High Concept Space Opera

[Alura]

I'm thinking human, but some sort of junk-trader/salvage clan that lives between outposts/worlds. I was thinking their physiology is adapted to a colony planet where those who are too young, old, or opposed to space travel live and operate the mining interests on-world. It might be slightly too inhospitable for Earth-born natives (or whatever the primary human planet would be). Despite their natural resources, I'm thinking they grew from an under-funded terra settlement and never had proper leadership and direction for profitable contract-drawing, etc. So they jockey for mineral rights and other resources and spend more time fighting internally and grabbing at low-hanging fruit than actually turning a large-scale profit. Their own worst enemy sort of thing. You can only have what you can defend, etc. etc. Old enough to have established some considerable operations, but young enough that they haven't figured out the organisation and politics yet. Maybe limited arable land contributes to their struggle to eke out fair trade with more food-stable and organised sister colonies and other races' planets within the system?

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Sounds good.

[Enigma]

@SaltyIrishman; possible candidate alien race.

Race: Dracosian (People of the Swamp)
Planet of Origin: Dracos (now lost)
Description: Reptilian biped, scaly skin typically patterned in brown and greens, average height 52" to 96". Eyes are large and slitted, with heat sensitive pits on their faces. They have hands, with three fingers and an opposing thumb, and a short tail that nestles between their hindquarters.

They possess three sexes - male, androgene, and female.

Weaknesses: Unable to regulate their own body temperature, when it becomes cold, they become lethargic, slowing down. If the tempertures drop to freezing, they will fall into a state of hybernation, where they can last for several months. Higher temperatures will drive them to seek shelter from the heat, burrowing if necessary. If they cannot escape the heat, they will begin to pant as they do not possess sweat glands. The will eventually suffer heat stroke and die.

In an effort to battle this, the Dracos Travelers have developed bioplastic suits that helps them to regulate their temperatures.

The Dracosians' vocal cords do not lend them to speak the languages of other cultures well; typically they have to use translators or a synthetic voicebox, generally reserved for candidates or drones. A queen may have a synthetic voicebox if they received one while as a candidate. It does not, however, mean they will use it.

Strengths: Androgene soldiers are living killing machines who will do anything to defend their queens. While a few have tried to tempt away soldiers as mercinaries, some of their new employers do manage to live long enough to regret it.

Queens however by no means are helpless, as they can produce a seeming inexhaustible supply of toxins.

Lower ranks can use their claws, or if they're candidates or soldiers, their ability to excrete toxins.

Primary industry: Experts at biotech and medical implants.

Society: Matriarchical, each nest is ruled by its queen through pheromones and toxic enzymes.
Males are the lowest of the hierachy, traditionally performing work outside the Nest but if they receive the stress pheramone from the queen, they immediately rush into the nest and wrap her within a ball of their bodies, protecting her from outside harm.

Lowest rank females are workers within the nest, tending to the needs of the queen and all the residents. Typically a female of this rank can enthrall two males of her own, but while she will mate with both (the weaker male will hide itself until alone with the female), typically any offspring will be with the stronger mate.

The queen can inject a mix of enzymes into the males to form larger androgene soldiers, who can produce a limited range of pheramones to direct the actions of the lowest rank males. From this pool of soldiers, the queen can select one or more of their number to make into drones, who will mate with the queen. Matings of this order tend to produce scores of eggs.

A different mix of enzymes injected into females creates candidates, higher rank females who can produce a different limited range of pheramones to direct lower females, males and androgene soldiers, which they can also create the enzymes for. Candidates often direct labs and work with the enzymes produced by their queens to create various medicenes.

As before, the queen can select one or two of the candidates to inject a constantly changing mix of enzymes into them over the course of a year, which will eventually transform them into queens.
Just before they transform, they leave the nest, drawing away about half the population except for the drones. Once the new queen has mated, she will swell in size as workers build the nest around her, shrouding her as she begins to produce the new colony's eggs.

History: (abbreviated)

Two unknown aliens visited Dracos and were captured by androgene soldiers of Queen Solana. Typically, males who cannot be enthralled are killed, but their alieness intriqued the Queen and using translators, she questioned them at length. They possessed knowledge that she had never known existed - and made her question how things might change in her world.

She directed candidates to examine the alien's ship, to see how it was constructed and to plunder their knowledge.

Meanwhile, she began to alter her own nest, creating new queens chambers in rings around her own. Suitable candidates were then selected to become queens themselves- but instead of allowing them to split the hive, she installed them in one of the ringing chambers and sent her own drones to mate with them, while suppling them with a new enzyme that kept them doctile. In a few short years, she was Emperess Solana, with control of half the world and an emense army of males and androgene soldiers.

By then, candidates and workers had reproduced viable copies of the alien ships and began interplanetary slave raids, bringing back more workers, knowledge and technology. There were, of course, revolts, but the different slave races often fought one another and would betray them.
However, one of them, the Zayans, worked out how to reproduce the stress chemical, and planted pheramone bombs within the Empress' court in the various queen chambers. They expoded, and the smell triggered the Empress and the queens to pump out even more of the stress pheramones, the intensity drawing in the rest of the massive capital to swarm over the Empress' court.

But the Zayans were not done. Using the combined stolen tech from the various worlds, they had worked out how to fold Dracos into another dimension, isolating it for all time. Returning slaver ships found themselves without a planet.

While Empress Solana had allowed a few of the queens to set up nests inside ships, she had not shared the pacification formula with the candidates aboard those ships, so when it ran out, the queens began to fight among themselves.

In the course of those battles, when a ship nest was wiped out, not all the males or females were enthralled by the new queen, and these rejects as well as the wounded were marooned, left to fend for themselves. Many usually do not last long.

. . . . . . .

Character will be a candidate who was badly burned during a battle with another ship's queen. While she can still spit some toxins, her ability to smell or emit pheramones is gone.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

It looks really interesting, but how are planning on explaining a lone Dracosian to join the group?

[Enigma]

Badly burned during a battle, she was abandoned on some cold backwater world. While she's recovered somewhat, she's lost her ability to smell and to produce phermones. No queen will take her as she is now. But she does have a synthetic voicebox, a bit raspy but it works.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Alright. I deem your species “good to go”.

[Kaptain Panty]

Yeah sure. I'm in. I like sci-fi. Can have a ton of fun making up stuff. I like the idea of makin' an order of cyborgs who intend to go beyond their natural bodies. And not in the lame "I'm just going to give myself stronker arms with machine guns in them." Something cool. Like "I'm going to replace my legs with a snake tail and my upper bodies design will be based off of this solar system I like." Because if you're a brain in a jar, damn if you aren't going to have fun with the body you're driving. Eclipse Phase all up in here. Though replacing your legs with tank treads does have a simple charm to it as well from time to time...

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Sounds great. When I get a bit more time I’ll sit down and set up an OOC.

[Enigma]

Brain tanks.

[Alura]

These all sound amazing, honestly. The internal hierarchy for the Dracosian is really interesting.

Are the androgenes hive-minded or free minds like the others?