The Kristang were first encountered by humans shortly after defeating a Ruhar task force that was involved in the destruction of human industrial sites on Columbus Day. They are a highly military-focused race, concentrating a large portion of their society's resources on the war effort with the Ruhar.[1] Biology[]The Kristang are humanoid with a lizard-like appearance, they are tall with most members of their species not growing under seven feet tall. It is unclear whether their size is due to the extensive genetic modifications that are commonplace in Kristang society or due to natural circumstances. Kristang have a similar skeletal structure to humans, though they differ in the number of digits on each of their hands having three fingers and one thumb.[1] Kristang are very sexually dimorphic due to extensive genetic alterations introduced by the warrior caste, these modifications improve the physical capabilities of the males making them faster and stronger whilst debilitating the females making them genetically smaller, weaker and less intelligent. A similar change made through genetic modification has ensured a massive population gender imbalance resulting in roughly one male to every ten females. |
History[]In the now distant past, the Kristang existed upon their homeworld as a group of disparate matriarchal clans. The exact circumstances are unaccounted, but there was at some point in their history a nuclear war. The devastation wrought left all factions worse off by its conclusion. In the aftermath, the surviving factions came to an accord and banded together with the endeavor of rebuilding what they had lost. The governments that followed were oriented around societal development, with the warrior caste taking a back-seat from then onward, much to their chagrin.[2] Kristang are currently a client species of the Thuranin, a Tier 2 species that is part of the Maxolhx coalition. Their technology level makes them a Tier 3 species, on the same level as the Ruhar. They have a poor relationship with their patrons resulting in frequent minor skirmishes and sabotage. It would be reasonable to assume that the Kristang see their patrons as enemies to defeat later when they're able to, rather than any kind of permanent ally. [1] In much a similar case to Earth prior to Columbus Day, the Kristang homeworld was initially an isolated back water of little consequence to the Maxolhx or Rindhalu coalitions, until a wormhole shift made it convenient to access. The Thuranin at this point had relatively recently developed to a degree where they were no longer considered clients of their former patrons the Bosphuraq, but instead directly those of the Maxolhx. As such, in a bid to demonstrate their equal stature, the Thuranin desired a client species of their own and conquered the Kristang to that end. To restructure their society into one that fit standards outlined by the Maxolhx, the Thuranin replaced the key governing body of the Kristang with the warrior caste, which began an aggressive campaign to militarize their society. This resulted also in the institutionalized sexism that saw males genetically enhanced and females engineered to be frail and docile.[3] At the time of first contact with the Thuranin, the Kristang had developed interplanetary space flight. They had established one colony in their home system and had begun to harvest resources from their local asteroid belt, but had not even scratched the surface of the theory behind the jump drive. Even after they were provided jump drive technology by the Thuranin, they never developed its capability beyond beyond micro-jumps and were reliant on Thuranin Star Carriers for interstellar travel. This lack of development after centuries of being a star faring species was intentional on the part of their patrons. The Thuranin sought to impede Kristang development by subtle manipulation or direct intervention on the research paths they followed, no doubt fearing the Kristang may one day become their peers or even surpass the them if they did not take action. Another such doctrine of control is the imposed requirement for commanders who fail in battle, to be executed. This would prevent them from developing into intelligent and experienced leaders and discouraging risk-taking, as privately speculated by the Wurgalan Ooslet Nobanu.[3] |
Culture[]
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Technology[]The Kristang's level of technology is vastly superior to that of humans, allowing them to effectively dominate Earth with just one frigate and one troopship. Other applications of Kristang technology involve traveling faster than light and using nanoscale technology. But in the scale of galactic tech levels, they are one of the lowest-tech species, placed in between the slightly higher tech Ruhar and the slightly lower tech Wurgalan. The technological gap between the Kristang and the Thuranin is similar to the gap between Humans and the Kristang. With the propensity of the Thuranin to hack and sabotage Kristang systems and technology has lead the Kristang to meticulously ensure that their computer systems cannot be hacked without direct physical connections being made. This necessitates the Thuranin's use of a covert ship nano-virus to gain control of their systems. Compared to other species, the Kristang have a huge disadvantage with wormholes. While they are able to jump between planets in a star system, their extremely poor understanding of jump drives prevent them from traveling between stars. They rely on the Thuranin to ferry their starships across the stars on gigantic vessels called Star Carriers. |
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