Kriosans

The canid aliens of the planet Krios, sometimes referred to as ‘Quill Hounds’ by the Sol Federation, are a long-lived empire that has only just begun its expansion into the stars when coming into contact with Sol, an event that irreversibly shaped their society.

Quick-Start Guide

• Kriosans are adept hunters, tough in body and having honed senses. They get +5 to Toughness and Vigilance. An extra +5 can be gained if their homeworld is chosen in character setup.
• Kriosans come from a dangerous biome and thus are adapted to toxins. They take half the effects from radiation poisoning and 25% less from toxins.
• Kriosans are larger and thus have increased dietary requirements, having to eat more often.
• Kriosan bodies are quite sturdy and take 25% less brute damage than others but are quite sensitive to stimuli, resulting in electrical shocks dealing twice as much pain to them.
• Kriosan originally evolved underground, granting vision even in the dark with the use of their "Enhanced Senses" Perk.
• Perk: Kriosans gain the perk "Enhanced Senses", which increases Toughness by +10 and Vigilance by +20 for 1 minute every 15 minutes.
• Perk: Kriosans gain the perk "Instinctual Skill", which lets them use weapons one-handed with no recoil penalty, as long as they're usable one-handed at all.

History

Pre-History

The species that would become the Kriosans the galaxy is familiar with today originated and evolved to sentience underground, with many meters of dense stone to shield the inhabitants from the intense solar radiation of the surface, adapting themselves well to the tight confines and darkened realm of the underground. The vast network of caves allowed the first proto-Kriosans to hunt in the dim lights of bioluminescent mushrooms only to later cultivate said fungi into an edible food source. The depths however were not without their own problems, as the most common prey species was a cat-sized lizard, known as an orbos, being attracted to the very fungi the Kriosans cultivated. Despite being a prey animal however, these lizards were highly sensitive to sound and would carry rocks gripped in a prehensile tail to launch towards predators with painful and often times bone-breaking accuracy. This early common enemy necessitated the Kriosan adaptation to using their own ranged weaponry and further encouraged a more developed spatial sense, accomplished by detecting the minute changes in the dark by thermal differences with a weak infrared vision.

Up above, the surface of Krios was constantly bathed in dense solar radiation due to a thin atmosphere, an effect which would oftentimes kill any unfortunate wanderer after long enough exposure. To compound matters, local flora and fauna on the surface were highly adapted to absorbing and surviving the radiation, leading to much of it being too toxic for the proto-Kriosans to eat safely. While early tribal and later pre-industry Kriosans were capable of hunting and foraging on the surface for food such edibles brought down required heavy processing and cooking to remove the present toxins and even then it could never be fully purified. In the earliest days of their civilization, when tribes were the prominent societal structure, living underground as they did was perfectly sustainable. As they became more industrious, and developed modern medicine and weapons to cull dangerous fauna, their population rose sharply and they began carving large bunker compounds out of the stone. These complexes became the first bastions in which the Kriosans called home.

The Miracle Gene

Unfortunately, the industrial growth and medical improvements proved to be disastrous as life expectancy and thus the population swiftly rose, something their agricultural and hunting markets could not keep up with. What bastions that could barely weather the food shortages began sending scouts to the surface to forage and hunt whatever they could to supplement the dwindling food supplies. Few of them returned at all due to the inherent savagery of the surface fauna, and of those that did, fewer still carried little more than a backpack or cart full of food, until one of them returned with an unusual report. An abandoned facility had been found, one of alien origin, with a number of decaying old machines with some salvageable components inside it. The machines were advanced but highly specialized into modifying the genetics of various species, something the scouts reported with fear, as the decaying bodies of monstrous creatures littered the former holding cells. However, seeing as the alternative was mass starvation, the equipment was brought back and work to reverse engineer and study the devices began.

The geneticists collected DNA from native, poisonous quill-hounds that the scouts learned how to domesticate and travel with in order to attempt to splice desired traits with their own DNA. This may explain the superficial resemblances to canids, and was done in order to gain use of the hounds’ excellent sensory capabilities and resistance to UV radiation. Several scientists died during the course of these experiments due to sheer genetic incompatibility and organ rejection until the discovery of a substance referred to as ‘Thaum’, revealed through a gene splicing accident causing a quill-hound to develop lymphoma. According to notes recorded by the original lab staff, the healthy parts of the autoimmune system of the hounds carried and released a number of cellular toxins to kill off the tumor, which left behind mutated, but otherwise healthy and benign cells. These new cells then began functioning as a gland, and began producing the new 'Thaum' substance. This gland, when implanted, allowed a greater degree of genetic tampering by adapting the structural enzymes within the thaumic gland to those in the DNA of the person the sample was taken from. The Thaum compound would then be released into the bloodstream, drastically boosting the effectiveness of the host's immune system, and allowed it to accept organs that would ordinarily not be compatible or present without being artificially introduced.

One of the scouts, bearing the now-common surname ‘Kerensky’ was the first one to volunteer for receiving a thaumic gland, and the associated genetic splicing that would follow. When Kerensky returned to his bastion, he was greeted as a complete stranger at first, appearing to be an alien creature to them, with numerous quills not unlike those of his animal companion. He was able to resist the toxins present in flora and fauna on Krios, and his body was not ravaged by solar radiation the way those around him were. Such a thing drew some curiosity towards the project. Little by little, more volunteers would be brought to the facility by Kerensky, and later other scouts who underwent transformation themselves, and things began to take a positive turn for those xenos who no longer were vulnerable to most of the poisons of the environs surrounding them.

The Golden Age of Krios and Annexation by the Sol Federation

A couple of centuries later, with the aid of both continuing conversion and natural birth, the industrious new Kriosans have all but replaced the original naturally evolved proto-Kriosans with their genetic modified superiors. With new food sources available and a population boom, they established several cities around their old bastions upon the surface with numerous arc smelters erected to take advantage of the plentiful metal content of the planet. Production exploded over time as the industrial boom and advancement in technology (aided by reverse-engineering the now completely stripped alien facility) allowed for the Kriosans to quickly begin their first plans to colonize nearby habitable planets near their own star. The Kriosans however were shaped by the knowledge that somewhere in the vastness of space an alien race, far more advanced than them, existed and began plans to greet them in the methods Kriosans naturally leaned towards, overwhelming firepower. After mastering flight and subsequently space flight, the construction of colonized moons began. Outposts were constructed that descendants of the original scouts populated, forming themselves into a combination of research facilities and planetary defense systems with large anti-spacecraft guns. The powerful magnetic fields of the three moons overlap in such a way as to form a natural EMI 'blanket' around Krios, rendering normal subspace communications nigh-useless, but rarely ever interfering with direct fiber optic links, and barely affecting their tight-beam directional relay communication networks. The frontier of the fledgling Kriosan empire came to be known for its Jaegers; Nomads, hunters and travelers who, facing the many dangers of hostile unknown planets and their ravenous fauna, took on the role of settlers, scouts, and frontiersmen who secured areas for the advancement of their people. Jaegers developed their own frontier culture apart from the Kriosan whole, favoring a steep reliance on individuals instead of larger organized groups. For a time, the easiest tell-tale sign of a Kriosan being a Jaeger was their preference for large caliber bolt-action rifles which quickly found a footing in Jager culture. A common Jaeger saying is, “Why load a magazine when a single well-placed shot is enough?” Though other Kriosans dryly consider it as impractical, few can deny that the powerful munitions they use are effective for frontier hunting.

The leaders of the fledging empire however, feared reprisal from whatever star-farers had originally left the abandoned historic facility on their planet, a common emotion brought about by old pictures of the monstrous skeletons left to rot. The majority of the Kriosan population feared the race who would so willingly create such monsters, having very conveniently forgotten that they themselves did the same so long ago, and many elected officials fed into this paranoia for political gain. This new movement was based on 'The Empire’s Defense’ and large amounts of spending was appropriated towards weapons research and the creation of planetary defense forces. Though largely ignored at the time, many political historians note that such massive government spending just so happened to be done through defense contractors conveniently owned by the friends of, relatives of, or simply by the very politicians themselves who advocated for such 'necessities'. Corruption aside, in the end the money was still put to good use and the Kriosan military was equipped with various pulse-action weaponry, heavy body armor, and practical multi-purpose military tools.

The kits of a Kriosan military man was one defined by his origin and social class with the most expensive and deadly equipment going towards the city-born imperials referred to as Castellans. This equipment consisted of heavy ablative plating worn on top of a thick flak-absorbent surcoat, which typically has a cloth layer decorated with the regalia of whichever bastion they happen to be serving. Worn beneath the plating is a ballistic weave gambeson that, together with all the other layers, provides exceptional melee and laser protection and can stop ballistic calibers up to and including .408 rifle ball. Such armor, however, was rare and expensive to produce and thus was given to only the elite of the Kriosan armed forces. Castellans were also fond of carrying large axes at their hip likewise forged of Durasteel, which they could use in a fight either when an enemy has charged close enough to warrant it or when ammo ran dry on whatever gun they happened to carry. This axe design had been used as a tool by them since long before coming to the surface, and was a brutally effective weapon to boot since the dense material gave it the weight to crush through armor like a mace. These axes were also status symbols, as the first known example was a bardiche-like poleaxe presented to the first Kaiser. Ever since then, Durasteel axes have been considered a symbol of nobility, whether through one being commissioned as a reward, or owned by right of artisanship as the culmination of a blacksmith’s career training. Sadly, while such lofty equipment was on par with and even exceeded a Sol Federation marine’s standard equipment, this kit was reserved for the small elite forces of the Kriosan military and its political leaders. The rank and file made do with inferior weaponry and armor, a divide that later became more and more apparent among the Jaegers, who rarely had more than makeshift kevlar and steel vests and bolt-action rifles.

Unfortunately, despite all preparations, they were woefully unprepared for the appearance of present day Sol Federation fleets in their system, emerging from bluespace and achieving orbit before the great guns could be brought to bear against them. The overwhelming display of potential firepower was so great that Sol Diplomats were hastily invited to a moot by the various Lord Castellans, each representing his fief and its populace which, at the time, looked upon these invaders with fear and hostility. By time of contact, the Sol Federation was well within its swing of conquering and annexing smaller empires and laid out its terms. The Kriosan empire was given a choice of allying with the Sol Federation and gaining access to its infrastructure or being put to the sword and annexed. The reaction proved quite mixed, as many Lord Castellans who were quite politically powerful with great influence over their people sided against surrender, stating that it was better to die a free empire than be a contented slave. While a good portion of the general population, in particular the Jaegers, sided with this notion, these Lord Castellans began to lose power rapidly as the majority of remaining leaders, seeking to avoid a costly war, hastily removed them by consensus and in a few circumstances by force. Kriosans viewed humans and their Federation allies as inferior, citing their small size and lack of physical fortification against the empire's natural toxic environment. Despite this, even the most stout Kriosan supremacist would begrudgingly admit that the Sol navy had them at gunpoint due to its vastly superior firepower in the form of ship-board atomic weaponry. Seeing no alternative, the remaining pro-Sol Lord Castellans sought surrender under the guise of being allies. This decision, while in the short term was the best choice, proved disastrous as many discrepant groups voiced angry and often violent opinions against a move they saw as utter cowardice.

Sol quits Krios, the Crash births the Confederacy

As with all annexed empires, the Sol Federation began its customary ‘improvements’ by installing Federation bureaucrats in the Kriosan government and supplying it with a planetary defense force and naval ships to act as both peace keepers and watchdogs to their new allies. However, unknown to the Sol Federation, the anti-occupation sentiment was growing by the day, chiefly among the independent Jaegers who became the most vocal against Sol rule. Albeit behind closed doors as reprisal was swift and often brutal. Yet as luck would have it for these hidden rebels, a chance to force their way came in the form of the bluespace crash. When word spread that bluespace travel was now impossible the rebels quickly realized the main advantage the existing Sol defense forces had was cut off, that is, the support of the greater Federation.

Without Bluespace travel to rely upon, the very same navy that had suddenly appeared in the planet's orbit had lost the main advantage it had over the system and was now in the position of being vastly outnumbered, if not outgunned. The current remaining lord Castellans, ever the wily politicians, very quickly realized rebellion from the Jaegers and general populace was inevitable and did an abrupt about-face. Many Castellans denounced Sol rule and began to openly support the rebels both in public rallies and with donations of arms and supplies. The more moderate of the Castellans, in particular one named Erik Eisenwolfe, addressed the civilian factions of the Sol Federation occupants and promised them amnesty if they surrendered peacefully, despite those doing so becoming second-class citizens themselves after the rebellion. The rebellion was, however, not entirely one-sided. Though the Federation navy and planetary defense force was heavily outnumbered, it was not as outgunned as originally thought, and Sol's contingent plans went into effect to quell dissidents, rebel fighters and defecting military regiments. The conflict was swift and bloody, with Sol marines refusing surrender and fighting down to the last man. After a period of several months when the smoke cleared, the rebels declared victory despite a heavy cost, as nearly half of the Kriosan combatants were slain despite a notable numerical advantage. The remaining survivors licked their wounds and took solace in the fact they had at last thrown off Sol occupation.

Biology

Though physically, many Kriosans have a superficial resemblance to domestic dogs, Kriosan biology differs from that of human and abhuman very noticeably. The most notable differences, aside from their increased size and appetite, is that Kriosans have a few ancillary organs which are not present in humans, and which give them noticeable physical advantages in certain environments.

The first and most obvious of these is an organ referred to as an “Ossmodula” by humans, and as a “Knochsteigern” by post-imperial Kriosans. It is this organ that is mostly responsible for Kriosans’ increased height and durability relative to humans, and it is also responsible for their bones being thicker, stronger, and more resistant to fracturing. This organ also causes them to grow to heights of up to 7 to 8 ft tall, though the majority of the species are below 7 feet tall, not belonging to the Jaegar or Castellan castes. There are three main influences on how tall a Kriosan can grow: genetics, diet, and upbringing. Due to traditional standards and castes, on the whole there tends not to be much interbreeding between them. Castellans tend to copulate with other Castellans, Jaegers with other Jaegers, and so forth. Jaegers focus their diet and upbringing on being lean and agile, and on having as much stamina as possible, so that they can travel longer distances between meals. As a result, they never reach heights above seven and a half feet tall. On the opposite side of that coin, Castellans focus on building their size, strength, and endurance. They are brought up to be able to hit hard, carry larger and function as enduring combatants. Consequently, Castellans are rarely ever shorter than 7ft tall.

Another common trait of Kriosan physiology is the presence of dull, ferrous quills within the fur. These quills are sensitive to vibrations, touch, and electromagnetic stimuli, and prone to flaring out from time to time in the outdoors and when threatened. This adaptation, alongside a keen sense of smell gives them an excellent sense of direction as well as heightened kinesthetic senses; a sense of where they are in relation to things around them. A steep downside, however, is that electrical shocks are conducted very easily into the body, and the likes of tasers and stun prods can very quickly overwhelm their nervous systems, more so than almost any other humanoid species.

Finally, the last unique quality of the Kriosan are the presence of retractable bone-like growths in the knuckles of each hand that function as sharpened needle-like spikes. The natural weapons themselves are quite sharp and suited for penetrating the hides of creatures native to Krios, however this adaptation is not one naturally evolved from the proto-Kriosan but a result of the genetic splicing with quill-dogs, who used the tools for hunting prey. While the use of these growths is negligible in the modern age, they still persist as a weapon in a pinch should a Kriosan find himself without a better option.

Culture: Shaped by the Outsider

Historic

Kriosan culture is a fickle thing, marked by the change of time and evolution around the knowledge they gained early in their development. The early history of the Kriosan is something rarely spoken of outside academic circles for its troubled past. Historians, philosophers, and socialists often discuss the genetic change the Kriosan species underwent as something to be lamented, with many declaring it as innocence lost at the behest of necessity. Despite this lofty and poetic declaration, even the most mired of academics adhere to an unspoken rule of never showing pictures of pre-surface dwelling Kriosans. The early weaker forms were hairless, ash-skinned, small, and physically weak with larger bulbous eyes suited only for living beneath the earth. Such a form is looked upon with a mixture of existential discomfort and disgust by the average citizen, leading to many old photographic and artistic records being destroyed as a result.

Pre-change Kriosan society was one of pragmatic necessity that focused heavily on the survival of the greater bastions. While present day Kriosans take pride their independent spirits, the life of these first tribalistic people was one built to focus on the survival of the whole. It was not uncommon in those early days for the physically inferior Kriosans to be selected for the worst jobs or as bait when hunting, using themselves as a draw for the slung rocks of commonly hunted lizards known as orbos or as a draw for larger carnivorous predators.

What altered this more ‘greater good’ mindset was the coming of the forced genetic modifications of the species and knowledge that life existed among the stars. The first was the change in mindset, a subtle and social shift noted only by academics as the newly evolved Kriosans began to become the majority population. The tampering of genetics had a resounding effect on the instinctual and mental build of the average Kriosan that synced more functionally with small groups similar to the structure of quill hound packs. The small shift completely changed the societal dynamic, causing many Kriosans to seek approval more in their respective friend groups over their community on the whole. To compound this, quill hounds are a pack animal, but often hunt alone or in pairs to cover as much area as possible when retrieving a kill for the pack. This resulting individualism in the animal became reflected in the minds of gene-spliced Kriosans as they began to lose the sense of their former self from the primitive splicing effects.

The more direct societal change was the knowledge given to them that unknown alien life existed in the deep vastness of space. This subtle but society-wide revelation shaped how the civilization grew as it entered the industrial age with rampant speculation shifting between fear of unknowable enemies and excitement at potential new allies. However, coupled with the shift in mindset that genetic tampering came with and the leaking of several photos of the skeletons of monstrous beasts from the original looted lab, the general consensus towards these star-born strangers became increasingly geared towards the fearful. This dread was further exploited by the fledgling government that later became the Castellan caste, who used this notion of an external threat as an excuse to push policies that broadened their own power and influence. Spending and work towards an uncertain future war against this unknown enemy became the common industry, forming a pivotal profitable sector in the Kriosan economy. The fact such defensive spending supplied and armed the police and military, solidifying the Castellans as the defacto leaders, was merely a coincidence noted only by conspiracy theorists. Or so the government-funded news outlets would claim...

Castes

Castellan

The divide created by the iron grip of the ruling Castellan class gave way to three distinct cultural levels of Kriosan society. At the top was the Castellan who are rigidly trained and schooled at birth to become the leaders of the Kriosan Confederacy. The Castellan are the most disciplined of the three Kriosan castes with a heavy emphasis on schooling in statecraft, political maneuvering, and physical combat. A Castellan is from birth both coddled and deprived of comfort that another caste would have, the early life of a Castellan is rigidly structured towards physical and mental conditioning. A Castellan is expected to be intelligent, cunning, and physically able to appear as superior to other castes and fit for rule. To create a greater distinction, many Castellans are fed growth hormones or further genetically altered to grow even larger in size, supporting a greater bulk for the purpose of having a commanding aura and the physical strength to back it up, as many reach an absolute maximum height of eight feet. While Castellans are rigidly disciplined throughout their life, this does come with drawbacks. With many of this caste lacking personal charisma due to living in an environment based on rigid power structures, many Castellans come off as stuck-up and arrogant to other castes and species, in particular when they do not have the authority that allows them to assert dominance over others. For this reason, most Castellans are loathe to leave Kriosan space as the power they exert in their homeland does not extend past their borders. More than any other caste, the Castellan focus on adhering to strict rules of conduct, respecting the chain of command and authority openly, but oftentimes using political savvy to undermine and position themselves in seats of power.

Vorhut

The second caste and the most common, is the Vorhut or the ‘common Kriosan’ that makes up the general populace. The Vorhut are by and large smaller than the Castellan due to a less rigid diet and genetic tampering to make them larger and stronger, with the average Vorhut being between six and a half to seven feet tall. The Vorhut are more concerned with the self and their small social groups than the societal care the Castellan have. The Vorhut share the core value of caring only for select individuals and will rarely go beyond the expectation of aiding family and friends. Unlike the rigid and superfluous Castellan, the Vorhut are both lacking in modesty but acutely aware of manners. Vorhut will commonly speak of their prior accomplishments with pride and see personal success as something to boast of when dealing with strangers, often making them appear prideful and vain. What most outsiders do not understand however, is that is boasting is a competitive contest between Kriosans that establishes the attitude, skills, and strengths of those they oftentimes work with. Between Kriosans, this is modesty, but to everyone else this comes across as prideful arrogance. Looking past this, the Vorhut are quite focused on manners if they possess an understanding of their audience and take great pains to be polite to others to avoid any misaligned interpretations. This can often lead to assumptions and misinterpretations by the Vorhut as they often judge a person at face value by race and background alone until getting to know them on a deeper level.

Jaeger

Finally, you have the third and smallest caste, the Jaeger - the frontiersmen of the Confederacy. The Jaegers are the most individualistic of the Kriosans, often focusing even less on matters of pride and appearance outside personal accomplishment through hunting. The common Jaeger is often far more aware of his relation compared to other aliens, as in the advent of exploration they more commonly encounter intelligent xeno life. Jaegers carry less bias towards non-Kriosan and often boast less as a result, often times opting to show their talents over stating them. Jaegers prefer less flashy, utilitarian items, valuing practicality over most other considerations. Their individualism is further compounded by the core value of self-reliance and tight-knit relationships with very few others, often in the form of family and mates. This pride, however, is not without its pitfalls. A Jaeger has a defined set of personal justice and beliefs and is often rigid to the point of stubbornness. It isn’t uncommon for a Jaeger to be belligerent and rarely, violent to enforce what they believe is right. This puts them at odds with most groups, Kriosan or not, but is luckily the exception rather than the rule, as Kriosan morality is relatively similar to most dominant cultures. Jaegers do have their own art style unique to them in the form of scrimshaw. They like to incorporate the sturdy bones and natural weapons of large and dangerous predators into their armor or as bayonets for their rifles, and decorate them differently for the purposes they serve. Specifically, Jaegars will carve their life histories into their armor; places they have seen and want to share the experience of with others, beasts they have hunted and what weapons they hunted with, and other personal milestones that they wish to be remembered for; which will be worn by life-sized statues carved to their likeness from the stone in their communal subterranean tombs after death. The actual acts of killing their prey, however, are carved into their rifles and kris-knives, and passed down to their children, or the children of their siblings failing that. In this way, Jaegars attribute kills to their weapons, but the act of hunting with those weapons to themselves.

Modern Culture

On the greater whole of Kriosan culture, each city on Krios is governed by a Lord Castellan whose seat of power is a large underground bunker complex referred to as a bastion. These bastions are massive, the size of a small city themselves, and using advancements in hydroponics technology introduced by Sol, are built to be self-sustaining. Each bastion houses and supplies, the Lord Castellan and the Bascinets serving under them and, in times of peril, can house the civilian population.

On a more civilian note, a heavy emphasis is placed upon a wide range of artisan crafts, ranging from brewers on up to gunsmiths and shipwrights. Kriosans are a people of toil and often seek work constantly. All castes generally find themselves uncomfortable with long periods of rest or relaxation and prefer to keep laboring longer than most people. This mindset of consistent labor has led to a refusal to buy something when it can be made by the individual, making the trade of tools and materials far more important than a finished product. Kriosans by and large do not buy something if they are open to and capable of crafting it themselves unless it is a good bargain. For example, a housewife would prefer to start her own garden in order to feed her family, rather than buy from a farmer on a regular basis. A Jaeger would sooner collect the steel casings from the ammunition he expends and handload his own rounds, rather than buy extra boxes of ammunition that would take up space he can use in his pack for more vital necessities.

Despite their emphasis on crafts however, most Kriosans do not value the arts very much, and have a reputation for being terse in both speech and in literature. Castellans are famously laconic, often communicating in as few words as possible and rarely use flowery dialogue if it can be avoided. Imperial citizens also tend to view a number of species, particularly humans, Naramads, Cht’mants, and Marqua as being lesser than them until something significant enough is accomplished to earn a measure of respect. Sol citizens with no interest in joining the Confederacy post-crash, for instance, have been forced to live in the bastions under guard of the Castellans, more or less making them second-class citizens. Only Sablekyne, Cindarites, and Akula have largely avoided this, having generally established themselves as species that the Quill Hounds respect due to common beliefs.

Relations

The Kriosan Confederacy is prone to solving problems it has with other groups in the surrounding space through the use of military force, when a significant portion of those problems could more easily have been solved diplomatically. Indeed, the Kriosans almost never deign to bother negotiating if they have a position of military superiority, unless it is obvious to them that there is something more significant to gain through diplomacy instead of conquest, or unless it is with a known power that has earned their respect. Doing otherwise is seen as a sign of weakness, akin to bending the knee to a commoner. The Vorhut are mostly to blame for this, due to their fanatic patriotism post-rebellion, and their desire to exert their perceived superiority over those neighbors who do not fall within their good graces. This is often seen in how the Kriosan Confederacy deals with pirates, often times ruthlessly hunting them in the open, even if said pirates plead mercy or attempt to avoid engagements. Ironically, this mirrors the aggression of Sol, but on a smaller and less sustainable scale. Xianjian and Krios have a famously poor relationship, largely due to the former’s tendency to claim the bodies of the slain, regardless of origin, for their marionette program. Naturally, the Kriosans are disgusted by the resurrection of their dead, and twice as affronted by the fact that they are then made into mindless slaves, or receptacles for soul-less positronic brains. Even despite this, they are not openly warring with one another currently, citing SolFed as a common foe to address first.

Amethyn and Nadezhda

Of the nearby Nadezhda colony the Kriosan Confederacy has good relations, having established contact through Jaeger scouts before brokering a treaty. The Confederacy saw the young colony as an ally against the Sol Federation, should they ever return to put down the rebellion and greedily desire the advanced weaponry, mecha, and resources the colony held a monopoly on. Thus, they’ve pledged support to the colony economically by buying most of its exports and providing imports through the intermediary of the Lonestar Shipping Solutions. Should the Sol Federation ever appear despite the bluespace crash, the Confederacy retains a defensive pact with Nadezhda, something many Castellans privately doubt will ever need to be fulfilled, but brokered with the colony to ensure a tighter alliance.

Canon Species in the Sojourn Universe
Core Species Akula - Kriosans - Humans - Mar'qua - Sablekyne - Naramad - Abhuman
Non-Core Species Opifex - Cht’mant - Cindarite - Mycus - Folken - Aulvae - Minor Factions