Klackons
The Klackons are an "insectoid" bipedal (but hexapoidal) species, one of the many races that share the surface of Ardha. Their major homeland is said to be in the Toxic Jungles east of Misr, but like many of the sapient races of Ardha, they're able to adapt to a variety of climes and locales, and individuals can be found in every corner of "civilized" Ardha and beyond.
All Klackons share a generally similar physiology, though there are greater differences among them (and within ethnicities) than differences between human ethnicities, for example. Klackons all have a body separated between head, thorax, and abdomen, and have six limbs. The limbs are almost universally divided so that two are used for walking and the other two for manipulation; though greater speed/assurance can be gained by using the "middle" limbs for walking as well.
Klackon heads are triangular, with the "base" at the top, with antennae at either side, and the "point" at the bottom armed with mandibles. Klackons have both compound and simple eyes, arrayed on their heads between antennae and mandibles. Their eyesight is not especially keen, but their sense of smell and hearing more than make up for that lack, such that they are said by some to be able to "see invisible things".
There are three "genders" in Klackon society: cousins, drones, and dores. Cousins are breeding females; drones are sterile females; and dores are breeding males. Cousins and drones tend to have dark or black carapaces, while dores almost universally have soft and pale carapaces. Cousins and dores fulfil roles of bureaucrats and court functionaries; meanwhile drones serve as laborers and soldiers. Specific temperatures and chemical atmospheres in the development of eggs and young Klackons change the developing pupa's life course: and while drones might at some point become cousins, those that hatch as dores are forever chemically established as dores.
There are six ethnicities of Klackons that so far have imposed themselves in particular upon history around Tsur al Qadim, the Tel al Safina, and Cothon-Gadeed:
The Nomoriah
Known mostly through legend. This was a group of Klackons led by Qatax the Blind out of the Toxic Jungles of old because of the depredations of the Doulii Klackons. They came to Tsur and the Tel and, repulsed by the high walls of the human city, they descended into the tunnels of the Tel. Therein did they found a colony of old, and prospered for a time; but some evil was awakened in their delvings, something that preyed upon them, until the colony was lost to history.
The Doulii
Their Immortal Columns marched across the plains, invincible armies that swept all before them. They were said to ride dlakolel of the ancients that flew and breathed fire! Meanwhile, their phalanges of warrior drones were literally unstoppable. They marched the breadth of the continent, conquering all before them, until Dalan the Blind of Old Tsur was able to muster an army to stand against them. Marshalling some kind of magic, Dalan and his spearmen were able to turn the tide of the Doulii and drive them back to the Toxic Jungles whence they came. They have not emerged since (a thousand years), and so are presumably defeated ...
The Attines
Though the Doulii were defeated outside their homeland, they were apparently still causing trouble within the Toxic Jungles, enough such that another host of Klackons departed west (toward the Tel al Safina). This group--the Attines--found the area around the Tel and Old Tsur to their liking, and so they established themselves there with their "thousand spires". Unfortunately for them, they found themselves in the midst of a multi-generational war between the Men of Tsur and the Kzinti of the deserts south.
After suffering for many years as collateral damage, the Attines finally reached an Accord with the men of Tsur to build a new city, Gadeed, to replace the one that had been razed (Tsur). The Attines supplied much technical support in the construction of Gadeed's defenses, such that the Kzinti were finally thrown back, and the wars turned in the favor of Men.
Unfortunately (?) for the Attines, one particular tribe coordinated especially well with the humans of Gadeed. This tribe, the Xolda, would eventually demand fealty of all the Attine Klackons. When most of the Attine princesses refused, that created the split between the Attines and Xolda; the Attines constructed their own fortified Spire outside the hinterlands of Gadeed and maintained their own way of life.
The Attines now dwell together in their great Spire, divided into what were six Houses (the Sixth House has been destroyed). Each House has its own Princess, and the Attines work together only insofar as their Princesses agree; while there is a great deal of cooperation, the Houses do not always get along.
Meanwhile, the Xolda integrated into Cothon:
The Xolda
During the Man-Kzin Wars, the Xolda Klackons were those who worked most closely with the men of Tsur, to repair the fortifications of that ancient city, and to build anew when all was lost and Gadeed must be constructed ... and Cothon many years later. The Xolda remember themselves chiefly as the ones who turned the tide of the Man-Kzin Wars in the favor of Man; and they are the Klackon tribe that chose to live with men in their New City, as opposed to the Spires of the other Klackons.
Perhaps the Xolda princesses arrogated too much to themselves, for they ultimately demanded fealty of all the Attine Klackons in Accord with Men--and received rejections from the Six Houses of the Attines. Nevertheless, they continued to dwell in close proximity with their friends, the Men of Gadeed (and later, Cothon), and they developed a way to live in close alliance that lasts even to this day.
The Free Klackons
An enigmatic group of nomadic Klackons. They seem to be an ethno-religious group, insular from other Klackons (and greatly disliked by them), eking out existence on the edges of other groups. They come through towns periodically, and have a reputation of "weirdness", not exactly "bad" but definitely not liked.
Unlike most Klackons, they seem to have more egalitarian reproductive relationships. Whereas all the above Klackons (Nomoriah, Doulii, Attine, Xolda) have certain castes for reproduction, the Free Klackons seem to be able to reproduce as it suits them. No doubt this leads to some of the disgust the major groups have for this clave of Klackondom.
The Mnor
Not really an "ethnicity", the Mnor are rather a social class--of outcasts. These "untouchables" are comprised of those deemed too criminal for right-functioning Klackon society. In other Klackon societies they might not exist at all--being executed, or some such--but amongst the Attines and the Xolda, it is preferred to let "untouchables" go in the hopes that they will form attachments among human society and still be functional.
Alas afor this higher ideal, many of the Mnor instead just gather together in bands at the edges of society and and attempt to strong-arm their way back into "good society" by capturing a Cousin and a Dore for themselves to reproduce upon.
All Klackons share a generally similar physiology, though there are greater differences among them (and within ethnicities) than differences between human ethnicities, for example. Klackons all have a body separated between head, thorax, and abdomen, and have six limbs. The limbs are almost universally divided so that two are used for walking and the other two for manipulation; though greater speed/assurance can be gained by using the "middle" limbs for walking as well.
Klackon heads are triangular, with the "base" at the top, with antennae at either side, and the "point" at the bottom armed with mandibles. Klackons have both compound and simple eyes, arrayed on their heads between antennae and mandibles. Their eyesight is not especially keen, but their sense of smell and hearing more than make up for that lack, such that they are said by some to be able to "see invisible things".
There are three "genders" in Klackon society: cousins, drones, and dores. Cousins are breeding females; drones are sterile females; and dores are breeding males. Cousins and drones tend to have dark or black carapaces, while dores almost universally have soft and pale carapaces. Cousins and dores fulfil roles of bureaucrats and court functionaries; meanwhile drones serve as laborers and soldiers. Specific temperatures and chemical atmospheres in the development of eggs and young Klackons change the developing pupa's life course: and while drones might at some point become cousins, those that hatch as dores are forever chemically established as dores.
There are six ethnicities of Klackons that so far have imposed themselves in particular upon history around Tsur al Qadim, the Tel al Safina, and Cothon-Gadeed:
The Nomoriah
Known mostly through legend. This was a group of Klackons led by Qatax the Blind out of the Toxic Jungles of old because of the depredations of the Doulii Klackons. They came to Tsur and the Tel and, repulsed by the high walls of the human city, they descended into the tunnels of the Tel. Therein did they found a colony of old, and prospered for a time; but some evil was awakened in their delvings, something that preyed upon them, until the colony was lost to history.
The Doulii
Their Immortal Columns marched across the plains, invincible armies that swept all before them. They were said to ride dlakolel of the ancients that flew and breathed fire! Meanwhile, their phalanges of warrior drones were literally unstoppable. They marched the breadth of the continent, conquering all before them, until Dalan the Blind of Old Tsur was able to muster an army to stand against them. Marshalling some kind of magic, Dalan and his spearmen were able to turn the tide of the Doulii and drive them back to the Toxic Jungles whence they came. They have not emerged since (a thousand years), and so are presumably defeated ...
The Attines
Though the Doulii were defeated outside their homeland, they were apparently still causing trouble within the Toxic Jungles, enough such that another host of Klackons departed west (toward the Tel al Safina). This group--the Attines--found the area around the Tel and Old Tsur to their liking, and so they established themselves there with their "thousand spires". Unfortunately for them, they found themselves in the midst of a multi-generational war between the Men of Tsur and the Kzinti of the deserts south.
After suffering for many years as collateral damage, the Attines finally reached an Accord with the men of Tsur to build a new city, Gadeed, to replace the one that had been razed (Tsur). The Attines supplied much technical support in the construction of Gadeed's defenses, such that the Kzinti were finally thrown back, and the wars turned in the favor of Men.
Unfortunately (?) for the Attines, one particular tribe coordinated especially well with the humans of Gadeed. This tribe, the Xolda, would eventually demand fealty of all the Attine Klackons. When most of the Attine princesses refused, that created the split between the Attines and Xolda; the Attines constructed their own fortified Spire outside the hinterlands of Gadeed and maintained their own way of life.
The Attines now dwell together in their great Spire, divided into what were six Houses (the Sixth House has been destroyed). Each House has its own Princess, and the Attines work together only insofar as their Princesses agree; while there is a great deal of cooperation, the Houses do not always get along.
Meanwhile, the Xolda integrated into Cothon:
The Xolda
During the Man-Kzin Wars, the Xolda Klackons were those who worked most closely with the men of Tsur, to repair the fortifications of that ancient city, and to build anew when all was lost and Gadeed must be constructed ... and Cothon many years later. The Xolda remember themselves chiefly as the ones who turned the tide of the Man-Kzin Wars in the favor of Man; and they are the Klackon tribe that chose to live with men in their New City, as opposed to the Spires of the other Klackons.
Perhaps the Xolda princesses arrogated too much to themselves, for they ultimately demanded fealty of all the Attine Klackons in Accord with Men--and received rejections from the Six Houses of the Attines. Nevertheless, they continued to dwell in close proximity with their friends, the Men of Gadeed (and later, Cothon), and they developed a way to live in close alliance that lasts even to this day.
The Free Klackons
An enigmatic group of nomadic Klackons. They seem to be an ethno-religious group, insular from other Klackons (and greatly disliked by them), eking out existence on the edges of other groups. They come through towns periodically, and have a reputation of "weirdness", not exactly "bad" but definitely not liked.
Unlike most Klackons, they seem to have more egalitarian reproductive relationships. Whereas all the above Klackons (Nomoriah, Doulii, Attine, Xolda) have certain castes for reproduction, the Free Klackons seem to be able to reproduce as it suits them. No doubt this leads to some of the disgust the major groups have for this clave of Klackondom.
The Mnor
Not really an "ethnicity", the Mnor are rather a social class--of outcasts. These "untouchables" are comprised of those deemed too criminal for right-functioning Klackon society. In other Klackon societies they might not exist at all--being executed, or some such--but amongst the Attines and the Xolda, it is preferred to let "untouchables" go in the hopes that they will form attachments among human society and still be functional.
Alas afor this higher ideal, many of the Mnor instead just gather together in bands at the edges of society and and attempt to strong-arm their way back into "good society" by capturing a Cousin and a Dore for themselves to reproduce upon.
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