowed ideological enemies but even those within the pact opposing the celaderakan kingdoms whether politically and economically to outright open aggression on a few occasions. The celaderaka are seen as a strict and harsh people with a disdain for weakness, progression, and novelty who will stay the course regardless of the supposed moral haranguing of their critics and compatriots alike. This is primarily due to most media exposure of their kind being those of official junta-run channels and their often highly idealized, specifically constructed public images of themselves used in their propaganda channels. Many in the UCL see them as either an enslaved people kept in line by tyrants or little more than the true barbaric face of the ZSRP. The Pact is split as well; some consider them little more than glorified military buffer-states and others a true example of anti-colonial spirit. Other circles claim they have the same revolutionary potential as any other species but they must be given the conditions to truly unleash it first. The Dolsilvecs and Carnazir on the other hand (given the large number of celaderaka in their ranks) tend to view them as hardy and honourable but differ on the particulars. The Dolsilvec Regime is supported by what they claim are moderate factions and thus has welcomed some of the older kingdoms into their ranks while the Carnazir claim to only work with the exiled governments for safety concerns. On Chalgheol, they are the second most populous alien species and can be found in many of the same walks of life as the tarrhaidim and humanity. They have the largest refugee populace, primarily distributed to the countryside though before the war started was starting to become more populous in urban areas. This is due to them being associated with the turbulent and brutal regimes many of them escaped from. Many of them fill out the lower classes and are rarely viewed kindly unless by the military or certain dissident groups looking to recruit them into their ranks. A number of them have formed their own government approved autonomous villages in the mountains or deserts, frequently assisting in and accepting those from the urban and agricultural regions. They are often associated with manual labour positions as well as bounty hunting, criminal activity, or working as contractors for military groups. It is known however that their militias are often the most dangerous given how many of them have a large degree of military experience from their old kingdoms. [u]Celderaka Perks[/u] [i]Deathless Ascension[/i] Celderaka in many cases are born with an ability to absorb ether and have a natural resistance but some take this even further. While by nature they are not as durable as say, the Vrexul or Unztadtlige, they can learn to use ether to hold their bodies together and replace lost body mass or even organs if need be. This can allow them to survive certain fatal wounds at the cost of using mana to hold together damaged bodyparts. Unless they have certain augmentations allowing them to store copies of their consciousness or upload it elsewhere while still retaining bodily control, they cannot survive full on cranial destruction with his perk. Gaping chest wounds, lost limbs, organ failure and so on can be averted at least until they can find regenerative treatment or medical replacement. If combined with certain regenerative augmentations, this allows them to morph their energy-mass into new limbs or organs with similar functionality to what they are replacing. [i]Bloodlust Consecration[/i] Extreme stress, physical pain, psychological turmoil, intense emotional sensations – specifically trained persons can harness the celderakan condition at its most volatile into pure ethereal power. This is typically associated with their close combat units but in essence, it allows them to start generating large amounts of ether around their bodies even if they don’t even have the natural or learned capability to use it as an etherealist. These ether-clouds however do not last for long so they must be refilled somehow or allowed to dissipate. They can call upon it to allow them to shrug off brutal wounds or to enhance their blows with ethereal sheaths of power, even momentarily boosting their strength. For ranged options, this build-up of power can make them an easier target but it can be converted into ether-shielding or used to enhance projectiles launched against targets. Etherealists can also call upon this cloud of power to enhance their own power or directly use it as a platform or catalyst for their spells. [i]Nerakian Keys[/i] A unique piece of technology they possess, Nerakian keys are ceremonial objects that resonate to the bio-ethereal signature of celderakans initiated into its more mystical arts and capable of directly controlling them through a strange bond. Although they were never intended for combat, during the beginning of their interstellar wars some religious sects found themselves strong-armed by juntas into finding military applications. They resemble fang-like fragments of strange rune-marked rocks or even a carapace-like organic material from certain animals or plants. These are sometimes fitted with various biological, cybernetic, or additional ethereal components depending on their users specifications and when activated, hover around the user and move at their command. This is within the radius of control whose size is dependent on the user’s skill, power, and any augmentations in both the keys and their user. They can be used to strike enemies, launch projectiles, form energy barriers between the keys, and even serve as conduits or amplifiers for ethereal power amongst others. While they can be destroyed, if sufficiently bonded to the point where they are partially alive, it is possible to regenerate them from just a few at least fist sized scraps. [hider=My Hider] [img]https://i.ibb.co/BNmM6mk/Doom-2016-Bony-Imp.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/JB8GfCy/Doom-2016-Wristblade-Prowler.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/k6Kb9PJ/Doom-2016-Cyber-Imp.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/6NMWQR2/Doom-2016-emerson-tung-ch-harvester-color-3-revision.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/0jFY8xw/Doom-2016-harvester-holding-flames.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/dWCrJ8n/Doom-2016-summoner-variation.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/6ytqg1Z/Doom-2016-Prowler.png[/img] [/hider] [/hider] [Center][b]++++++++++[/b][/Center] [center][h1][u][b]Praolznevatz[/b][/u][/h1][/center] [hider=Summary] Similar to the voidhangers, the praolznevatz are an offshoot of another species. In their case, they are distantly related to the vrexul though the exact nature of this remains unknown. While the vrexul represent a fairly wide range of arthropod species, the praolnznevatz are more limited, primarily resembling large deep water shrimps, amphipods, and small planktonic crustaceans such as phronima and copepods. Both species grow to roughly the same sizes while being capable of bipedal or multi-limbed travel but what immediately becomes strikingly dissimilar is the fact that the prolznevatz are almost entirely transparent and possessing smoother carapaces, giving them a disturbingly wraithlike appearance. This is due to them being the only known species that can live within areas overlapped with the Abzu and the Abyssic Plane, capable of naturally generating and absorbing it. They can also fly in areas where the ether concentrations are high enough or hover if they are not sufficient. Their physical senses are not as well developed as their more materially-dwelling counterparts but they are naturally highly adept at detecting, identifying, and analysing unearthly energies with many of them in spite of their sapience inheriting predatory instincts. Just like the vrexul, nobody knows their precise origins but only that they were not discovered until roughly six years after the arthropods and their gealtirocht allies repelled the UCL from their lands. The saem archaeotech on these worlds that helped complete the evzredigor also contained information about "lost vrexul fleets" and when fully deciphered, led to multiple deep space voyages into the far reaches of known space, accompanied by massive fragments of the evzredigor. It is here that dormant colonies of the organisms were found in massive ships similar to those that had carried the vrexul but heavily damaged and held up by a mixture of integrated Abzu/Abyssic biomass and scavenged technology from older generation battleships from the Unztadtlige and Scielto. They have since been reintegrated into the ZSRP, having migrated half of their fleet and explaining that they had been assaulted halfway through their voyage by some unidentified enemy force while the entire incubating populace could be hatched. This forced them to settle in a backwater part of the cosmos, stranded out near the husks of massive floating rocks where the unreal bled into the real and the creatures of the void roam with no fear of civilization. The particular location their vessels were going to unfortunately was wiped from the computers but their newfound allies have since been helping to recover and decipher the scrambled data and find any answers to both their origins. The praohlnevatz are firmly in the ZSRP camp, having been accepted quite easily and quickly, but with increasingly frequency they can be found as part of unztadtlige molzentraggs and voidhanger nomad fleets. They have a reputation amongst both of those species as being steadfast and fearless if rather distant colleagues or subordinates, roughly the equivalent of the latter in terms of their various skills. They are otherwise not very well understood to the rest of the universe, perceived as either indistinct from the vrexul or as some sort of monstrous unearthly force sinisterly, potentially manipulating the vrexul from behind the scenes. On the other end of the spectrum, their fellow vrexul see them as lost siblings who need to be reintegrated into society at large and the gealtirocht, the first non-vrexul aliens to encounter them, consider them pleasant if highly eccentric neighbours. Sometime ago they managed to set-up an independent series of colonies throughout the frontier worlds and partially fuse with various tarrhaidim religious organizations. During the powerstruggles that rocked the region, a number of these are known to have militarized though they primarily vanished and are believed to be waiting out the conflict or covertly working for the greater powers. A number of them are known to retain Pact sympathies yet maintain a certain distance due to sharp differences in ideology. For some time, they would work alongside the Dolsilvec Regime but stopped after the split with the Carnazir with whom a number changed their allegiance to. Some are believed to have been recruited for ethereal warfare programs by the black ops units of the Unified Celestial League though nobody has seen much come out of this yet, at least not publicly. [u]Praohlnevatz Perks[/u] [i]Profane Ritual Miasma[/i] It is no secret that the praohlnevatz are naturals at etherealism but they have a frightening reputation for the often uncomfortable forms it takes. Doing absolutely nothing to help this is their capability to emit a sort of semi-gaseous and moist ether-tinted substance that creates a fog around them. This weakens the barrier between reality and the beyond with this substance corrosive towards the material realm. In the process it can make the praohlnevatz difficult to see or track with targeting programs while simultaneously allowing them to amplify any ethereal spells cast from within this putrid field. Projectiles pack more ether-per-square-inch, enhancements cast within it or onto others outside of it have a greater effect, and the corrorded realspace is considerably less taxing to manifest and launch ether out of. It can also be used defensively to weaken incoming energy based projectiles though it cannot do the same for solid rounds. The Miasma is itself is somewhat volatile and it is possible for certain anti-ethereal weapons to do more damage against its user when it is maintained. On that note, maintaining it requires a lot of training with the longest on record being a little under the two hours while most average out at around 30 minutes at very most. The miasma field will diminish in its potency with time unless additional fluid is generated, causing many to inject into it at intervals. [i]Hive of Ravenous Damnation[/i] Just as the vrexul have turned various parasites into beneficial symbiotes, so the praohlnevatz have managed to do the same with the dwellers of the beyond. These creatures, ranging from the size of a canary to 17 foot long centipede-shrimp like predators, can follow unseen and undetected by hiding in specialized realspace gaps or if they are small enough, inside of a praohlnevatz's body. They are capable of amplifying and being enhanced by their unearthly power, fighting in combat, and even being directly controlled through a mental link. The creatures themselves are typically those that were tamed and raised within their communes, often modified with various augmentations whether cybernetic, biological, or ethereal, and are compltely loyal to their owners. Unlike with the vrexul, they cannot be used as additional "eyes" unless both the controller and the creature are explicitly modified for such. Advanced users of these capabilities can use the creatures to control their body in the case they are knocked unconscious or even slain, capable of even healing and reviving their owners although this is considerably harder to do than their amassed ethereal power would make one think. [i]Decimation Canticles[/i] Most weapons are held, installed, or "encoded" into bodies in the case for the vrexul and the praohlnevatz. The latter of these however has a more unusual variant that is grown within. Originally used for spiritual practices, certain of voidborne parasite from the Abyssic Plane have been genetically modified less so to help one connect with the strange powers that be and instead, to launch zig-zagging high explosive projectiles blinking in and out of realspace. Said projectiles are the embryos of this creature, injected with a variety of chemo-ethereal substances or infested by symbio-parasitic organisms inside of the praolhnevatz's body to morph them into a deadly projectile. This living missile "arms" after launch, gaining explosive lethality the far it travels from its host body all the while dipping in and out of realspace, making it far more difficult to track and intercept than conventional missiles. Upon exploding, they distort realspace and send out waves of powerful destructive ether though they can also be modified for armour piercing and more disruptive purposes such as overloading electronics or debilitating enemy etherealists. It is also possible to modify them for a more destructive payload by charging them with ether but this also makes the projectiles easier to detect. [hider=References] [img]https://i.ibb.co/0CMPCwT/Phronima-very-close-up.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/YN0f6Xc/Phronima-stylized-art.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/r5gF2KN/Long-view-of-phronima-with-sole-offspring.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/2qzMMkq/Creepy-Phronima.jpg[/img] [/hider] [/hider]