Species Summary: Eusocians
Morphology
Eusocians as a species are humanoids descended from eusocial arthropods similar to the ants of Earth. They have an exoskeletal carapace, and posses six limbs, four legs and two arms. The thorax resembles a humanoid torso, and the abdomen rests just behind the waist. The legs extend from the bottom of the thorax, and each terminate in a single tarsi. Their arms terminate in a pair of large, four fingered hands. The fingers on these hands each have three sections, and can vary in length greatly. The head is located at the top of the thorax, opposite the legs. The Eusocian exoskeleton varies in color, ranging from bright red to solid black.
The Eusocian nervous system, while similar to that of known invertebrates, is not exactly the same. As opposed to the primary nerve cord being located on the ventral, that of Eusocians runs through the center of the thorax, with the expected branches and ganglia reaching into the limbs. Much like known insects, Eusocians breath through spiracles in their exoskeleton. However, unlike other insects, Eusocians can close any number of these spiracles as they choose at any time in order to “hold their breath”, as they have evolved a unique organ which can store a small amount of air for emergencies.
Eusocian digestive systems also resemble those of known insects. The midgut runs the length of the thorax, while the hindgut moves through to the end of the abdomen. Nutrients and internal fluids are circulated throughout the body through two dorsal aorta, which pump fluids towards the head.
Eusocians posses two compound eyes, and three much smaller simple eyes on the top of the head used only for detecting light levels and seeing vibration. They also possess two small antennae on the top of the head, which detect noise and pheromones. The mouth has a pair of strong mandibles used to manipulate foods, though they are dextrous enough to be used for holding objects and self defense.
Polymorphism
Eusocians generally fall into one of four polymorphic types. These are Workers, Soldiers, Caretakers, and Queens.
Workers are the most widely seen polymorph. Individuals of this type are shorter than their counterparts, with a much bulkier exoskeletal frame and heavier musculature. This gives Workers greater strength for lifting and moving objects than individuals of other polymorphs. Their fingers are the shortest of the Eusocian forms, giving them greater manual dexterity than others.
Soldiers are the second most commonly seen type of individual. They are generally taller than other types of Eusocian, and with a much leaner exoskeletal frame. This frame, which gives Soldiers increased speed, is covered in long spines which act as quills. These spikes produce a small amount of neurotoxic venom which can temporarily paralyze creatures they are used against. Each spine typically has enough venom to paralyze a creature of the same size as the Soldier for roughly 2 hours. Soldiers also have longer fingers than other polymorphs, with sharpened ends that result in large claws.
Caretakers have an exoskeletal frame that is somewhere between the dimorphism exhibited by Soldiers and Workers. They have the musculature necessary to lift heavier objects, and venomous spines for defense. The spines of Caretakers are smaller than those of soldiers, and the venom is much less potent.
Queens are the largest polymorph among the four. These individuals have a much larger abdomen than those of other types, inside of which eggs are produced for reproduction. Queens are the least understood of the Eusocian polymorphs, as they rarely leave their colonies.
The Homeworld - History and Ecology
The Eusocian people evolved on the world of Devaston, located in the Xarantine Sector near the Hiromi Cluster. According to Eusocian historical records, Devaston was once a tropical world covered in conifer rainforests, similar to Earth during the Carboniferous Period. However, the planet is currently a vast desert where the soil has a molecular structure resembling that of glass. Eusocian historical records suggest that this change was the result of the use of weapons of mass destruction during the Eusocian Civil War.
Ecology across the world has been largely wiped out by super predators created by the Eusocian Empire during it’s height. The predators continue to live on the surface of Devaston, and make traversing the surface of the world incredibly difficult.
Culture
History
Eusocian social structure began to arise roughly 10,000 years ago. The species’ culture developed technologically remarkably quickly, taking only 5,000 years to develop warp technology. The nature of Eusocian communication allowed for the swift development and realization of many different technologies and weapons during short timeframes. This eventually led to a militaristic and colonialist regime known as the Eusocian Empire, which pioneered a form of technology known as “Organi-Tech”. This Organi-Tech was used to create self-regenerating starships, as well as weapons which could connect directly to a wielder’s nervous system. During this time, the Empire also created a number of manufactured creatures and super predators, designed to destroy planetary wildlife or serve as security aboard Imperial warships.
The actions of the Empire eventually resulted in a civil war which ravaged not only Devaston, but many planets across the sectors surrounding Xerantine. The rebellion succeeded, and the group destroyed as much of the Imperial technology and research materials as they could, in the hopes of removing the influence of Organi-Tech from the galaxy’s future.
The rebels began forming a new governmental structure which eventually became known as the Greater Colony. This Greater Colony is the society which still exists to the current day.
Government Structure
Eusocians are governed and assigned tasks by the Queen of the colony in which they were born, which in turn elect a single Queen to provide more general instruction across the multiple colonies. Elections are held once during every Devaston year, with each Queen only ever being allowed to serve as “Greater Queen” for a maximum of ten years.
Every Queen selects a single individual to serve as their Attendant. The Attendant has the responsibility of taking the orders of the Queen and delivering them to the rest of the colony. The Greater Queen will often have multiple Attendants, communicating changes in law to the other Queens.
Cultural Practices
Eusocian culture focuses largely around the castes created by their polymorphs. Responsibilities in a colony are assigned by the local Queen, based largely on whether an individual is a Worker, Soldier, or Caretaker.
Workers are typically assigned responsibilities in construction and technological development. The increased lifting ability these individuals have makes them well suited to these roles, and the increased manual dexterity they have compared to Soldiers allows them greater engineering potential.
Soldiers adapt based on the needs of the Greater Colony. While most serve as local security or in the Greater Colony’s military, Soldiers often serve as traders and explorers during peacetime. This is because their abilities, while primarily offensive and used for hunting, are seen as equally effective for self defense.
Caretakers most often have the responsibility of creating livable spaces for the others, and caring for the colony’s young. Caretakers work in community to raise Eusocian young, in large nurseries often placed near the center of colonies. They are also expected to be the colony’s last line of defense should the need arise.
For most Eusocians, performing their duty is considered the most important thing in their life. Societally, they are taught from an early age that service to one’s Colony is the highest moral responsibility a Eusocian has.
Despite this, individuals in a colony are always considered free to request the right to travel from the colony and live outside of the Eusocian structure. A number of Eusocians currently serve both the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and some have been seen serving as freelance mercenaries or pirates. To them, the crews of their ships or the others in their organization are the colony to which their service is owed. As such, Eusocian individuals are frequently seen as exceptionally loyal. These individuals often use shortenings of their Eusocian names, as the language can be difficult for non-arthropodal species to recreate.
The Eusocian spoken language is comprised of clicks produced from the mandibles which vary in pitch. This language was developed somewhat recently, due to the fact that Universal Translators proved incapable of translating the phermone and touch based communication methods normally used in Eusocian colonies. Most Eusocian individuals prefer their original communication method, and can be easily overwhelmed by multiple individuals speaking at once, such as in crowds.
Religious Beliefs
The Eusocian theology focuses around the divide between three sets of gods, five gods of order, five gods of chaos, and five watchers of balance. This faith is known as the Church of Balance, and all of the mythology comes from a written text known as the Book of Balance, which is used as the primary scripture for the faith.
Their mythology suggests that thousands of years in the past, two great gods existed. Ordos, the god of Order, and Chaos, the god of the Chaos. These gods began a great battle until a set of five mythical heroes managed to stop them. In the process, the two gods were split into ten separate beings. The heroes became the Watchers of Balance, and hold the responsibility of ensuring that war does not break out between the gods ever again.
When this split occured, mythology states, the universe itself was rent into four separate realms. The realm of Order, the realm of Chaos, the physical realm, and the Void. The realms of order and chaos are where those gods reside. The physical realm is the one in which our universe exists. And the void separates the three realms, preventing travel between them.
The belief holds that the five gods of order represent different aspects of the idea. They are called Coherance, Caste, Consonance, Classification, and Continuity. Coherence represents the sentient mind’s ability to form organized and rational thoughts, and is often called on when a believer is feeling overwhelmed or confused. Caste represents the importance of performing the task one is given, and is often invoked when an individual communicates dissatisfaction with an assignment. Consonance is used to discuss the importance of remaining true to oneself in a philosophical sense. They are often spoken of when a believer must make a difficult decision. Classification represents the nature of ecological development, that everything has its place and in its place it shall remain. And finally, Continuity represents the flow of events, holding that every action has a known and observable reaction, and that the future can always be known.
The gods of Chaos represent the opposite of these ideas. They are Disorder, Disharmony, Dissonance, Deviance, and Discordance. Disorder represents the inherently disorganized nature of the sentient mind. They are viewed as a negative, but necessary, aspect of thinking, being required for making creative solutions to problems and discussing varied ideas. Disharmony represents the nature of upheaval in society, and the concept of going against one’s assigned tasks. However, Disharmony also represents the nature of individual free will and a believer’s ability to understand where they truly belong, even if others disagree. Dissonance is invoked as a purely negative force, that prevents an individual from understanding what makes them happy. Deviance is seen as the driving force behind ecological evolution. It is Deviance who introduces mutations in various species and causes the ecology of a world to change over time. It is suggested that sentient life was the result of Deviance and Classification working in unison, and that this is the only time they have done so. Finally, Discordance is seen as the god of spontaneity, the horrible or joyous things that happen suddenly and without warning.
The faith holds that a proper balance between aspects of order and aspects of chaos in one’s life is necessary to achieve true spiritual completeness.
The responsibility for maintaining this balance across the universe as a whole is seen as falling on the Watchers. There are five in total, the Watcher of Minds, the Watcher of Energy, the Watcher of Time, and two Watchers of the Void. The Watcher of Minds holds the responsibility of ensuring that the Galaxy’s sentient beings do not ultimately destroy one another. The Watcher of Energy has the responsibility of balancing the effects of otherwordly energies on the physical realm. These energies can come from cracks in the void, which allows pure chaos or pure order to enter the physical realm. The Watcher of Time holds away over the timeline. They exist outside of linear time and belief holds that only they know what is meant to be and what is meant to have been. It is stated by mythology that these beings currently exist in the physical realm, keeping balance in ways that leave them unknown and unseen. Finally, there are the Watchers of the Void. These individuals are believed to exist in the realm of the Void, and have the job of maintaining this wall between the other realms. The cracks which appear in the Void must be sealed by its Watchers.
