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AKA the Tneikhd Kha-Lu
Overview: |
 The Kha-Lu Imperium, located in sector G, was founded approximately 150 Kha-Lu years ago by the Kha-Lu, a strong-willed race that originates from the planet Krivarh in the Chol star system. In general, the Kha-lu have always been a proud people, their culture dating back thousands of years, with very rich artistic, architectural, philosophical and scientific traditions. Because the Kha-Lu are an innately aggressive race that has a high regard for imperialism, they often seek conquest and will seldom sign a treaty unless they stand to benefit from it. However, they are trained to live by a strict code of loyalty to the point where they will be more than willing to sacrifice their lives to defend an ally, in most cases.
Their philosophical traditions have also given birth to a great love of freedom and self expression, while still having a great loyalty to one's allegiances and great demands of such loyalty. They also believe highly in the value of intellect, which is why only those who are among the more educated of their classes may vote. Interesting groups in their society are the are the Slaith-Nat, which roughly translates as "loremasters", an enigmatic group of people who are trained in finding and using the ancient, extremely advanced devices of an alien race that settled on Krivarh and tried to enslave the Kha-Lu among other things, and the Ik'Lat (rogues), a group brought up to spend their lives exploring as far into unknown space as possible. Sociologically, the Kha-Lu Imperium is based on a semihierarchial system that comes from the tribal, clan based nature of the earlier cultures of their race, thousands of years of extremely rich culture, and an aggressive desire to surpass the glory of a great empire they once had. BIOLOGICAL NOTES: Unlike most sentients in the galaxy, the Kha-Lu are not humanoid. In fact, they are far from it, and take pride in that fact. Structurally they are an extremely bulky race, and have both an exo and endo skeleton. They also have three lungs, which are designed to filter out some types of dust and/or toxic gas, and very sophisticated muscular and nervous systems. As far as actual appearance, the Kha-Lu are about 3 meters/9 feet tall, 1.3 meters/4 feet long, and 1.5 meters/4.5 feet wide. They have four legs, and four arms. Two come from the front of the body and are more articulate for subtlety and precision, while two come from the back and loop around the body to reach the front, and are designed more for brute force. The body itself looks like a sort of step pyramid facing forward, with the front being both the peak and the head, where two red eyes and a small mouth peak it. Also, while Kha-Lu do have nasal passsages through which to breathe, they neither hear nor smell through the same method humanoids use. Rather, small pores in their exoskeletons exist, each one containing either smell or sound sensors. This allows them to get a much more complete picture of where a given sound or scent is coming from. Another interesting fact is that the genetic code of a Kha-Lu is roughly 5 times as complex as that of a humanoid, and with obvious results. Looking at their cell structures, they have much larger and more sophisticated ribosomes and mitochondria, while their endoplasmic reticulum takes up the entire cell rather than just parts near the nucleus and membrane, as in humanoids. The brain is much more complex than a human brain, having four lobes instead of two. However, these four lobes are far better linked than human brain lobes. Humans only have one linkage node between hemispheres, the corpus callosum. A Kha-Lu brain, on the other hand, often has three or four linkage nodes between each lobe. The brain cells seem overall faster, more tightly packed together, and more connected. When combined with the fact that a Kha-lu brain is roughly twice the size of a human brain, this overall causes Kha-Lu average intelligence to be dramatically superior to average humanoid intelligence. |
Navigation:CoLC Index |
Index:Q-dex / Technology / Mystic
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Q-dex: |
T 619.1224/628.5940 M 565.3443/105.72While the quantum zone itself is technically labelled as etheric because of the order of possibilities, and could be considered etheric because of ether like energy waves that coast through space in the region, one would also have to call it an atomic zone if one looked strictly at how the possibilities manifested themselves. Energy forms in charges of either of two polarities, which can then stay energy or become one of various types of charged particles which then build up into even more charged particles until one has atoms, etc. However, often energy either stays energy or fluctuates between being pure energy and plasmified energy, forming the so-called "currents of space". In keeping with the ether classification of this zone, these are basically arbitrary energy flows that go throughout space in the region. The intensity of these waves is essentially arbitrary and varies from place to place. In some areas they may be no stronger than radiation. In other areas they are capable of tearing small ships apart. These currents constantly form, swirl around, and dissipate, and a predictable pattern has yet to be found. However, most of these currents are relatively harmless to the durable hull structures of Kha-Lu ships. Energy is also readily available as radiation, electromagnetic force, nuclear interaction, or newtonian kinetics. Because of the space currents, high energy levels, and a high level of nuclear interactions, most of the base substances that form in this region are usually charged and quickly bond with other atoms, meaning that most base substances usually appear in complex molecules and almost never by themselves, and those that stay by themselves are usually highly volatile in nuclear reactions. This has the downside that many controllably unstable substances are completely unstable here, but has two upsides: the allowance of chemicals so complex they could never form in other zones, and the guarantee that something chemically stable in this zone will probably be stable in most other etheric and atomic zones. The physics of this zone are quite stable, and technological advancement is easy in this zone due to the relatively straightforward nature of the physics in this zone. |
Technology: |
Technology is quite pervasive in the Kha-Lu Imperium, its level dependent on what part of the society one is in. The average citizen has access to technology that is slightly more advanced than the galactic norm, rogues, certain branches of the military, and high level officials have access to very high technology, while the secretive loremasters privately keep and use technological devices so advanced as to defy imagination. However, the last category is rare, and what samples of ultra high technology the loremasters have they rarely show off, almost never let others use and absolutely never give away.
Because of the uniqueness of their quantum zone, most Kha-Lu technology will work extremely well in both atomic and etheric zones. Much of their energy, weapon and drive technology depends on electrically or etherically hypercharging matter into plasma or in some cases into ether and electromagnetic waves. Gravitic manipulation technology also exists, and is commonly used, especially for subspace folds in Faster-Than-Light travel. They can easily create or destroy matter by charging it back into energy of condensing energy into matter, allowing Ether current manipulation drive, another FTL drive which works by focusing ether into a highly specialized current to "push" the ship at intense speeds. Plasma fusion drives are common for sublight transportation. One of the primary prides of Kha-Lu technology, though, is their frequently boasted about talent for macro engineering, or engineering objects to extremely large scales. |
Mystic: |
Magic/psionics are moderately pervasive in Kha-Lu society, but is not anywhere near as emphasized or as powerful as their technology. As far as actual power goes, the loremasters again have the best deal, but keep it to themselves, with all other magic mediocre and not very useful when compared to technology. As far as the nature of magic in the zone, it is based on inner psionic forces. However, one must have extreme mental ability and even more extreme force of will to use this. So much so that only 15% of the Kha-lu are capable of using psionics, and almost no reported cases of humanoids being capable of using it well. |
Size: |
The Kha-Lu Imperium currently has colonies in six star systems: Chol, P'Ang, Vakhto, Rhejh, Yaf, and Koh'Rai. Only two of these systems have life bearing planets: Chol, which has their homeworld, Krivarh, and Vakhto, which has two life bearing planets, one of which is a habitable by Kha-Lu, the other (by Kha-Lu standards) a toxic wasteland, where gasses that would be instantly fatal to most other life forms cause strange beings with a very unusual ecology to thrive. Other than that, each of the systems contains planets that have been colonized through terraforming or enclosed "dome" cities including Krivarh's two moons. The planet Hro-Thoth in the P'Ang system, which, despite its lack of organic chemicals, has an atmosphere and temperature that are more or less comfortable to the Kha-Lu, or the planet Shil-Ba, where all major infrastructure is in closed off habitats, and all resource mining and other tasks that risk exposure are automated. In total, the Kha-Lu have colonized 2 naturally life bearing planets, 9 non life bearing planets, 36 small moons (4 orbiting solid planets, 32 orbiting gas giants), and have established hundreds of small starbases, each of which can hold about 5 million Kha-Lu, mostly positioned in the asteroid fields of the various systems to have access to resources. |
Population: |
Estimated at 185 billion (185,000,000,000). |
Climate and Geography: |
Krivarh is a rocky, high gravity world, in which the biological competition for survival was much tougher than on most planets. Most life forms evolved very sturdy, bulky forms, most evolved to have both an endo and exoskeleton, like the Kha-Lu. Besides that, Krivarh is a more or less Terran environment, with an oxygen atmosphere, water based oceans, and a diverse ecology. Krivarh does not really have plants as we know the concept. While it does have photosynthetic beings, they are usually just as dangerous as the "animals" there. In addition, Krivarh also has several extensive mountain ranges, some of which are so high that they are above the cloudline, a leftover from a recent past of geologic instability. The planet's crust seems to enjoy long spouts of extreme stability, stacked between proportionally short periods of incomprehensible geologic instability and cataclysm. Its weather is primarily dominated by hot winds, with rare flood storms in the coastal regions, normal rain everywhere else, and snow in the polar regions. There are also lightning storms created by interactions between the atmosphere and spatial energy currents, which usually form even in complete absence of clouds. Krivarh has 130% the gravity of a normal humanoid world, and a diverse, though extremely harsh biosphere. There seems to be no set food chain, but rather, a complex chaotic cycle in which no species is really in any specific role. Basically, most livable worlds have food chains that are along the lines of: plants eaten by herbivore eaten by predator. Krivarh seems to work along the lines of: anything eats anything else.
The other colony worlds are rather different from each other. For example, Shil-Ba is a hydrogen and water based atmosphere that is covered almost entirely by glaciers and permafrost, with actual minerals found about 34 Lri (75 meters) into the ice layer. Hro-Thoth, on the other hand, is very similar to Krivarh. Despite a lack of life ever forming, it is still very similar in terms of gravity strength, temperature, and atmospheric content, making it perfect for settling and placing life on, even though it is still considered a dead planet because it never evolved life on its own. The climate on Zappang (the life bearing habitable planet in the Vakhto system) is very different than Krivarh. Gravity is somewhat lower, the climate is more temperate, and the land on the planet is covered by species of a type of plant that can best be described as a sort of cross between a moss and a vine. The life forms there are also much less powerful or wild, even though it never evolved sentient life. Unlike on Krivarh, on Zappang snow is much more common, especially in mountain and polar regions, while light rain and very mild winds alternate as the dominant weather patterns everywhere else. |
Flora and Fauna: |
There are several diverse forms of life within the Kha-Lu Imperium. An example of such would be the shanraokh, a large, flying, insectoid creature that has large leathery wings adapted to gliding on both wind spatial energy currents on minimal effort, allowing it to attack virtually any prey from above.
Another interesting creature is the hyakhchoth, a large, centipede like predator on Krivarh that is pretty much the top of the foodchain. They are up to 40 meters/120 feet long, and easily the most dangerous non sentient creatures known to the Kha-Lu, at least when they want to be. In addition, their exoskeletons are covered with advanced sensory systems that can "feel" the vibration of a potential meal over a kilometer away. One might wonder how it is that anything else can survive on Krivarh. This is because, to conserve their energy, they spend most of their time "sleeping" and waiting for a meal, usually hidden under the sand of a desert region or disguised as a rock formation on large mountain range. They almost never migrate or leave their territory (except when it is extremely in their benefit) for one simple reason: for one hyakhchoth to move 4 miles would expend so much energy that the hyakhchoth would have to eat about 6 tons of food to compensate. Thus, they only move to get a meal, and only move a small part to grab at it. In their "sleep" state, their metabolism is so slow that they only need to breath every 2 t'eg (6 weeks). However, once something is detected in their territory, it is easily dead, and within 5 minutes tentacles will reach out of the hyakhchoth's body, and pull it into one of several holes in the hyakhchoth's exoskeleton that serve as mouths. If food begins to become scarce, then they will begin hunting after other large creatures. Kha-Lu, however, are generally too small for them to go hunting after and they will only eat if the Kha-Lu enters the hyakhchoth's territory. Also, there are CO2 breathing, photo synthetic plants on Krivarh, most of which have evolved a certain degree of ferocity in and of themselves. An example is the nokof, a plant that, for the most part, resembles a ten foot cactus with tentacles coming out of it to grab prey and Venus fly trap's mouth on top. However, there are some other plants, primarily some thousands of species of grasses. Even these have evolved ways to fight back and catch prey, and pretty much the only place where plants are docile as we think of them is in a hydroponic unit. On Zappang, as has been said earlier, evolution was a much more docile process, resulting in much less dangerous lifeforms, which, for the most part, are rather dull and uninteresting. However, the other life bearing planet in the Vakhto system, the uninhabitable planet Shinrai, is home to some very interesting life forms. Even though the atmosphere is filled with some very toxic gases, the chemicals on this planet are also very complex, and have given birth to an ecology of crystalline life forms that have mild shape shifting ability and have a genetic structure based on chemicals that not even the loremasters have begun to understand. Even though the Kha-Lu would have no way of communicating with them, there are hints that some of these beings have achieved sentience. Finally, one of the most interesting features is that in space, among the ether waves, unique life forms of various size and compexity have evolved, usually using the currents as both an energy source and a transportation method. However, they have not been well studied as of yet. |
History: |
Kha-Lu history goes back thousands of years, and is a very long, complex story that would take a very large amount of space to explain in depth. A basic overview follows: thousands of years ago, the first civilizations were forming on Krivarh. These all developed independent, very rich cultures, all of them, however, focusing on both an emphasis of demanding loyalty to one's clan and allegiances, for obvious reasons, and to individuality and free thought, because of an innate hatred of forced conformity that is deeply rooted in the Kha-Lu. Many of these cultures expanded, became empires, and developed quite a liking for war, if they did not already have such a liking. This was the usual case, but there were also many cases in which cultures formed alliances, even to the point of cultures blending together. Unlike in many societies, war actually sped up the rate of technological advancement due to a desire to both have better weapons and industry and prove superiority over the enemy. This actually worked fairly well for the most part of the first chapter of their 15,000 year history. Within 6,500 Kha-Lu years of the first culture forming, the Kha-Lu had reached a civilization where the world was controlled by large superstates which, on average, had a technology level equal to that of European Earth during what they call the mid 1800s.
War started to die down somewhat after that point, and the civilizations began to turn towards trade and gaining power through economic dominion, a period that was abruptly ended when a cultural misunderstanding led to an assassination that led to a war between all the major powers, temporarily devastating the empires of the planet. Shortly after this bloody period, the others invaded. A race more advanced than anything imaginable even today had decided to take over Krivarh and use the Kha-Lu for some undisclosed purpose. It was a long bloody period, in which there was always at least one major uprising at any given time, but it was at least 200 Kha-Lu years until an uprising large enough to drive them off Krivarh occurred. This happened when the loremasters, nothing more than a fringe group at the time, were able to obtain and understand true other technology. Several clans had been paid to be loyal with basic interstellar technology, but this was what finally gave the rebellions a chance. The loremasters were led by an enigmatic Kha-Lu named Rao Vre'chakh, who was reported to have an intimate understanding of the others and near godlike powers. Under his direction, the loremasters drove the others off Krivarh, hijacked an other warship, and destroyed the others' homeworld, along with several other key colonies. The result angered the others, who declared genocidal war on the Kha-Lu. Fortunately this was around the time the loremasters had, while not spreading the secrets they had, united the Kha-Lu and had set them building with technology necessary to go to the stars. However, the others declared genocidal war, and launched an attack on Krivarh. Rao Vre'Chakh was again able to lead the loremasters to drive them back, at which time they permanently fled. After that point, the others fled with what they still had, and ever since have presumably been hiding, rebuilding, biding their time and waiting for the chance to strike back. Up to that point, the damage to Kha-Lu civilization had been enormous, and the next few centuries concentrated on repairing the damage and building new infrastructure, with little technological advancement. During this time, the loremasters, who were no longer publicly showing off the technology they stole, gained much respect and for all practical purposes were the unquestioned rulers of the Kha-Lu. This was the first time that the Kha-Lu had been united as a single political body. Eventually, after about 200 Kha-Lu years of advancements, they felt confident enough to begin carving out an interstellar empire of their own. They heavily colonized the Chol system and the nearest 5 systems, and the population grew exponentially. After this period, during which the Kha-Lu had been putting much of their effort into progress, they decided to expand their boundaries. They formed outposts and small colonies in thousands of different quantum zones and systems, enslaving at the very least some 35 different races that had not achieved interstellar travel yet. This great empire dominated for 5300 years, until the loremasters tried to fuse Kha-Lu DNA with the DNA of various other species in attempt to finish an ancient and engimatic experiment. However, this hybrid race became deeply resentful of the Kha-Lu and led the other races in a revolution. It was a long bloody battle, that, combined with several instabilities caused by the shattering of suns, destroyed the great Kha-Lu empire. In the end though, the Kha-Lu were victorious having destroyed the hybrid race and either broken or destroyed the rebellious races, they had lost all territory outside the 6 core systems which had also been damaged, and the loremasters lost a good deal of influence. Disillusioned by this, the core systems each seceded from loremaster rule and became independent states. This led to a 3000 year age of strife, dominated civil war, paranoia, and a complete halt of progress, until finally, the conference of Vakhto was held, in which the states were convinced to reunite and rebuild. Since then, some technological advancement has occurred, and most of the damage to the infrastructure has been repaired. The loremasters, while no longer in absolute power, have regained much respect and an official say in the government. In present times, as the second Kha-Lu imperium nears its 175th cycle of existence, a wormhole has been discovered to sector Z, near Darelan space. The two races found much their cultures liked about each other, and have for various reasons founded the League of Stars, an alliance guaranteeing mutual trade, research and defense to its members. This does not mean the Kha-lu are losing their nerve, though. They are just as determined as ever to surpass the power of the first empire. |
Government: |
The Kha-Lu government is a democratic aristocracy, in which the right to vote is given to those who have achieved a level 4 education, quite a prestigious degree. The actual administrative structure itself is a hierarchy, looking very similar to:
................................................. High master Officials are elected, mostly. The loremasters get to pick 25% of the delegates in the high council. The government is moderately popular, and has the authority to order people to perform certain tasks, but that power is almost never abused (usually it's just recruiting someone as a work force, collecting taxes, etc.). The government does not have any ability to censor the view of someone until he or she commits a terrorist act, after which point the government may censor any publications or writings of the criminal. Most of the laws are for the sake of protecting citizens and maintaining order, while the high council has the power to make laws, cancel laws, set policy and veto the high master. The high master has the exact same powers, only his veto power applies to the high council, not himself. The local governments are pretty much self ruling, but are expected to follow the orders of a higher rung on the government. As far as criminal matters are concerned, the trial system brings the suspect to a panel of three judges, where witnesses and evidence are called by the judges. They hold their own investigation through the police, after which each judge on the panel votes innocent, guilty, or justified. The majority vote wins. Justified is essentially guilty, but with a reduced sentence because there was a legally acceptable justification (example: killing someone who broke into your house and could be seen as a potential threat). All evidence, regardless of how it is found, is accepted, but any officer who gains evidence by illegal means will be tried for his crime. Foreign Policy:The foreign policy of the Kha-Lu varies from high master to high master and from government to government. However, as a general rule, they will attack empires when they think they can benefit from attacking, and will make alliances when they think it is in their benefit. They will almost never make an alliance of their own making, and will often fight to the death to protect their ally. Domestic Policy:As a general rule, the government will let people follow their own lives as long as they pay taxes, follow the law, and follow orders. However, miscreants, criminals, etc., are pursued by "hunters" - the Kha-Lu equivalent of police. The hunters will search for evidence, and once they think they have enough, will go to any measures to get the suspect. Also, in the event the suspect resists arrest, the hunters are usually allowed and in some cases even expected to kill the suspect. |
Society: |
 The Kha-Lu society is primarily both a "caste" based society and a clan based society, in that the Kha-Lu still have extended families that they are expected to show loyalty to. They are put in castes based on their abilities and interests once they are 20 Kha-Lu years old, and have completed level 3 education. Depending on what caste they are assigned to, they may spend another 5 years in school reaching level 4 education. The caste hierarchy can be found under castes.
One's caste primarily influences where they will work and who the people around them will be. While lower castes may talk to members of higher castes, they are expected to treat them with great respect, and are also supposed to associate with members of their own caste, while still maintaining a degree of individuality and self expression. The worker caste covers low level laborers and workers, the trader caste covers businessmen, merchants, etc. The warrior caste is a highly trained military, while the branch off rogue caste members are trained in survival, alien contact, etc., and sent out into unexplored space. They will report anything of interest that they find, but they will never return home. The intellectual caste covers politicians, writers, artists, engineers, and anyone else who focuses on using their mind. The aloof loremasters are, as has been said, keepers of the others' technology, but they also are expected to learn, think, make new discoveries - essentially all the tasks of the intellectual caste. Being the only ones with access to unimaginably powerful technology, they have (theoretically) a much deeper understanding of the universe, and only the most intelligent Kha-Lu are even considered. They are also expected to be authority figures, as most of them hold at least some degree of power at some point in their lives. They are expected to show moral superiority. As aloof as the loremasters are, there is no bias against people from different castes interacting or working together as long as one does not alienate himself/herself from his own caste, and members of the trader caste often make quite a bit of money by employing workers to create goods for the upper caste. Technically, the economy is market capitalism, and the caste system, while still enforced, is much looser than it plays itself off as, with several possibilities within each caste, and with the caste paying its members a salary for their job, which they can spend any way they want. In fact, it is quite common for someone to have both a caste job and a private job. Of course, the traders have an advantage here, because the two are one and the same. Some sociologists predict that within the next century the trader caste will become powerful enough to be granted class 4 education and voting rights. Another interesting property of Kha-Lu society is that it is heavily clan based. Among humanoids, one's family is often their parents, brothers, etc. In Kha-Lu society though, the basic familial unit of organization is the clan. These clans generally work together, showing and demanding great loyalty to and from them, with the clans varying in size from as few as 16 individuals to so many that it might have its own small city. The religion is primarily polytheistic, but focusing on worship of a local clan deity or deities, among the lower classes. Among the intellectuals and loremasters, religion has no place and logic is the driving force. People's world views are also influenced by philosophical schools, the two most popular of which are Handan, founded by the philosopher Jeng-T'Okh and T'Rea, founded by Laros. Languages:There is one official language in Kha-Lu society, Krath, plus hundreds of local languages. Krath has a writing system that most humans would consider strange because instead of a fixed sound, its letters represent basic articulations that become fixed sounds based on the diacritical marks next to them. For example, the letter ku, depending on what mark it has next to it, can make either the K, G, or Kh sound. The language itself is also unique, if a bit harsh and emphatic sounding, and is capable of being extremely expressive and sorting out the finest shades of meaning. Detailed information about Krath is available. Religion:In Kha-Lu society, the most dominant religion that is technically a religion is shota worship. Shota are gods or nature spirits, and each clan has one that it focuses on in particular out of the more than 400 shota possible, even though each of the clans recognizes all of the shota, especially some of the larger ones that aren't reserved for specific clans. It is just that each clan has one specific shota that was chosen to protect that specific clan. Also, unlike in early human religions, each shota is not regulated to controlling a specific thing. Instead, they each have a great deal of control over the universe as a whole, with varying levels of strength and weakness. However, higher on the social ladder, Kha-Lu are less oriented on deity worship and more focused on any of several philosophical schools. Most of these deal with the importance of reason in learning about the universe and/or finding the most effective social structure and and ethical code. Castes:The caste hierarchy is as follows: ................................. Loremaster caste As has been said earlier, interaction between castes is acceptable, as long as one still socializes with their own caste. All one's caste determines is his or her official job (which is permanent), how much they are paid, and where they are allowed to live (different zones are specified for housing different castes). Also, the castes are a bit more loose than they appear at first, each allowing several possible employments. Kha-Lu are not born into a caste, but assigned one after schooling based on notes about their abilities and interests. Also, only members of the intellectual or loremaster castes may hold government office, and only those castes that get class 4 education may vote. |
Economy: |
The economy is actually two economies at once. The first is based on caste based jobs that one is required to take, but behind that, some own private industries in a perfectly accepted capitalist system. This gives even a member of the worker caste a chance at luxury and some sort of luxury in life. |
Military: |
The Kha-Lu put a very large emphasis on military, being an aggressive, militaristic race that glorifies conquest. Practically everyone works on a military project at one time or another, be it a worker helping assemble a warship, a hunter guarding a weapon prototype, or an intellectual or loremaster creating blueprints or planning an invasion. As far as the people who actually fight in wars, only the warrior caste engages in combat. The warrior caste is quite large, the largest of the castes that can vote, consisting of 20% of the population and getting a very large chunk of the government's revenue. Warriors are encouraged to perfect their combat ability and, when war comes, to fight to the death, for a death in war is a glorious death in the name of one's race.
The pride of the Kha-Lu military is its space fleet, and the pride of the space fleet are the rhyakh'thoch, or "titans", huge gigantic space cruisers that are larger than many starbases and virtually unstoppable. Most starcruisers of the Kha-Lu Imperium are relatively deadly things, combining logical engineering and a merging of psychological warfare with a perverse sense of beauty, usually including certain stylised elements such as "claw curves" on the "wings" in the back of the ship. To an enemy, a Kha-Lu ship looks gigantic and horrifying, and is well enough designed to put up a very aggressive battle. Images are available of both a Kha-Lu titan and a heavy cruiser. |
Sports and Leisure: |
Despite the stereotyped myth that Kha-Lu come off as being uptight creatures concerned only with war and expanding their power base, their love of individual expression has also led them to actively pursue leisure and entertainment. Because of this, they have several sports, much art, much in literature, media, entertainment, games and any other sort of leisure activity, with a constant, semihedonistic zest to enjoy life in addition to setting themselves apart and fulfilling their responsibilities. One of their more popular sports is Throg-P'Okh, a sort of gladiatorial combat game in which 2-4 teams of 8 spear wielding Kha-Lu each try to "remove" (temporarily incapacitate), or injure all the other members of the other teams so they may capture the "orb(s)" of the other team(s), in an arena with randomly placed debris and obstacles. Essentially, it is a version of capture the flag where one is allowed to kill their opponent.
Other popular sports include wrestling, beast wrestling, and P'Aolruk', a sport in which two gladiators search for each other in a labyrinth, each trying to find the other and either kill him/her, or injure him/her to the point where the rival surrenders. Obviously, violence has integrated itself into their society in more ways than one. Another example is the strategy game pokh (which translates as war), which is the Kha-Lu equivalent of chess, but is much more complex. Players must deal with morale, weaponry, and various other factors, yet the game is still simple enough to be relatively easy to learn and have a certain universal appeal to it. The Kha-Lu also have quite a lot to offer in terms of literary, visual, and interactive entertainment, most of it too diverse to describe in detail here, except for one little universal fact: for the most part, all of the literature and media seems to have a certain feel of epic conflict, a recurring feel that shows itself even in the least epic of stories. Through this feel, the Kha-Lu seem to make any given event have the emotional illusion of being on a scale where the whole universe is involved. Kha-Lu art is also fairly common, most often as large drawings, paintings, or computer generated scenes, even though sculpting and music are not unheard of. Most of their visual art is quite real, quite beautiful, and in many cases, quite graphic. Their sculptures are also fairly nice, but nowhere near as heralded as their drawings. In some cases, especially among wealthier Kha-lu, it is not uncommon to have a hallway where all the walls are showing off large murals, drawings, and tapestries. Their music, with its usually lightning fast tempo and several sounds that could only be described as "violent", is unbearable to human ears, even though the Kha-Lu find it very exciting. |
Major Population Centers: |
The Kha-Lu, having had a rich, long history, have many major monuments, several culturally and financially rich metropolises, and memorials. An example is the the lake of victory, a small lake on one of the major continents. It gained fame because during the war with the others, one of the others' major ships crashed there, where most of it is still somewhat intact, and, due to the shallow nature of the lake it landed in, above water. Anyone may visit this structure, but only a loremaster may go inside. Another monument is the hall of death, a 12000 foot monolith with the names of every known casualty of the Krivarh-Other war engraved on the outside, and a detailed museum of Kha-Lu history on the inside. Another great example would be the palace of Rao Vre'chakh, a gigantic architectural masterpiece of a building that also doubles as the center for the high council. Also, most of the cities on Krivarh are thousands of years old, with several beautiful examples of architecture of countless different styles from several different ages. The colony worlds, even though they have not been settled for as long as Krivarh, still have their own unique accomplishments and cultural nuances. For example, Kogpo, the capital city of Zappang, is built around a giant statue of Hrang-Thokh-Rheiz, one of the major shota. |
Chronic Problems: |
Despite the fact that the Kha-Lu have endured for several years, their society still has 3 major problems facing it. The first is that the worker caste has always been treated in a somewhat condescending matter, and is tired of constantly being seen as a mere source of labor. In some cases, actual rebellions have occurred.
Another major problem is that, especially among the intellectual caste, there has been a growing doubt of the loremaster caste's competence and integrity ever since their hybridization experiments created the rebellion that ended the first Kha-Lu Empire. The third and final problem is one that has not shown itself yet, and may not show itself for millions of years, but it will come. The others are still out there among the stars somewhere, despite the fact that the loremasters are now the only ones who know what their real name is or have any sort of detailed data on them. One day the others will return and fight the Kha-Lu for revenge. There is one interpretation of Kha-Lu civilization that says its liking of war is a gift, each battle it engages in a practice session to prepare them for the final showdown against the god-like aliens known only as the others. |
Submission Information: |
Submitter's Name: Robert Bisno
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