Post by Diamond Empire on Nov 30, 2014 20:20:35 GMT
Biological Description
The people of the Diamond Empire would present a grotesque image to a human of Earth—akin to a troll or an ogre—with their long sharp claws, jutting sharp teeth, and skin which is of a thick hide so rough it is reminiscent of scales. The shape of the eyes would be further proof of their malevolence. To back up this appearance of malevolence is a clear feature of power—a very thick skull and bone plates about the body which provide extra protection to such things as punctures and pressure from objects. This structure is further supplemented by dense musculature. The skin comes in three basic shades—teal, purple, and gold. They have three sexes which occur naturally—male, female, and neuter. The neuter of the species tend to be somewhat stronger than the others and tend to fill the ranks of the armies (there is some discussion as to whether the neuter of the species are truly without sexual organs or are celibate by choice—the gender of those that are neuter appears to be a delicate question that no researcher can report upon and the members of the Empire will not speak of). The male and female tend to be about 10% lighter than the neuter and are more often found in the roles of farmers and researchers and parents. They are unable to speak in the speech that is common to humans because they do not have vocal chords or ears. They are very attentive to details in postures of their own species and communicate by those means. Unlike many species they have no reclining body positions even for sleep and, though they have a sitting posture that is used, sitting is done without placing one's posterior upon any object (e.g. chair) and the sitting posture is a posture of surrender or obedience. Their common ways of speaking involves full body gestures. They rely upon (when communicating with species that require vocal communication) visual projectors which project the meanings of the alien's speech into postures which can be understood.
Society Description
Viewed from within, the society of the people of the Diamond Empire is monolithic, horrendous, and closed. From the viewpoint of the members of the species, however, it is varied and inclusive. They see themselves as very inclusive...of everything that is of the species. The word “Empire” appears to be, largely, a mistranslation; this is brought on by the viewing of themselves as sufficient in and of themselves, needing no other people than those within their group. The “empire” functions in a more individualistic manner, each family functioning as a country in its own right—complete with the rulers and soldiers (of the neuter sex) who support the safety needs of the family, usually a pair of parents who function as a domestic unit to support the family's nurturing and food needs, and many children, all of whom are educated by the family—parents and soldiers and rulers alike. These family groups have many postures that are unique to their family and their allegiances tend to be solidly founded in their family group rather than their countries. Families have formed alliances over the centuries between each other into what would look roughly like countries. Most of the countries within the “Empire” are unified more cohesively in the face of what are totally alien peoples and societies. Throughout the species' history there has always been warfare and they look upon this reality with—what is enigmatic to many species—near ambivalence. They see warfare as a common part of life. However, unlike many warlike species there are strict codes of behavior in warfare which, when offended against, lead to expulsion from the family (in which case the offender dies alone). The rules of engagement require them to declare their defiance before any act of war is committed. They require that no sitting people (sitting is the posture of obedience) be killed as well.
General History
Because of their naturally-powerful musculature they tend be able to deliver significant force against enemies. However, because of the powerful armor (bone plate) natural to the species, even significant force, whether with blunt objects or sharp weapons, is not sufficient to kill one of the People. Thus, warfare throughout the centuries has always been a matter of endurance—the greater the endurance, the greater the chance of victory—rather than sudden quick strikes. The result of this is that every person, for centuries, has been his or her own castle, sometimes able to hold out for hours in a claw to claw fight. This is similar, in a way to knights in armor that other species have developed. Unlike some species, it was a long time before the methods of destruction overpowered the methods of self-defense for this species. Self-defense was always treasured and, as weaponry advanced, armor also advanced. This appears to have occurred not because the armor technology naturally improved but because there was active decision to wait on creating weaponry until defenses were sufficient to counteract them. Even in the age of rifles and other guns it was normal for the People to tramp into the battlefield in full body armor which, though heavy, would prevent many losses of life.
Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of this species is the lack of domesticated animals. Many species have their pets which they have raised and bred over millennium but the People have never found any species that they could domesticate. To an outsider this may seem to be an unimportant event.
However it has far-reaching consequences in the history of this species and the Empire. The effect of having no domesticated animals meant that, when technology was available for vehicular transport, there was no societal structure to support its creation—why replace horses when there were no horses to replace. Development of aircraft and trains and space craft were equally slow—not built despite the technology being available. It was the sight—through infrared telescopes of alien spacecraft engine ignitions, which were bright and clearly intentional, which finally stirred the desire to build flying machines—airplanes—and then space-craft. At this point everything was built minimally to master the requirements of launching into space. However, the culture soon dominated over and above even the pragmatic desire to get ships into space quickly and the ships were armored to defend against powerful weaponry.
The history of the people would, by many, appear to be a boring affair, not because nothing happened but because too much happened all the time. The wars were mostly local events between families—rarely had an entire country fought against another though there was fighting altogether. Even when encountering aliens this people still fight among themselves.
The “emperor” (in quotes because the word does not exist for them—rather it is a gesture which means “battle director”--private affairs are managed in family groups) was not established until the sighting of extra-terrestrial fusion drives lighting up the distant stars. It was, historically, a weak title which has been growing in power as coordination becomes more necessary.
The people of the Diamond Empire would present a grotesque image to a human of Earth—akin to a troll or an ogre—with their long sharp claws, jutting sharp teeth, and skin which is of a thick hide so rough it is reminiscent of scales. The shape of the eyes would be further proof of their malevolence. To back up this appearance of malevolence is a clear feature of power—a very thick skull and bone plates about the body which provide extra protection to such things as punctures and pressure from objects. This structure is further supplemented by dense musculature. The skin comes in three basic shades—teal, purple, and gold. They have three sexes which occur naturally—male, female, and neuter. The neuter of the species tend to be somewhat stronger than the others and tend to fill the ranks of the armies (there is some discussion as to whether the neuter of the species are truly without sexual organs or are celibate by choice—the gender of those that are neuter appears to be a delicate question that no researcher can report upon and the members of the Empire will not speak of). The male and female tend to be about 10% lighter than the neuter and are more often found in the roles of farmers and researchers and parents. They are unable to speak in the speech that is common to humans because they do not have vocal chords or ears. They are very attentive to details in postures of their own species and communicate by those means. Unlike many species they have no reclining body positions even for sleep and, though they have a sitting posture that is used, sitting is done without placing one's posterior upon any object (e.g. chair) and the sitting posture is a posture of surrender or obedience. Their common ways of speaking involves full body gestures. They rely upon (when communicating with species that require vocal communication) visual projectors which project the meanings of the alien's speech into postures which can be understood.
Society Description
Viewed from within, the society of the people of the Diamond Empire is monolithic, horrendous, and closed. From the viewpoint of the members of the species, however, it is varied and inclusive. They see themselves as very inclusive...of everything that is of the species. The word “Empire” appears to be, largely, a mistranslation; this is brought on by the viewing of themselves as sufficient in and of themselves, needing no other people than those within their group. The “empire” functions in a more individualistic manner, each family functioning as a country in its own right—complete with the rulers and soldiers (of the neuter sex) who support the safety needs of the family, usually a pair of parents who function as a domestic unit to support the family's nurturing and food needs, and many children, all of whom are educated by the family—parents and soldiers and rulers alike. These family groups have many postures that are unique to their family and their allegiances tend to be solidly founded in their family group rather than their countries. Families have formed alliances over the centuries between each other into what would look roughly like countries. Most of the countries within the “Empire” are unified more cohesively in the face of what are totally alien peoples and societies. Throughout the species' history there has always been warfare and they look upon this reality with—what is enigmatic to many species—near ambivalence. They see warfare as a common part of life. However, unlike many warlike species there are strict codes of behavior in warfare which, when offended against, lead to expulsion from the family (in which case the offender dies alone). The rules of engagement require them to declare their defiance before any act of war is committed. They require that no sitting people (sitting is the posture of obedience) be killed as well.
General History
Because of their naturally-powerful musculature they tend be able to deliver significant force against enemies. However, because of the powerful armor (bone plate) natural to the species, even significant force, whether with blunt objects or sharp weapons, is not sufficient to kill one of the People. Thus, warfare throughout the centuries has always been a matter of endurance—the greater the endurance, the greater the chance of victory—rather than sudden quick strikes. The result of this is that every person, for centuries, has been his or her own castle, sometimes able to hold out for hours in a claw to claw fight. This is similar, in a way to knights in armor that other species have developed. Unlike some species, it was a long time before the methods of destruction overpowered the methods of self-defense for this species. Self-defense was always treasured and, as weaponry advanced, armor also advanced. This appears to have occurred not because the armor technology naturally improved but because there was active decision to wait on creating weaponry until defenses were sufficient to counteract them. Even in the age of rifles and other guns it was normal for the People to tramp into the battlefield in full body armor which, though heavy, would prevent many losses of life.
Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of this species is the lack of domesticated animals. Many species have their pets which they have raised and bred over millennium but the People have never found any species that they could domesticate. To an outsider this may seem to be an unimportant event.
However it has far-reaching consequences in the history of this species and the Empire. The effect of having no domesticated animals meant that, when technology was available for vehicular transport, there was no societal structure to support its creation—why replace horses when there were no horses to replace. Development of aircraft and trains and space craft were equally slow—not built despite the technology being available. It was the sight—through infrared telescopes of alien spacecraft engine ignitions, which were bright and clearly intentional, which finally stirred the desire to build flying machines—airplanes—and then space-craft. At this point everything was built minimally to master the requirements of launching into space. However, the culture soon dominated over and above even the pragmatic desire to get ships into space quickly and the ships were armored to defend against powerful weaponry.
The history of the people would, by many, appear to be a boring affair, not because nothing happened but because too much happened all the time. The wars were mostly local events between families—rarely had an entire country fought against another though there was fighting altogether. Even when encountering aliens this people still fight among themselves.
The “emperor” (in quotes because the word does not exist for them—rather it is a gesture which means “battle director”--private affairs are managed in family groups) was not established until the sighting of extra-terrestrial fusion drives lighting up the distant stars. It was, historically, a weak title which has been growing in power as coordination becomes more necessary.