Vaurca Hives
| Vaurca Lore Pages | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vaurcae | Vaurca · Vaurca Biology · Virtual Reality · Hivenet · K'ois | |
| Factions and Politics | Vaurca Hives · Queenless · The Lii'dra · Zo'ra in the Republic · K'lax in the Hegemony · C'thur in the Federation | |
| Notable Settlements | Sedantis · Colonized Vaurca Worlds · Flagsdale · Tret · Diulszi | |
| History and Culture | Vaurca History · The Great Hive War · Hives Renaissance · War in Heaven · Vaurca Religion · Vaurca Culture and Society | |
Major Hives
There are three major Vaurca factions present in human space, and it is presumed that these hives were the most capable of producing Ark-Ships. It is currently unknown how many hives there were on Sedantis I at the time of the Great Evacuation. Every hive ship contains a number of Lesser Queens, who act as overseers for the entire population.
Zo'ra
Zo'ra - "Unstoppable."
Zo'ra, the largest and most powerful hive, and also the first one discovered by Humanity following their Hive-ship 'Titan Prime.' Information gained through contact with Vaurca present in Tau Ceti has lead to unconfirmed projections putting their population in Vaurca space at 77 billion (6.2 million in known space). Zo'ra believe themselves to be the Alpha of the Vaurca and the face of their species. They make up the majority of the Vaurca present in Tau Ceti and human space. Zo'ra have cold relations with other hives. In Tau Ceti, this has lead to confrontations between them and other hives arriving in the system.
They are ruled by 5 Lesser Queens who organized a ruling caste shortly after contact with humanity, due to the necessity of someone representing the Vaurca in the Hiveship. They each had claimed to be direct representatives of the Zo'ra High Queen,but ever since the revelation of her death,Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra was made the new High Queen. Despite this, each Lesser Queen has spoken less and less of each other, often overseeing very different parts of Zo'ra's population.
Ta'Akaix'Zoleth'akeh Zo'ra
Her brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 101, 0, 0)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 121, 0, 21)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 111, 21, 21)
The proclaimed 'Warrior' Lesser Queen of the Zo'ra, she embodies the Zo'ra ideals of warfare and has stylized herself as one of the hive's greatest commanders. She is known by many names, The Queen of Warfare, The Herald of Scars, Mother of Victories. Stories are told of how other Lesser Queens are often aloof and untouchable, but Zoleth'akeh is on the front, calling for war. She has been labeled a warmonger by some because of this. Indeed to the galaxy at large, it may seem that way, but Zoleth'akeh does not hate peace. She is just not stymied by its disruption. To her, it is the height of wisdom to make war when it is needed and to make peace when it is not, to not cling to idealistic notions that cannot exist. Even before the exodus from Sedantis, Zoleth'akeh was legendary among the Court of Queens, one of the only cross-hive diplomatic bodies to exist upon old Sedantis.
Within Tau Ceti her brood has been the most negatively affected by the events of the of the last five years. Once the largest brood aboard Titan Prime, nearly all the bound warrior forms have been culled either for diplomatic purposes, or lack of resources. Currently, most of her brood are interred upon scorching Caprice, with all the remaining bound warriorforms under close supervision by Beisel officials.Bound and Unbound often focus upon on cavern excavation and kois production to ease the hive's current famine here.Yet attempts at kois cultivation have been largely unsuccessful as of yet due to Beisel logistical hurdles and the oppressive heat that scours Caprice. Recently Zoleth'akeh have been uncharacteristically increasing its Ka population, both bound and unbound for this very reason. It is the continued hope that newer, deeper tunnels in Caprice's heat blasted soil will be enough to remedy this issue.
The Virtual Reality she hosts glorifies the victories of the past. It's described as a enormous monolithic cavern with countless stories tall moving Bas-reliefs depicting the mighty struggles from Zo'ra past. Throughout it, Vaurca of old, and those few yet to be born constantly train for their roles within the hive. Training can take countless forms, from modern battle tactics, to espionage, to molecular biology. Training solely depends on what the hive determines is needed for the Unbound. The few Ka within this VR often maintain vast historical records of the battles of yore, raising important figures in those conflicts up as heroes to be idolized. They've also been pouring over the countless new weapons introduced to them by their arrival in Tau Ceti, documenting their form and function.
The dead warriors of the Zo'ra often choose to remain here, in their virtual afterlife, continuing their service in perpetuity. One of the most striking features of this Virtual landscape is its center, a massive scale representation of the known galaxy. At the will of those given access to it, It can zoom into any sector of the galaxy, and model that location if the hive has access to the information needed. In a great circle around it, the repeated phrase in ancient Vaurcese Li'etak Vak'klaztoz T'akilozk'iek which translates roughly into basic as "The Everchanging Battlefield."
Ta'Akaix' Mouv'ek'tanta Zo'ra
Here brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 71, 0, 31))
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 71, 32, 71)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 71 ,11, 51)
The Zo'ra Lesser Queen placed upon frozen New Gibson.Of the five Lesser Queens that have arrived to Tau Ceti, Mouv'ek'tanta is the most rarely seen, even amongst other Zo'ra. Upon the hive ship, she oversaw the ship's entire population. She was responsible for keeping the larger whole of the hive inside complex growth projections.Yet, none of her calculations could have foreseen the events of the last five years. Her brood largely encompasses Ka, and most of them oversee birthing procedures, as well as a complex catalog of body forms and DNA sequences. These body types range wildly from hexapod body types, to the traditional biped.The DNA sequences kept include traits that the hive have determined is useful to instill into its populations. Eggs from all remaining Lesser Queens are stored and cataloged here. No larvae or DNA is left without the practiced care of Mouv'ek'tanta's gene weavers. She and her brood remain undaunted and have taken keen interest into the various species of Tau Ceti, as a new opportunity to document and collect new DNA. Experimentation is the norm for Mouv'ek'tanta's brood, with the Lesser Queen even to be rumored to experiment on herself.
Upon New Gibson, Mouv'ek'tanta quickly moved out of the protective domes that the rest of the New Gibsonites live in. Her hive maintains a presence within each major biodome, primarily to maintain state sanctioned kois farms, but they have largely moved into underground caverns, dug by the tireless bound. The largest caverns rest just outside of the Hengsha biodome and continues to grow deeper to this day.Life for her brood here remains rough, but they have taken advantage of their environment to the fullest. Complex constructions of stone, metal and ice make up a network of tunnels, with large heated egg chambers filled with piecemealed medical equipment patched together from equipment salvaged from Hengsha and the hive ship.
Mouv'ek'tanta's VR is perhaps the most detattached from reality, with the entire VR construct composed of objects seen from microscopic scale. This microcosm accurately models cellular action, with giant cellular features composing most of the landscape. Vaurca in this microscopic landscape fly freely within a soupy membrane that encompasses nearly the entire VR. At its center, a massive cellular wall separates the VR's unbound Vaurca inhabitants from its simulated ones. Refered as a Takk'ta'yat, which translates roughly into basic as, Zoo, the inside of this structure paradoxically models real sizes, with each separate cages of this structure clearly defined, and vary from each other. From caves to lush jungles, within each simulation is a creature from Sedantis past, or a newly encountered one from the hives recent interactions. The largest cell by far, however, would be the one dedicated to humanity. Mouv'tanta's best scientists pour over and experiment with the simulated humans, documenting their responses. Her brood is known to the Gibsonites for asking unusual questions, but for what purpose is known only to Mouv'ek'tanta, who has obsessively taken to making the simulations as real as possible.
Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra
Here brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 61, 0, 0)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 53, 17, 16)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 41, 0, 0)
Vaur'skiyet'sca is the eldest Vaurca within Tau Ceti space, and more recently, the Zo'ra hive's new High Queen. In diplomatic human settings, she is often referenced by titles which translate poorly into basic. Titles like High Praetor, First of Mother Zo'ra, Grand Executor, Liminal Queen, are all common references to her authority. She oversees the largest Vaurcan settlement, District Nine. Being the Lesser Queen originally chosen to represent the hive, to the galaxy at large, she is the face of Zo'ra. This was not always the case however, as she was originally responsible for ship-navigation upon Titan Prime. Procedure for succession is virtually nonexistent and the revelation of mother Zo'ra's death has catapulted Vaur'skiyet'sca to this status to the displeasure of some Lesser Queens. Vaur'skiyet'sca's time overseeing District Nine has been fraught with peril. Facing famine, human exploitation as well as militant extremists, life in District Nine is uneasy but Vaur'skiyet'sca approaches these problems with long-term goals in mind.She sees the levers of galactic power that revolve around Tau Ceti and the potential if all levers were under her control.In this, she has proven to possess a keen political intelligence, evidenced in handling Sol's occupation with minimal effort. She has brokered deals with countless human corporations, as well as governments and maintains the largest amount of monetary capital of any Vaurca alive.
District Nine itself was a largely unpopulated industrial slum before it was sectioned off as emergency refugee dwellings. Few people lived there, but it is now a far cry from what it once was. District Nine's outskirts are largely unchanged, with phoron gas warning signs and abandoned warehouses and buildings par and parcel. Moving farther in, it becomes slowly apparent that diffuse material, as well as the abandoned buildings themselves are being repurposed into efficient and spartan housing. Despite this, Vaurca are everywhere within the interior of District Nine, with half-finished constructions universally over inhabited. Traditionally building down, Zo'ra engineers here have built up, creating heaping metal lattices that maximize internal space as living areas. Each of these clustered lattices appear to be more and more completed the closer to the center of the District one goes.There's a noted lack of street lights within the District, with the buildings placed purposefully to block much of what is cast by the surrounding city scape. Throughout the District, more enmeshed lattice work forms the mouth of illegal Kois pits, often obscured from aerial view. Two buildings stand out amongst all of this alien construction however, with one towering carbon capture factory repurposed by Tau Ceti officials as a phoron gas capturing facility, and the other and more apparent Relay tower at the District's center. This relay was built for the Nanotrasen Corporation and allows the company and its affiliates to listen into Vaurcan telepathic communication. District Nine houses a little over 4 million Vaurca, with the High Queen herself and her Ta population still living aboard Titan Prime.
Vaur'skiyet'sca's VR is the most accessible to outside observation. She has gone to great lengths to make her VR showcase Vaurcan culture to the galaxy. Conceptually, it exists in a large underground sea of still glass-like water. The sky showcases magnificent celestial phenomena, but most striking of all is the gas giant Sedantis, dominating the skyward view no matter where one would go in the VR. Dispersed throughout the sea are hundreds of interconnecting islands.Each island usually highlights a facet of Zo'ra and Vaurca culture, and from the windows of specialized interface equipment, non-Vaurca onlookers can view the VR as they would any video. Unbound within this VR make themselves scarce when such viewfinders move about, but will usually answer questions if pressed. By the will of Unbound living here, new islands can spring forth from the sea, containing anything that they can imagine. Above all however, floats the lofty home of Vaur'skiyet'sca.Its soft yellow glow pervades the entire VR and is a fitting digital home for the high queen. A grandiose and large structure, it floats always centrally to the horizon. No matter which direction one may look, they will see the it, as if the universe itself revolves around Vaur'skiyet'sca. Curiously, throughout the simulation, a supernal grace and awe tinges all perceptions of the VR. A euphoric splendor that highlights every positive detail when referencing Vaur'skiyet'sca's or Vaurca in general. Outside viewers are often human and skrell historians or are part of a growing human Vaurcan sympathizing movement who have begun to see Vaur'skiyet'sca as a new holy figure, a great unifier that can usher in a utopia for all species within Tau Ceti.
Ta'Akaix' Xakt'yagz'isk Zo'ra
Here brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 91, 31, 0)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 121, 71, 0)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 81, 21, 0)
Placed upon the desert planet of Luthien, Xakt'yagz'isk's brood has quickly monopolized the planets cheap labor work-force. Xakt'yagz'isk originally oversaw all matters concerning tech and tech implants aboard the Hive-ship. Xakt'yagz'isk's brood contain mostly bound, a much higher percentage than any other Lesser Queen.She also supervised Reclamation, the process of reclaiming the implants of dead Vaurca, making many Zo'ra associate Xakt'yagz'isk with death. Upon Luthien itself, her brood has thrived, creating massive kois fields that pose little risk to their surroundings.The fungus burrows into the silt-like sand of the desert, and finds little purchase, but grows all the same. The sands make it harder for the plant to grow uncontrollably, allowing large-scale cultivation. Armies of bound Ka work tirelessly in the sweltering heat of the blooming desert, exporting tons of kois throughout the system.Unbound Ka and Za mostly find work with several exotic flora, or weapons testing labs scattered throughout the planet, respectively.Others may field massive scrap yards, full of debris from across the galaxy, searching for exotic tech that may catch the Queens eyes.The single largest employer of Vaurca however, would be the Getmore Corporation, who source their refined kois products here.
Xakt'yagz'isk herself is uncharacteristically distant, often too busy or wrapped up in her own projects to care about what the rest of the galaxy is doing. Her current focus has been ramping up industrial capabilities for Luthien and pouring over ancient schematics and technical data from Titan Prime. She sees the overall suffering of unbound Zo'ra throughout Tau Ceti as distractions from the primary goal of fixing the hive ship. To her, the events of the last five years were a failure of planning, one that must be fixed quickly if the hive is to succeed.The unbound of her brood largely share this approach, and rarely attempt to make personal attachments to any of the alien inhabitants of Tau Ceti. This thinking is exacerbated further with the knowledge of mother Zo'ra's death. To Xakt'yagz'isk, they are the last of their kind, and she cannot suffer the unknowable intentions of xenos to decide the fate of Zo'ra. Xakt'yagz'isk was the first Lesser Queen of the Zo'ra to deannounce K'lax independence. She knows better then any Zo'ra alive the nature of K'laxan innovation and why they were worthy to be vassalized in the first place.
Xakt'yagz'isk's VR is scarce from a first glance compared to all other Zo'ra Queens. The few unbound here inhabit a blank slate, a type of physics and engineering program that models reality to exactness. Here, ancient and new technologies are built, virtually. Complex mechanisms and constructions are laid out in organized grids, littering the featureless void with countless engineering projects. Each a 'working' solution to the overall problems that the Zo'ra face. Xakt'yagz'isk rarely manifests herself here, with the few notable times when a Zo'ra claims to have built something 'K'lax-like.'
Ta'Akaix' Athvur'zekt'azi Zo'ra
Here brood is identified by scent and their exoskeleton color amongst Zo'ra.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 131, 41, 11)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 101, 61, 31)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 111, 21, 0)
The youngest of the Zor'an Lesser Queens, she was made a Lesser Queen soon after Titan Prime left Sedantis.Born of Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra, she seeks to fill in the void that was made when her mother ascended to High Queen.Currently, she sees day to day operations planetside upon Biesel, overseeing a small population of Vaurca within Phoenixport.Of Athvur'zekt'azi amongst Lesser Queens, much is unsaid.She has yet to prove herself towards any of the other Lesser Queens.To the Zo'ra at large however, they see Athvur'zekt'azi as a reminder of the past and a new hope for the future.Athvur'zekt'azi shares her mother's ideals towards humanity, and have taken steps to integrate her brood.She takes delight in many human traditions, often showcasing Vaurca adaptations of human fashion.What Athvur'zekt'azi finds fashionable is known to Vaurca even beyond the Zo'ra hive. Unlike her mother or any of the other Lesser Queens, she believes that past allegiances and vassals should remain such.To her, past obligations ended with their exodus from Sedantis. Her and her brood seek to learn from their shared history, and move forward together. Not because of a romanticized sense of idealism, but rather a practical one. To her, the Zo'ra are not what they once were, and continue forward pretending such is to invite disaster within the political spheres that the hive is ensnared in.
The population she oversees and maintains is the smallest percentage of the Vaurcan population in Tau Ceti. The bound and unbound populations in Phoenix Port often work civilian jobs for the thriving tourist economy there. Athvur'zekt'azi has realized the use of PR and image and encourages advanced implantation amongst her brood. Often giving the implanted Vaurca a stylized method of speaking, with very few slurs indicative with the rest of their species when speaking basic. She and her brood are at the forefront of adapting Vaurcan and Tau Ceti culture together, drawing commonalities in art, music and literature throughout their history.
Her VR is an idyllic one that most closely resembles what a human may consider heaven.A splendid, utopian cityscape modeled after Phoenixport itself. Here, countless halcyon days are spent by Vaurca, who are kept in constant artistic and cultural stimulation from across the galaxy. In this afterlife, cultures of many worlds and species coexist, with some unbound enjoying the excesses that come with it.
K'lax
K'lax - "The Deceivers."
K'lax, the second most powerful hive and second faction discovered by humanity after an additional Hive-ship Kloxa'xia appeared in the Jargon Federation system Glorashi. The K'lax hive is a client state to the Zo'ra, but since contact with the Vaurca homeworld has been lost, both factions in known space are completely cut off. This has lead to a sort of fuel for independence, with many K'lax outright rejecting the claims of leadership the Zo'ra in known space have over them. Based on secondary accounts it is believed that they have 33 billion individuals in Vaurca space. (4.3 million in known space.) After arriving within Skrell space, the Kloxa'xia or the Fortoken as it is called by the Unathi, quickly moved into Izweski Hegemon space. Following a tense first contact situation, the K'lax became the newest vassal of the Izweski Hegemony and settled Tret, the second planet of Uueoa-Esa system. They maintain a subtly warm, if terse relations with the Hegemon as a whole, and have committed to its terraforming agenda, being instrumental in the implementation of such a monumental undertaking.
Similar to the Zo'ra, the K'lax Hiveship is represented by three Lesser Queens who once claimed divine connection to the High Queen of K'lax. This claim is disputed by most of the Zo'ra, who claim to be the only rightful rulers of the K'lax. Unlike the Zo'ra however, they have not been purposefully decentralized, leaving the machinations of each Lesser Queen more aligned with one another.
Ta'Akaix'Zkaii'xay'yil K'lax
Her brood is identified amongst other K'lax by their scent and exoskeletal color.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 11, 43, 27)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 21,81, 51)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 51, 81, 21)
The current High overlord of Tret, and the de facto representative of all K'lax to the Izweski Hegemony.Zkaii'xay'yil and her brood have been largely busy with expansion and colonization efforts over the last few years.Ever the tinkerers, her brood are known for their natural curiosity for all things mechanical, much to the chagrin of local mining companies who prefer their equipment in one piece. In the year since news of the Zo'ra high queens ultimate fate, Zkaii'xay'yil has been under pressure to assume the role of High Queen by her fellow Lesser Queens, a subject that she is quick to change, should it arise.For perhaps more than any other brood of K'lax, Zkaii'xay'yil's spawn share a deeply spiritual connection to their High Queen, that even surpasses what is experienced in VR.Not knowing her ultimate fate has led many of her brood to have a crisis of faith, which Zkaii'xay'yil has been unable to assuage due to her own doubts. This has created opportunities and problems for the S'kakh faithful and Maraziites missionaries who frequent the hive's colonies. Because of this, some of the more callous unbound blame Zkaii'xay'yil for not solving this problem, referring to her as the Queen of Longing. This title is quick to draw the ire of any of her brood that hear. In general however, most K'laxan unbound give these unathi missionaries a wide birth, and it is only with great reluctance that they speak to them at all.
Prior to their arrival in Uueoa-Esa, Zkaii'xay'yil maintained the hiveships population, making her brood the largest within the hive.Unlike the Zo'ra, mutations are not excised from unbound or bound during birthing, indeed it is only when such mutations are particularly harmful or unproductive that any real action is taken. To most K'lax, they see change as the fundamental nature of the universe, and to overcome and master change is to become the master of one's destiny.
Upon Tret itself, great caverns are excavated nonstop. The Bound carve miles of tunnels from solid stone, reinforced with plasteel and peerless construction techniques. Even when compared to Skrellian engineering, K'laxan constructions tend to withstand greater stresses, on scales not seen in the civilized galaxy. Unbound Ka within her brood typically offer their services to the multiple mining conglomerates that dot Tret. Unbound Za however are typically training within VR, with the hive as a whole working to expand the number of fielded warriors that can be called upon by The Hegemony, as per their original treaty.
Zkaii'xay'yil's VR is largely used by the Za of the K'lax with only the occasional Ka ever being present. Conceptually, the VR is a cavernous training complex, where tirelessly, unbound Za absorb Unathi military protocol.Those Za not engrossed in activity, often struggle with unathi concepts like competitiveness, with very poor examples of such contests usually on display.More recently, unathi missionaries have been inquiring further into the nature of Vaurcan VR, attempting to draw similarities that could give their ideology a foothold with established Vaurcan traditions.These attempts have been largely rebuffed, though the ultimate consequences of such stances have yet to be brought before the Hegemony.
Ta'Akaix'Vetju'tenx'sil K'lax
Her brood is identified amongst other K'lax by their scent and exoskeletal color.
- Unbound of any type: (RGB 11, 84, 65)
- Bound Warriors: (RGB 21,81, 51)
- Bound Workers: (RGB 33, 63, 33)
If Ta'Akaix'Zkaii'xay'yil K'lax could have a polar opposite, it would be Ta'Akaix' Vetju'tenx'sil K'lax. The oldest K'laxan Vaurca within known space,pragmatic Vetju'tenx'sil and her brood do not busy themselves with the expansion of the hives colonies. Instead, her brood recycles and melts down parts of the hive ship as well maintain the technology that all K'lax enjoy. It was Vetju'tenx'sil who plotted the great hive ship Kloxa'xia to its final resting place. Much as they did when they entered the system, Vetju'tenx'sil used Trets environment to land the gargantuan craft on the ground. The Kloxa'xia impacted the northern pole of Tret, obliterating its ice cap and cushioning the impact of the monolithic vessel. It is from here that Vetju'tenx'sil makes her home. Within the bowels of the earth and the ship, billions of tons of plasteel and technology are melted down into lakes of molten metal heated by the miles long dismembered engines of the great Kloxa'xia. Though the ship may have landed, its engines burn still at the center of a sea of ice. Ignited with residual heat and flame from two thousand years of travel.
"In all things, do not waste potential." Is the creed of Vetju'tenx'sil's brood. Unbound Ka and Za often have specialized jobs within her brood. Almost universally involving maintaining or creating technology in some way. A Bounds work typically involves dismantling and recycling complex machinery. Perhaps more than any other brood of K'lax, Vetju'tenx'sil's spawn tend to be distrustful of outsiders, belaying their queen's hatred of the Zo'ra. Vetju'tenx'sil maintains a hatred of the Zo'ra, nursed by the ages long wounds she suffered at their hands during their hives first conflict. Her wounds led Vetju'tenx'sil to lose some of her lower body, which were replaced with inferior mechanical duplicates. This has led her to be defensive at times in matters involving outsiders. This was shown most recently by being the only dissenting queen from their agreement with the Unathi Hegemony. To Vetju'tenx'sil, the K'lax cannot achieve their full potential under the heel of other powers.
Her VR is one of a grand design. Immaculately intricate and detailed constructions coat a massive underground complex. Within the walls are countless dwellings, with the light from each illuminating the cavern in a dull green. From the walls extend pylons of stone and metal all leading to a floating central complex, the personal lab of Vetju'tenx'sil. K'lax that dwell or train here have endless resources to pursue any engineering topic at hand. The joy of work is instilled into their very being even before they are born. It would be rare to find a K'lax that does not enjoy working of her brood, no matter how monotonous the job may be.