NAME: The Kandra-Grayen Union

Overview:

 The Kandra-Grayen Union is a society unlike any other. A dying elder race, the Kandra, desperately fleeing the destruction of their home planet seek to achieve survival through procreation with a primitive other worldly culture, the Grayen. Settling beneath the surface of their planet they give rise to a new half-caste race to carry their legacy on through the millennia. A three-tier society develops bonded by a closeness, mutual respect and an intense distrust of outsiders who might seek to destroy the harmony of their society. The Kandra, oldest and most advanced of all the races, fathers of the empire, seen as deities by the primitives; are the leaders, teachers and guides. Their small and declining numbers dwell beneath the surface in sub-terrainian cities desperately fighting to combat their own biological degeneration at the same time as protecting and caring for the younger races. The Grayen, natives of the planet settled by the fleeing Kandra, genetic saviours of the empire; are tribal, superstitious primitives who are allowed to continue their natural evolutionary process uninterrupted under the watchful eye of the Kandra. The Kandra-Grayen half-caste race are the warriors, diplomats and merchants of the empire; the child race of the biological work of the Kandra. They are what will come to be known as the faces of the empire. They will build and protect it. They will be the action as the Kandra are the thought. They will survive...

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For the Kandra magic is an enigma. However, it is believed that the Grayen may someday evolve to obtain some degree of mana control. This shows in the Kandra-Grayen through what best can be described as waking dream or vision. These serve little purpose or use but the Half-castes believe that these visions guide and better them.

Size:

 Empire life exists entirely upon two planets of one system, not including the wasteland planet the Kandra originated from (though this burning waste-planet is used to provide a great deal of chemically generated power). The Kandra live on the larger planet also inhabited exclusively by the Grayen. The Half-castes live also on a smaller planet intended mainly as a defence post and military advancement site. The main planet is named Gra-Bryanen (Beauty of Grayen), the smaller Narcro-Serl (She who watches over) and the wasteland Unn-Salorr (Our sorrow).

Population:

Kandra: 13 thousand

Kandra-Grayen: 16 million

Grayen: 150 million

Climate and Geography:

 Narcro is further from the sun than Gra-Bryanen and so is only habitable about the equator line. This ring is cold and prone to icy winds with most water areas frozen into ice plains. There are no open oceans as such and so their is little in the way of snow to contend with although conditions are still very harsh. It is generally a flat planet which suits its purpose well. Gra-Bryanen holds its entire Kandra population under-ground where climate is regulated by them. The Grayen live mainly in the cooler regions of the North and South, these two sects having some minor biological differences. These regions are fairly calm but there is a = great deal of precipitation. The planet has quite a high percentage of ocean cover and the land is basically mostly joined in one great mass. The hotter equator regions are mountainous in most places and these mountains are home to some, suffering a great deal of precipitation all year round. The lowland tropic regions are generally too hot for the Grayen's comfort though their are some settlements. Unn-Salorr is an uninhabitable wasteland.

Flora and Fauna:

 The large degree of rain in Gra-Bryanen gives rise to a large degree of thick jungle-like vegetation, spawning immense quantity and variety of life. Most of this is irrelevant to the Kandra who do not sustain themselves with organic foodstuffs but vital to the Grayen who mainly hunt for sustenance. One specific plant worth mentioning is the now extinct Tuyarina flower which marked one of the few occasions of direct interference by the Kandra into Grayen evolution. Said plant was discovered accidentally to be use-able for intoxicating beverage purposes by one Grayen individual. The Kandra-Grayen soon became interested. The Kandra ran a projection based on the history of the effect of such substances on their original society. This resulted in a rapid extinction of the flower globally due to the fear the Kandra held for the influence such intoxifications would eventually have had on society. The Kandra themselves are physically much weaker than the majority of humanoid life with tall, slender bodies and muti-jointed, highly dextrous limbs. Often enhancing themselves bionically to maintain all body functions they are race of curious appearance. The primitive Grayen appear totally different in almost every way. They are winged humanoids with fairly squat bodies and thick, powerful limbs ending in talon-like, three fingered hands. Sections of their bodies are covered with a hard exoskeletal plating, notably the top of the head and the fronts of the limbs. A large bone crest rises up between their wing plates protecting the backs of their heads. The Half-castes are a curious mixture of the two. They have small wings strong enough to glide from falls and lengthen leaps and bounds. The wings are not large enough to lift them by their own power however. They stand more erect than the Grayen and are much more slender with greater dexterity of limbs. They are stronger of build than the Kandra though and their bodies are lightly protected in some small areas by the same hollow bone plating that the Grayen are covered in.

History:

 A world was dying. Through the devastating wars of the technologically super-evolved, The Kandra destroyed their planet. Billions died. Radiation and toxins flooded the world and the few survivors retreated below the surface. Infections and poisons spread lightning fast and the people continued to fall as the waste of war followed them into the earth. The few thousand survivors cast aside their differences and came together in the attempt to flee their dying planet. They began to devise a method of escape from their sub-terrainian depths via a hyperspace device to send them, encapsulated in vessels, to the nearest habitable planet. More died in the before the device could be completed but eventually the process was successful.
The vessels arrived in orbit of an unspoiled neighbouring planet the Kandra believed to be suitable. On arrival, despite their desperate wishes to forge a brand new society, their settlement attempts fail. The Kandra have been so physically altered by the waste of their planet and their previous sub-terrainian conditions, surface life is no longer comfortable for them. As they began to retreat below ground once again they were discovered by the natives of the planet. The primitive and uncivilised Grayen believed the Kandra, with their technology and strange appearance, to be spirits or gods.
The Kandra began their new under-ground civilisation but soon discovered that the polluted condition of the home world had left many of the race reproductively sterile. They sought solution in procreating using the genetic material of the primitives without harming them or interfering with their culture. A new half-caste race was born and a new culture immediately began to evolve The desperation for survival and the memories of the devastation of war forged a close, respecting three tier society with an intense distrust of any outsider who might seek to disrupt the harmony of the Kandra-Grayen world. The empire has had very little contact with other civilisations and has had minor problems with the interfering Omnet. This was not the case, however, for the original Kandra who had had many minor dealings and trades with neighbouring empires. The Kandra civil war ended that civilisation and its history is fairly irrelevant save to say that the war began after a struggle for control over the planet's corrupt ruling council evolved. Attempts to enslave the lower classes gave rise to an upheaval of society as the military factions took sides either loyal to the aristocracy or along side their lower class forefathers.

Government:

 The Grayen are tribal and so have no government beyond their tribal leaders. The Kandra and the Kandra-Grayen are governed by the Council. The council is unique as it consists of an amalgamation of all Kandra who have passed from the material world. Dying Kandra conciousneses are downloaded, when they individually decide it is time, into the council within the master computer. There the conciousnesses become one with all those who have so joined. This governing body is absolute and represents an expression of the wishes of the entire society. In affairs concerning outsiders influential and important members of the Kandra-Grayen race are invited to consult with the Council over the course of action. There is no opposition to the council as it is downloaded from all Kandra who wish it when they are soon to die. It is considered a great tragedy when a Kandra citizen dies unexpectedly and is not able to join the council.

Foreign Policy:

The Council tends to be distrustful of outsiders. Any dealings would be short and as a rule, impersonal. The Kandra nor the Council will never communicate directly with other cultures and always send the Kandra-Grayen as representatives of the empire. Though generally peaceful, intrusions and violations will be met with fierce all-out aggression. It pleases and suits the Kandra that to the outside observer they may not even exist at all. A casual overview would suggest the main planet to be mainly primitive with a few noticeable settlements of the more advanced half-castes. Many of these such settlements are also subterranean, situated alongside those of the elder race who never appear outside of their own society.=20

Domestic Policy:

The Kandra have a crime free society as their closeness and respect does not allow them to do ill against each other. Few ill-deeds among the half-castes is tolerated but on the whole they share the Kandra's moral code. Most crimes are punished with exile. All crimes involving the intentional taking or harming of Kandra-Grayen life is punishable only by death as this is in complete opposition to the beliefs of society. As their is no monetary system such crimes are inapplicable and most possessions are freely shared. The empire is policed only when sentencing is necessary. On these rare occasions elements of the council consciousness is input into rapid moving apprehension robot units, designed and maintained by the Kandra.

Society:

 Society for the Kandra is determined entirely by their moral code. Above all they believe in the preservation of life and the pursuit of knowledge. Both they and the half-castes see their unique Union as a great family. The half-castes respect the elder races as parents and council as ancestors. Unfortunately they cannot be downloaded themselves as their brain patterns aren't developed enough to survive the digitisation. The Grayen are loved and respected for being the genetic saviours of Kandra life but their society is separate at all times except national emergency. At such times the half-castes go to the tribal chiefs and explain the will of the Kandra as the will of the Gods or Spirits that they believe them to be. In this way the Kandra-Grayen act as prophets of a sort. Grayen chiefs are always given freedom of choice but will nearly always stand beside the half-castes in defence of the home world. They understand the concept of unwanted outsiders but not in terms of planets and star systems. The Kandra, as the father race, hold no idea of families beyond that of the council mind as their fathers and the Kandra-Grayen and Grayen as children who must be loved and protected. The Kandra-Grayen share closer family ties as a result of their tribal ancestry but overall see the Kandra as the fathers and respect them accordingly. They share the moral code but in a way that is not so against all forms of compassion and physical sport. =20

Languages:

The Half-caste race speak the Kandra tongue in a less elegant fashion and most have knowledge of the communication of the Grayen where emotion and mood is transmitted a degree via the mind. This is confusing and unintelligible to the Kandra whose minds are unwilling to open to the possibility of such an empathic link.

Religion:

The Grayen respect and follow the wishes of the Kandra as brought to them by the half-castes in a religious format. The other more civilised races do the same towards the council but in a more understanding fashion. They do not share the Grayen superstitions except for the Kandra-Grayen believe in such primitive concepts as luck, related to their embrace of symbolism derived from the Grayen culture. The Kandra have no belief in any non scientific forces, even good luck, controlling their culture.

Castes:

The three tier caste system is described in the above sections. The Kandra superiority of mind and technology should not be accompanied by an assumption of arrogance.

Economy:

 There is no economy. That which is not shared can be traded but selfishness is very uncommon. All duties within both of the civilised races are shared by all.=20

Military:

 All Kandra-Grayen can be called into military service and though objection is respected, due to the fierce love of society, it is rarely encountered. The military equipment is produced and often maintained by the Kandra. Many half-castes are specialised in the repair of the more serviceable elements of the technology but severe problems must always be dealt with by the Kandra. Warriors battle un-armoured, mainly to retain freedom of movement in their dance-like fighting style. This, combined with the potent weapons of Kandra design and the training all receive Narcro in the early stages of adulthood, make them a fighting force to be reckoned with. In planetary defence, the Grayen are willing to aid but are not granted advanced technology which would confuse them and possibly upset their evolutionary process more. When military action is unsure to the Kandra-Grayen they consult with the council. In the event of disagreement on the course of military action the council will take full control.

Sports and Leisure:

 The values of aesthetics and sport are totally lost for the Kandra. Their attentions are permanently on the preservation of life and society and the pursuit of greater knowledge. The half-castes indulge in art forms derived from the symbolism and religion of the tribal Grayen. They also hunt in the jungles and mountains as the Grayen do but not in a particularly wasteful or cruel manner. Most importantly for them is the perfection of their battle-dance fighting styles in which they compete on Narcro. These skills take many years to master and each individual will attempt to personalise the dance so as to develop their own recognisable style. There are no specialist artists or musicians as these recreations are celebrated by all and tolerated fully, though not appreciated, by the Kandra.=20

Major Population Centers:

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Chronic Problems:

 Genetic mutation and failure of strength hangs like a dark cloud over the Kandra. They fear their degeneration and what it will mean for the half-caste child race. The natives will continue their evolution unhindered of course but the Kandra-Grayen are a race dependent on the charity and care of the elders. Problems occasionally can arise in society when the unexpected occur. As the crimes and other negative traits outlined in above sections tend to be so rare, when they do occur it is always a shock to society. Though the Kandra are well prepared for most eventualities each time will always be difficult for all concerned. It is thought by some that perhaps disciplinary measures are too tough and that the Kandra should try to be more tolerant. This, however, is unlikely to happen and the harmony of society will continue to be severely disrupted at each of these occurrences.

Submission Information:

Submitter's Name: Matt Jarman
Submitter's Email: jarman@urug.demon.co.uk