Arc V: Owls All The Way Down

A description of your faction at least one meaty paragraph long and your borders drawn on this map.

The Têlŋu are a race made of pure energy that have inhabited the stars of the Milky Way for eons and eons. Their bodies are formless and blindingly bright. No one knows exactly what keeps them from either merging with the stars they live in, of just simply dissipating across the universe. It is also hard to establish where exactly the center of intelligence is located in a blob energy, leaving them a mystery to science as of now. Hardly ever do they leave their star homelands to transverse the void of space, as it is very dangerous for them to do so. Naturally they can travel at the speed of light do to being pure energy, but if they do so outside of the high energy out put of a star from which they feed they will surely die. For when you're made of energy, expelling high amounts of it is very dangerous. Thus is why they are not seen aiding the Gulŋur as often as one would think. Although there is ample evidence for their hand in the seeding of the seven home worlds, and relations between the two races, it is impossible for them to leave the safety of a star for extended periods of time. Due to this risk, if they do leave often. It is only on a very specific missions for reasons unknown to all but themselves that they go out to aid their seedling race, or other races which they have adopted under their wing.

The Gulŋur are a parasitic plant species that consist of a main "bulb" with leaf covered vines that grow out around the host. These vines not only act as branches and roots alike, but are also used to animate the host's corpse (or constrict living hosts to death). They have evolved in order that the vines can simulate the host's muscles by overlapping and intertwining around and through the flesh in it. Gaining nutrients from both the sun and host, they generate more than enough energy to run a form of intelligence, which formed in the fleshy bulb at the center of it's being. The bulb is domed with a pit at its center that glows iridescently like one menacing eye. This in fact does not allow any form of vision, and the species relies on a highly advanced form of stimuli to navigate. Although this function is all but useless now, it was once used to lure prey into their grasp. It still however is used to create a general consciousness in times of emergency, like a satellite disk for others electrical brain activity (out of universe: which is similar to what real plants do, but what I'm referring to is closer to what the plants in Avatar do on Pandora). This does not share thoughts as much as it shares "vision" meaning that they can "see" the stimuli other plants are picking up. There are other uses for this organ that are less important as well. It glows from red to blue, depending on which strand the individual belongs to. There are seven main branches of Gulŋur, each hailing from one of the seven home worlds in which they evolved in relative seclusion (for there was communication due to the gates which transverse subspace on each of the worlds). They are all the same species and have the same build as the one mentioned earlier, but very greatly in other details. Such as "eye" color, leaf shape, "skin" tone, and flower type.

The Dêke Melŋa resemble a Middle Eastern European high breed. Their hair is most commonly black and brown, and their build also reflects that of the two cultures. Although their tendency is more often lenient to the leaner and more agile side. Their disposition is calmer and more submissive than most humans, but they are far from pacifists. For no one can stay that way for long in the Gulŋur culture.

The Elzilê are an insectoid race hailing from the desert world of Elsiêrdisul (Ehl sih eer dih suhl). Similar to bees or ants, only the queens and kings (which have only recently gained any social status) are gifted with high levels of intelligence. The drones, which do not live very long, only a couple decades, have more rudimentary systems. They do have limited free will, but eagerly serve any power that is put over them. Quick to learn, and capable of a variety of even complex manual labor, they work hard and diligently for their master. This master is not necessarily their queen, but even if not their mother holds a very special influence in their lives, and they will never outright abandon her. In stature, the drones are a little more than a meter to a meter and a half tall. They have six limbs, two of which they use to walk bipedally, and they posses six eyes with intermediate eyesight. Although their color range is significantly higher than a human's. Despite their excessive exoskeletal plating, they are surprisingly light and and agile. Certain breeds even grow wings, although they are generally found far from home world. They are also incredibly strong, carrying up to four times their own weight, and can rip a man's arm off with some effort. Their jaws and claws are devastating even to the most effective armors. Thankfully they are very docile and obedient, yet still uprisings do happen and are very deadly when they do.

While the Têlŋu could be considered the highest caste of society due to their religious significance, they're generally considered above society by the general populace and exist outside the confederacy. When the Têlŋu speak it is considered the will of Glima, and must be considered. They influence but are not influenced, caring little of the political governments as much as they do the moral state of the peoples. Divides among them are divides among the Gulŋur society, which is partially the cause of tensions within the empire. The Têlŋu are corrupt creatures, just as any other race, fighting amongst themselves and abusing the Gulŋur for their own personal gain. It is always suggested among priests to return to the old scriptures to test the words of the Têlŋu before accepting them as truth, lest the the alliances become more strained than they already are.

The Gulŋur are the highest class of participating races within the government, with the Irkaglu, the Kritarchs, being the eldest and wisest of them. The Kritarchy enjoys absolute law in their territory, except with the group called Irr'kaŋudô, who have the authority to correct the will of the Irkaglu and even remove them from authority if they find them to be corrupt. The Irr'kaŋudô are at the mercy of the citizens however. It is believed that this cycle keeps the government in check and accurate to the old scriptures.

The Gulŋur also form the military ranks and the fill out much of the intellectual and scientific possessions. Ever since the addition of the Elzilê they have done little of the manual labor, except in agriculture. Teaching, engineering, clergy roles, and militia are all formed by the the plant race, creating notions of supremacy among them and leading to hate groups and protective organizations for the lesser races.

The Dêke Melŋa are a strange class, as they do little to serve the empire other than foreign relations. They are highly valued for their ability to speak, and have formed ways of communication between the Gulŋur and Elzilê alike, serving as translators to other humans from foreign lands. They are responsible for the formation of the spoken language of the empire, a result of feeble attempts by the Gulŋur to force their corpses to speak like men, off of the existing written one. There is also a signing language as well as technology to read the native pheromone language of the plants. The Dêke Melŋa also are kept for their companionship like pets. It should be noted that the humans among the Gulŋur are on average very quiet and submissive compared to their foreign counterparts; In fact, their name, which is partially self given, means "Little Brother".

The Elzilê are the lowest class (with the exception of queens, who view themselves as equal to the Gulŋur because of their important ability to control the drones). The drones do much of the manual labor in the empire, such as factory work and mining, contrasting the queens, who act more like businessmen and are often crime lords (which doesn't help the air of distrust between them and the Gulŋur). The Elzilê do not respect Glima like their plant brothers, despite the reverent worship of their drones, only strengthens that uneasiness. There is debate on the morality of the seemingly drone slave work, but because of drone biology their only thought and wish is to work. It brings them great joy to work for the great benevolent deity they see Glima as, annoying the queens, who Glima replaced as the object of their worship, but they cannot survive without their drones, so they do not risk the wrath of the much more powerful plant race, choosing to live unsteadily alongside them instead.

The Gulŋur make up a rather effective fighting force, as their central bulb is the only necessary part for the plant's survival with any damage dealt to the already dead host, or the vines of the plant hardly even slowing it down. Their inability to feel pain also makes them very resistant to most weapon forms, as they will not cease to fight until they've been incapacitated, which can be accomplished by destroying the host or damaging the bulb. It is for these reasons that the Gulŋur are the main species to make up the militaries of the Kritarchs.

While unconcerned with most weaponry, their lack of sight puts them at an advantage and disadvantage on the battlefield. Without vision, cloaking means nothing to the Gulŋur, as their senses are capable of detection through all known forms of stealth. In fact, most cloaking devices emit highly "visible" signals that the can be tracked with ease, making a cloaked unit even more of a target. But unlike eyesight, which goes as far as the eye can see, Gulŋur stimulus reception has a much smaller range, making execution of ranged attacks difficult or even impossible. To make up for this, humans are used for or in most sharpshooting and reconnaissance operations.

In direct battle, special surveillance units are used to extend stimulus "vision" through the hive mind, revealing the battlefield. Very young seedlings (10 - 20 years) are used for these units, hitching rides on small mechanical hosts that swarm the enemy, who is generally either completely unaware of them or cannot effectively deal with them due to their stealth and masking. Deploying surveillance units are critical for artillery and other ranged attacks to be used effectively.

The most common strategy in the empire is to take a forward position through swarming into close-range combat and set up an artillery zone to dispatch units from afar. The infantry are then entrenched around these zones, forcing the enemy to advance through open ground and forcing them into close-range. Urban and similar dense, close-quarters locales are where the Gulŋur are most effective and deadly due to their proficiency in close-range combat. However, in more open terrain, they don't tend to do as well, and it is very common to see Dêke Melŋa, or even the rare Elzilê troops, being deployed for their eyesight and sharpshooting abilities, regardless of what kind of force it is.

Elzilê are not commonly used in the military, but when they are it's usually for swarming, harassing, and direct fire off of the more important troops and stations. They are mostly used against humans, being their best force in open terrain. The Elzilê are not to be wasted in the infighting that is so prevalent among the Gulŋur as they are considered an invaluable work force. However, the spawn of certain queens are specialized for warfare (some having wings for aerial assault, others having magnificent burrowing capabilities), and are a welcome addition in wars with foreigners.

Naval combat is very similar to that of other factions due to having derived their space capabilities from the Terran Union. Similarly to ground combat, most heavy ships are armed with massive weapons and are protected by a multitude of fighter wings. Bombers are not as common, instead choosing to rely on their capital ships to deal damage while fighters ward off potentially crippling enemy bombers, their own bombers being mostly deployed planetside.

Têlŋu engaging in combat is not unheard of, but is an incredibly rare occurrence. As such, not much information has been collected by anyone about them; their attacks are extremely high-energy and can easily neutralize a vessel. Luckily, they only tend to deploy themselves when it is very dire to their worshipers, never getting involved in political conflicts. And even in religious conflicts, it's extremely rare for one to make an appearance.