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New Species Interest Check - The Zvrexzul (possibly more)

I've been here for nearly three months now and have been tossing around the idea of eventually introducing subfactions and associated species. I've heard a problem with much of the latter is that too often they come off as too human and I hope to diverge from that trend. In particular, I am looking for anyone interested in plotting, creating ICs for, and advising for the following race I hope to add to the setting.

The species I hope to add to the SARP setting is a collection of various kinds of arthropods derived from the more obscure, unusual, and grotesque end of the spectrum. Inspiration includes the amphipods of Lake Baikal, various kinds of carabids such as California warrior beetles, devil's coach horses, crickets, trilobite beetles, wolf spiders, various kinds of scorpions, Puget Sound king crabs, giant centipedes, wetas, assorted land crabs, robber flies, and various wonderful deep sea crustaceans. The Zvrexzul are capable of standing bipedally but they can also crawl on sometimes hundreds of legs. They are tall, monstrously sized beings around 6''3 to 8''5 on average but a few older ones have known to reach 20 feet in height. Their entire bodies are covered in carapaces of varying durability and flexibility but appear to lack any kind of visible flesh resulting in a very rigid appearance, one that can bely their unsettling multi-jointed flexibility. Their faces in particular are often the most unpleasant to look at, with mouths best described as labyrinths of sawing, slicing, mulching, and grasping appendages and multiple pupil-less eyes (or clusters of them) spread across their heads allowing for wide fields of view.

In terms of technology, what stands out about them is their usage of a mixture of cybernetic and biological integrated often into their own bodies. Each Zvrexzul is a living jigsaw puzzle of augmentations that can include scanning machinery, additional organs, grafted limbs both flesh and metal, gland regulating symbiotes, sensor arrays networked with their antennae, and so on. They are known to use a variety of parasites that do feed off of their bodies but simultaneously enhance their physical capabilities and often function as high level augmentations themselves. At more extreme levels, they are capable of doing what's known as "encoding" gear into their own bodies. The technology behind it is almost arcane and esoteric but it essentially allows them to "form" weaponry, equipment, and even extra bodyparts out of either their own biomass and/or mass that came with the "Engrammatic Matter Evocation Code". They can carry only a limited number of these due to the various biological changes needed to prepare one's body to use this.

Other forms of technology they are notable for are their usage of automatons, animals, and what are known as "fleshvessels". Due to a relatively smaller population, much of their day-to-day activities are handled by non-Zrexul entities. Automatons unsurprisingly tend to have a very arthropod like appearance, often closer to mishmashes of ones we know ourselves and are known for being durable and hardy. Fleshvessels are similar but they are essentially automatons made of replicated or synthetic biomatter. While not as tough, they are easier to modify, repair, and construct. Animals on the other hand are a bit more specialized in their roles. Many of those they use in work situations end to be very large, around the size and even bigger than assorted real life mammals only they're all massive crickets, helgrammites, dragonflies, tiger beetles and so on. They too are often upgraded with a number of enhancements but what stands out the most is how they are controlled. The Zvrexzul use a mixture of electronic communications and psychic bonding through a mixture of parasites embedded in both the creatures and their handlers and complimentary communication system, allowing them to control these creatures almost as effectively as they would their drones.

Their history is a rather tumultuous one. Sometime ago, their domain of origin was in the midst of a grand civil unrest between militaristic expansionist and enlightened leadership factions after years of questionable rule and political strife. A key issue of contention was whether the true nature of their kind was that of cooperation and unity or subjugation and supremacy and while it was more philosophical than political, it coloured and underscored many arguments and positions in these debates. A grand plan had been devised to send a large fleet of ships containing various cryogenically frozen eggs, including a few large "hive cities", to a distant planet that had been previously scouted and use both their AI's and an advanced gigantic swarming cloud-like construct made of seemingly rotting biomatter and self-maintaining robotics to guard and observe them in this blank slate experiment. This grand experiment however was put on hold when a massive enemy empire (perhaps the Kuvexians?) came knocking on their gates. In spite of their power, the divided nation was slowly crushed by the opposing forces. Knowing that this was the end of the road, all survivors did their best to draw away or push the invaders back from where "orphan fleet" was hidden with the help of its advanced AI's and its strange cloud-like guardian. Just as the last defences fell, the fleet of embryos jetted off towards a distant world, un-knowing that it already had inhabitants of its own.

Warp forward to today and the Zvrexzul have recently emerged from a series of wars fought both alongside and against two other races of insurgent fungoid organisms and high tech nomad eels on that system they were sent to many years ago. While they are in the best state and have new allies with them in an emergent alliance, their grasp on their power is tenuous amidst the still reeling divides among the aligned worlds and their forces are as a whole the smallest. Their allies are lacking in much in the way of social and political stability. Worse, they know that there's a very high chance that the kuvexians are coming to their doorstep to finish the job they didn't so many years ago. In their current state, even presuming a fully unified and repaired alliance, they would not be able to stand against them. Thus they've sent out their best and brightest to try and find suitable allies knowing that the only way for them to survive the coming hardship is with something much bigger and stronger between them and certain extinction.

Anyways, I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in plotting with this species, helping with the subfaction, coming up with plots and so on. I'd love for them to become a part of the lore, for people to make OC's based on them, and for them to play a part in current and upcoming events. Thanks!
 
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Once things get going, what do we expect their relationship to the Star Army of Yamatai to be?
 
Well i'm not a old veteran but I can for sure say this is abit different. I will say a personal issue might the scope of what your doing with how they handle subspecis. From the sounds of it they bio engineered several species for different tasks plus the automations which can lead to abit of creation work so I just worry about the amount of pages that will go into it.

I do hope it gets off the ground though and get some interest. I know my self I won't be cause I tend to play standard humanoids (minus that tribble plot in a one shoot in a startrek rpg) but I hope it gets off the ground. I know some people will have some good questions for you and feedback so hope you keep rocking mate!
 
As a side note, I didn't go into how they're run as a faction. Basically they're a mixture of direct democracy and basically a council of quasi-elders. The supreme power is the giant cyborg psychic flesh cloud but this is only on paper as nobody truly knows what it thinks. Below it are the ancient AI's hooked up to it and underneath them are a group of Syvrexul "Gnosis Engines" - beings who have basically turned themselves into living computational devices. They form a limited hive mind that has repressed much of their minds beyond their analytical and decision making abilities and they are responsible for debating, determining, and relaying decisions down to various "subhive" communities who then interpret the data and make their own decisions with the help of specially chosen advisers determined by the Gnosis Engines.

I have two other species I'm thinking of that are going to be in the same subfaction as well that'll be relatively less bizarre (well maybe one of them will).

Once things get going, what do we expect their relationship to the Star Army of Yamatai to be?

Likely suspicious due to their immense size and power. Having been annihilated by an empire before means they're likely not going to be too trusting of one. Even though they do have people out there and some of them would have a less paranoid view of the SAOY, as a whole they'd keep a certain distance. However under the current conditions with the kuvexian conflict, they would be willing to send help primarily to frontier worlds or insurgency/guerilla operations. Some internal military factions would be interested in closer cooperation for the purpose of tech-sharing as well as increased protection.

Well i'm not a old veteran but I can for sure say this is abit different. I will say a personal issue might the scope of what your doing with how they handle subspecis. From the sounds of it they bio engineered several species for different tasks plus the automations which can lead to abit of creation work so I just worry about the amount of pages that will go into it.

I do hope it gets off the ground though and get some interest. I know my self I won't be cause I tend to play standard humanoids (minus that tribble plot in a one shoot in a startrek rpg) but I hope it gets off the ground. I know some people will have some good questions for you and feedback so hope you keep rocking mate!

I understand. I know it'll be tough but I enjoy my time here and there's no pain without gain. I don't mind learning the ropes and hopefully contributing to a site that's made the last few months a lot happier. On a less sappy note, I will have it that while they are pretty advanced in the biotech field, they still are a fairly small species size wise and don't really have too much of a space fleet yet beyond some very old ships whose technology even they do not fully understand.
 
@Wes

I mentioned before the idea that the planets the exodus fleet landed on as well as the civil and interplanetary wars they got themselves involved in were partially engineered by the Kuvexians and/or their allies as a long term scheme to create an allied frontier before they invaded that region. Can that idea still fly? I don't mind removing it if so. Just something to further flesh them out as a part of the setting.
 
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