Civilisations

Civilisations of the Voidmonger universe

Laquadrians

Inhabitants of the planet Satrimal, an oceanic world in the galaxy SPT0418-47, and one of the few civilizations that passed the Voidmonger’s filter. They spend their lives under water, and so imagining movement in space without gravity came much more naturally to the Laquadrians. They diligently studied the environment outside their home planet and were lucky enough to find another habitable planet in the very same star system, which they named Élodius and, eventually, were able to colonize. Even though there were simple organisms on Élodius that were not a part of the natural Satrimal ecosystem, the Laquadrians were still able to preserve all of these life forms and let them live their lives without being bothered by their alien presence in any way. Laquadrians look like giant alien jellyfish. Reaching up to 3 meters in height and weighing around 500 kg, Laquadrians most prominent features are a massive head with four eyes that can see in all directions and long tentacles that hang down freely when at rest. They have a hyperacute sense of hearing, allowing them to communicate over hundreds of kilometers through ultrasound waves, naturally forming a kind of an “internet” through which their entire civilization is able to connect and communicate at the speed of sound. Communication and understanding is key for this species. Laquadrians were able to leave the gravity well of their planet relatively early in their civilizational development, taking only about 500 years since the emergence of writing to a first successful interplanetary mission. Thanks to their unique experience and rapid technological progress, they never had to resort to believing in false deities and were always content to let science and rationality explain natural phenomena around them. They do not know the concept of war or murder at all, they live a completely altruistic life and strive only for knowledge and so the Preacher has decided that it was the Laquadrians who were worthy of absolute knowledge, despite the fact that their reluctance to believe in the supernatural extended to their Creator as well. As part of their reward for passing the Voidmonger’s trial, Laquadrians are now capable of intergalactic travel. For a race of scientists and explorers, this ability is absolutely essential and they use it to the fullest. However, Laquadrians also visit civilizations that have failed the Creator’s test and their punishments are completely incomprehensible to the Laquadrian mentality, resulting in a very ambivalent relationship with the Preacher. Although they see him as a messiah who has gifted them abilities of untold value, the Preacher’s punishments are a harsh denial of all their values and the Laquadrians perceive them as absolute evil and barbarism.

Drahmirs

Inhabitants of the planet Helastyr. Absolute lunatics, reveling in violence, constant fighting and suffering. They worship only superficial gods of birth, war and death. Although they reproduce very quickly, very few Drahmir are actually fertile (about 1 in 1,000), but such an individual is capable of producing an average of 15,000 offspring in its lifetime. Thus the fights are mainly over fertile individuals (the Drahmir are hermaphrodites) who, when captured, enter an endless cycle of forced fertilization as their offspring are raised to serve their captors. The wars on Helastyr have been going on since basically the beginning of the Drahmirs’ existence. It is a civilization that, thanks to its pride, has never admitted to a possibility of a different way of life. A typical motto of this species is “All or nothing”, they do not understand the principle of balance at all, so thanks to their existence Helastyr soon turned into one massive battlefield, reminiscent of Verdun during the first world war. Drahmir weapons are very primitive, given the relatively low intelligence of their inventors. Historically using mainly simple blunt and stabbing weapons, the pinnacle of Drahmir weaponcraft were slingshots and bow-like weapons. They, however, make up for their simple-mindedness with aggressiveness, which manifests itself on a physical level as well. They are big, the average individual standing over 2.5 meters tall, thin, walk using a set of two lower limbs while their upper limbs are armed with massive, 40 cm long, needle-sharp claws. They have excellent hearing and sight, but no sense of taste or smell. Despite the fact that the expectations for this race were not high, the Drahmirs failed spectacularly in their test. The Preacher decided that the immediate annihilation of all the planet’s inhabitants would be the appropriate punishment, as in the Drahmir’s case any lasting suffering would lead to the satisfaction of their masochistic tendencies.