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Overview: |
The Khurn are a unique culture in the greater galaxy. Though they are physically and genetically human, their minds have been forever altered by a now-extinct alien species. The Khurn bear their legacy still, exhibiting their strict caste structure and powerful psionic abilities. |
Navigation:CoLC Index |
Index:Q-dex / Location / Technology / Magic
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Q-dex: |
T 746.4232/767.594W
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Location: |
Sector: H
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Technology: |
The Khurn have inherited much of the advanced technology of their ancient ancestors, though thousands of years of warfare and conflict have made it slow progress to reach this point. Each colony is highly industrialized, with a large percentage of worker-caste citizens. Technology in this region is typical of atomic quantum zones, with very little development in ethereal technology--which is currently viewed as a crude source of power.
Intrastellar transportation is common, while each colony jealously guards its interstellar ships. Nuclear fusion drives using common gases are most common, while colony Sord makes use of artificially created anti-protons for ship power. Laser and blaster weapons are often used in ground and space combat. Force field technology is in its early stages, requiring constant power and proves difficult to transport. The Khurn have also recently developed a device which generates interference to psionic abilities. The "white noise" device affects psionically-attuned minds and makes the use of their abilities next to impossible. |
Magic: |
Every Khurn possesses psionic abilities from the moment of their initiation into the colony. Further adaptation and training by nurse-caste Khurn allow powers to be developed by caste and individual function within the colony. These powers are often functional and practical. (For example, worker-caste Khurn often specialize in telekinesis while a soldier specializes in bodily control and enhanced senses.) Nurses are the most feared of all as they are the only Khurn with the ability to alter the minds of others.
Though ethereal magic is possible in this quantum region, only a few renegade Khurn with access to forbidden knowledge practice it. However, the Emperor (and ruler of colony Sord) has extensive knowledge in this type of magic and currently guards it as a secret--it is unknown whether he will share this with others. |
Size: |
The fifteen Khurn colonies are currently spread among eight star systems with habitable planets, their are three without life-supporting planets and two stars without any planets at all. The Empire of the Khurn rules five of the habitable systems, while the Alliance of Freedom controls the remaining three (one of which is a binary star system). |
Population: |
The estimated size of the Khurn population (comprising both the Empire and the Alliance) is around 2 billion individuals. Approximately 70% of the population is part of the Empire.
[More details will follow.] |
Climate and Geography: |
The Khurn homeworld was largely desert, though it was more hospitable to the original Khurn species. The worlds colonized later occupy the range of extremes that humans can tolerate, with several outposts in regions they cannot.
[More details will follow.] |
Flora and Fauna: |
The original Khurn homeworld contains a variety of insect and plant life, with a limited amount of small reptilian animals. Worlds colonized later contain a variety of plants and animals that evolved independently from one another.
A plant worth mentioning, the Vora root, is highly prized among all the Khurn. It is a narcotic that allows for clarity of thought and enhances psionic ability. Unfortunately it is highly regulated by colony royalty because of its highly addictive qualities. |
History: |
Origin
The Krrn were an insectoid species that dwelled on their homeworld for thousands of years, intelligent but rigid in their colony-organization and caste structure. For thousands of years, they dwelled in a semi-barbarian state unaware of the greater galaxy or the Kendis Imperium. At a late point in their history, the sun of the Krrn homeworld underwent a short period of intense flare activity, bathing the planet in harsh radiation and sterilizing the entire Krrn population. (Earth calendar: 1362 BC) The human population of the Jakarian Alliance thrived under the rule of the Kendis Imperium, with advanced use of technology, psionic powers, and ethereal magic. Under the rulership of the Imperium they enjoyed a long period of peace. After the fall of Kendis-dai (1340 BC), different factions scrambled for power--plummeting the population into civil war. One of these factions, lost in the annals of history, developed a biological weapon known as Mortis Plague. Once released, the plague mutated and spread rapidly beyond control, endangering all sides (1310 BC). The Jakar people banded together once more in the face of annihilation and created a plan to keep their people alive. Two interstellar ships were constructed to hold a large population. Citizens screened and found free of disease were sent to these "quarantine ships," named Enais and Rhein. Both ships were launched to different destinations (1292 BC). The journey of the Rhein took nearly twenty years. In that period they verified that all passengers were free of the plague. On the homeworld of the Krrn, different colonies of the insectoid race responded to their inability to breed. At first raids were conducted to steal the larvae and pupae of others, bringing the young fully into the fold of the colony--but soon there were no more larvae. Colonies began the process of kidnapping members of rival tribes and using Nurse-caste Krrn to psionically initiate them into the host-colony. This increased the population of strong colonies and completely destroyed all of the smaller ones, but did nothing to prevent the eventual extinction of the entire species. The humans aboard the Rhein arrived at their new homeworld, a harsh desert-world. Conditions were harsh, but tolerable (1274 BC). Hope for building a future for the Jakari people was high, when suddenly groups of hideous insectoid creatures attacked the human settlers. Though the humans possessed technological weapons, the insectoid race overpowered them with raw numbers and frightening psionic powers. Few humans were killed--most were taken prisoners and dragged into hive-like burrows dug into sand and rock. The humans were given to the Nurses for psychic-surgery--initiation into the capturing colonies. Most of the humans died horribly during the process; their brains simply were not compatible. However, some of the humans already possessed a certain measure of psi-talent; the strongest of these survived the psionic adaptation process--though they were forever changed. Those who walked from the Nurses' chambers were no longer quite human. Physically, they seemed normal and healthy. But their minds had been changed, making them forever loyal to caste-assignment, colony, and race. The insectoid race possessed no verbal form of communication, so Jakari-equivalents were used for colony and individual names. These altered humans called themselves the Khurn. THE RISE The human Khurn aided their host-colonies in tracking down most of the rogue pockets of unaltered humans (1274-1269 BC). Human breeding tendencies were unchanged by the psionic initiation, and soon babies are being born in host colonies--who are given to Nurse Krrn for care and initiation into the colony. As the older members of the insectoid race die out, the humans breed and thrive, slowly replacing their former masters. Capture-raids continued as common practice, and humans were slowly distributed throughout all of the major Krrn colonies. Eventually the original Krrn race died out. Human Khurn replaced them in all castes, including Nurse and Royalty. The culture that emerged was a strange blend of Jakari and Krrn. They existed in this primitive society for hundreds of years. The colony that called itself Sord found the landing site of the Rhein. Slowly they began to discover how to make use of the equipment, the computers, and other devices--which let them rediscover the history and technology of the Jakari people (283 BC). After several generations spent in discovery and re-invention, the colony begins a spree of conquest--conquering and absorbing smaller clans (150 BC). The wars continued for generations, but the superior technology and slave-colonies insured victory for colony Sord. Eventually the entire world was conquered, with only small pockets of resistance left in tiny corners of the planet (3 BC). The king of colony Sord is declared the first Emperor of the Khurn. This marks the beginning of a short era of peace. The Khurn began to construct spacecraft based on the design of the Rhein with certain improvements. Exploration in the solar system and beyond revealed nearby life-supporting planets and moons. The Emperor limited spaceflight to colony Sord, afraid that slave-colonies might leave his sphere of influence. A rebellion is mounted by slave-colonies and the Emperor is killed. Several of the rebel colonies escape in spaceships and travel to the newly discovered worlds (270 AD). For a hundred years border wars claimed the lives of many Khurn, and these established territorial boundaries between different colonies in space. Clan Sord moved subordinate colonies into space, hoping to rebuild the broken Empire. The Dark Ages of the Khurn were a five-hundred year period of isolation between colonies. Free colonies discovered the rich resources of their new worlds and thrived, but Colony Sord continued to create more advanced technology and exploited the resources of slave-colonies for their own ends. This period ended when colony Rhijak opened tentative trade-talks with neighboring colonies (951 AD); communication began once more and a period of trade and cultural interchange opened. A cultural renaissance is sparked by the trade, travel, and communication among separate Khurn colonies. Technology, natural resources, literature, art, and music are exchanged through barter. The Queen of colony Sord proposed a standard system of currency for trade (1272 AD); the proposal was ratified by all colonies and standard denominations were minted from common metals. From this point there was a period of general growth and expansion. There were small instances of hostility between colonies but no major conflicts. Interstellar war began again when invaders from another part of the galaxy fire upon a ship of colony Gidds (1542 AD). The King called for assistance from other colonies, who all responded to defend their race as a whole. The Invaders were driven back (1568 AD); colony Sord (with their advanced technology and weapons) was so decisive to the victory that the royalty of other colonies swore allegiance to colony Sord. King Asdil of Sord quickly built a power base, and was officially named Emperor of the Khurn (1575 AD). Soon after, ordered the construction of a vast spaceship created from a moon-sized, iron-rich asteroid. The construction took many years, and wasn't completed until the year of the Emperor's death (1627 AD). His last order was for the entire colony to move from the homeworld onto the ship. The seat of the Empire then switched from the homeworld to the roving Colony-Ship Sord (1633 AD). The Empire of the Khurn slowly grew, as the colony-ship Sord invaded nearby inhabited worlds. Difficult resistance was destroyed, while a maximum number of prisoners were taken. Though the process took years, entire populations were absorbed into colony Sord. Slave-colonies were left behind on the planets below. Civil war rose again when two colonies broke away from the Empire. The colony-ship slowly made its way through space and put down both rebellions through use of force (1838 AD). For a hundred years the patrol of the colony ship kept the peace. A new Emperor once again called for additional slave-colonies, and again the colony-ship conquered small human-populated worlds. With the seat of the Empire so far away, the king of clan Gidds declared independence from the Empire (1998 AD). As the colony-ship traveled to put down the rebellion, Gidds gained allies in neighboring star systems. This began the Generation Wars (2024-2104 AD), in which the slave-colonies of the Empire of the Khurn fought the newly established Alliance of Freedom. The Emperor finally sued for peace, fully intending to conquer more human worlds and create slave-colonies for the Empire. A demilitarized zone is established that neither side may cross on pain of death. TURNING POINT The future of the Empire is changed forever when a young Vestis on a routine survey mission for the Omnet became inadvertently embroiled in local conflicts. A young boy from a neighboring civilization was taken prisoner by colony Sord just as the old Emperor died. Fitting royalty-caste criteria, the young boy was named Emperor of the Khurn (2115 AD). Under his leadership, formal contact with the Omnet was established and peace talks between the Empire and the Alliance of Freedom became more productive. The Empire and the Alliance soon became more acquainted with the greater galaxy, and soon Omnet technology (synths, biolinks, transcoms) were introduced and distributed. First contact was established with other human cultures, though the psychological differences between the Khurn and normal humans have strained relations. Possibly because of their remote location, or their new status as a minor empire, the Empire and the Alliance were largely unaffected by the Darkness (2121-2128 AD). |
Government: |
Two separate governments exist within the Khurn culture, the Empire of the Khurn and the Alliance of Freedom. The caste-structure of the Khurn creates a direct chain of command from the leaders to individual colony members. The process of how royalty-Khurn are chosen is actually a measure of resistance to the Nurse psionic-surgery. In other words, the royalty are the most "human" of the Khurn and have the least psionic ability. The actual process of choosing a king or queen is unknown; it could be some unknown selective process or simply pot luck.
The Empire of the Khurn is a totalitarian government directly controlled by the Emperor. His very will is psionically conveyed to his Council, who translate those desires into commands to both caste-parents of colony Sord (the seat of the Empire) and to royalty of the Empire's many slave-colonies. The current Emperor is benevolent and the Empire has thrived under his leadership and peace talks with the Alliance of Freedom. If something were to happen to the Emperor, the colony-ship Sord could once again be used as an engine of war. The Alliance of Freedom is a commonwealth; a number of separate colonies work cooperatively toward common goals established by regular communication between the kings of queens of individual colonies. Currently there are few disagreements between the colony-royalty, though this could easily change over time. Foreign Policy:Though both the Empire and the Alliance are new to the greater galaxy, they have quickly acclimated themselves to the introduction of biolink, synth, and transcom technology. Small Vestis citadels have been established in both regions and Atis Librae work inside individual colonies to keep the Omnet appraised of local happenings, though current Omnet staff inside Khurn space is limited. Both the Empire and the Alliance have sent colony-nobles as ambassadors to nearby Empires. Trade agreements and alliances are currently in negotiations, though the process is slow because colony nobles have no individual authority to make decisions outside the allowances of their colony ruler. Visitors are welcome in Khurn space, and accommodations for them have recently been established. They can wander the region as they see fit, with only one law to guide them: "Do no interfere." There are no guarantees made for the safety of visitors, and if they are judged to be "interfering" with the business of a colony, they will either be immediately deported (for minor offenses) or given to the Nurses for psionic initiation into the colony (for more major offenses). Domestic Policy:Khurn government, culture, and individual identity are so seemlessly linked that there is no separating one from the other. Though individual opinions of their leaders vary, the obedience to colony and caste are such a part of the Khurn identity that only aberrant individuals actually work against the goals of their leaders. There are no laws, as such, in Khurn society--though the rules a citizen lives by are defined by colony, caste, and individual assignment. An individual's very identity is his role in the colony, and he or she has as much or as little free time as caste and current assignment allows, rebelling individuals are detained and given to the Nurses for psionic adjustment. Law enforcement is handled by a special soldier sub-caste. No criminal is put to death in Khurn society unless lethal force is needed to detain them. |
Society: |
Khurn society is extremely efficient--with almost every individual contributing to the overall goals of the colony. Individuals do have free time, which varies depending on caste. They spend this time as most other human societies, pursuing personal relationships, hobbies, and other private matters--but it is important to keep in mind that all of these interests are secondary to the dictums of caste and colony. Different Khurn colonies each have a different "flavor" of society--each is a distinct sub-culture, but the Khurn are all alike in their single-minded pursuit of colony goals. [Vestis Note: I will publish more details as time and Librae research permits.]
Languages:The original Krrn had no concept of spoken language. They made use of telepathy which communicated picture, sound, smell, flavor, and primal emotions. All Khurn can receive and understand this type of telepathy, but only Nurse-caste Khurn are capable of producing it. (This communication is a primary tool the Nurses utilize when educating children and new colony members.) The Khurn speak an evolved form of Old Jakarian. Most colonies have slightly different vocabularies and accents due to centuries of isolation, but every form of Jakarian is still understandable and recognizable to each other. Jakarian words long ago replaced every concept the old Krrn species understood. Human cultures conquered by the Empire have retained their original native tongues but have learned to speak Jakarian as well. The slave-colonies are distinct from original descendants of the Jakarians, but are completely subservient to the Empire. Religion:Each Jakarian-descendant Khurn colony has no religion. They have a rich mythology with distorted tales of old Jakar, the Kendis-dai Imperium, and the insectoid species of the Krrn. Slave-colonies conquered by the Empire have retained their original religion, but the demands of their gods are secondary to the demands of colony royalty. In fact, in two separate slave-colonies, the religion has adapted to include the colony king or queen as a god or heavenly representative. Castes:The caste-structure of each Khurn colony is both simple and complex. On the surface, there are four castes: Nurse, Soldier, Worker, and Nobility. However, each of these are divided into sub-castes; and each member of the caste has a different responsibility. The specific divisions of the four castes vary with each colony. But the basis of each caste remains the same. The Nurse caste are the most frightening for normal humans. They alone among the Khurn possess the psionic power to alter the mind of another, to communicate with pure telepathy. The raw psionic strength of a Nurse is staggering, and overwhelming even among the psionically-powerful Khurn. The Nurses are almost the least human among the Khurn; the necessary alterations to their brains erase virtually every human emotion. They pursue their goals without the distraction of anger, fear, or remorse. Their function within the colony is to psionically "train" children and acquired additions to the colony. From one perspective, they are the most important part of the colony, for they determine the caste and position of every Khurn in the colony--including royalty. Each Soldier Khurn exists for the protection of the colony. Though their assignments differ, their goal is the same. Their psionic abilities, skill at arms, and physical prowess are developed to make them the deadliest members of the colony. Their tasks include military action, law enforcement, espionage, and scouting into new territory. A soldier tends to think in terms of advantage, position, and other military terms. Workers are the most common caste among the Khurn. Every function not filled by the three other castes are filled by workers. Manual labor, inter-colony trade, and scientific research are all handled by workers. Dozens of sub-castes exist within this caste. [Vestis Note: These will be listed when a census of each colony is complete.] The Noble Khurn are chosen by the Nurses for their inherent resistance to the psionic alterations that caste performs. Consequently they are the most human in their emotional responses, but have the fewest instances of psionic ability. From the nobility the colony queen or king is chosen by the Nurses--the mechanism of this choice is currently unknown. Other nobility serve as ambassadors to other colonies and foreign governments. Others monitor different functions of the colony--while many pursue personal goals. |
Economy: |
For centuries the Khurn had no concept of money and relied on a crude barter system for trade. Standard currency was introduced to replace this, and soon every colony paid its adults a standard wage. Money is used to buy all variety of luxuries and specialty items, though food and basic necessities are distributed to each Khurn separately from their wages. Everyone works in Khurn society, by caste, talent, and ability--even children perform labor, though only on tasks suited for them. |
Military: |
Every colony has an effective military utilizing soldiers and workers. Organization of the military is different in each colony, but a separation of ground and space forces is common in each. Each colony makes use of its military for defense, and history has shown that the military has been used to attack other human civilizations and absorb them into Khurn society.
Most Khurn colonies employ laser weapons, while colony Sord has developed blaster and disrupter weapons for space- and ground-combat. Typical Khurn soldier carries an energy weapon, a projectile weapon, and some kind of low-tech hand-to-hand weapon. (For example, soldiers of colony Sord always carry a Blaster or Disrupter rifle, a gunpowder pistol, and a sword.) Soldiers and military workers are all trained in a variety of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and deadly use of psionics. |
Sports and Leisure: |
The Khurn, despite their ruthless efficiency, inherited the rich and beautiful Jakarian culture. Individual Khurn often have a deep appreciation for art, music, and literature. These pursuits are produced during "off-time." Particularly talented artists are given royal authority to pursue such activities exclusively. Non-Jakari Khurn colonies have retained their own artistic style, literature, and music. There are no organized sports, though individual Khurn pursue a variety of sports activities.
Important historical events are noted on the Khurn calendar, but there are no "holidays" in the traditional sense. There are no days off from colony business--though every Khurn gets a brief "rest cycle" for several days out of the year. |
Major Population Centers: |
The most impressive accomplishment of Khurn technology and architecture is the massive colony-ship Sord. In addition to housing the entire colony population and being a deadly instrument of war, its internal structure is brilliant in its beauty--a breathtaking blend of classic Jakari architecture and modern Khurnish technological developments.
The Khurn inhabit dozens of worlds in eight solar systems. Each is noteworthy, and when a more detailed survey is available the research will be available here. |
Chronic Problems: |
Currently the strained relations between the Empire of the Khurn and the Alliance of Freedom divide a people who might need to stand united in the face of the greater galaxy. The Khurn are near several other minor empires, including Shalandrua (see Catalogue of Contact entry). Slave colonies of the Empire could rise against colony Sord if their royalty find the courage. There are also tiny pockets of normal humans who hide themselves inside Khurn-inhabited worlds, terrified of having their minds altered by the Nurses. |
Submission Information: |
Catalog Entry Submitted by Vestis Cherm Bajimaes.
Submitter's Name: Jamie Chambers
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