Post by D'Kali Hegemony on Nov 20, 2014 18:21:30 GMT
(Just realized I hadn't posted the updated version. Whoops)
BIOLOGY
The D’Kali are a warm-blooded reptilian species whose long evolution has made them the apex predators of their home world, Kalisa. Mature adults average 2 meters in height and almost 5 meters in length with six limbs. The lower four limbs are primarily for locomotion, arranged to form a quadruped lower body balanced by a thick horned tail. The torso extends upwards above the front two legs to form a thick stocky upper torso to which the final two limbs are attached, complete with articulate hands of three fingers and opposable thumbs. Atop the shoulders the head is crowned in spines or horns to form a protective crest and the elongated snout is lined with dozens of razor-sharp teeth.
A thick hide of scales protects the heavy-set, muscular body of a D’Kali; colours range wildly depending on the particular individual, from bright reds or greens to deep browns or oranges. Exceptionally rare patterns can include blue or violet scaling. Their lungs metabolize a mix of both oxygen and carbon dioxide, and several redundant systems also assist with a D’Kali’s large body including a secondary heart and nervous cluster in the lower torso.
Unlike many other races in the galaxy, the D’Kali are a hermaphroditic species. Reproduction still requires two separate individuals, but any member of the species is capable of both laying and fertilizing eggs. There are no mainstream biological distinctions or predispositions to any role of the reproductive cycle for the species, and the very concept of gender or sexual dimorphism is incredibly alien to them, as this is standard for all species of animal on Kalisa. Eggs are usually laid in clutches of two to five and guarded fiercely until hatching. Once hatched, a D’Kali reaches sexual maturity in about eight years, and is full grown in ten.
SOCIETY
Much of modern D’Kali society is ruled and governed around the worship and respect of their gods. The D’Kali hold a deep belief that the gods only favour the strong and the powerful, and so much of their society and worship is centered around combat, both ritualized and in open warfare.
Political disagreements are very rarely solved by methods other than bloodshed, the individuals or armies fighting under the united gaze of their two chief gods. The first is the Mother of All, represented by and the namesake of the D’Kali home world, Kalisa. It is important to note that 'Mother' is the closest possible translation, though in the D’Kali sense, it refers to the deity who laid the first D’Kali eggs. The very word 'D’Kali' can be translated as 'laid by Kalisa'. The second chief god of the D’Kali is Roxal, their God of War and the Allsire, and is represented as the star around which Kalisa orbits.
The stone and bronze-age D’Kali pantheons of deities were far larger than the handful of gods worshiped today. There are many legends surrounding the D’Kali killing many of their old gods; these are likely allegories for ancient D’Kali hunting other predator species of their world to extinction. In the modern pantheons there are several dozen deities other than Kalisa and Roxal. These govern everything from hunting and healing to the stars, and even a recent cult rising around Win’doz, a deity of technology. It is also not unusual for local gods or deified ancestors to be worshiped as patrons and protectors of towns, villages or clans.
With a near-universal belief in the divine right of combat, governments of the various D’Kali clans still follow a largely feudal structure and a single, united government has yet to emerge. More powerful strong-men are able to sway or force allegiance from less powerful opponents, wars of conquest or independence constantly shift clans from slave to ruler and back again.
The outcome of these contests or wars quickly determines a D’Kali’s place in society, seen as the judgment of the gods. This has led to an incredibly caste-based social structure for most settlements and nations. Slavery is incredibly commonplace; those who are defeated in combat are often forced into the servitude of the victors. The slave-caste accounts for much of the building of physical D’Kali life; having been unable to honour the gods in combat, they are forced to do so on other ways. A fortunate side effect for the D’Kali has been to allow less martial aspects of their society such as the sciences, medicine or architecture to advance.
With the unique lack of gender, and thus gender roles in the species, the D’Kali tend to form their clans around family groupings of many living generations. The sire or dam of any individual spawning of offspring is often determined by highly ritualized prayer, meditation and combat, designed to find the most powerful individuals from families and castes and thus, the most suitable for breeding. There is no room for romance in D'Kali society, mating instead seen as a sacred duty or a bonding between clans and not a permanent pairing of individuals. Protection and rearing of the offspring is a collective duty of the clan, though siblings or spawn-mates often stay together for much of their lives.
HISTORY
D’Kali society has had a violent and martial streak since their earliest recorded histories, and given the harsh nature of much of the native life of the planet this is hardly surprising. A planet with heavy levels of carbon dioxide, the biosphere of Kalisa quickly bloomed from flora in a wild and dangerous jungle. Many plants are poisonous or even carnivorous to protect themselves from thriving herbivore species, which in turn were hunted by many competing predators. The D’Kali were one of several of these apex predators, rising above the rest as they entered the stone age. The art of tools gave them the edge to quickly drive many other predator species into extinction in fights for hunting grounds or survival, giving rise to many legends around the defeat of evil or unworthy gods.
With no predators other than the D’Kali, much of the prey species of Kalisa flourished, providing a deep warrior and hunter culture to flourish along with them even as they also evolved to be more dangerous. This warrior society, with no other competition, quickly turned to hunting its own kind for territorial rights, sacrifice to the gods or slave labour. With the D’Kali being carnivorous, agriculture never properly developed on Kalisa, excepting for somewhat controlled ranching land in more recent centuries.
This pattern of warfare followed the D’Kali across their history, advancing through the bronze and iron ages and beyond. Even with the invention of gunpowder, D’Kali warfare was still largely decided by close combat, seen as a more honourable method of fighting.
This constant thirst for warfare still continues to the present day. Governments have rarely been able to control areas of Kalisa larger then portions of continents, with most warlords controlling little more than city-states, and forming loose alliances with their neighbours. The only unifying force across most of the D’Kali race has been religion, and has likely been the saving grace of the species. When the power of the atom was first unlocked, it was universally agreed by warlord and priest alike that to unleash such power on the surface of their mother god would be an unforgivable sacrilege. Similar taboos have also been applied to chemical and biological warfare as foul and debase forms of resolving conflicts.
Currently, the most powerful alliance of these clans has made rather uncharacteristic advances into physics and stellar sciences, under the claim of guidance by the gods. No other world power as yet has attempted to refute the claim of this new Archon or their Hegemony, instead watching and waiting for this venture to succeed and carry the D’Kali to glory…or fail and let them take its holdings.
BIOLOGY
The D’Kali are a warm-blooded reptilian species whose long evolution has made them the apex predators of their home world, Kalisa. Mature adults average 2 meters in height and almost 5 meters in length with six limbs. The lower four limbs are primarily for locomotion, arranged to form a quadruped lower body balanced by a thick horned tail. The torso extends upwards above the front two legs to form a thick stocky upper torso to which the final two limbs are attached, complete with articulate hands of three fingers and opposable thumbs. Atop the shoulders the head is crowned in spines or horns to form a protective crest and the elongated snout is lined with dozens of razor-sharp teeth.
A thick hide of scales protects the heavy-set, muscular body of a D’Kali; colours range wildly depending on the particular individual, from bright reds or greens to deep browns or oranges. Exceptionally rare patterns can include blue or violet scaling. Their lungs metabolize a mix of both oxygen and carbon dioxide, and several redundant systems also assist with a D’Kali’s large body including a secondary heart and nervous cluster in the lower torso.
Unlike many other races in the galaxy, the D’Kali are a hermaphroditic species. Reproduction still requires two separate individuals, but any member of the species is capable of both laying and fertilizing eggs. There are no mainstream biological distinctions or predispositions to any role of the reproductive cycle for the species, and the very concept of gender or sexual dimorphism is incredibly alien to them, as this is standard for all species of animal on Kalisa. Eggs are usually laid in clutches of two to five and guarded fiercely until hatching. Once hatched, a D’Kali reaches sexual maturity in about eight years, and is full grown in ten.
SOCIETY
Much of modern D’Kali society is ruled and governed around the worship and respect of their gods. The D’Kali hold a deep belief that the gods only favour the strong and the powerful, and so much of their society and worship is centered around combat, both ritualized and in open warfare.
Political disagreements are very rarely solved by methods other than bloodshed, the individuals or armies fighting under the united gaze of their two chief gods. The first is the Mother of All, represented by and the namesake of the D’Kali home world, Kalisa. It is important to note that 'Mother' is the closest possible translation, though in the D’Kali sense, it refers to the deity who laid the first D’Kali eggs. The very word 'D’Kali' can be translated as 'laid by Kalisa'. The second chief god of the D’Kali is Roxal, their God of War and the Allsire, and is represented as the star around which Kalisa orbits.
The stone and bronze-age D’Kali pantheons of deities were far larger than the handful of gods worshiped today. There are many legends surrounding the D’Kali killing many of their old gods; these are likely allegories for ancient D’Kali hunting other predator species of their world to extinction. In the modern pantheons there are several dozen deities other than Kalisa and Roxal. These govern everything from hunting and healing to the stars, and even a recent cult rising around Win’doz, a deity of technology. It is also not unusual for local gods or deified ancestors to be worshiped as patrons and protectors of towns, villages or clans.
With a near-universal belief in the divine right of combat, governments of the various D’Kali clans still follow a largely feudal structure and a single, united government has yet to emerge. More powerful strong-men are able to sway or force allegiance from less powerful opponents, wars of conquest or independence constantly shift clans from slave to ruler and back again.
The outcome of these contests or wars quickly determines a D’Kali’s place in society, seen as the judgment of the gods. This has led to an incredibly caste-based social structure for most settlements and nations. Slavery is incredibly commonplace; those who are defeated in combat are often forced into the servitude of the victors. The slave-caste accounts for much of the building of physical D’Kali life; having been unable to honour the gods in combat, they are forced to do so on other ways. A fortunate side effect for the D’Kali has been to allow less martial aspects of their society such as the sciences, medicine or architecture to advance.
With the unique lack of gender, and thus gender roles in the species, the D’Kali tend to form their clans around family groupings of many living generations. The sire or dam of any individual spawning of offspring is often determined by highly ritualized prayer, meditation and combat, designed to find the most powerful individuals from families and castes and thus, the most suitable for breeding. There is no room for romance in D'Kali society, mating instead seen as a sacred duty or a bonding between clans and not a permanent pairing of individuals. Protection and rearing of the offspring is a collective duty of the clan, though siblings or spawn-mates often stay together for much of their lives.
HISTORY
D’Kali society has had a violent and martial streak since their earliest recorded histories, and given the harsh nature of much of the native life of the planet this is hardly surprising. A planet with heavy levels of carbon dioxide, the biosphere of Kalisa quickly bloomed from flora in a wild and dangerous jungle. Many plants are poisonous or even carnivorous to protect themselves from thriving herbivore species, which in turn were hunted by many competing predators. The D’Kali were one of several of these apex predators, rising above the rest as they entered the stone age. The art of tools gave them the edge to quickly drive many other predator species into extinction in fights for hunting grounds or survival, giving rise to many legends around the defeat of evil or unworthy gods.
With no predators other than the D’Kali, much of the prey species of Kalisa flourished, providing a deep warrior and hunter culture to flourish along with them even as they also evolved to be more dangerous. This warrior society, with no other competition, quickly turned to hunting its own kind for territorial rights, sacrifice to the gods or slave labour. With the D’Kali being carnivorous, agriculture never properly developed on Kalisa, excepting for somewhat controlled ranching land in more recent centuries.
This pattern of warfare followed the D’Kali across their history, advancing through the bronze and iron ages and beyond. Even with the invention of gunpowder, D’Kali warfare was still largely decided by close combat, seen as a more honourable method of fighting.
This constant thirst for warfare still continues to the present day. Governments have rarely been able to control areas of Kalisa larger then portions of continents, with most warlords controlling little more than city-states, and forming loose alliances with their neighbours. The only unifying force across most of the D’Kali race has been religion, and has likely been the saving grace of the species. When the power of the atom was first unlocked, it was universally agreed by warlord and priest alike that to unleash such power on the surface of their mother god would be an unforgivable sacrilege. Similar taboos have also been applied to chemical and biological warfare as foul and debase forms of resolving conflicts.
Currently, the most powerful alliance of these clans has made rather uncharacteristic advances into physics and stellar sciences, under the claim of guidance by the gods. No other world power as yet has attempted to refute the claim of this new Archon or their Hegemony, instead watching and waiting for this venture to succeed and carry the D’Kali to glory…or fail and let them take its holdings.