Species/Zaddat

The Zaddat are a Hegemony member race only recently introduced to OriCon space. Having evolved on the high-pressure and post-apocalyptic world of Xohok in the Vengeful Father system, Zaddat require an environmental suit to survive in usual planetary and station atmospheres.

Despite these restrictions, the blessing of the Moghes Hegemony have lead the Zaddat to enter human space in search of a new world. The vast majority of Zaddat now live in the Migrant Fleets.

Mechanics

• Require a voidsuit to survive in 101kpa, which most other species require.

• Require a gas mask or oxygen supply to survive in nitrogen atmospheres.

• Skin bursts open in cancerous growths when exposed to direct light, dealing severe burn damage.

• Take increased damage from most sources.

• Have their own language, Vadahq.

• Spawn with a puncture-resistant voidsuit that can be customized by use of a verb.

• Spawn with a gas mask.

Physiology

Zaddat physiology resembles a strange mixture between Earth insects and aquatic invertebrates such as jellyfish. Physiologically, Zaddat have a chitinous carapace covering a weaker endoskeleton made of partially-calcified collagen. Xohok's high-pressure, oxygen-rich atmosphere, caused by a robust system of subcrustal volcanism and anaerobic chemosynthetic producers, causes Zaddat to have severe difficulties breathing and surviving in the atmospheres favored by most other sapients. Atop the carapace is a fibrous layer of soft tissue that is anchored to the Zaddat around the shoulder and forms a distinct symbiote cultivated by the Zaddat during the Darkening of Xohok.

Zaddat have facial mandibles that retract into their skull when not eating and vocal cord analogues that produce sound by rubbing together, not unlike the legs of a cricket. They have long, tapered limbs that flare into three or four phalanges at their end. While their evolutionary ancestors are thought to have eight limbs, four have become vestigial and are now only found on the torso of fertile females. Infertile females are externally identical to males.

Earth atmospheres pose two problems for Zaddat habitation-- the general pressure is low enough to cause significant strain on their fragile joints, and the partial pressure of nitrogen is toxic to them. Their environmental Shrouds address the former problem and their gas-mask Veils address the latter problem. Furthermore, their bodies are extremely photosensitive and respond to bright light by reproducing haphazardly, at a rate fast enough to kill the Zaddat within minutes. As a result, Shrouds are necessary in any lit space, such as workshops or storefronts.

Shrouds are extremely complex and in-depth pieces of machinery that handle food intake and waste disposal alongside hostile pressures. Zaddat Shrouds also assist in muting the natural buzzing accent Zaddat have when speaking any “Universal” Language, though cybernetic modification of the larynx for clearer speech has become popular in the last few decades.

The Shroud

From birth to death, Zaddat spend the vast majority of their lives inside of closed life-support systems called Shrouds. The primary purpose of the Shroud is isolation from the low pressures preferred by most other sapient races, a function easily performed by most races' voidsuit designs.

In addition to functioning as a voidsuit, Shrouds process waste, allow for the intake of food and water, protect the Zaddat from contagion common in their cramped quarters, and serve as an important facet of a Zaddat's desire for individual expression. A Zaddat's Shroud is seen as an extension of the face and necessary professional garb - even within arcships and stations designed for their physiology, most Zaddat wear their Shrouds in public spaces.

Because of the limited number of Shroud designs available to most, many Zaddat choose to personalize their suits with patches, pins, colorful cloths, and custom fittings, giving some Shrouds an eerie resemblance to human "punk" fashion or overdecorated military personnel, depending on the individual.

The Colonies

Rampant industrialization on the Zaddat homeworld of Xohok lead to Xohok's atmosphere becoming unbreathable, and all other publicly-documented garden worlds have an atmospheric pressure between 70 and 200 kPa.

Terraforming any world remains outside of the Zaddat technological ability, as do large atmospheric domes on the surfaces of uninhabitable worlds. As a result, almost all Zaddat live in large habitat-ships called Colonies - originally converted Unathi bulk freighters, now unique Zaddat designs.

Zaddat Colonies are far less independent than ships in flotillas like Ue'Orsi or Shelf, though other species' assistance is not usually required to construct a new Colony or make significant repairs to an existing ship. This produces curious quirk to the Migrant Fleets, as they are essentially roving bands of plundering scavengers.

The Unathi

The Zaddat have spent over two centuries as Unathi allies. While current relations are somewhat cooler, early Zaddat viewed integration into the Kingdoms as an opportunity to escape their dying homeworld, and many embraced the Kingdoms and the political opportunities that came with it.

As a result, indigenous Zaddat religious systems have died out, replaced with a variant of their sun-worship mixed with the Unathi's Markesheli, blending a few other Zaddat concepts. Their adherence to the Markesheli has lead to their being granted broader autonomy within the relatively new Hegemony, culminating with their charter to leave Hegemony space after the OriCon Wars.

Language

The common language of the Spacer Zaddat, Vedahq, was developed to maintain tight communications between Colonies. It is a crisp, utilitarian language consisting of a wide array of human-unpronounceable buzzing and clicking sounds. Many Zaddat also speak Sinta'Unathi.

Naming

Zaddat names are full of harsh consonants and buzzing sounds. Example names include Ivti Azav, Zidz Ivti, Azhox Dzaz.

Zaddat take the personal name of their original guildmaster as a surname as a sign of respect and to signify guild membership. Pre-apprentice children take the word "Iz" as their surname, which is also used as a surname by the guildless.

While some sycophantic Zaddat will take their guild name, the name of their home Colony, or Xohox as a Hegemony clan name and strip the guildless or dishonored of their master's name, these practices are uncommon among most Zaddat.

Religion

The Zaddat naturally practiced many of the constraints of the Markesheli as a result of their Guild system; extreme dedication to a craft, devotion to a kin group, and asceticism have all been part of Zaddat culture since long ago. Some more zealous Zaddat view this as clear evidence of divine intervention in their biological and cultural evolution.

Nonetheless, Zaddat-specific concepts have been introduced into their sect of the Markesheli. The sun-worship of Uueoa-Esa has syncretised with Zaddat superstitions created during the Dark Sky. Many Zaddat view their congenial sensitivity to light as a divine punishment for what they did to their planet. This, and the severely dire situation they were in before and during their discovery by the Kingdoms, has led many to genuinely believe the Moghedi were divinely guided to save them from their own folly and thus are owed an enormous debt by the entire Zaddat society.

The search for a new homeworld too has itself taken on aspects of a religious pilgrimage, an attitude encouraged by the Spacers and the Hegemony alike.

As a shorter-lived race, from a very competitive culture, the Zaddat remain significantly less spiritual as a culture than their Unathi benefactors. While most Zaddat believe the dictates of the Markesheli, they occupy a much less prominent position in their psyche than they do in the Moghedi. Nonetheless, the Hegemony continues to encourage their conversion and greater spiritualism with significant success.

The Guilds' Culture

Zaddat first became Unathi vassals during a period where access to food, liquid water, and life support were restricted only to Guild members. Consequently, the most important relationship in Zaddat culture is that of guildmaster and apprentice.

After finishing a six year course of study under the Noble Guild, a young Zaddat will pledge themselves to a guildmaster and enter a decade-long period of training, after which they are themselves allowed full political and economic autonomy and eventually allowed to take apprentices themselves. One's guildmaster acts as a surrogate parent, and the guild as surrogate family.

To be guildless is a dire fate. Before the loss of Xohok, a guildless Zaddat would be a perpetual “child,” existing on the fringes of society and begging for scraps. Now, in the age of the Colonies, a guildless Zaddat is likely to be exiled from their ship, forced to stake out a life in hostile territory in the confines of an environment suit.

Leadership in a guild is based mostly on seniority and competence, and the day-to-day affairs of a single Zaddat Colony are rife with more politics than some human nations. Every function from sewage to childrearing to ensuring that host species don't shoot the Colony out of the sky is contracted out to insular teams of specialists.

The only thing preventing Colonies from becoming terrifying games of mutually assured destruction is the fact that each guild has its own rivals within the industry who are usually more than happy to break strikes. In the event that an industry does become controlled by a single guild, that guild would become extremely powerful... such as the coalition of guilds that currently rule over the Zaddat.

Spacers' Guild

The Spacer's Guild was originally a small split-off from the Engineers' Guild, concerning itself with navigation and asteroid mining. Over time, it has become the "face" of the Zaddat, managing interspecies diplomacy and supplying the Colonies with a constant stream of labor contracts.

The Spacers claim that this is a natural extension of their role of finding safe passage between stars, but their rivals view it as a naked power grab.

Engineers' Guild

The Engineers' Guild is the largest and most powerful guild and the parent organization of the Spacers' Guild. The Engineers perform most of the labor of keeping the Colonies physically intact and are widely renowned for their talent. In addition to this, there exist either unknown techniques or other such methods by which these Zaddat construct new ships, especially ones of massive scope.

Many Engineers quietly regard the rest of Zaddat society as parasites off of their hard work, but most of the time keep these sentiments unspoken.

The Noble Guild

Nearly 90% of all polyp-producing females belong to the Noble Guild, which concerns itself with polyp production, child rearing, and education. All young Zaddat pass through the Noble Guild on their way to their permanent guild, making it a shared cultural foundation for all Zaddat.

Formed out of the descendants of nobility who sided with the Guilds during the Darkening and of those “queens” who remained in power when the Unathi vassalized them, the Noble Guild guard their monopoly on the Zaddat population jealously, many leaders openly styling themselves queens or other noble titles.

Soldiers' Guild

While some may laugh at the idea of soldier Zaddat, it's a simple fact that any government, or indeed any group of people, has those who defend the greater whole. Such is the way of this Guild: to train in the ways of combat, especially with strike craft and smaller escorts. In many ways the Soldiers' Guild has been influenced the most and the least by their interactions with the warriors of the Unathi.

Most of these Zaddat do not enjoy the political influence that the three “primary” Guilds do, but when Vox or pirates come to attack a Colony, these are the Zaddat that welcome them, and often send them away as space dust.

Droning Guild

For centuries under Unathi rule, the Zaddat considered thinking machines were believed to be too impractical for any Zaddat resources to be expended on their pursuit. The ubiquity of drones in human space proved them wrong.

The Droning Guild was formed by former Engineers and Spacers during the first years of Terran residence and believes drones to be the solution to the Zaddat' woes - capable of operating in hostile environments without life support, devoid of any desire for upward mobility or individual expression, and perfectly legal (assuming that they don't use Unathi brains in their MMI).

“Fashion” Guilds

While not as unified as the other coalition guilds, the various cultural guilds, especially the Art Guilds, are considered the most prestigious and dignified of guilds. They train only a very few apprentices every year, and have a reputation for quality that would make a Skrell director or a human poet blind with envy. They style themselves as above the politics of the rest of the guilds and often provide a voice of moderation to the internal bickering of the Colonies.

In another example of Unathi assimilation, the performing arts are especially well-respected, with their own styles on the Ancestors' tales especially diffusing tensions between particularly rowdy Guilds.

History

The specific chronology of some events in the history of the Zaddat are considered state secrets by the Hegemony and not known by humanity with confidence. While these specific details may be obscured, it is known that there are certain distinct events that shaped the current space-nomad culture of the Zaddat.

In their pre-space days, the Zaddat were a proud people that valued two things above all: technical skill and outward appearance. It's through these values that we can see the basis for the current Guild cultures sprouting. However, there is a clear and distinct line of “nobility” - the fertile females of the species holding broad powers and ruling in much the same way one would ascribe to “queens” that did their utmost to curb the growing power of the nacent Guilds.

These social and economic sanctions eventually saw a planet-wide conflict between the two groups. The Guilds, now able to wield their industrial capacities to their utmost, constructed great foundries to produce arms and equipment for the effort. Eventually the powers agreed to a truce, but by then the damage had been done; their homeworld was being choked by smog and ash clouds, among other lingering ghosts of the conflict.

In a desperate bid to save themselves from the coming catastrophe, something they call The Darkening of Xohok, the Zaddat quickly reformed themselves into a more cohesive government and launched into the brightness beyond the dark of their world. What awaited them were not the open minds of the Skrell or the open hands of the humans, but instead the claws of the Unathi.

The Zaddat were completely unprepared for a conflict with an alien race, much less a race of warriors. Rather than let themselves be completely destroyed, the Zaddat reached out to become a client race of the Kingdoms they had inadvertently intruded upon, offering the rest of their home system as collateral. Hardly a people to turn down such a one-sided deal, the Moghedi accepted the lost folk.

What followed was a distinct shift in Moghedi spacefaring culture; on any given ship, one could find a number of Zaddat studying the ways of spaceflight and construction. The more generous of the host Kingdoms even provided the very first Colonies to the Zaddat; these craft in fact being bulk freighters refitted for the environment the Zaddat needed to live for themselves.

After the initial period of integration, the people of Xohox found it in their best interest to form what they called “Migrant Fleets”. These are independent flotilla of numerous vessels bound together loosely by a common destination and cooperative approach to plying the stars. The many Colonies were joined now by Zaddat-designed and built escort craft, and they demanded equal rights from their local Arbitrators.

In a perhaps uncharacteristic turn of events, the possible crisis was leveraged instead into a formal alliance between the two races: wherever possible, the Unathi are obligated to treat the Zaddat as belonging to the “Pact,” provide materials at a fair rate, and afford the treatment of a Fleet as a Kingdom. In return, the Zaddat continued to operate as they had been, lending their technical expertise to the Unathi for industrial and scientific interests, wherever they happened to be docked. This agreement may or may not be defunct; the two races now provide such services as a matter of course.

Where this agreement finally solidified into real equal partnership was the Exile Uprising with the Naramadi. When the Houses from that alien race came to the Kingdoms asking for military aid, it was the Zaddat who theorized and constructed their flagship and supercarrier: the NAWV Primus. With this monumental task and their longstanding assistance to the Kingdoms as a whole, they were offered to join the Hegemony, an offer they were all too eager to accept.

In the modern day it's a common sight to see Zaddat as a minority on any Hegemony space station, though their primary centers of population are still their own Migrant Fleets and Colonies. With the advent of the Hegemony, some Migrant Fleets have set a course for the Frontier: in the hopes of finding a new homeworld, and to establish the Zaddat as a true Galactic race. Many of these “true” Migrants also house a Clan of Unathi among their ranks to provide 'muscle' where skill and negotiations fail.

Interracial Relations

In a stark contrast to their more imperial-minded Hegemony members, the Migrant Fleets are seen less as an invading force so much as a roving collection of squatters. While most Corporations and Galactic Powers see fit to negotiate with them for passage, usually in exchange for labor contracts, it can hardly be said that they are seen as a threat.

Several Diona thickets have expressed interest in helping the Zaddat terraform a new homeworld, assuming a candidate can be found. Some of them have taken up residence in the life support systems of Zaddat Colonies.

However, pointing out similarities between the Zaddat and the Vox is a good way to find oneself blacklisted by every Guild in a given fleet. The two races themselves mirror each other ina an uncanny way, but where the Vox can only steal to keep their arcships functional, the Zaddat pride themselves in their craftsmanship.

OOC Notes

Zaddat are most commonly contracted out for Engineering work because of the prominence of the Engineers' Guilds, but will generally take whatever short-term contracts are available.

Many Zaddat have a knack for medicine born from living within the confines of a Shroud, and some Corporations hire Zaddat scientists in (futile) hopes of pilfering secrets from the Hegemony.

Zaddat are too slow and fragile to work in Security, and because of their distrusted and transient nature are not hired as Command Staff save for extreme cases.

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