species:thrah_kah
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| ==== Origins ==== | ==== Origins ==== | ||
| - | Very little is known about the Thrah’Kah homeworld, and any information about it comes as second hand accounts from the Thrah’Kah themselves, often passed down through a few generations. According to them, the Thrah’Kah evolved on a harsh, high-gravity desert world which is highly geologically active, somewhere outside the bounds of the Orion Sphere. Based on their descriptions, scientists have estimated that their homeworld is part of a failed solar system formation, orbiting a brown dwarf star. Some accounts place it as beyond the Seagull Nebula, deep in the Perseus Rift, while others locate it near the Cocoon Nebula, and others yet in the Gulf of Cetus. Regardless of its actual location, their far-off homeworld is referred to by the Thrah’Kah as “Planet Boom”, as explosive volcanic eruptions would often echo across the wastes. According to their accounts, it is a dry desert world, punctuated by volcanic mountain ranges that would occasionally spew out molten rock and release dense clouds of toxic gases, which the natives referred to as “Doom Clouds”. This harsh world was riven by powerful, stinging winds that whip the sharp volcanic sand into powerful abrasive storms, which can tear any protection short of thick steel to pieces. What vegetation exists there was hardy, and grew quickly - reproducing and dying over the space of a few days. The abundance of decaying plant matter gave rise to a strong fungal ecosystem, and large masses could hold a significant amount of sand together, creating calmer areas. | + | [{{ :species:thrahkah_gateway_byrobdavies.jpg?400|<html><font color="black">The Thrah'Kah commonly bolt metal plates to their armour and bodies.</font></html>}}]Very little is known about the Thrah’Kah homeworld, and any information about it comes as second hand accounts from the Thrah’Kah themselves, often passed down through a few generations. According to them, the Thrah’Kah evolved on a harsh, high-gravity desert world which is highly geologically active, somewhere outside the bounds of the Orion Sphere. Based on their descriptions, scientists have estimated that their homeworld is part of a failed solar system formation, orbiting a brown dwarf star. Some accounts place it as beyond the Seagull Nebula, deep in the Perseus Rift, while others locate it near the Cocoon Nebula, and others yet in the Gulf of Cetus. Regardless of its actual location, their far-off homeworld is referred to by the Thrah’Kah as “Planet Boom”, as explosive volcanic eruptions would often echo across the wastes. According to their accounts, it is a dry desert world, punctuated by volcanic mountain ranges that would occasionally spew out molten rock and release dense clouds of toxic gases, which the natives referred to as “Doom Clouds”. This harsh world was riven by powerful, stinging winds that whip the sharp volcanic sand into powerful abrasive storms, which can tear any protection short of thick steel to pieces. What vegetation exists there was hardy, and grew quickly - reproducing and dying over the space of a few days. The abundance of decaying plant matter gave rise to a strong fungal ecosystem, and large masses could hold a significant amount of sand together, creating calmer areas. |
| - | Thra’kah oral tradition speaks of them eking out a life as tribes around the few oases tucked into the mountain ranges, frequently tunnelling into the mountains to seek metal ores and to create protective caves in which to enlarge their settlements. Tribes would raid each other for resources, especially food and metal - the only source of reliable weapons, tools and safe traversal across the sands between havens. Sociologists have theorised this reliance on metal led to the dominance of the Thra’kah primary deity Ghozr, a god of metal and warfare. The cult of Ghozr believes that by attaching metal plates to their body, and replacing lost limbs with metal prostheses, they can become closer to their deity. It is also understood that blacksmiths, miners and smelters were given special protections in early Thra’kah society, clustering in settlements built around volcanic lava-powered smelters and forges. This warring society would occasionally produce a great warlord who would rampage across the planet, establish an empire, and occasionally result in incremental technological advancement. | + | Thra’kah oral tradition speaks of them eking out a life as tribes around the few oases tucked into the mountain ranges, frequently tunnelling into the mountains to seek metal ores and to create protective caves in which to enlarge their settlements. Tribes would raid each other for resources, especially food and metal - the only source of reliable weapons, tools and safe traversal across the sands between havens. Sociologists have theorised this reliance on metal led to the dominance of the Thra’kah primary deity **Ghozr**, a god of metal and warfare. The cult of Ghozr believes that by attaching metal plates to their body, and replacing lost limbs with metal prostheses, they can become closer to their deity. It is also understood that blacksmiths, miners and smelters were given special protections in early Thra’kah society, clustering in settlements built around volcanic lava-powered smelters and forges. This warring society would occasionally produce a great warlord who would rampage across the planet, establish an empire, and occasionally result in incremental technological advancement. |
| This slowly developing society was rapidly changed by a catastrophic event referred to as “the fall of the Visitors” or “the Iron Gift”. This event is estimated to have occurred roughly around the same time as the Elysian Revelation in 1800PT, but an exact date is impossible to calculate without access to the planet. The sky above their homeworld was rent with shimmering light, and thousands of large starships crashed to the planet’s surface. Their stricken crews, where they survived, were taken in by some Thra’Kah tribes, and killed by others. Most of these ships landed in the desert wastes, and were soon broken down or buried by the harsh environment. The Visitors, who Thra’kah legend describes as “tall and pointy”, did not last long on Planet Boom as they were unable to handle the toxic outpourings of the planet and the harsh radiation of its star. However, the newcomers brought technological advancements imparted by the Visitors themselves, and a vast bounty of advanced alloys and technology that could be exploited over the next thousand years. Over time, crash sites were unearthed and new technology reverse-engineered or jerry-rigged into useful machines, all while starship fragments continued to de-orbit and accumulate across Planet Boom. The continual rain of metal was attributed to the deity Ghozr, and eventually inspired a faith movement to leave the planet. Much of Thra’Kah culture had incorporated and repurposed symbols from the fallen ships into part of their religion, in a sort of cargo cult bricolage of technology and faith. | This slowly developing society was rapidly changed by a catastrophic event referred to as “the fall of the Visitors” or “the Iron Gift”. This event is estimated to have occurred roughly around the same time as the Elysian Revelation in 1800PT, but an exact date is impossible to calculate without access to the planet. The sky above their homeworld was rent with shimmering light, and thousands of large starships crashed to the planet’s surface. Their stricken crews, where they survived, were taken in by some Thra’Kah tribes, and killed by others. Most of these ships landed in the desert wastes, and were soon broken down or buried by the harsh environment. The Visitors, who Thra’kah legend describes as “tall and pointy”, did not last long on Planet Boom as they were unable to handle the toxic outpourings of the planet and the harsh radiation of its star. However, the newcomers brought technological advancements imparted by the Visitors themselves, and a vast bounty of advanced alloys and technology that could be exploited over the next thousand years. Over time, crash sites were unearthed and new technology reverse-engineered or jerry-rigged into useful machines, all while starship fragments continued to de-orbit and accumulate across Planet Boom. The continual rain of metal was attributed to the deity Ghozr, and eventually inspired a faith movement to leave the planet. Much of Thra’Kah culture had incorporated and repurposed symbols from the fallen ships into part of their religion, in a sort of cargo cult bricolage of technology and faith. | ||
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| ==== In the Orion Sphere ==== | ==== In the Orion Sphere ==== | ||
| - | Thra’Kah fleets, when they escape the pull of their planet’s brown dwarf and engage their jerry-rigged warp drives, seem to be caught in a “cosmic eddy” of tachyons or some other exotic interstellar wind, which propels them across the rough volume of the Orion Sphere. Whether this eddy catches any and all ships leaving the system’s limits, or is survivor bias, is unknown. On emergence from the shifting streams of these eddies, they can find themselves practically anywhere. The first Thra’Kah fleets were recorded around 3000PT, where several were reported in various sectors over a 50-year period, causing significant issues for local inhabitants until their language was decoded. They seem eager to work for any Faction or group, although have not allied with any power above a warband level. Individual warband fleets act as a nation unto themselves, and each group has its own cultural points of divergence. | + | [{{ :species:thrahkah_merc_byrobdavies.jpg?400|<html><font color="black">Thrah'Kah mercenaries can be found all over the Orion Sphere, sometimes serving as literal weapon platforms for their clients.</font></html>}}]Thra’Kah fleets, when they escape the pull of their planet’s brown dwarf and engage their jerry-rigged warp drives, seem to be caught in a “cosmic eddy” of tachyons or some other exotic interstellar wind, which propels them across the rough volume of the Orion Sphere. Whether this eddy catches any and all ships leaving the system’s limits, or is survivor bias, is unknown. On emergence from the shifting streams of these eddies, they can find themselves practically anywhere. The first Thra’Kah fleets were recorded around 3000PT, where several were reported in various sectors over a 50-year period, causing significant issues for local inhabitants until their language was decoded. They seem eager to work for any Faction or group, although have not allied with any power above a warband level. Individual warband fleets act as a nation unto themselves, and each group has its own cultural points of divergence. |
| Since their initial appearance, the Thra’kah have spread across the Orion Sphere, either as large warband fleets, or as individuals and small groups hiring themselves out as fixers and mercenaries. They can be found working in any Faction territory, attached to various projects, endeavours or groups, or just as often making a nuisance of themselves as pirates and raiders. The fleets remain the centre of Thra’Kah power and culture, and although vessels leave and rejoin regularly the warband fleet remains intact. Fleets are often very inconsistent in their makeup, as the Thra’Kah happily incorporate tech that they have salvaged, stolen or traded, or refit wrecks that they find into functional vessels. These cobbled-together vessels can end up being very large, as more parts are added over the years and centuries of operation - they can also be quite dangerous, housing considerable amounts of concealed weaponry. While they are regarded as a nuisance in many systems, few have the power to destroy a Thra’Kah warband fleet wholesale, and most of their fleets are able to pass relatively unhindered wherever they choose to go. There are believed to be at least twenty warband fleets active in the Orion Sphere volume currently. | Since their initial appearance, the Thra’kah have spread across the Orion Sphere, either as large warband fleets, or as individuals and small groups hiring themselves out as fixers and mercenaries. They can be found working in any Faction territory, attached to various projects, endeavours or groups, or just as often making a nuisance of themselves as pirates and raiders. The fleets remain the centre of Thra’Kah power and culture, and although vessels leave and rejoin regularly the warband fleet remains intact. Fleets are often very inconsistent in their makeup, as the Thra’Kah happily incorporate tech that they have salvaged, stolen or traded, or refit wrecks that they find into functional vessels. These cobbled-together vessels can end up being very large, as more parts are added over the years and centuries of operation - they can also be quite dangerous, housing considerable amounts of concealed weaponry. While they are regarded as a nuisance in many systems, few have the power to destroy a Thra’Kah warband fleet wholesale, and most of their fleets are able to pass relatively unhindered wherever they choose to go. There are believed to be at least twenty warband fleets active in the Orion Sphere volume currently. | ||
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| * 3 Locational Body Hits and a death count of 150 seconds. | * 3 Locational Body Hits and a death count of 150 seconds. | ||
| - | * **Feel No Pain** - Thra’Kah characters' pain sense is drastically reduced relative to other species, and they may ignore any reference to “Pain” in Roleplay Effects or Conditions. Additionally, Thra’Kah characters undergoing installation of Corporeal Perfection Syndicate cybernetics will have 1 fewer Black card in their Card Draw Deck. | + | * **Feel No Pain** - Thra’Kah characters' pain sense is drastically reduced relative to other species, and they may ignore any reference to “Pain” in [[:calls_effects#Roleplay Effects]] or [[:Conditions]]. Additionally, Thra’Kah characters undergoing installation of [[:Corporeal Perfection Syndicate]] cybernetics will have 1 fewer Black card in their [[:card_draw_system|Card Draw Deck]]. |
| * **Strength of Steel** - Thra’Kah like to “improve” their armour by bolting parts of it to their metal implants and adding extra plates that would be considered impractical and restrictive by other species. When wearing armour of any category that has been made to look like it has been crudely modified with extra plates and bolts, Thra’kah characters gain 1 extra Locational Armour Hit on any armoured locations. | * **Strength of Steel** - Thra’Kah like to “improve” their armour by bolting parts of it to their metal implants and adding extra plates that would be considered impractical and restrictive by other species. When wearing armour of any category that has been made to look like it has been crudely modified with extra plates and bolts, Thra’kah characters gain 1 extra Locational Armour Hit on any armoured locations. | ||
| * **Hardy Constitution** - Thra’kah characters have Minor RADIATION and TOXIC Protection at all times. This reduces the effect of environmental [[:Hazards]] of those types. | * **Hardy Constitution** - Thra’kah characters have Minor RADIATION and TOXIC Protection at all times. This reduces the effect of environmental [[:Hazards]] of those types. | ||
| - | * | + | {{tag>species ascendancy commonality dominion free_union}} |
species/thrah_kah.1770150857.txt.gz · Last modified: 2026/02/03 20:34 by conan
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