The Lomwun Guidance

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Malchus
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The Lomwun Guidance

Post by Malchus »

Note: Well, here's my first race for this 'verse. It's a re-tooled version for a race I came up with for a now-defunct OZ universe. I recalled in the old TSW how I had the tendency to make aloof bit players. I tried to change that habit here by making an active member for one of the major blocs. I'll also probably make polities and/or races for each power bloc, so as to diversify.


The Lomwun Guidance

Species: Lomwun
Capital World: Ulmu (planet world)
Official Language: Lm’lwu
Official Monetary Unit: Muwo
Official Form of Government: Meritocracy
Executive Branch: The High Guidance
Legislature: The Guidance Council
Affiliation: Magellan Trade Axis

Biology:

Lomwun are a species most other space-faring races find very peculiar because of one very obvious physical feature: radial symmetry. This is because they are like most ground and ocean creatures on their world, Ulmu, where radial symmetry is the norm. Their world itself is a veritable giant, a dense world about twice the size of Earth and gravity that’s a staggering 2.8 times that of Earth. The planet’s atmosphere is very thick, in fact, it is almost fluid like and flying creatures don’t fly through the sky so much as they swim through it. Of course, life has evolved to cope with the high gravity and pressure and most of the life—be it animal, plant, or other life forms—on the planet are squat and stocky in build and appearance.

The Lomwun themselves look like stocky, radially symmetrical (also a very common feature of most life on Ulmu) conical creatures with a circular mouth atop the apex, six eyes belting the area about eight inches below that, a voiding hole in the middle of the base, and six tentacle-like appendages around the base. Each of the appendages end in a claw with six radially arranged digits. The Lomwun use these appendages both for locomotion and for manipulating their environment, and they can walk very well on only three appendages while using the other three for something else.

This radial arrangement allows them to see in all directions in at once or to move in any direction without turning. This, of course, means that Lomwun are very hard to encircle or take by surprise. Also, this entails that “front”, “back”, and “side” are not common words in the Lomwun language and are used mostly for the few bilateral symmetry creatures, mostly flying ones, found on Ulmu. Their point of reference in terms of direction is a natural biological compass which is, strangely, nonmagnetic but rather uses a system of natural gyroscopes made of cartilage-like objects suspended in fluid. However, they have six main compass points rather than four.

These “compass points” are named after Omlnwu, the six basic phonetic sounds Lomwun vocal organs can produce. The points are “o”, followed by “m”, then “l”, “n”, “w”, and finally “u”—with inflection indicating their being directions of course. These orientation points differ from Lomwun to Lomwun (one Lomwun’s “o” may be another’s “l”). However, the Lomwun have currently adapted a universal set of orientation points. These universal orientation points are differentiated by the addition of the “nm-” prefix to the standard orientation points.

As if all these features don’t make them peculiar enough, the Lomwun are also hermaphrodites. They are, as with most life on their planet, not differentiated into different genders. Their reproductive systems both have male and female sex cells, though they cannot self-fertilize. Their semen is secreted from openings in the middle of the claws of each appendage onto sacs located right above where the appendages meet the body. Young Lomwun are incubated in these sacs for a period equal to about four human months. The positioning of the birthing sacs also restricts some of their appendages’ movement somewhat when the young are large enough, which makes pregnancy period a vulnerable time for Lomwun.

The awkward positioning of the birthing sacs and the fact that the intercourse itself is not pleasurable means that the Lomwun are not as enthusiastic about mating season as humans or other sexually similar creatures would be. They are, however, evolutionarily speaking, herding creatures so in the pre-civilized times they still found protection in numbers during pregnancy.

In human terms, Lomwun would be “herbivores.” However, this term may not exactly be accurate since most of the Lomwun equivalent of plants actually have migration stages wherein said “plants” lose their immobility and essentially become animals—albeit said plantoids still receive nourishment from photosynthesis. Lomwun herds used to migrate with these mobile plantoids, until the advent of farming/ranching (Lomwun only have one term for both). As for the feeding process, Lomwun usually horizontally expand their trunks, shortening their height and allowing their appendages to place food into the mouths atop their bodies.
Lomwun.jpg
Lomwun.jpg (45.31 KiB) Viewed 6901 times
History:

Despite being one of the most advanced space-faring races in the Axis, Lomwun took the longest time to develop from a simple communal society to a full-fledged interplanetary civilization. In fact, it took them about five times as long to develop from their equivalent of ancient Greece to their current state than humans did. Primarily, this was because of their herding nature. For what seemed to be forever to the Lomwun, their classic “herds” worked well enough that they didn’t need to have any form of civilization. After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Ironically, it was other Lomwun that forced the development of civilization among their race. As their numbers grew and land and resources started becoming scarce, competing herds started to fight over. At first it was just one herd chasing away others from their territory, or trying to take over other herds’ territories. It eventually came to the point that herds began to actively destroy competing herds.

As herds started to jockey for each others’ territories, they started to become increasingly organized and sophisticated. They doggedly developed weapons, defenses, and other such things that would help them one-up other herds. Lomwun civilization and technology was literally born of war.

However, even as the Lomwun developed they also stagnated as well. War might cause development in some areas, but it was detrimental to others, including the technological civilization it had consequently developed. As Lowmun civilization advanced so did economy, and as their economies matured war took heavier and heavier tolls on this. Even their culture and science began to revolve solely around conflict and strife, grinding to a halt the technological development it had started in the first place.

The warlike Lomwun civilization entered a cycle of quick development and stagnation, slowly inching its way forward until, finally, Lomwun civilization and technology advanced to the nuclear age. At first, nuclear weapons were treated as just other weapons with which to destroy other competing civilizations.

They destroyed competitors alright, on a scale never seen before. Entire civilizations were wiped out and the planetary population dropped dramatically. Lomwun were horrified by the raw, wide scale destruction. Their new weapons not only destroyed rivals, they destroyed the resources they were fighting over as well.

The leaders of the more powerful Lomwun states met and forged the Equilibrium, the first step of what would eventually become the Lomwun Guidance. The leaders agreed to cease hostilities and try to coexist instead, keeping an equal number of the weapons at hand so that one power wasn’t tempted to use them on another. This wasn’t by any means the first peace treaty on Ulmu, but was the first attempt at a widespread lasting one. In a strange reflection of the Cold War on Earth, the major powers of Ulmu entered a Peace of Fire in which the knowledge of mutual annihilation was actively used to ensure peace. Of course, all conflict and strife didn’t end then and there. But it was a sign that the seemingly continuous cycle of war was finally coming to an end.

With the annihilation of the competition no longer the main active concern, Lomwun culture could finally go beyond warlike matters. The Peace of Fire brought with it a new age of cultural revolution and intellectualism. Finally, science could go beyond weapons development and philosophy beyond propaganda and indoctrination. Lomwun civilization started to truly become civilized.

Eventually, just centuries before the Lomwun became a truly space-faring race, the Lomwun formed the Guidance. After all, there would be no sense in war if everyone was all part of the same herd, right?

Under the Guidance, the natural herding nature of the Lomwun took over and Lomwun culture and civilization began to homogenize to an astounding degree. By the time Lomwun were ready to build their first colony on another planet, they pretty much had the same language and culture. However, some regional accents, subcultures—along with localized colloquialisms and body language—are still prevalent, especially among the Lomwun colonies.

Culture:

Currently, the Lomwun evidence little of the warlike culture they used to have. Years of homogeny and peace and the memory of how close they came to mutual annihilation (something educators never allow newer generations to forget) have made them one of the more diplomatic and reasonable of the Magellanic races. In fact, they were one of the instrumental blocs in the formation of the Magellan Trade Axis, actively attempting to foster diplomacy between the races. Now that the Axis have expanded into the Milky Way, the Lomwun have made several of the initial contacts with the different races and polities in the new Galaxy.

However, if attacked they can and will defend themselves. And the vestiges of the philosophy behind the Peace of Fire means that, despite a long peace, they still maintain a respectable military. This was made evident in one instance due to a misunderstanding caused by the Lomwun practice of greeting others (including their own vessels) by baring their weapons and activating their active targeting systems, which then deactivate after the other has replied in kind. The first Milky Way power contacted by the Lomwun luckily had a commander with the presence of mind to not fire immediately after the Lomwun starship painted his vessel with its sensors.

Thus learning of this greeting practice, said commander tried to spread the information. Unfortunately, however, one of the patrol fleets of one of the polities contacted by the Lomwun didn’t learn of this and opened fire upon seeing the Lomwun baring their weaponry. The result was the attacking fleet vaporized by the Lomwun group’s superior technology. This almost led to war, had it not been stalled due to the intercession of another polity the Lomwun had previously established contact with.

Generally, though, Lomwun get along well enough with most other races and polities—in both the Milky Way and the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Although, face-to-face interactions with such races are limited since many of said races are adapted to lower pressure and gravity than Lomwun. As such, Lomwun usually meet other races in bulky, highly-pressurized encounter suits. These limitations have made it so that, out of all interstellar races, Lomwun one of the less prolific when it comes to “mingling with the neighbors.” They do however, engage in trade, selling their advanced technology and information about their home galaxy (except military technology and information, of course). Finally, they have set up many research stations and launched science fleets (always guarded by military escort) in the Milky Way, to learn more about this fascinating new galaxy.

Military:

Despite Lomwun preference to avoid conflict, the Guidance possesses quite an impressive military force. They are one of the few races known to use electromagnetic deflection systems. These deflectors can generate an enormous amount of electromagnetic power, and would be dangerous to most other races. However, Lomwun seem to be strangely tolerate of far more long term exposure to powerful electromagnetic fields than other races. From this, many have conjectured that Lomwun reactors are very powerful for their size. Indeed, these reactors allow their ships to not only have EM deflectors and prodigious coil gun weapons, but also allow said ships to accelerate and maneuver mind-bogglingly well. They have kept the exact workings of this reactor technology secret (no one knows whether they utilize some sort of nuclear or matter/anti-matter reactions or whatnot), even from fellow Axis members.

Their fleets are primarily composed of mlwum (roughly translated, “battlewheels) large vessels which resemble what humans in the past used to call “flying saucers.” Battlewheels are composed of a wheel, a hub, and the engine sections. As per Lomwun preference, everything is arranged in a radial distribution.

The hub, as its name implies, is the central section of the ship. This is where the bridge, the primary reactors, and many of the key control systems are located. Around the hub is the wheel, where most of the rest of the ship is located (crew quarters, weapons, cargo areas, etc.). The wheel usually spins to simulate gravity (although it locks in place in combat mode), which means that “down” to the crews is toward the rim while “up” is toward the hub. Along the rim are usually the missile launch tubes, some laser or coil gun ball turrets, and six clusters of supplementary maneuvering thrusters. Along the ventral and dorsal areas (the battlewheel doesn’t roll on its “side” through space but flies like, well, a flying saucer) are the main weapons—usually tank like turrets with lasers or large caliber coil guns—which can receded hidden into the wheel when not in use. Finally, upon the ventral and dorsal sides of the hub, are the engine sections. The engine sections are like turrets, with the main engines facing out one direction. The “turrets” turn to direct the primary thrust the desired direction. Also arrayed around the engine turrets are the smaller primary maneuvering thrusters.

Lomwun battlewheels come in varying sizes, from small and agile gunships to 300-meter-diamter vessels (the largest military vessels they have so far fielded in the Milky Way, though it is quite likely they have even larger craft). Most come equipped with shielding systems, hardy armor, and devastating weaponry. The larger battlewheels usually have, as an application of their impressive power output and use of powerful electromnagnetic fields, twelve (six dorsal, six ventral) 400 millimeter caliber coil guns as the most powerful non-nuclear, non-M/AM armament. These can be quite nasty, to say the least, against enemy vessels. Lastly, the Lomwun's power-generation capabilities also means that their laser weaponry is nothing to scoff as, though these are usually used for defense and extremely long-range engagements.

Most Lomwun star ships, civilian and military, are actually arrayed in a similarly wheel-like configuration. Only vessels designed for atmospheric flight or ground travel have a bilateral rather than radial symmetry.

Military Ranks

Rankless - Rankless military Lomwun are, as their designation implies, the lowest rung of the Lomwun military hierarchy. "Rankless" is usually tacked on in front of their service designation (e.g., Rankless Infantry Trooper, Rankless Crew-Lomwun).

Tier One Ranks - Tier one ranks are what would be equivalent to enlisted officers in most human militaries. Tier one has six ranks, with one being the lowest and six being the highest. Like rankless Lomwun their rank designations are placed before their service designation. The designations follow the format of Rank <rank number>-<tier number> (e.g., Rank One-One Infantry Trooper, Rank Three-One Pilot).

Tier Two Ranks - These ranks are equivalent to commissioned officers in most human militaries. Like tier one ranks tier two also has six ranks, with one being the lowest and six being the highest. The designations also follow the previous format of Rank <rank number>-<tier number>.

Tier Three Ranks - Tier three military Lomwun are basically Lomwun flag officers. As with the previous two tiers tier three also has six ranks and follows the Rank <rank number>-<tier number> format.
Last edited by Malchus on Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:46 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Artemis
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Re: The Lomwun Guidance

Post by Artemis »

Those are some crazy, weird-looking dudes you got there Malchus. I love 'em :D
Unfortunately, however, one of the patrol fleets of one of the polities contacted by the Lomwun didn’t learn of this and opened fire upon seeing the Lomwun baring their weaponry. The result was the attacking fleet vaporized by the Lomwun group’s superior technology. This almost led to war, had it not been stalled due to the intercession of another polity the Lomwun had previously established contact with.
I'd love to hear more about this incident - I imagine it's done a lot to color their relationships with the Milky War polities.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Shroom Man 777
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Re: The Lomwun Guidance

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

*looks at picture*

Those are some ugly motherfuckers. :P

Do I see a Babylon 5 reference?
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"Sometimes Shroomy I wonder if your imagination actually counts as some sort of war crime." - FROD
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Malchus
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Re: The Lomwun Guidance

Post by Malchus »

Artemis wrote:I'd love to hear more about this incident - I imagine it's done a lot to color their relationships with the Milky War polities.
I kept it purposely vague, so I could fill it in later once more polities are written up. Or, if other members want to have their races/polities being the unfortunate party in that incident if they're interested in playing with it, then I'd be happy to let them.
Shroom wrote:Do I see a Babylon 5 reference?
You mean the whole "greeting with weapons bared to show that there is no hidden subterfuge" thing? Yeah, it was. I always thought it was an interestingly ironic way for conflict to start between two sci-fi power blocs.
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I admire the man, he has a high tolerance for insanity (and inanity - which he generously contributed!). ~Shroom, on my wierdness tolerance.
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Malchus
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Re: The Lomwun Guidance

Post by Malchus »

Just added the Lomwun military ranking system.

EDIT: Some quick tech edits in line with some recent discussion.
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I admire the man, he has a high tolerance for insanity (and inanity - which he generously contributed!). ~Shroom, on my wierdness tolerance.
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