Name of Nation: The Aeon Brood
Species: The Aeon Brood is comprised of a race of beings that was completely unknown to the Andromeda galaxy until the last few years. While they are theorized to have extragalactic origins, certain traits of their race point toward them originating from another dimension altogether. A theory of substantial weight suggests they originate from hyperspace, the void between "real" dimensions, though this throws into question much of astrological metaphysics as recognized by the galactic scientific community.
The race is biologically chaotic, developing seemingly at random into warped forms, perhaps merely what mortal minds are capable of understanding of their true forms. However, there are several traits and patterns readily apparent in their species, if it can be called as much. While they have majority of characteristics of material beings, such as mass and volume, they do not seem to be comprised of traditional matter, and are closer in atomic makeup to the massless and ionic particles that comprise energy beings. They have nearly no traditional biological functions, such as respiration, and subsist by converting thermal and electromagnetic energy extracted from matter into a purer form (known by several names, "mana" chief among them), and absorbing it through their porous bodies. Though many differences exist between individual members, there are some general traits that can be visually recognized, such as brightly-colored bodies, numerous tendrils, bony, faceless "heads," amorphous baleen-like structures, and floating, disconnected appendages. The Brood can also be broken down into recognizable "castes," depending on their size and power:
Spawn (which are usually no larger than domesticated animals),
Drones (somewhat larger most humanoid races),
Brood (which can grow as large as a mid-sized starship), and
Titans (which can be mistaken for celestial bodies).
Description of Government: The Aeon Brood has no formalized government, as what could be loosely interpreted as "intelligence" only exists in an extremely small portion of the entire species. The Brood even lacks the hivemind prevalent in many similar eusocial, invasive species. Even so, there sometimes appears to be a higher intelligence that directs the swarm-like behaviour of the Brood.
Description of Military: As an inherently invasive species, the Aeon Brood's entire population could be considered its military. An invasion by the brood is generally broken down into several stages. Firstly, the planet for invasion is scouted by Titans, observing it from their vantage point in hyperspace. The planet is then seeded with Drones, shot out from hyperspace, which go about converting the planet's available biomatter or similar elements into Spawn. The Drones continue to produce, protect and tend to the Spawn, which multiply in vast numbers to convert the planet's energy and matter into mana. Once a sufficient amount of mana has been produced by the Spawn, the Titans are able to emerge from hyperspace and produce the true Brood, which will convert a planet to mana, down to its very core, within months. Meanwhile any opposition on the planet is cut down by the monstrous horde of magical aberrations. Once all of the planets in a system have been devoured, the Titans suck the star dry, and then move onto the next system.
While the Spawn are little more than ravenous monsters that can overwhelm in numbers, the Aeon Brood are creatures of terrifying destructive capability, as even Drones are capable of using absorbed mana for offensive purposes. Feats of magic such as raising the dead as mindless slaves and twisting the wills of living mortals are within the capability of the more modest Brood, and the mightier among them can distort the very laws of nature. Larger members of the Brood convert matter to mana passively, resulting in them effectively erasing the world around them merely by existing.
Technological Overview: All of the "technology" of the Aeon Brood is bio-magical in nature, truly meaning that they themselves comprise all of the technology of their race. The Titans of the Brood house and transport the lesser members, propelling them through their native environment of hyperspace. These engines of mana and turbulent energy tear holes in realspace through sheer force of magic, and are capable of apocalyptic spells. As they can survive in nearly any environment and can willfully unmake reality around them, their march of progress is seemingly only limited by their slow expansion and exploration via hyperspace, as the race's Titans have difficulty maintaining their forms in realspace without being fed a constant stream of mana.
Cultural Overview: The Aeon Brood seems truly capable of two things: destruction and consumption. They destroy what they do not eat, and eat everything they do not destroy. If they even have minds, it seems that they are not disposed towards anything else. No strategy dictates their actions, only instinct and impulse. Despite the brutal simplicity of the vast majority of the Brood, strange patterns can be seen in the overarching direction and method of their invasions, suggesting some strange manner of higher intelligence at work among them.
History: The Aeon Brood appeared quite suddenly in the Andromeda Galaxy only a few years ago, suddenly ripping their way out of hyperspace at the galactic fringe. Their appearance was marked by the destruction of a deep-space outpost as well as the fringe system it was a part of. Since then, the stars at the edge of the galaxy have been winking out of existence, one by one, creating a growing patch of darkness in the galaxy that has been steadily growing. This dead sector of space is known by many names by the many different races of the galaxy, and is considered a grave threat by most astronomers and physicists. Mages that have studied this dark zone find it especially foreboding, as there is an easily-detectable "node" of aberrant mana, approximately the size of a gas giant, within it, slowly moving forward as the dark zone grows. Dubbed the "Hellstar," it is as much a source of concern for reputable mages throughout the galaxy as the dark zone is for scientists. As the dark zone has yet to encompass the territory of any major galactic power, there have been no efforts to venture within it as of yet.
