The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

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The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

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Note: I am retconning some of the things stated about the Varakeef during the Worldbuilding thread.



A Bitter History

We were once the proud wardens of Life along with our former brethren. We spread the message of The Living Flesh to all the worlds we met, subjugating all who still were mislead by the Cold Lie. Then the Great Betrayal happened, when our former brethren were jealous of our elevated form. They cast us out, us who were the most faithful of the Living Flesh. Our ability to Create was sundered and we were cast out into the cold void. And you know who awaited us there with open arms, not judging any who wielded it and accepted all?

The Cold Lie.
-Nursery Schooling Verse 2-2.
Ancient Beginnings
The Varakeef were not always the insectoid race they are known now. Long, long ago both the Tyxans and the Varakeef were of the same race, now known as the Progenitors. This ancient race began developing biochemical and meatforming lines of technology, using life itself to do tasks baseline individuals could not. Some say this was due to a horrifying war that nearly wiped out Progenitor civilization; no one but the Tyxans and Varakeef know for sure, and they prefer to keep the reasons for the biotech renaissance to themselves. What is known is that rather than pull dead materials from the ground and process them to tools, the Progenitors manipulated living organisms, mutating and forcing rapid evolution to get desired results. While requiring more technical knowledge, with the proper infrastructure the Progenitors began to develop an efficient and mostly sustainable civilization. They began to terraform nearby planets with ease before sending colonists in living and bloated spacefaring creatures. A interstellar, then galactic supercivilization began to emerge, and holding it together was this love of life and flesh, and the possibilities it holds. Entire organizations began to dedicate themselves to the art of genetic engineering, making creatures both wonderful and terrible. A cult of the Living Flesh began to develop, and all tool-wielding cultures encountered were considered inferior, incapable of sculpting their own destiny and flesh. These cultures were considered to be followers of the Cold Lie and should be either converted or failing that, exterminated.

With this golden age blessing the Progenitors, many began to delve deeper into the wonders of biological and genetic manipulation. A good number began to even tinker with themselves, morphing them and their descendants into shapes other than the lithe humanoid baseline. Others considered their original shape perfect and became disgusted with those that changed themselves, viewing such acts as reckless and insulting their physical soul, which is the body. Soon, the two factions began to become more polarized and bitter towards each other and small wars began to break out. All hopes to stop this escalating violence and unify the two opposing groups were soon lost and a galactic civil war began that would span centuries across the stars.

The body modification faction, who called themselves the Sculptors, were stronger due to their diverse bio-augmentations, but were not as numerous as the Purists, who believed that their baseline bodies were the perfect creation and shouldn't be tampered with greatly. These Purists preferred to have their creations do the fighting for them. The two metafactions in the Progenitor civilizations began warring with each other with almost no mercy, believing their viewpoint the superior one. The Sculptors' enhanced powers fought against the Purists' thralls, and planets continuously switched hands between the two over the centuries.

As the fighting intensified, a horrifying truth became apparent to both sides of this Progenitor civil war: despite the many advantages that biotech has to offer, there was still a limit. A population could only be augment and be augmented with a finite amount of matter before funny things happen, like unwanted mutation or the fact that countless tinkering with the same organic material have caused some of it to go into a sort of recessive decay. While not immediately apparent, these issues began to pile bit by bit on each other in the galaxy; if it was crushed in one planetary system, another system viewed it as a minor issue not worth containing. The Civil War caused even further carelessness in the quality control of genetic and organic resources, as both sides pumped out engineered soldiers and mindless battle thralls to throw at each other in extensive warfare.

To combat this emerging threat to their society, the Purists and the Sculptors began seeding dead worlds with life, hoping that the natural and new organic development and genetics would give much-needed life to their aging resource pools. The thought process was that this decay would take a long time if the Progenitors were sustainable with their stuff, enough time for harvesting of these seeded planets millions of years later. Unfortunately, warfare took precedence over cooperative action for the long term survival of the Progenitor civilization. While the Sculptors had the military advantage of a diverse range of powerful fighting units, the Purists were colonizing more and replenishing their living resources to create large number of battle thralls. The Purists began chipping away at the Sculptors' strength until they were reduced to only a few system.

Starting off the Civil War with hundreds of body modification variations, by the waning days of the war only one type of Sculptor modification existed. Considered inferior to the other modifications, the Preying Mantis-like form was able to survive due to rapid reproduction and the ability to thrive in a variety of climates. This allowed them to inhabit planets most would balk at, though their contribution to the war is a topic considered impolite conversation. These insectoid Sculptors began frantically trying to survive, but continuous warfare slowly drained them until only one planet was left. The Sculptors quickly pooled their resources and scanned the ever-expanding galactic core to find a planet the depleting Sculptors could recuperate in. They found it in the planet Varak and a race against time started as the Purists started to chase them off their original home planet. Generation ships, much harder to find that the massive energy signatures of JumpRings, began to be to house a good chunk of their population, sacrificing the rest as they stripped their home planet for supplies on the journey. Having killed their planet to give nothing to their enemies, the Sculptor fleet set off into the nothingness of space towards Varak.

After decades of playing cat and mouse in the vast space via slower than light space travel, the Sculptor ships managed to get themselves off their foes' sensors. But trouble didn't end there, for even with rationing and recycling on the living ships the biomass the Sculptors took with them on their journey began to dwindle and could not be replenished. What few planetary bodies or satellites they found were almost purely inorganic and the closest planet with organic material was quite far. Soon mutation-malfunctions in the ships began to occur and even a ship or two became lost to rampant evolutionary degradation over the centuries. Panic began to sweep the dying Sculptors, and they began to consider extreme measures, even the brutal assimilation of weaker bio generation ships, to survive.

It turned out that the very thing the Progenitors shunned as evil and the rebirth of a race that became the Sculptors' salvation and the beginning of their path to become Varakeef.

The Varakeef are born from the galactic echoes of screaming lizard people

As the Sculptors began to quarrel with each other and try to stop the entropic energy release of their resources, the ships discovered a planet teeming with life that they couldn't detect earlier. The Sculptors merrily sent a scouting party to collect some samples, including members of the primitive, tool-wielding reptilians civilization that inhabited the planet. Taking the perplexed samples back to the fleet for documentation and probing, the Sculptors considered an invasion and assimilation of the planet for their own; already the fleet was exhausted physically and morally from the long journey. Surgeons prepared to peer into the secrets of these stone-wielding heretics and as the first subject was torn apart while still awake, the Sculptor leaders watched with apathetic curiosity.

The death screams that echoed from the cold-blo0ded victim melted the souls of the Sculptor doctors in the vicinity, and those behind safe membrane viewing screens were assaulted with horrifying visions of past, present, and future, of a super race of energy beings who upon entering this galaxy went mad from something they saw and as a survival mechanism rapidly regressed into the physical realm as the squirming lizards they are now. The sound waves that emitted from the dying subject, followed by its comrades, pulsed through the whole fleet and gave the Sculptors visions and epiphanies. Once it was over, all the lizards were dead and the Sculptors stunned. Shock turned to rage, and the Fleet waged war against these terrifying lizard creatures they dubbed the Vgar-Ki. Flesh ghouls and slug guns pitted against bow and spear, organized military science against tribal courage and ambushes. To the Sculptors' shock, the Vgar-Ki were winning and to make matters worse, learning from their enemies. Fire and primitive corrosives were quickly used against the waning bioflesh armies, and in the minds of the Sculptors the Cold Lie was having the upper hand against the Living Flesh truth. Realizing that the Vgar-Ki were more ancient and powerful than they could ever imagine, the Sculptors beat a hasty retreat with an inch of their lives and rapidly escaped the system to their original destination.

Realizing that unless something changed they would die, the Sculptors with the help of their newly shocked brains and experiences with the Vgar-Ki made the ultimate decision: They would use inorganic tools to help them on their journey. Converting asteroids into ships so that they can recycle the organic ships for materials, the Sculptors began the slow and painful process of learning what they themselves earlier shunned as barbaric. As the organic material within the fleet stagnate to simpler organisms, farming implements were fashioned out of space particles to harvest and cultivate them. While organic material was still a vital part of their civilization, if inorganic material could be substituted it would. Soon, a hybrid of iron age technology and biopunk began to develop within the fleet.

After another century the Sculptor Fleet finally managed to get to the planet Varak and settled down quickly, their supplies even with the help of tools dwindled to almost nothing. By now the newer generations were not as disgusted by technology as their parents were, having been born surrounded by it; a good majority of the Bio-engineering secrets were lost by the end. Colonies were settled and the environment tested for what was and wasn't beneficial for the settlers'. The Varakeef, still in shock from their first contact with the Vgar-Ki, began to distance themselves from their Sculptor roots and took the steps toward a new, tool-friendly civilization.

The beginning of the Gloguk

Many centuries have passed and the Varakeef have quickly built a globe-spanning civilization. Their bio-engineering past already a dim memory, they embraced the power of alloys and energy, having begun their Industrial Revolution. Their counterpart of top-hat wearing liquid energy barons and Worker Revolutions began to take place; wars were still a way of life for the Varakeef. Even as armored vehicles and repeating weaponry began to emerge, some governments looked towards the past, when they were once a spacefaring power and brought entire species to their knees. Dusting off old manuscripts and sending teams of questionable morality who are led by the Varakeef equivalent of DER DOKTOR to ancient ruins said to house Sculptor artifacts, the various governments began rediscovering the power of genetic engineering. Deadly viruses were the first to be thrown at enemies, then modified food to maintain their troops, and even super soldiers were rumored to have been created during what was called the Long War which devastated much of the Varakeef civilization and planet. Then, a terrible tragedy occurred that finally ended the war and brought peace to the survivors. Not much is known about this Regrettable Mistake as it is called, for the leaders quickly erased all records of it and demanded a vow of silence of the survivors on the pain of death so that the newer generation (and any aliens) wouldn't know what happened on that event. What is known is that half of Varak's population was dead, bio-engineering was greatly restricted and the Urvsarkell Organization was formed to enforce the statutes, and a sudden increase of flamethrowers and corrosive bombs on all sides of the Long War was noted by the inquisitive. Current authorities maintain that the Regrettable Mistake was simply a rampant use of WMDs of biological and chemical nature.

From the ashes of the Long War and the lessons learned of the highly censored Regrettable Mistake the Varakeef realized that to survive they would have to expand out of their crippled homeworld. Forming into three socio-political unions to cater to the diverse polities and keep a grip on them to prevent another world war, the Varakeef quickly began their space programs and within two hundred years settled across their local system. Realizing that they weren't alone in the stars, the Varakeef sent two directed messages to the nearest systems.

The Vgar-Ki decided to drop by, shooting a rambshackle JumpRing into the outer limits of the Varak System and utterly destroyed the orbit of the farthest planet when the lizard fucks decided to bring their whole home world with them. Millions of Varakeef colonists died from the astronomical consequences of a planet getting kicked off orbit and going rogue.

The Second Contact War between the two technological powers was more evenly-matched, as the chaotic and technologically confused Vgar-Ki faced off against the more disciplined and superior Varakeef battle theaters. Lizards in space suits pushing off from ships onto enemy vessels for boarding with makeshift cutlasses and dangerously prepared explosive pistols met against specially-trained Varakeef Gazuun troops with Gauntlet Guns that can fire extremely powerful and precise beams of energy. The whole Outer Ring of the Varak System was littered with dead vehicles and dead soldiers and civilians. A Stalemate began to occur as both the Varakeef increased their birth rate and the Vgar-Ki began to settle down in orbital tribes, studying their prey.

But fortunately for both sides the Varakeef's second message reached more calmer minds. The scrawny humanoid Aeiou came in their glowing bubble ships and persuaded both the insectoid Varakeef and the reptilian Vgar-Ki to stop fighting. After telling the Vgar-Ki that bringing a whole planet into a system and ruining the natural orbit of systems that aren't theirs is not a really polite thing to do, they helped send the Vgar-Ki planet back to where it came from and lassoed the rogue Varakeef planet back into orbit, dead colonists and all. Then sitting both the grumbling alien races down, the Aeiou offered something that would please everyone.

The Tyxans, the descendants of the Progenitor Purist faction, have begun a widespread colonization effort that enslave or usually eliminate the indigenous inhabitants. The area of the Galaxy that the Vgar-Ki, Varakeef, and Aeiou inhabit has been untouched by these bio-loving colonialists, but it is only a matter of time before the Tyxans find out about them. An alliance was proposed of tool-wielding civilizations against this culturally and technologically alien threat. All three agreed to form the Gloguk, and began spreading out to subjug....err, persuade other civilizations to join them. After a few misunderstandings between the Steel Scions of Canoipus Mu (and Vgar-Ki insistence to have the warlike race join) and waging war against the newly encountered Tyxans alongside the cybernetic Kuffa-Graffee, and accepting the Adnet's strange request to join, the founding Members of the Gloguk were formed. As the Tyxans encroached closer and closer to Gloguk space and the Greeg Dominant threat emerging, more races like the Pkartans, Virvariands, Humans, and Shoggoths were brought under the various Gloguk races' wing.

Physiology

"What the fuck is that smell?"
-One unfortunate human during pre-orgy preparations
A mix of a beetle and a Preying Mantis, the Varakeef's insect features were consequences of the Sculptors' last remaining genetic baseline. With three raptorial legs that can grasp onto vertical surfaces and a pair of thick "arms" with claw-like appendages, the Varakeef is very flexible in terms of positional placement. They have a form of mouth that can form words, but also hard front mandibles to grab hold or tear apart food. Like the beetle, the Varakeef has a hard chitinous shell and a thick throax. Their skin hue ranges all over the color spectrum, usually depending on geographic location. Varaleef are quite strong, and can lift about 10x their weight, though they aren't very fast and can be outrun by a athletic human. One of the most unique aspects of the Varakeef is their wrist blades, or as they call them Catoo. Actually a 6th appendage dwelling in a fat flap on the wrist, this piercing dagger-like blade can punch out about a foot and a half long (some elite Varakeef troops managed to get theirs to two feet) and is razor sharp. To make matters worse for their foes, the Varakeef's Catoo can regrow within weeks if broken.

Pheromones play a vital role in reproduction, allowing males and females to differentiate the other gender and "examine" each potential mate and to prevent accidental incest between each clutch of eggs. Once conception is done, a female can lay about 20-30 eggs. The male will insert their mandibles into each egg to imprint a set of pheromones so that the young can tell whether they are family or not. Once hatched, the larvae are taken to nursery institutions to learn and form bonds between their clutchmates. Around age 5, the Varakeef larvae metamorphose into cocoons and have nurses inject hallucinogenics to stimulate "adolescent" years, letting their minds run wild before turning into adults. After two years of carefree acid trips, the cocoons are hatched and young adults emerge in their insect appearance, ready to go into the work force.

The chemicals comprising the Pheromones for mating and love are also vital in the Adrenaline Rush all Varakeef can have, called the Wakkeef, or Death Heart. This quickly solidifies their exoskeleton to greater hardness and gives the Varakeef much more agility, at the expense of mental functions. While this berserker rush has its benefits, after the Wakkeef ends the Varakeef will have something akin to a fever and feel extremely lethargic.

The Varakeef are omnivores, but prefer to eat other bugs, fishes, and fungi. They have a lethal reaction to chocolate.
Homeworld: Varak

The Varakeef do like their climbing and genocidal hunting expeditions.
-Anonymous
A lush and tropical planet with giant trees, the planet Varak has been modified little since the Sculptors first came to colonize. Wars and industrialization has taken a toll, but the spirit of the planet still remains. Land surrounding a dozen large seas and watered by underground cavern rivers, the planet Varak houses a large assortment of fauna and flora; from the dangerous Aksxo Horned Beast to the migrating Chweeka super shrooms, the Varakeef are sustained by and sustain the planet. While on top of the food chain after the invention of the gun and mass production, life in Varak in some ways is more dangerous than Earth. Despite industrialization semi-sentient tree vines and hordes of beasts continue to wreck the tall cities of the Varakeef, who continuously wage a war of extermination on the outskirts of their lands. While beast fatalities are common, Varakeef settlements have taken advantage of the environment and famine has never been an issue in Varakeef history.
Government
The Varakeef are considered the paragons of the Gloguk. They have three completely different governments that hate each other but work in perfect unison to buttfuck the Tyxans before stabbing each other for the loot.
-First ambassador Carlos Meonz of Earth to Varak.
After the Long War, the surviving Varakeef institutions formed three distinct Alliances that in reality act more like federations. Each are ruled by a Vasakeef (Rule Heart), who in turn leads or answers to a body of government distinct in that Alliance. Many nations and polities in the Varakeef civilization at least pay lip service to one of the Alliances to enjoy their protection and benefits. The Alliances, while maintaining treaties with each other, continue to wage a cold war with spies and low-intensity proxy wars. Despite this, none are willing to shift the balance of power completely, preferring to simply have economic and political upper hand in their world and in the Gloguk.

ParoKeefa- The liberal democratic of the Alliances, the ParoKeefa believe that representative democracy is the way to go, and is the Alliance most active with Humans and other more "liberally" inclined races. Ruled by a Vasakeef elected every decade by an bicameral assembly of elites and elected representatives, the ParoKeefa have the most economically and culturally rich societies, but are not as strong as the other Alliances and their politics are rife with corruption.

TysvklKeefa- The communist of the Alliances, the TysvklKeefa was formed after many of the production bases and labor forces joined in mutual defense after their governments collapsed during the Long War. The Vasakeef is elected by what is akin to the Politburo of human communist nations, and committees under the Vasakeef dictate what needs to be produced by their industries. High on production and Party Loyalty, the TysvklKeefa is not the most wealthiest nor cultured of Alliances.

Groogookeefa- A combination of old monarchial and industrialist interests from before the Long War, this Alliance is borderline fascist. Fending off Tyxan and Greeg aggressors from their territories, it is the GroogooKeefa who helped form the Gloguk and the Alliance that takes the brunt of the fighting in the Galaxy. The Vasakeef rules with an iron fist with the help of their generals, and selection is based on military might and the backing of industralist powers. While having a strong military, the GroogooKeefa is the most xenophobic and uncultured of the Alliances.

While each Alliance has their own government, economy, military, and social intricacies like human governments, in the grand scheme of things each one has a specific role: The ParoKeefa deal in diplomacy, the TysvklKeefa manufacture the armament, and the GroogooKeefa wage war. It is unsafe for one's health to try to compare the Alliance system to a caste system.

One organization that seems separate and above the Alliances is the Urvsarkell, which is the regulatory body concerning genetic and biological engineering and tinkering. Formed after the Long War, the Urvsarkell makes sure that the Regrettable Mistake doesn't happen again. Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, training, and extralegalities, their agents can investigate anything and anyone with little legal process, and can arrest or execute anyone below a Vasakeef. Every Varakeef fleet in the Gloguk has at least a few Urvsarkell agents to maintain technological purity and cull any bio cultists.
Military
THEY ARE STROLLING UP THE WALLS! I REPEAT, THE VARAKEEF ARE STROLLING UP THE W-
-final words of the Xortian Dominion 5th Suits during the Great Free Arm Incursions

Due to their physiology, Varakeef have mastered the element of Three Dimensional Warfare, or warfare on both the vertical and horizontal axis, long ago. From their days inhabiting the large trees with swords and blade-shooting sling gauntlets to urban environments with Gauntlet Guns and Tactical Operations Units, the Varakeef know how to fight above and below them as well as around them. Each Alliance generally has their own army, but aside from a few unique elements or weaponry most share the same structure.

On top the Vasakeef controls the military as the commander in chief. Under them are the various generals (with various Varakeef words that I don't wanna get into) who personally lead each War Charge, about 20,000 strong each. Each War Charge has about 10,000 light or mechanized infantry, 5000 air support of mostly VTOL crafts, and 5000 that is up to the general to attach; this gives each general a way to customize their War Charge as they see fit while maintaining standardization and organization. More mechanized generals would add mechanized infantry and then add 5000 armored units, while more stealthier generals would give their light infantry unlimited access to troop VTOLS and have 5000 commandos and spies at the ready.

The main service weapon of the Varakeef is the Gauntlet Gun, a sort of glove with a gun mechanism on the wrist. Using a small smoothbore barrel with three or four small rings around it, the Gauntlet Gun shoots balls akin to those used in muskets using Gauss principles. Ammo is stored in ring-shaped magazines that clip onto the gun near the arm. The Gauntlet Gun has a small slit to allow the organic wrist blades of the Varakeef to shoot out during close quarter combat. Various models exist, including flamethrowers and Energy variants for the elite forces.

Armor is surprisingly light for the already hardy Varakeef, with only a few centimeters of plastic plating to stop shrapnel and stabbing. They do have suits for when fighting in hazardous environments, but prefer to leave that to other races and the South American humans.

The Varakeef's mechanized arsenal consists of mostly VTOLs, vertical crawlers, and artillery due to their vertical lifestyle and siege mentality. Akin to helicopters mixed with blimps, the VTOLs are the tanks of military with even the lightest one armed like an Apache; the biggest ones are practically fat and bulky frigates with small crews that live in them. All War Charges have 5000 aerodynes, mostly VTOLs, at their disposable. Nonetheless, ground warfare is not neglected and ancient, rugged eight-wheeled APCs that can quickly transport their troops do on the horizontal plane exist, as well as spider-like boxes with guns called Vertical Walkers that can be used to protect and transport climbing forces as they move up hazardous and uneven or slippery 90-degree surfaces. Artillery, one the earliest heavy weapons used by the modern Varakeef army, can shoot both direct and indirect fire. Artillery is used to soften defenses as any other military would, but the Varakeef also use it to make defensive trenches within the enemies' own walls and structures for when the infantry start fighting their way up, literally. For this end, artillery also fire sticky objects for use of cover on the wall, as well as ammo and supply crates (with equipment stickied inside so they don't fall when opened) so that their soldiers can resupply on the spot.

Space combat is an important part in Hardcore Regenisis, and the Varakeef combat doctrine in this aspect prefer segmented ships that can disperse and wage war all around their foes. Akin to Pez dispensers, the Varakeef Warships are elongated, huge cargo ships with a large and armored "front" with smaller ships attached to them. After softening up the JumpRing's defenses on the other side with fast-moving drone starfighters the Warship, the armored part facing "forward" when going into the JumpRing, blazes through. Once through, the ships connected behind the forward section disconnect and start moving in all directions toward the enemy, to maintain three dimensional warfare. While many are destroyers and frigates of sort , some Warships also house troop transports that can achieve boarding actions on particularly important or tough enemy vessels or for planetary spearheads. The Varakeef space marines have mastered that art of zero-G and 3D boarding actions as their planetary counterparts, proving to be a terrifying force with laser Gauntlet Guns and cybernetic implants up the chitinous wazoo to help them survive better in sapce.
Religion
Silly humans, believing any god would meddle in the chaotic order of nature. Look around you! Cities made from metals hidden under the Earth, power made from heat and the orgasms of electrons, and plans built where there should only be evolution and natural selection! Gods do not react to the elements, they create and bend the elements to their will.
-Anonymous Varakeef temple caretaker
The Varakeef worship the Gods of Productivity who reside in all tools and machinery. The thinking goes that nature is kinda wild and sporadic based on evolution and environment, whereas GLORIOUS TOOLS that can mold the world as they see fit can only be made from beings greater than any mortals who spit on the natural order in their sentient pursuits, and only gods can conceive and bless the Varakeef with such intellect and Randian power. To the Varakeef, the simple act of productivity and industry is a holy act, and the fight against the Tyxans is not only for survival or vengeance, but also one of a crusade of orderly Technology vs the chaotic and scary gooey Nature.

Some of the folks in the Varakeef's Pantheon include:

Valfere: The Head Honcho, the Man with the Plan, Valfere is the Mad God of Schematics and Invention, where order takes resources and makes them into something more. He is said to have whacked sense in the Varakeef during their journey to Varak rather than proto-Vgar Ki madness.

Qorfere: Brother of Valfere, and the God of the Hammer, the wrench, the lever, and the pulley. Despite being the most basic of gods, extremely important

Oasaiere: Goddess of processed materials, the mother that turns natural, chaotic material into orderly, godly materials. Loves to be hammered and screwed (HURRR).

Raaare: God of Warfare and Military Engineering and demands the equipment of fallen foes as tribute. Because the Tyxans mostly use biological matter and not technology, the god Raaare hates them and demands the total annihilation of that race. Greeg Dominants who extensively fight the Varakeef also worship Raaare, as does local warlike Vgar-Ki.

Sranicere: God of locomotion and all vehicles. Gotta go fast.

Aytajere: This new goddess of spaceships and satellites, Aytajere is a controversial god due to arguments on whether extraterrestrial vessels like rockets and orbital satellites would fall under Sranicere's domain or be worthy of another god. After being created and ordained by many of the mainstream churches, a few sects broke off and considered her a false goddess, claiming that spaceships were still a vehicle (and somehow by tangent so are satellites and space stations) and thus belonging to Sranicere.
Culture
Have you ever tried playing Qarfi while sitting on a 90 degree gravity platform. It's a exhilarating experience. But to hell with those bugs' music.
-A Steel Scion of Canoipus Mu's recollection of touring Varak.

The Varakeef are filled with lamentations of the past and live in a world quite dangerous. While not as warlike as the Steel Scions of Canoipus Mu, death and war are a part of life in Varak and any Varakeef colony. Thus, life is lived to the fullest and little regret is placed on the Varakeef mind. Valuing honesty, generosity, and ruthless ambition, the Varakeef can be a perplexing friend and/or enemy to those alien to it and its customs. They seem to insult people on minute and then dole out gifts to the same people the next. Young larvae are considered selfish and bratty, but to the Varakeef its simply the youngs' way of acquiring much needed resources and can serve them well in the future by developing ambitions when it is the grubs' turn to go out and find resources for their community.

Hedonistic and pleasure-seeking, the Varakeef see no sin in drugs, wanton sex, and wild adventures of both the day and night kind. There is no word for adultery in the Varakeef dictionary, and many Varakeef simply lay with any other Varakeef(s) as they please. Being the technical people that they are, the Varakeef have developed various toys to aid in their pleasures. Perhaps this open sexual tendency is a result of a survival mechanism to reproduce during a time when the Varakeef were not as high on the food chain as they are now. Children are traced by their mother's line, and one female Varakeef can have as many as twelve larvae with a gestation period of a year. Despite this, incest is a major taboo and the Pheromones allow Varakeef to make sure they aren't screwing their siblings or half-siblings on either their mother or father's side. While many drugs are allowed for personal recreation, drugs that turn Varakeef murderous and drugs that deliberately mask or hinder the relative-detecting pheromones are outright banned, or at least heavily regulated and used with care.

Despite being insectoid, the Varakeef are quite individualistic and will do whatever hobby they see fit. Even in the communistic TysvklKeefa are the proletariat allowed free time away from the communes, where trade shows and show off contests are popular. One of the most popular pursuits currently in Varakeef culture is singing. While considered atrocious by many other races who consider it simply incoherent screeching and growling, to Varakeef ears and senses it is a symphony of subtle vibrations and tempos, each lyric a story unique to the singer. Songs can make or break relationships, and those considered the best have harems and multiple concert contracts lined up for them; sadly, many promising and lively singers have met short ends from agonized aliens who did the fatal deed in order to maintain sanity.

While video games have been a mainstay in Varakeef culture for a while, board games are still popular and hone the Varakeef's technical skill. The board game Qarfi is popular in throughout the the Gloguk that it was proudly awarded the "Most Culturally Parasitic Board Game", second to the Aeiou pub game Tykek and the human game Chess the third. A two or three player game in some variants, the object of Qarfi is to develop an invention using abstract pieces like "fire" and "Mass Production Lines". Many technical advances in the Varakeef have been inspired by Qarfi, and whole Vgar-Ki scientist/engineer cults are dedicated around the game, believing it to be magical and divine.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
-Joseph Campbell
wellis
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Re: The Varakeef

Post by wellis »

Are the Varakeef, or the Gloguk in general, the type to try to turn planets into ecumenopoli ala Trantor or Coruscant?

Like is Varakeef hatred of organic things so intense they'll fuck over a nature park deliberately?
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Heretic
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Re: The Varakeef

Post by Heretic »

wellis wrote:Are the Varakeef, or the Gloguk in general, the type to try to turn planets into ecumenopoli ala Trantor or Coruscant?

Like is Varakeef hatred of organic things so intense they'll fuck over a nature park deliberately?
While the Gloguk does have an inclination to arcologies, I don't think they would go all out with turning whole planets into cities. That would require extreme dependency on the already fragile and loose Galactic Trade.

Varakeef believe technology is godly and superior to nature, but they don't go out of their way to utterly destroy nature. They wont think twice of burning a forest, but unless a Tyxan had something to do with it they don't really care. Varakeef simply believe technology is a cornerstone of their civilization.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
-Joseph Campbell
wellis
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by wellis »

Hm considering their wrist blades, can Varakeef somehow augment them with something like a chainsaw so they have something like wrist mounted chainblades/chainswords? Ooh or sheathe them in adamantium and then they'll be like Praying Mantis Wolverine!
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by Heretic »

wellis wrote:Hm considering their wrist blades, can Varakeef somehow augment them with something like a chainsaw so they have something like wrist mounted chainblades/chainswords? Ooh or sheathe them in adamantium and then they'll be like Praying Mantis Wolverine!
I don't see why they wouldn't customize their wrist blades, but a chainblade might be an issue popping in and out of their wrist. They would probably need a protective "sheath" in their wrist flap and have a power source wired or implanted nearby to work.
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by wellis »

Heretic wrote:
wellis wrote:Hm considering their wrist blades, can Varakeef somehow augment them with something like a chainsaw so they have something like wrist mounted chainblades/chainswords? Ooh or sheathe them in adamantium and then they'll be like Praying Mantis Wolverine!
I don't see why they wouldn't customize their wrist blades, but a chainblade might be an issue popping in and out of their wrist. They would probably need a protective "sheath" in their wrist flap and have a power source wired or implanted nearby to work.
Oh what if they just slip a chainblade "sheathe" over their wrist blades, with its own power source that only starts up when it can tell they've fitted their wrist blades in?
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by Heretic »

Oh what if they just slip a chainblade "sheathe" over their wrist blades, with its own power source that only starts up when it can tell they've fitted their wrist blades in?

Seeing as they are one of the more advanced Gloguk races in terms of weaponry, I don't see why not. Sure, miniature wrist chainblades for the praying mantis/beetle hands.
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by wellis »

Considering the Tyvyskeel are the communists of the Varakeef, have they attempted to export the revolution?
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Re: The Varakeef [Gloguk Member Race]

Post by Heretic »

wellis wrote:Considering the Tyvyskeel are the communists of the Varakeef, have they attempted to export the revolution?
While they don't do so as much in Varakeef sphere due to the tenuous cold war that is established for balance and stability, they do support communistic and hardline socialist parties and groups in the other alien races.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
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