Validus

Alien conquerors.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Aliens

• Alignment: Infernal

• Energy: Corrogatio

• Lifespan: 200 years

• Diet: Assimilated, altered cuisine of the places they conquer

• Habitat: Anywhere

Origins

An ancient, interstellar empire from far away.

Description

Validuses stand about 8' tall on average. They have four eyes set in their heads - the lower pair is glittering black and sees different energies, the upper pair are always blood red and see mundane light. Their skin ranges from dark blue to blue so light it is almost white. Their hair is always straight; "men" in their cultures tend to wear it shoulder length and "women" in their cultures wear it cropped short. Hair color ranges from red so dark it is almost black to orangish gold. They have four arms, which makes many think they are a kind of brannish, though the two species are completely unrelated. Atop their foreheads they have three antennae that have special senses. Their faces have finned flaps on the side, and their legs have silvery spines along the sides. Their backs are ridged and encrusted with bony plates.

On Shem, Amolian validuses often have bull horns.

Procreation

Validuses reproduce sexually with one another and no others, except through supernatural intervention.

Powers

All validuses are born with the ability to breathe any gas or liquid, as they have lungs and gills and an immunity to most mundane poisons and acids.

Conquered Powers

Validuses are beings of conquest. They take on powers and abilities that they steal from the subjugated locals. It does not matter if the individual validus took part in the conquest; if they live there, they benefit. Their powers will be based on the indigenous nations in the area, so it is as much cultural as biological. That is, if a nation of animal folk lived there when the land was conquered, the validuses will gain some animal-based powers, but if that nation culturally practiced arts that used, for example, d'qiarsea, the validuses living there would also gain powers derived from that energy.

Most validuses on Shem live in Furich Amol, the original land of minotaurs, so they have excellent combat abilities, great strength, and sometimes horns. The minotaurs fled south to Wymmera and live in diaspora, but some few remain as a slave race in Furich Amol. A validus who lives in a place that is not conquered by them will revert to their base form and powers, but if they are a citizen of a conquered land living in an unconquered place (or actively conquering a place), they will retain the powers of their homeland unless they separate from their homeland.

Validuses do not have to conquer lands. They do not have any need to gain these powers. In fact, they thrive without doing so, and oftentimes, they find their assimilated powers cause them odd problems - Amolian validuses, for example, get sick because they do not assimilate the minotaur's digestive system, but still find themselves drawn to a minotaur-esque diet of grain-fed meats.

The more power an individual validus has within their own society, the greater their conquered powers will be. Therefore, the Emperor of Furich Amol, Naman Rath, is almost invincible and a warrior of unbelievable skill with massive horns, while a validus enslaved in Furich Amol gains almost nothing.

Associative Powers

If a validus is not of or from a culture of conquest, their base form and powers shift such that they can associate with any culture. They can take on cultural and biological powers just by living amongst others as themselves. This is extremely rare and can be broken if they are taken in by other validuses, who will cause them to revert to the culture of that group of validuses almost immediately, whether they like it or not. This is why validuses who escape their base culture are often captured and made slaves, in order to keep this secret.

Senses

Validuses have four extrasensory organs: their second pair of eyes and their three antennae. Their second pair of eyes sees esoteric light - gossamer light, euphotonia, the bright, ma'dhahabi, lunar aether, qeernariji, infernum, lahab al'qalb, radiance, Eldritch energy, and paradox - depending on where and what they have conquered. Amolian validuses sense the bright, ma'dhahabi, and lunar aether because they dwell on the surface of Shem where those energies are most prominent, and they sense gossamer light and euphotonia because those energies were once used by beings that dwelled in Furich Amol before they arrived.

Their antennae never change: the right one senses psionic energy, euskepsia, and stravomenos. Their middle one senses mundane elctromagnetic radiation and radio waves. Their left one senses danger.

Weaknesses

On Shem, Amolians have adjusted to a specific culture that makes it so that various celestial energies can harm them. Liberation power is especially effective, but lhair, yahas, hegnh, and iremia are also potent. In general, a validus is weak to no energy naturally.

Nations

There are many nations of validus, but only two are relevant to Shem: the Amolians and the Veteres.

Culture

In general, validuses have a culture centered on conquest. In the distant past, they ruled an intergalactic empire that had enormous power, and cultural stories of this past are preserved in order to instill a national and cultural pride that tells them that conquest is their nature, though it is simply one way in which they may gain powers.

On Shem, Amolians are the most prominent culture of validuses. Furich Amol was conquered during the Fall, becoming one of the first empires on Shem. The validuses who arrived were fleeing the collapse of the Old Empire (Vetus Domum). They were in stasis and crashed into Shem in a fragment of a colony ship; when they awoke, they immediately began the work of conquering the lands around them, using the legacy powers from Vetus Domum before they faded. They conquered the minotaurs and other nations that dwelled there, named the land Furich Amol, and placed Naman Rath upon the throne. In their legends, Naman Rath's father, Victoris, ascended into Divinity at this time. They based their society upon Vetus Domum, but adapted it to their new land.

Furich Amol is ruled by Naman Rath, the Tyrant (Tyrannus), who has absolute control and is inmortal so long as the empire holds. He leaves the day-to-day work of governing to his immediate family, only imposing his will when he sees fit, and is treated as a liaison to their god Victroris, who is his father. The family of Rath always hold the positions of dispensator (steward), who runs the empire, and marescallus (marshall), who runs the military. The rest are powerful nobles with ranks like archidux and dux. The hierarchy of the nobility is complex, using relationship to the Raths as one source of power, but also control of land, slaves, and the military as more direct sources of power. A non-Rath noble may rival a Rath noble (other than the top three) in power if they have it via wealth and authority over the state. It is not meritocratic, but rather the reverse - the more power and influence they gain within the system, the more powers they gain as individuals.

The rest of society is tiered: the noble ruling class (nobilitas); the elite warriors (militaris); the esotericists (magi); the bureaucracy (officiale); the commoners (plebes); and the slaves (servi). Within these groups, there are further tiers based on influence and power and role and rank that determine the power(s) of individual validuses, creating a complex system of interconnected power structures. Slaves have almost no power or powers, and absolutely no rights, but they can fight their way out of slavery - if a slave kills a commoner and manages to survive the inevitable wave of attempts at vengeance, they become commoners. If they try to kill someone above a commoner, they will almost always fail, but if they succeed and survive the attempts at vengeance (almost impossible), they can even attain higher rank.

The culture of Furich Amol is focused on the acquiring of power, either within society or through actual conquest elsewhere. Validus children are indoctrinated from a young age in the legends and stories of both the founding of Furich Amol and the rise and fall of Vetus Domum. They are taught that they are inheritors of power and the right to rule, and that their role in society is determined by their closeness to the rightful rulers of their "race". Therefore, if they are born a slave, they have the right to fight for a better station because they are of the ruling race, but they may also deserve to be lowly if they do not do it on their own - by fighting as an individual to be greater, they prove their worth. This story conveniently discourages collective organizing while preserving the hope of advancement.

Children are taken from their parents immediately, no matter what their station in life. Children of nobles are taken to special, elite schools where they are raised by trusted servi and plebes, taught by magi and the militaris, and indoctrinated by certain specific members of the nobilitas. Children of the militaris are taken to military training schools where they are raised by servi and plebes and low-ranking members of the militaris. Children of magi are taken to special schools where they are experimented upon, tested, and raised by servi and plebes and special magi whose powers make them attuned to raising children, then given over to apprentice with specific magi in order to fill specific roles needed by the ruling class. Children of members of the officiale or plebes are taken to special centers that raise children and train them. If they are seen fit to join the officiale, they are sent to a special school when they are older. If not, they are apprenticed to plebes who train them in a craft or other skill. Children of servi are raised by other servi to be servi when they grow up.

Once a child reaches the age of maturity (16), they are tested in the role they have been raised to. If a child fails to be sufficiently skilled in what they are trained for, they are made a slave, unless they are a member of the nobilitas, in which case they are usually shunted off to some obscure role where they can't cause problems. If they pass well enough, they go on to further training, which lasts anywhere from a couple of years for some things to decades for the more complex esoterica or skillsets (i.e., advanced sciences). If they pass their test, this is usually the point at which an Amolian starts to grow horns, unless they are a slave. A slave doesn't get tested; they just get ordered to work harder.

All art, music, and crafts within Amolian society focus on celebrating their history and their conquests. Art is supported only via the nobilitas's patronage of it. Plebes who engage in art as a hobby are viewed as weak, but it does happen. Unless they are discovered and celebrated by a noble, they usually amount to nothing (though some are found to be blasphemous or seditious and therefore executed).

Every year, there are nine major holidays in Furich Amol: Dies Primus (First Day, New Year's Day, March 1); Die Condita (Founding Day, founding of Furich Amol, May 12); Memoriam Hodie (Day of Remembrance of the Old Empire, June 22); Die Subsidio (Day of Rest, when slaves get to rest, August 4); Cruentis ("Bleeding", Day of Bloodletting, remembrance of the assassination of the first Empress, September 29); Escensio Diem (Day of Raiding, November 10); Natalis Imperatoris (the Emperor's Birthday) on the 15th day of Decimus Mensis (10th month, December 15); Die Venditionesque (Day of Selling, a massive slave-trading day, January 1); and Dies Vini (Day of Wine, February 18).

Dies Primus is celebrated with a celebration of sex and love. Die Condita is celebrated with military parades, great speeches, and political education. Memoriam Hodie is a day when everyone wears grey for mourning, slaves are beaten and scolded, and a feast of burnt food is served. Die Subsidio is the only day slaves are allowed to have off. They celebrate by sleeping the whole day. If a slave is seen working this day, the other slaves will kill them the following day, for they fear the ruling class will take the day away from them. Cruentis is a day when the religious leaders among the magi select servi and plebes to sacrifice to Victoris. Escensio Diem is celebrated by conscription drives, violent raids into nearby territories, and contests of violence. Natalis Imperatoris is the biggest holiday of the year. The ruling class lays out a massive feast for everyone (served and prepared by servi and plebes, of course), and great celebrations happen in the streets. The Emperor is seen in a military parade - the only day he is seen by plebes and servi who aren't directly serving him - and everyone is given a gift of a golden coin by the Emperor. It is tradition on this day that all those sentenced to die are forgiven and their sentences commuted to service as a military slave, except those guilty of treason, who are killed on this day. Die Venditionesque is the day during which thousands of servi are taken to a massive central market (regionally) and offered up for sale, often for lower rates, allowing plebes to buy slaves and gain rank. And Dies Vini is a day in which everyone parties and gets drunk in honor of the release of new wines for the coming year.

Any non-validus in Furich Amol is assumed to be servi unless they prove themselves willing to assimilate into the culture of the empire. Those who buy into the Amolian culture and become more than servi are still discriminated against within their class.

National Cultures

The Old Empire collapsed after centuries of decline, and validuses - as the ruling class - were driven out by uprisings and the many, many enslaved species rebelling against them. They escaped in colony ships, massive planetoids that allowed them to sleep in stasis and maintain their powers until they found another realm to conquer. The glory days of Vetus Domum were a span of four millennia during which they conquered and controlled 40,000 worlds across two galaxies. Their ability to travel through space was done via magical portals, the making of which is long lost, and Amolians spend much energy trying to recapture it (to no avail). The Emperor of Vetus Domum was called Victoris, but was a different being than the Divine that the Amolians worship.

The Veteres are validuses from the Old Empire. Their culture is long lost, but they exist as a nation on Shem that has been intentionally suppressed, for they do not adapt to the conquered lands there. Instead, they retain the powers from the old empire and all of the conquests from long ago. They are descended from the original conquerors and believe they are the rightful rulers of the entire universe, and they plot behind the scenes to do just that. They lack horns, but instead have massive glowing white wings (14 in total), clawed hands on each of their four arms, and voices that eradicate solid matter. They live in shallow caves in the mountains of Furich Amol, where they are kept sealed away by the Amolian ruling class, who fear them.

Esoterica

Validuses are beings of corrogatio. Though they do not have to wield it, they do. They are its most powerful wielders. They also wield imperium, hollow energy, razdavit’, quaestus, drenante, fusei, stravomenos, bedrog, thorn energy, infernum, arnum, uafas, gossamer light, peccatum, sterisi, msawhat, mollesse, baleblood, brown aether, d’qiarsea, oalkhaylaoataa, mashoaab, kakraohy, mijjit, blood energy, Raesian energy, humors, and flux.

Religion

The religion of Furich Amol focuses on Victoris, a validus who rose to Divinity during the founding of the Empire. He is seen as a symbol of their power and the father of their ruler, Tyrannus Naman Rath. Victoris is named for the emperor of Vetus Domum and seen as a reincarnation of the lost emperor. Their religion is a weapon of ideological warfare for the rulers of Furich Amol. Faith in Victoris is expressed via acts of strength and power, ritual sacrifices of servi or plebes or sometimes just animals, and regular attendance of religious services that reinforce the greatness of Victoris and the empire. The priesthood that serves Victoris are called the Sacerdotium. Priests, called rectors, are considered part of the magi caste, but the heads of the church are members of the nobilitas. The head of the church, the Antistes, is a member of the Rath family. There is a great deal of pomp and circumstance within their religious rituals, and also a lot of political maneuvering.

The Antistes is always a man. The official law of the church is that the Antistes has a direct connection to Victoris and speaks his will. There is an intricate hierarchy within the church, with varying ranks of rectors, ending with the satelles, who are servi forced to serve the church. Elite among the church are the apostoluses, or missionaries, who are preachers sent into lands intended for conquest, spreading the doctrine of Victoris in order to prime the populace for being conquered - and to serve as spies. Within the church also exist strange mystic religious figures called the calthulas, a form of infernal druid who bonds to conquered lands. Their role is not to protect the lands, but to make them easier to command.

Gender

Validuses biologically reflect the sexual characteristics of those they associate with or conquer, but culturally, both Amolians and the Old Empire enforce(d) a binary system of gender that favors patriarchal relations. Any deviation from the male/female binary is punished and scorned, though some very powerful nobles have gotten away with declaring themselves a different gender due to their power. Marriages are usually politically arranged amongst the powerful while lower castes aren't allowed to marry at all.

Economy

The economy of Furich Amol is a slave-based empire.

Military

The military is run by the Marescallus, a marshall, who is always a member of the Rath family. From there, there is a rigid hierarchical structure of officers that break down into units of 10s, 100s, 1000s, etc., with the Marescallus running an imperial military of 1 million strong, not counting conscripted servi. The lowest rank, other than conscripts, are basic soldiers (miles). There are many specializations, including expeditiae (conquistadors), who are the main focal points of conquering raiding parties and invasion forces. Magi support the military but retain outside roles. The military is split into naval, aerial, and terran forces (and in some eras, subterranean and astral), but all answer to the Marescallus and follow the exact same structure.

Language

Their language is based on Latin.

Trade

Amolians engage in trade with other empires, but always seek advantages. They are known for their weapons and slave trading.

Occupations

• Tyrannus: the emperor of Furich Amol.

• Marescallus: the marshal of the Amolian military.

• Antistes: the head of the Amolian church.

• Dispensator: the steward of Furich Amol, the head administrator of the government.

• Magus: any esotericist or priest.

• Expeditia: conquistadors.

• Servi: slave.

• Plebe: commoner.

• Miles: common soldier.

• Nobilis: noble.

• Officiale: bureaucracy.

• Calthula: false druids in yellow robes who steal power from conquered lands.

• Rector: priests.

• Satelle: slaves of the church.

• Apostulus: missionaries.

Outside View

Validuses in Furich Amol are seen as rightful rulers. Around the world, they are upheld as an example of military might and prowess, known for their greatness. The oppressed of the world hate them. Many wrongly believe they are a kind of brannish.

Notables

• Naman Rath, Tyrannus, Aeonian

• Cariosus, Validus Manifest, Aeonian, the Veteres’ Heart

Estimated Populations

• Amolians: 20 million

• Veteres: 500

• Other: 5 million

Sample Stats

PRO 11
ATH 10
STR 11
AWA 9
WIL 10
PRS 7
STH 7