Zkaii, The Sleepwalker

Ta’Akaix’Zkaii’xay’yil K’lax

The Sleepwalker

Identified by their scent and exoskeleton color:

Unbound: (RGB 11, 43, 27)

Bound Warriors: (RGB 21,81, 51)

Bound Workers: (RGB 51, 81, 21)

Bulwarks and Breeders: (RGB 43, 72, 58)

Bound Bulwarks: (RGB 38, 59, 16)

Notable locations: Tret, Uueoa-Esa

Zkai’xay’yil is the current High Overlord of Tret, and High Queen of the K’lax Hive. She is the representative of all K’lax to the Izweski Hegemony. Zkaii 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 the news of the Zo’ra High Queen's ultimate fate, Zkaii has been under pressure to assume the role of High Queen from her fellow Lesser Queens. She assumed this duty during a public announcement in 2461.

Prior to their arrival in Uueoa-Esa, Zkaii maintained the Hiveship’s population, making her brood the largest within the Hive. She also oversaw the Klo’zxera reparations, developing various methods to maintain the ship. This resulted in the K’laxian Hiveship being the best-kept out of the three Hiveships encountered when contact was made.

Her leadership and stricter religious beliefs than those followed by other Queens, as well as the modifications in her brood’s sleep cycle so they can attend to emergencies at any given time has led to the curious Mother Dream religion.

Her Realm

Zkaii’xay’yil’s Virtual Reality is understood conceptually as a shiny gem that reflects in all directions, each a perfect copy to each other with no distortion further than what is expected from the mirroring angles. This is meant to represent the different simulations, all meeting in the center, with Unbound being known to visit the center room as some sort of oracle, which would reflect what occurs to them in the different avatars they might encounter when escalating their spiritual path.

Zkaii herself doesn’t reside here. Instead, there is an area often mentioned by the followers of the Mother Dream followers where they can advance to the next simulation. It is believed that Zkaii has a chamber in the physical palace of Mother K’lax, reached only when all simulations have been escaped.

Her Brood

Perhaps more than any other brood of K’lax, Zkaii’s spawn shares a deeply spiritual connection to their High Queen, that even surpasses what is experienced in VR by other Vaurcae. All K’lax of Zkaii’s brood call Virtual Reality the Ny’tatyk or ‘Mother Dream’. They see the Ny’tatyk as a mote in the mind of Great Mother K'lax and the Ny'tatyk itself the birthplace of how reality is defined. Bound and Unbound K'lax within Zkaii'xay'yil's brood may sometimes perform actions in their sleep. This type of somnambulism is often seen as echoes of Great Mother K’lax’s will expressed through them as its vessel.

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. The question of whether the dream can exist if Mother K’lax is dead is often brought up in theological discussions. Some assert that even if she is dead, her late consciousness can allow for the dream to continue, and the goal of escaping simulations should not be abandoned.

The faith crisis has created opportunities and problems for the Sk'akh faithful missionaries who frequent the Hive’s colonies. While unlikely to adopt the religion at large, this has also sparked religious syncretism, understanding Sk’akh as Mother K’lax herself. Some sort of Mother Dream priesthood has been established as a consequence.

Besides their religious beliefs, both Workers and Warriors are known for their engineering feats. Her Warriors are also known for their integration with the Kataphracts accompanying Vedhra's brood, and as of late Warriors from the promoted Queen Tupii.

With her obligations as High Overlord of Tret and the slow terraforming of the planet, Zkaii has taken advantage of Bulwarks as construction workers in order to establish a capital city akin to New Sedantis. Their impressive strength has proven a boon for the K’lax Hive as a whole.

Xakat’kl’atan

As a result of the circumstances since the Exodus from Sedantis, the Zkaii brood has seen plenty of modifications from its earlier form. As a consequence, the eldest Xakat’kl’atan have been retired, with newer masters taking their place.

Ka’Akaix’Vhixok K’lax

Vhixok is often regarded as the theologian behind the Mother Dream religion, and has remained relevant through its reforms and quasi-official adoption by Zkaii herself. The story goes that Vhixok, a fervent believer of the Pilot Dream theory, received a call from Mother K’lax herself to escape her simulations, understood as tests for it to pass so it could be elevated unto the next ‘nest’. Vhixok underwent a large amount of endurance until it reached the physical realm, which proved to be superior in sensations and, most importantly, more meaningful than the simulations in which the Vaurcae are entrapped. With this knowledge, Vhixok has since returned to Virtual Reality, where it teaches the means to escape the nests ever since.

Za’Akaix’Nerm K’lax

Once the news about the Unathi reached Nerm, it abandoned its peaceful rest inside the Aether to adopt a new body and learn about the warrior race first-hand. Often regarded as the first Vaurca Hopeful, Nerm has been in deep cooperation with the Hegemony warriors and may be directly responsible for the militarist push inside Zkaii’s brood. Nerm is also the mastermind behind the new training K’lax warriors receive, which incorporates Unathite combat techniques and expectations on the battlefield.

Weavemakers and Notable Subrealms

Queen Zkaii has very few Weavemakers, and those which she does have are selected through the "Oracle" at the center of her virtual reality. Said to have been picked as an extension of mother K'lax's will, they craft transcendent and deeply religious experiences. A few gain notoriety and attention from outside the brood but the majority are too esoteric to gain traction.

The Founding

The Founding, otherwise known as Tyrut'katyak, is regarded as a quintessential experience for followers of the Mother Dream. It is said in myth to have been passed down by the Oracle through the will of Mother K'lax herself and has participants stand witness to the founding mythos of the faith. Beautiful stories of how creation came to be, which typically carry some deeper meaning or parable, play out around whoever enters and impart what many participants describe as essential wisdom. Every Vaurca has a different experience in The Founding, even if only in subtle ways. The stories seem to tailor themselves around what every Vaurca wishes for at the time or would find useful. Scholarly Vaurca believe this phenomenon may simply be the realm using the power of the Cephalon to judge what it believes would be useful to an individual, whereas followers describe it instead as direct divine guidance. Rarely a Vaurca outside the brood is allowed to consult the Oracle or enter The Founding. This process is decided on a case-by-case basis through a method that can seem inscrutable to outsiders. However, many believe a complicated code is simply being followed instead of whimsical decision-making.

Ecstasy

Ecstasy, also known as Kree’pon, is an experience in which followers of the Mother Dream believe to enter in communion with High Queen K’lax. It is often described as one of the most mystical areas, and is completely enclosed to non-believers. Preparation for Ecstasy is a long process, that usually requires a complete spiritual cleanse of the interested party. While no reliable descriptions of the subrealm are available, those who have experienced it often describe Ecstasy as akin to an elevator, in which they escape multiple realities. The result creates an esoteric environment even for Vaurcae, something affable in human language.

Recent Events

For Zkaii’xay’yil, assuming the role of High Queen has not been an easy task, and it is perhaps something she was unprepared for. She has since tried to keep order in regards the new relationship with the Izweski Nation, trying to reconfigure the services they provided as something else but slavery. Zo’ra seems to recognize her, as the very least, as the authority of the vassals. While a full push for independence might be a struggle, Zkaii has made the best of herself to incorporate in Tret before her next move.