Friday, March 5, 2010

The Fortekri

For the initial version of Galactic Throne, I need at least two species. I have chosen the Humans and the Fortekri. Eventually I will add more species, and I might even split some species into multiple cultures.

The Fortekri is an ancient species of intelligent social insects, divided into specialized castes. Their nature is such that they all care deeply for one another, and the things that they like doing most are also what makes them most useful. The workers like to work, the soldiers like to guard and to fight, the drones like to organize and invent, and the queens judge the drones according to their merits, choosing their breeding partners carefully.

The high queen is the mother of the queens, and the queens are the mothers of the princesses. Only the high queen may bring forth more queens. And only she and the queens may bring forth more drones. The princesses only bring forth workers and soldiers. The drones are always competing for the higher ranking queens, so that the best drones' genes may benefit the empire the most.

Drones without breeding rights are called taskmasters, and work directly with the workers or soldiers. A drone who is chosen by a princess is called a prince and organizes a group of taskmasters, or a group of princes. A drone who is chosen by a queen is called a king and organizes an entire industry, or an entire planet. The high king organizes the empire, and is of course chosen by the high queen.

Economically, they are very socialist. Everyone of all castes serve the empire, and the empire serves everyone. If there is enough food for everyone, everyone will have enough food. If not, then everyone suffers equally. This decreases the loss of population under harsh circumstances, allowing greater flexibility in which planets to colonize. Fortekri art is somewhat utilitarian, focusing on architecture and engraved signage.

Militarily they are also 'one for all and all for one'. The scent of their haemolymph agitates them, and, in large quantities, can drive them into a frenzy. This means that, when their soldiers' morale gets too low, they go berserk rather than routing, and they will always fight to the last man. This is not always the optimum strategy, so a part of a military drone's responsibilities is to make sure this does not happen unless needed. Their feelings toward each other (and thus, the empire) also make them very resolute fighters, entirely willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good. If fighting occurs inside a Fortekri colony, the scent might also agitate the workers into forming a militia (armed with high-powered tools and military surplus equipment), but drones can order them to evacuate instead.

The main drawback of the Fortekri is that science and philosophy are only studied by the drones and only to improve the situation directly. Therefore their technology improves only in small steps, and not as quickly as most other species. Their civilization is well in excess of a hundred thousand years old, but only due to recent population pressure did they invent space flight and subsequent technologies.

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