NationStates Jolt Archive


Yautja Homeworld -- An In-Depth Guide

The Yautja Homeworld
07-04-2005, 01:48
OOC: First off, the following must be known. This nation is not a 'nation' as most RP with; it is not a conventional power, with a set territory amount of territory, a central government or a unified, standing army.
For this, I will be disregarding my NS population and simply assuming my own. Not up, as you might expect, but down instead.
I know my national name might suggest otherwise, but that was forced upon me by the fact that most other reasonable variants were already taken, and mostly dead.

Anyway, I will RP with only one clan at a time. Clans will not unite against common enemies, clans will not interact (except to share hunting tales once in a while). If one clan is defeated, I will take up a completely new clan. They may be better or worse than the previous clan. They may be stronger or weaker than the previous clan. They will definitely have different characters, and different information -- as in, they won't know who the heck you are unless that particular clan has encountered you before.

Clans will vary from size between anywhere from 4,000 Yautja to 50,000. A clan will live on a very large, very powerful, but very isolated ship. Each clan will generally have a totally different, unique class of vessel which would have been passed down through the generations and upgraded over the years.
This ship will remain cloaked for the most part, except when doing things such as launching ships for hunts, deploying 'egg pods', or other such things. I'm sure you will appreciate that I won't accept you swooping in, magically detecting and blowing up a clan ship which is under cloak without discussing it with me first -- after all, these things contain, essentially, my entire nation, every character I have created, and every successful hunt will be attached to their name. It will be time consuming to say the least to start over, so I'd appreciate being able to decide when they go out.

This post will contain specific information about the current clan being used. Below will be previous clans, if any, and these will be marked as 'deceased', with a link to the place where it happened.
The second post will contain general information about the Yautja, and may be updated/amended regularly, or not at all. It is safe to assume that most of the stuff in the second post will apply to any clan, past, present or future. But all this information is strictly secret IC -- you will have to find out about all of the following for yourselves, rather than claiming to know everything IC. Anyway.
I may alter this factbook around if I decide I don't like the layout / want more information in it. It is 1:39am at present, so you'll understand if I don't put the second page up just yet :D.
I will remove this OOC part at some point, or simply shorten it, when I feel the point has been put across sufficiently.

SECRET IC:

Current Clan

Current Dominant Clan: Clan of the Great Cetanu
Clan Ship: The Ripping Claw (Talon-class Hunting Dreadnought)
Approx. Clan Population: 9,100 (+ 1,000 Etas)
Current Location: Planet K'Pec, 2,472 lighyears from galactic core, Earth-side.
Alpha Male: Cetanu
Alpha Female: Dahdtoudi
High Ranking Warriors: Yeyinde, Guan-Thwei, Jachnok (Killed on a Hunt), Paya
Known Bad Bloods: Jechinda



Details:

The Cetanu clan is an ancient clan, which has been headed by many families in the past. Previous generations of the clan have emerged victorious from many of the most brutal hunts in Yautja society, so the current generations have plenty to live up to. One the clan's greatest recent achievements was capturing the so-called 'Super Queen'; a particularly large and ferocious Hard Meat (A.K.A. 'Alien', as in the movie) Queen. Unfortunately, this Queen recently escaped and disrupted a hunt -- the clan's honour must be redeemed by either recapturing her, or defeating her in the traditional combat method.

The current Alpha Male, Cetanu, is well respected by all clans and his own clan. Yautja legends suggest he has defeated more prey than the rest of his own clan put together. Whether this legend is true or not, Cetanu will not clarify.
The Alpha Female, Dahdtoudi, is a powerful and stubborn leader. She is known for her fits of rage, which are surprising even for a female. Together, Dahdtoudi and Cetanu have produced 34 'sucklings', which are being raised together on the Ripping Claw.

The Ripping Claw is the clan ship of Cetanu Clan, and is a so-called Talon-class Hunting Dreadnought. Compared to other Yautja clan ships, it is a medium-sized vessel with a medium level of firepower. Approximately 17 kilometres long, and armed with more Yautja plasma weapons than one could count, the Ripping Claw sits comfortably in the 'dreadnought' class. As with most Yautja technology, the Ripping Claw has extensive stealth technology.
At present, the vessel is capable of launching upwards of 100 Hunter-class gunships, 400 Knife-class fighter craft, 1 Kehrite-class light cruiser, and 3,000 PDPs (Prey Deployment Pods), which makes her ideally suited to her primary role of facilitating large-scale hunts.
As with all clan ships, her interior supports a vast number of Yautja, young and old, and functions almost like a flying, FTL city.



Past Hunts (red marks a failed hunt, green marks a victorious hunt, black marks a present/unfinished hunt):

The First Hunt; Planet K'Pec (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=405956)
Notes: In Progress
The Yautja Homeworld
07-04-2005, 01:48
Yautja Biology

Yautja are a powerful, bipedal species which shares traits of both reptiles and mammals. They are quite large, certainly more so than humans in most normal cases, and generally very strong, unless part of the Eta caste (see further down for details).

Appearance

The Yautja are, as mentioned, quite large. Rarely is an adult Yautja male below 7ft tall, with most males settling on 7.5/8ft tall, sometimes even larger. On average they weigh anywhere between 250 to 350lb, though most of this is pure muscle. Their sociological nature gives them little opportunity to accumulate body fat, while plenty of opportunity to build their muscles. Even if a Yautja does not participate in hunts ever/anymore, they still need to be quite strong if only to repel challenges from their peers.

Female Yautja are even larger and stronger than their male counterparts, averaging at above 8ft tall and 400lb. They have mammal features which identify them as females -- mammary glands being the most obvious.

Both genders have reptile-like, scaled skin, usually of mottled green, red and yellow/cream coloured patterns. This affords them some degree of protection, as well as changing colour slightly when they are mating.
Both genders also have four independent mandibles on their outer-mouth. These open outwards to reveal an inner mouth of sharp teeth, much like a human. These mandibles are a major part of their language, using them to express their emotions in a vast number of circumstances.

Yautja have long, thick, black hair. All males, and some females, have this hair braided permanently into dreadlocks. The procedure for this is almost a rite of passage in itself -- a highly painful procedure that often takes months; it involves ceasing hair growth at a certain point, and literally welding the existing hair into thick clumps using excessive heat.

Yautja will usually have yellow eyes, regardless of sex, though an estimated 20-35% of Yautja have green eyes. Eye colour doesn't really have any impact on them or those around them, though.

Physiology

Yautja appear to be 'on the fence' when it comes to deciding on what they are -- reptile, or mammal. They have the reproductive system and temperature regulation abilities of a mammal, but the skin of a reptile. This skin affords them some degree of protection against the elements, and against weapons. They can shrug off most small-calibre projectile weapons and lasers, though this just means that people resort to firing infinitely more destructive weaponry at them instead.

Yautja breathe approximately 1% more oxygen and 4% more nitrogen than humans do. This means that although they can adapt to Earth-like atmospheres for a time, they cannot generally survive like this without artificial support for more than a few weeks. They also prefer much hotter, more humid conditions than humans. It is said they can survive in temperatures of up to 120 degrees celcius without being burned, thanks in part to their thick, reptile-like skin, though this appears to be just as temporary as their ability to breath on an Earth-like planet.
So, a Yautja will be most comfortable in an atmosphere hot, humid, with a high concentration of nitrogen.

Yautja are natural predators. They have impeccable hearing (it is said they can hear a whisper from 50 feet away) and their vision is peculiar, but effective. Contrary to popular belief, Yautja vision is not naturally infra-red. It operates on the standard visible light spectrum to humans, though they are more attuned to movement. They also have excellent smell, thanks in part to the 'musk' that they produce -- a scent only detectable by other Yautja and canines, it serves to identify them, and to help others ascertain what sort of mood they are in and also plays a part in their mating rituals.

Yautja blood is possibly their most interesting trait. It is green, rather thick, but more intriguingly, it glows. There are many theories about this. Some have suggested their blood is slightly radioactive. Others have suggested, more correctly, that instead of iron in their haemoglobin, Yautja use copper or something similar, which causes a low-level phosphorous reaction.
Their blood also helps in neutralising the acidic blood of Hard Meat. It is not 100% effective nor instant, but should acidic blood get on them, their blood will neutralise it sufficiently to prevent significant damage.

Yautja lifespan is extreme. It is thought that they can live for 1,000 years. Most Yautja die on the hunt long before this time, but it is certainly possible, with Honoured Elders living to this age and sometimes even beyond. The average Yautja lifespan is 800 years.

The reproductive cycle of Yautja is also different. Pregnancy in females is usually 10 - 12 months in length, during which she will become noticeably more aggressive. Increased adrenaline production also artificially inflates her strength, her reflexes and senses will grow more heightened, she will grow ever more paranoid and easy to provoke into lethal fights, whilst her reptile-like skin becomes almost 1.5 times thicker and offers her a significantly increased resistance to all forms of attack -- nobody in their right mind would even consider attacking a female Yautja when pregnant, armed or not.
After birth, a young Yautja, also known as a 'sucker' in their society, will remain with its mother for upwards of 25 - 30 years. Their increased size and weight simply makes it impossible for a Yautja to develop as quickly as other species, despite the extra time they spend inside their mother.
By the age of 30, a Yautja is technically full matured in all ways, and will go on to whatever they intend to do in their lives. Few 'suckers' will visit their mothers regularly, or even ever again, and once the 'sucker' has left the mother seems to lose any maternal attachment she has. This is all part of the Yautja not mating for life.

Yautja are aware of 'The Force', and an estimated 15-20% of Yautja could be considered 'Force sensitive'. However, the nature of Yautja sociey prevents them from developing such a power -- they believe that only cowards resort to 'sorcery and trickery'. Members of the Outcast caste might not be so against the notion, however.



Yautja Society -- a Complete Guide

This is a complete guide to all general aspects of Yautja society, from their castes, to their customs and language, to their laws and codes of honour. Yautja are a complex people, easy to anger and hard to calm, but if you are knowledgable in their ways you may find dealing with Yautja and gaining their respect a lot easier.

Yautja Society -- Castes

Most clans are seperated into distinct groups, or castes. Some castes are honoured, some are neutral, some are subjugated. But they are all important, and play a major role in the day-to-day life of the Yautja, as well as the Hunt.

Unblooded Caste

These are young Yautja, ranging from pre-teen to late-teen, who have never been on a hunt. They have accumulated no honour, but they have a driving desire to do so.

Unblooded Yautja will typically spend most of their time studying the traditional combat techniques of the Yautja, the concept of honour, the sacred laws, rules of the hunt and suchlike, as well as asserting themselves amongst their peers. When they understand the basics of the hunt and concepts of honour, they are put into practice fights and subjected to rigorous tests.

When their masters have felt that they have learned all that they can learn in the training rooms, the Unblooded Yautja are placed in the kainde amedha chiva, or 'Hard Meat Trial'. This trial is their first true, live hunt. Under the supervision of their masters, the young Yautja will hunt the Hard Meat, or xenomorphs. If victorious, the young Yautja will mark themselves with the blood of the Hard Meat and, if possible, keep a skull as a trophy. This gives them honour and allows them to enter the ranks of the full, adult, Blooded Yautja. Those who die on the hunt will be remembered with honour for dying a noble death. Any Yautja who survive but fail to kill prey, thus failing to Blood themselves, will either be remain Unblooded and continue training, will be considered a 'lost cause' by their masters and simply given up on, or even Outcast from the clan, depending on the circumstances.

Any newly Blooded Yautja found to have used dishonourable methods on their first hunt will return to the ranks of the Unblooded, as they obviously do not understand the concept of honour yet. If it was a severe breach of the rules, for which there is no excuse, they may be Outcast, as any other Yautja.

Unblooded Yautja are not permitted to use or own any hunting technology until they are instructed to do so by their masters, and even then they will only receive a basic kit, as provided to them by their masters. If Soft Meat are likely to be present at their kainde amedha chiva, masters will permit the use of cloaking technology.

Unblooded Yautja are not permitted to hunt Soft Meat (humans, and your other generic sentient races) unless forced to do so by the Soft Meat themselves, and even then, they may only fight enough to defend themselves.

Young Bloods

These are fairly new hunters who may have only successfully completed one or two hunts including their kainde amedha chiva. They have some small amount of honour, and are frequently 'guided' in the right direction by older, more experienced and highly regarded Yautja. Some Young Bloods may feel as though they are still being taught new things, though, unlike the Unblooded there is no safety net.

Young Bloods are frequently reckless and arrogant of their abilities. A few sensible Young Bloods exist, but it is likely that they will take foolish risks and may not even be as stealthy as they should when stalking their prey. Indeed, they may not even bother with stalking, and jump right in for the kill. Young Blood fatalities are amongst the highest of all the castes.

Young Bloods are permitted to follow the experienced Warriors on the 'mass hunts' -- these are hunts against vast numbers of prey, usually the Hard Meat, and will involve a great many hunters. Young Bloods will frequently 'fill out' any gaps in numbers. They are encouraged against going on solo hunts. However, sometimes, more experienced hunters who see promise in a particular Young Blood may allow him to tag along on a solo hunt as an observer, to see how it is done.

Young Bloods may not yet own much in the way of hunting equipment.

Although Young Bloods are strongly discouraged against hunting Soft Meat, there are no restrictions stopping them from doing so if they decide to.

Blooded Caste (A.K.A. 'Full Bloods')

The only difference between Blooded Yautja and Young Bloods is a level of experience or honour. Blooded hunters are true, skilled hunters, with a medium degree of honour to their name. They may have been on many mass hunts, and will now be thinking about going on a solo hunt. A Blooded Yautja is likely to be favoured over a Young Blood when Yautja are being selected for a mass hunt.

Blooded Yautja will probably have gained ownership of much Yautja hunting technology, though they may still lack a few useful weapons.

Warrior Caste

Warriors are masters of the hunt -- they are Yautja in their element. Learning their lessons well from a great many previous hunts, a Warrior will be a violent, ferocious opponent with access to an impressive level of skills. Warriors revel in solo hunts against deadly opponents, preferring to challenge their very limits in pursuit of honour. The wall of a Warrior's quarters will likely be covered in a variety of skulls from all over the galaxy.

Hunters of the Warrior caste are frequently known to use more psychological warfare tactics than any other attacks while on a hunt. Their main objective is to frighten their prey, to make it paranoid and irrational. When hunting a group of prey, the Warrior will take them down slowly; one after the other, at opportune moments. This only serves to increase the fear. In battle, they are violent and deadly, capable of matching most Yautja one-on-one.

With access to most types of Yautja technology, Warriors only become more potent and deadly.

Warriors sometimes lead mass hunts against improbable odds. They are extremely well respected and have accumulated an impressive amount of honour. They hold great sway in clan politics. Warriors will usually be 200-300 years old.

Some Warriors will teach Unblooded Yautja when they are not on a hunt.

The Honoured Caste

These are the elite hunters of Yautja society. They are more skilled than any other hunters in the galaxy, and will have triumphed in more hunts than they could even remember. Elite hunters will probably have stopped collecting lesser skulls from their victims, simply because they have so many. Unless they take down a particularly challenging prey, such as an Alien Queen or another particularly vicious lifeform, in which case they will make room for it.

Most Honoured hunters are thinking about retiring from the hunt. Their age, usually 400 years or more, will soon begin to impact upon their skills. Some Elites become full time teachers of the Unblooded, passing on their knowledge to the next generations of hunters.

Once a Yautja has lived through enough hunts to join the ranks of the elite, they are virtually unstoppable killing machines, with access to the most advanced Yautja technology ever created and with more tactics than entire armies. So few Yautja survive to this age that they are incredibly well respected, and hold a significant degree of power in internal politics. The endorsement of an Honoured hunter can make or break a reputation.

The Elders (A.K.A. Ancients)

The greatest hunters that have ever lived will become known as 'honoured elders'. There is no higher position within Yautja society, with some Elders even outranking the Alpha Male of their clan. Elders could quite easily kill any other Yautja in battle without even exerting themselves. They are legendary, and will have survived thousands of some of the greatest hunts in history.

Elders may have grown weary of the hunt, though. At an age sometimes exceeding 700 years, they may also have started to 'lose their edge'. So they will likely start looking for other means to entertain themselves -- they could not possibly become more honoured by their society, so hunting may seem somewhat futile. Some Elders devote their time to learning about the combat ways of other species -- for example, there are stories of Elders who are versed in Earth-style martial arts -- while others will simply make it their purpose to dispense advice to younger hunters, and sometimes help on particularly difficult mass hunts.

Despite their almost godlike ability at killing, you would likely rather want to meet an Elder Yautja in a dark alley than any of the younger castes. They are generally more compassionate and tolerant, and are so confident in their superiority and skill that they simply have no need to demonstrate it. Whereas younger castes may take to hunting the unsuspecting person, an Elder might go so far as to try talking to it.

Arbitrators

All societies with rules need people to enforce those rules.

Yautja who are bored with the hunt, but do not wish to stop serving a purpose, may become Arbitrators. These elite Yautja 'police' hunt their own kind -- but only those who have broken the rules. For example, if one Yautja murdered another, Arbitrators would begin hunting that Yautja.

Arbitrators are judge, jury and executioners all in one, and are ruthless in ensuring honour amongst the Yautja is maintained. The likelihood of an outsider encountering an Arbitrator is minimal, as they do not concern themselves with other species.

Eta Caste

Those Yautja with no honour, and no means/desire of acquiring any honour, will end up being classified as an Eta. Cripples, retards, seriously ill and completely unskilled Unblooded Yautja fall under this category. Eta are essentially slaves to the hunters. They do perform vital functions, such as making sure food is available, maintaining Yautja technologies and researching new technologies. But they are still disrespected by the hunting castes, and frequently ridiculed. None are ever killed, though.

Eta are not to be confused with Bad Bloods. There is nothing illegal about having no honour -- though, there is nothing to be gained from it, either.

Bad Bloods

These are Yautja who have broken the sacred laws of the Yautja society, and have been outcast from their clans with no hope of returning. Those Yautja accused of serious crimes, such as the murder of another Yautja, will end up being hunted by Arbitrators from various clans.

Bad Bloods can vary in skill level, from being equal to Young Bloods to being equal to Honoured or Warrior Yautja in combat. Most Bad Bloods don't bother with hunting anymore, but aimlessly wander the galaxy. Some continue with the hunts though. And a Yautja who hunts without being bound by any rules or honour, is a very dangerous Yautja indeed. There are even stories of Bad Bloods specifically hunting other Yautja, treating them like prey rather than predators.

Some Bad Bloods are not necessarily criminals, though. They may have been somewhat unskilled in the hunt, and would rather leave their clan than become an Eta. These Bad Bloods are usually less 'bad' than an average Yautja. Some are even respectable, social creatures who avoid killing anybody.

Some Bad Bloods may carry Yautja hunting technology, if their clanmates failed to relieve them of it in time. Others may have fashioned their own since being outcast. Those who are not interested in the hunt anymore may have little more than a civilian vessel purchased from some other society.



Yautja Society -- Ranks

As well as being divided into certain castes, there are four different 'ranks' which any Yautja, of any caste, can fall under.

Alpha

The Alpha Male is the leader of the hunts. He may not always be the most skilled hunter, but he usually is. The Alpha Male is a highly influential person in Yautja society, and usually decides, in conjunction with his mate, where the next mass hunt will take place. Hunters decide upon their own solo hunts, and the Alpha Male will help them reach their hunting grounds.

The Alpha Female is generally the most dominant Yautja in Yautja society. She will be in control of the political and administrative side of the clan; interacting with other clans and species, delegating responsibilities to Yautja not on a hunt, or the Eta, and all the stuff that the males would not be interested in. She will usually treat the hunters in her clan as though they were her own children, or as they might say, 'sucklings'.

Beta

Most of the more experienced and respected hunters will fall under this category. They are influential, but they are ruled by the Alphas. Betas will typically bow their heads to Alphas as a mark of respect and loyalty. Betas will lead the mass hunts if the Alpha male is not attending.

Subordinate

Unblooded, Young Bloods, and most Blooded hunters are subordinates. Most young Yautja, basically. They take orders from both Alphas and Betas.

Omega

Hopelessly unskilled, small or otherwise 'weak' Yautja fall into this category. All Etas are Omegas, but not all Omegas are Etas. Sometimes, Unblooded or Young Bloods find themselves being treated as Omegas -- they are constantly picked on by their peers, rarely selected for mass hunts, and frequently used as a scapegoat if something doesn't go according to plan. These Yautja are most likely to become voluntary outcasts.

Lone Wolf

These Yautja have willingly disassociated themselves with their clans. Some do this because they wish to take the solo hunt ideal to the extreme, and never have contact with or support from another Yautja ever again. Some leave with a mate, to begin their own clan. The rest are typically Bad Bloods. All Bad Bloods are Lone Wolfs, not all Lone Wolfs are Bad Bloods.
The Yautja Homeworld
07-04-2005, 21:59
[Reserving another post, as I don't think one will cut it. Or be appropriate.]
Tanara
07-04-2005, 22:30
Thanks for the excellent beginning. I know what cramping fingers are like, hope they are getting better.
The Yautja Homeworld
10-04-2005, 23:08
[Biology information added]