urukhai — Roleplayer Guild

Name of civilization: The Karilac Dominion (or "The scourge" depending on who you ask)

Race(s): Karilac, Ventri

The Karilac are a humanoid race that stand at around 6'2'' to 6'6'' tall, they have generally medium to slim builds, and usually a slight grayish brown complexion. Their faces are built much like a humans save for a few differences, to begin with they have little to no nose, a small V shaped opening serving as their nostril and beginning of their olfactory sense. Another difference of the face arises from the pale white eyes, that are ringed by a patch of darker skin. This skin houses one of the Karilac's best senses, receptors that allow them to "see" electromagnetic signatures from other life-forms, this combined with their near perfect night vision allows them to see, even in near total darkness. Covering certain areas of their bodies (and in a claw like fashion at the end of their fingers) the Karilac have hard chitinous plates, that may have short bony protrusions among them. The females of the race have white hair that may reach as far down as the mid back and braided into various fashions that indicate hive and clan. Finally all Karilac have small openings on their body (usually on an arm, though some rare cases have them on the torso) where the Karilac's Ventri are housed beneath their skin.

The Ventri are small, carnivorous, winged insect like creatures (usually no bigger than a dollar coin) that live within the Karilac in a symbiotic manner. They have incredibly sharp teeth and jaws for their size, and will mercilessly and voraciously tear into any prey, save for the Karilac (who seem to be able to control the Ventri almost telepathically). Unless provoked (or ordered) they are actually fairly docile, preferring to rest within the relative safety of their chosen Karilac, but will sometimes emerge as if to survey their surroundings. Each Karilac can carry a swarm of Venri that usually number near 20 or so. 

Due to Sele (the Karilac/Ventri homeworld) having a very thin atmosphere, and it's orbiting of a Red Dwarf star, Sele is a cold rocky world where the surface is for the most part barren expanses of mountains, flatlands and spires. This has caused the Karilac, Ventri and most other species to evolve and live in the honeycomb of underground tunnels beneath the surface. This is where the Karilac cities lie, their central hubs centered in huge caves with the tops of their buildings even emerging from the ground as the aforementioned spires. But also due to this harsh environment the Karilac and Ventri can actually survive in a vacuum, or without air, for much longer than most, but will still eventually die without a suit.

Average lifespan of race: 150 - 200 standard years 

Government of race: Hard to explain. The Karilac are broken up into sections called "Hives" and then further broken up into Clans. This has led some scholars to believe that they share some relation to how insects set up their Hives. But this is false. There are no Hive queens, drones and so on. Instead there is actually an intricate social structure with individuals known as Exarchs leading individual hives, who come together to choose a Prelate, who has the ultimate say about things such as warfare, internal conflicts, treaties and so on. 

Military description:

Karilac standard infantry weapons utilize a high powered rail gun like design, aided by a compact Mass effect battery. The ammunition used by these weapons are slim shards of various super hard alloys wrapped in a light mass effect field. The slimness, sharpness, hardness/density, and speed of the ammunition gives it great armor penetration, while the mass effect coating helps it resist shields (if not completely bypass them, though this is a rare occurrence) and limits velocity (and mass) lost to air resistance. These weapons come in various forms from Assault Rifles, to smaller Pistol variants, Very high powered sniper rifles, and finally Flechette Cannons (which fire multiple shards shotgun style).

All infantry also carry a long blade that they can switch to in case of CQB, these blades while they appear crude, are actually quite effective. Their blades are mad up of the same materiel as warship hulls, and while they may not have the shield penetrating capabilities of the other weapons, when wielded correctly, they are still a very capable weapon. 

The Ship to Ship weapons of the Karilac are derived from much the same design scaled up for ship use, the only differences being the size of round, the speed of the round, and the strength of the mass effect coating on the round, all of which goes into allowing the round to penetrate shields (as there is no reason to protect against velocity loss). This causes the rounds fired from Karilac ships to appear much like an energy bolt as the trail of the coating gives off a static like discharge. 

The torpedoes of the Karilac are armed with a Mass effect induced implosion/explosion warhead, making the effected area collapse in before making it explode outwards in a double staged explosion. The torpedo also utilize a form of optical camouflage, cloaking shortly after launch, the torpedoes become obscured against the background of space, not invisible just harder to see.

Vanguard Armor: The standard Karilac infantry armor, that appears to be a super hard form of chitin layered together over a metallic under-suit, with openings for the Ventri. As with most all Karilac armor the Vanguard armor has a removable face mask that is routinely kept on/closed when not in a dark environment to help limit light damage to their hyper sensitive eyes. While appearing like armor grown or made out of natural components the Vanguard armor pattern is actually quite durable and advanced, using kinetic shielding and many other systems that are housed within the armor.

Darkheart Armor: The infiltrator variant, a slimmer variant that is usually colored a deep black, it is only slightly less durable but unlike other patterns, the face mask of the Dearkheart doesn't have any visor, instead opting for a closed helmet with systems that enhance the Karilac's natural electromagnetic sensing abilities. Like its large counterpart, the Hivegaurd, the Darkheart has a special enhancement. Unlike the Hivegaurd however it is not redundant shields but an active camouflage system instead, using both biotic and technology components it renders the wearer near invisible to the naked eye. The only stipulation is that prolonged strenuous movements or fire fights will drain the Camo very very quickly.

Hiveguard Armor: Large, bulky, and some of the strongest armor in existence, the Hiveguard pattern of armor is routinely seen on the front lines alongside it's lighter cousin the Vanguard. Multiple shield emitters add to the already bolstered durability by adding a three layered multi-phase shielding system, allowing for one system to kick in if another goes down. The only downsides to the Hivegaurd Armor is it's size and weight, though these can be mitigated by training

 The Selene:  While all Karilac have some type of latent biotics (shown in their ability to control the Ventri with thoughts) the Selene take it one step further. Able to influence the universe around them, they are a combination of specilized soldiers (with their ability to cause spatial warps and kenetic barriers) and specialized medics of the Karilac armies.

Cleansing Swarm: Sometimes Ventri swarms can grow to numbers beyond counting, the only able to exist within the hive ships, and if left unchecked will strip swaths of land of any biotic materiel, even tearing through armor. These swarms are the Cleansing swarms, unleashed only if the Karilac see little to no alternative, as even they hesitate to unleash such a swarm.

Wraith Class Corvettes
-The smallest ships in the fleet the Wraith Class are generally used for point defense, anti fighter defense, and recon vessels. While they do lack the ship to ship firepower and fighters of their larger brethren, their speed and maneuverability make up for most of its short comings, making the Wraith as much a capable warship as it is a capable scout-

The Phantom Class Frigate
-Mounting a couple internal shard cannons and multiple torpedo launchers the Phantom Class is a devastating ship to ship combatant, often being used in tandem with multiple Wraiths in so called "Assault Scouting Groups". The Phantom also houses a few squadrons of fighter craft, mainly for point defense.- 

The Soul Battleship
-The main battleship of the Karilac fleets the Soul is a fierce combatant, utilizing multiple heavy internal shard cannons, alongside many standard shard cannons and just as many torpedo launchers it can rip its way through most combatants with relative ease. While it boasts strong double plated armor, the true defensive strength of the Soul is in its Multi-phase Shields (having multiple emitters that kick in sequentially as the one preceding it fails, in essence forcing the enemy to burn through multiple shields before reaching armor). The Soul also carries tha ability to house and launch multiple fighter wings.-

The Specter Class Dreadnought
-Only outclassed by the Hive Ships, the Specters are veritable monsters in terms of fleet engagements, their main batteries consists of heavy shard cannons, and torpedo launchers (that are augmented to fire in rapid bursts of three torpedoes from a single tube in a salvo). The Specter also makes use of a muti-plated hull alongside the Multi-phase Shielding. They as well have the ability to house and launch swarms of fighter craft.-

The Hive Shps
-1 parts super-cap, 2 part super-carrier, 1 part planetary assault ship. The Hive ships are absolutely massive and the pinnacle of the Karilac fleets, out gunning all other ships in the Karilac fleets with their massive arrays of ship to ship weapons (including but not limited to, Super heavy shard cannons, quick launch torpedo systems, heavy and normal weight shard cannons) as well as their hundreds of strike craft and bombers. They are also used in planetary assaults, unleashing multiple Cleansing Swarms and countless ground troops. There are two hive ships that stand out from the rest, as they are larger and stronger than the other hives, the Alara and Mia, named after the sisters of myth.-

The doctrine of the Karilac military can be broken up into two main sections, The Overwhelming surprise, and the Unsaleable Tide. The Karilac work well in the dark of space, lulling any enemies into a false sense of security and comfort before bearing down on them in a swift surprise maneuver. This is usually called the Overwhelming suprise, an is broken up into various sub categories and tactics that run along the same thought. But when surprise isn't an option, or is unusable, the Karilac usually fall back to a group of tactics known as the Unsaleable Tide. All tactic employ some degree of randomness (at least as it appears to outsiders) and so may be changed on the fly, and making them hard to adapt to when fighting the Karilac.

Important people/Ranks: 
Prelate Veicc - He is the current head of the Karilac people 
Hive Lord Seri - She leads hive Karee
Hive Lord Bruta - He leads hive Nasa 
Hive Lord Thant - He leads hive Krir 

Religion: The Religion of the Karilac is based in the traditions of the species. Various rituals mark the practice, most notably the use of masks, which has persisted in religious ceremonies to this day. The central ideal of the religion is the reverence, an worship of two figures known as the Sisters (named Alara and Mia). While these figures are not considered gods in the traditional definition of the word, they are revered for various acts that shaped the Karilac's past, and by extent their future. Among these acts is the gift of total control over the Ventri, as legends tell the ancient Karilac only had rudimentary control over their winged symbiotes, but after the arrival of the sisters they developed the ability to manipulate them with their thoughts, forever changing their relationship, and the fate of the Karilac. It should be noted, as an object of interest, that in all depictions (art, murals, masks, etc.) the Sisters are not depicted as Karilac, instead they are depicted with light blue tinted skin and various other features that are not native to the Karilac form.  

The religion of the Karilac also include the reverence of the "Fulfilled ones". The Fulfilled ones are, in their mythology, the earliest ones, the first deific figures. They are the ones that made the Karilac and gave them various "gifts" after which they disappeared, having fulfilled their roles and purposes. The primary deity among the Fulfilled Ones is the "Mistress of Song", it was she that taught the Karilac to hear the song of life and the stars, as well as to add their own voice to the harmony. It was through the Mistress's song that the Karilac bonded with the Ventri for the first time (or as the story goes), and it is through this song that they communicate with their ships. The last thing the Mistress taught the Karilac before she departed, was to fear the sour song, to hate those that would cause a discordant note in the harmony. The Sisters ((noted above)) were thought to have been sent by the Fulfilled ones and are considered by the Karilac to be the most recent Fulfilled Ones, haveing thus earned them the moniker "The Sisters of Purpose" as the gave the Karilac their final purpose. 

Import: (WIP)

Export:(WIP)

Description of your society and race: 
The technology of the Karilac, from weapons and ships to armor and so on, all seem to have some semi biological component to them. (For reference, think of collector technology, armor and weapons, but with better aesthetics).

While outsiders who do not interact with the Karilac might see them as closed and frightening, fitting of the name The Scourge. But in reality they are actually very well refined, their underground tunnels and cities covered with art spanning the eons, they are poets and artisans of many a fine art. As such they come across as something of a paradox to those who do know them, both the frightening Scourge and the refined Karilac 

Treaties: N/A at this time
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