User:Supahbadmarine/Sandbox

Sothu'mi
"Since time in memorial living beings have reached for perfection, and they have always fallen short. This is because the universe we live in is for all intents and purposes imperfect, and thus it rejects perfection. Whenever something perfect comes into existence in this world the universe ruins it, either destroying it or corrupting it to fit this flawed reality. We were created to bring about the realization of perfection. If we are to do this then we must not adapt to the world around us. We must make it adapt to us."

- High Exemplar Forlain

The Sothu'mi (pronounced so-thoo-my) are a race of Xenos that currently aim for domination of the galaxy. The Sothu'mi did not evolve naturally, but were rather deliberately created. Genetically engineered by the last survivor of a now extinct Xenos species, the Sothu'mi were created by Professor Kopei Omer'sen to be a race devoid of the flaws that his own species had been subject to, and thus become the perfect organisms. Long after the professor's demise at the hands of his own creations the Sothu'mi have continued to seek their creator's vision for them. Believing that they can not create their utopia until the other, imperfect species acknowledge their birthright, the Sothu'mi seek to conquer every part of the Milky Way.

Origins
The Sothu'mi were created by Kopei Omer'sen after the extinction of his species, the Ko'rees. The Ko'rees were an advanced species that had achieved a level of technology that would have designated them as Space-Faring. However despite having achieved this the Ko'rees never left their planet. The species' advancement was  halted by constant infighting.

By the time of Omer'sen's birth the species was alrady on a downward spiral. They had long since exhausted the majority of their planet's natural resources. In the face of impending extinction the nations of the Ko'rees did not set aside their differences. The wars and politics had gotten past the point where negotiation would be effective. In fact the various nations saotaged each other's space programs in the hopes that they alone could escape the dying planet, and leave their rivals to their doom.

Omer'sen, who had become one of his species foremost scientists saw the ineviatable conclusion that his people were stubbornly marching towards. He tried to act as a voice of reason, but in the end his advice was left unheard. As every attempt to save his people failed Omer'sen resigned himself to s soul-shattering fact. The Ko'rees were doomed.

Omer'sen managed to create his own, personal space-craft, which he hid from his government, less it be confiscated and made another casualty of the never ending war. He attmepted to convince others to come with him discreetly, but his words fell on deaf ears more often than not. He learned soon after that he had run out of time. Determined to put an end to the never ending conflict his government planned to annihilate all of its rivals via nuclear weapons. Given that most of the other nations possessed these as well, omer'sen knew that this would lead to his kind's coup de grace.

Omer'sen loaded his ship with as much of his people's scientific and cultural knowledge as possible, for he was determined to have something of the Ko'rees survive the coming apocalypse. He also loaded gentic samples from as many of the planets organisms as he could. With his ship loaded Omer'sen took off. In an ironic twist the nations of his planet had detected Omer'sen's blast off, and had mistaken it for the first launch in the nuclear war. Omer'sen lived to watch his planet and people burning to death from orbit.

Creation of a Vision
Now alone in the universe, Omer'sen travelled through the stars. As he travelled he also thought. He thought about his race, he thought about their fate, and what he would do with the rest of his life. At first Omer'sen was willing to simply await the end. Hee would leave his last gift to the universe, the sum total of the Ko'rees' science and culture, for some other species to find, and hopefully learn from. However Omer'sen realized that even if he did so the ones that found it might not learn from it, or in the case oif an illogical or extreme species might destroy it.

Then Moer'sen began to think. He was considered the most brilliant Ko'ree alive before the rest of his people wiped themselves out, and he had access to all of the scientific knowledge that his people possessed. In additiojn to this he had been a respected geneticist. The first idea thta came to his mind was that he could use the genetic samples of his own people to bring them back into the world. However Omer'sen felt that this would be inadequete. He then consider bring back a superior version of the Ko'rees, modified with the genetics of various lifeforms from their planet. This too he rejected. He remembered only too well how the Ko'rees had stubbornly destroyed themselves in spite of the obviousness of their own folly. Omer'sen felt that to recreate the Ko'rees woulkd only invite the same fate to occur once more.

What he wanted was a race that would serve as the Ko'rees inheritors. To take the knowledge that the Ko'rees had left behind, learn from it and in the end use it to create the utopia that the Ko'rees themselves could never achive. A perfect species that had none of the flaws that had insured the doom of the Ko'rees. In order to make this race Omer'sen took the genetic samples he had taken, and decided to create this species from scratch.

Omer'sen eventually found a habitable planet. He set down, and set to work. he spent years tinkering with the genes available to him. as well as the gentic material from the organisms of his homeworld, Omer'sen collected samples from his new planet's native fauna. After many years Omer'sen finally crafted the gentic template for what he believed would be a perfect race. He had used the genetic material of the Ko'rees in the end, but only as much as he needed for the creation of his perfect race.

Omer'sen remembered a legend from his homeworld. The legend had belonged to the religion of an ancient Ko'ree civilization that had long since past. In the legend the elder god Tuul charged the god of craftsmenship, Barden, to create a perfect race to live along side the nascent Ko'rees. It was Tuul's hope that by living alongside this perfect race the Ko'rees would learn from them, and would know what it is that they should aspire to. Barden was successful in creating the race, and for a time Barden's perfect creations lived amongst the Ko'rees.

However Barden grew afraid. The race that he had created truly was perfect, the greatest work he had ever crafted, and he was enamored with them. he began to feel that his children were wasted upon the world of mortals. Furthermore he feared that instead of guiding the Ko'rees to perfection his creations would be dragged into imperfection by the flawed Ko'rees. To make sure his people remained perfect Barden took his creations back to the heavens where they would remain by his side. The name of Barden's perfect race was the Sothu'mi, which in the long dead tonque of the lost civilization meant "Ideal Children". Omer'sen felt this was an appropriate name for his creations, as he was in essence trying to replicate Barden's greatest work.

Genesis
With his base sample finally complete Omer'sen was ready to create a new species. However Omer'sen still had work to do. He had plans for the Sothu'mi that required additional effort. Omer'sen took his sample, and then worked to generate 13 more samples from the gene-template. Each of these thirteen samples were still of the Sothu'mi, but each were unique from each other. Omer'sen had worked hard to create these new samples, each of which he believed represented one possiblity of the species' great potential.

With his new samples in hand Omer'sen worked to create the first of the Sothu'mi. He created a single Sothu'mi for each of the thirteen samples. These would be the progenitors of the whole race, the beings that would be called the Exemplars. Twelve of the Exemplars proved to meet Omer'sen's expectations for the race, in fact they exceeded them. While each lacked worldly knowledge and experience they were all highly intelligent, quick leaners, and each possessed a naive, yet profound wisdom. In addition their physical abilities worked just as planned. However the thirteenth sample had been a failure. The Exemplar produced by it was a deformed, tortured being. With a heavy heart Omer'sen had to put it down, and lovingly buried it in a grave within a valley, which would eventually become the Valley of the departed, the Sothu'mi's most revered cemetary.

Omer'sen treated the remaining Exemplars as if they were his children. He taught them about the Ko'rees history, science and culture. Omer'sen found his charges to be exceptional students, as they absorbed and assimilated new information at prodigious rates. Soon each of the Exemplars were almost as gifted in science as he was, and had picked up a number of skills for themselves as well. More importantly he taught them about the achievements and failures of the Ko'rees. He wanted them to learn from the mistakes that his race had made, so that they would not repeat them.

When Omer'sen felt that the education of the Exemplars was complete he began work creating the rest of the race. Using his knowledge of genetic science he used the genetic template of each of the Exemplars to create more Sothu'mi. Each of these Sothu'mi would be created based upon the template of a single Exemplar, and thus share many of the same traits. However these later Sothu'mi would not be as perfect as the original Exemplars. In terms of abilities and intelligence these new Sothu'mi were inferior, though still impressive. Furthermore while the Exemplars were effectively immune to the ravages of time the new Sothu'mi still had a limited, if long lifespan.

There were two reasons for this. The first was a lack of resources. Omer'sen had poured his scietific assets into creating the base sample, and then extrapolating the Exemplar templates from that sample. In the process of doing so he had consumed much of his resources. As such he no longer possessed the assets needed to perfectly copy his creations. However Omer'sen was not bothered by this. In fact he intended the second generation of Sothu'mi to be inferior to the Exemplars.

Omer'sen was aware that unless he removed the concept of individuality from the Sothu'mi, something he desperately wished to avoid, then a society in which all involved were truly equal was not realistically possible. Some would have to be better than others. In addition to this Omer'sen did not want the second generation to be immortal. In the professors opinion the concept of death, and impermanence was vital to a species in order to keep them from stagnation. In essence the doctor wished to balance the experience and enlightnement that could come with longevity with the drive and prolificness that was the result of a finite lifespan.

The Exemplars alone would be the exception to this. They would live forever if not slain by unnatural means. They possessed the strengths of the rest of the Sothu'mi, but to a greater degree than the rest. This elevated them above their brethren. It was the hope of Omer'sen that the Exemplars would act as guides for their people, watching over them for eternity, and keeping them always on the right path.

Building Utopia
With his new race created Omer'sen and his Exemplars began to create new society. Under the Guidance oftheir creator and the Exemplars the Sothu'mi saw a period of great progress. Within three decades the Sothu'mi attained Space Age technology, and it only took a mere fifteen years after that for them to have surpassed the Ko'rees in nearly every branch of science. Despite this Omer'sen forbade colonization of new worlds for the forseeable future.

He did this because he wanted to make sure that the Sothu'mi had attained a stable, and prosperous society before branching out. However he would not be able to keep this so forever. the Sothu'mi's natural curiosity would eventually drive them into the stars, with or without his blessing. Though for the time being the Sothu'mi respected the will of their creator.

The Sothu'mi flourished. They developed a society where art and culture thrived alongside science. Furthermore the Sothu'mi managed to strike a balance between industry and nature. Most importantly of all the Sothu'mi knew true peace. Under Omer'sen's guidance the Sothu'mi rejected violence of any kind. The Sothu'mi were everything that Omer'sen had hoped for, and more. Having achieved a prosperous society the Examplars increasingly pressured their creator to allow them to explore their universe. Omer'sen relucatantly agreed. His plan was to release the Sothu'mi into the universe so that they may perhaps make it better, butin truth there was fear in his heart. Omer'sen feared what the Sothu'mi might discover in the wide galaxy, and like Barden, how it might change them.

Sundering
The Sothu'mi began exploring local space in earnest. They explored, and began terra-forming the planets in their home system. They remained close to their home system at first. It took the Sothu'mi longer than expected to master Warp Drive technology. Once they had they began to expand faster.

However unlike other expansionist species the Sothu'mi kept their expansion slow. At the behest of their creator they took the time to develope those planets they colonized. Where another race might establish numerous small colonies across their territory, the Sothu'mi took the time to develope each planet they settled on until it was well populated and urbanized before moving to the next planet. One hundred years after the Sothu'mi took to the stars they had twenty seven fully colonized worlds, with a few colonies in early development here and there.

However this period of peaceful, and properous growth was going to come to an abrupt end when the Sothi'mi were given a brutal introduction to an unfamiliar concept. War. The 27th world to be brought fully into the fold, Basrime was in the midst of a celebration. They had only just achieved full member status within the Ascendancy, the burgeoning empire of the Sothu'mi. Three of the beloved Exemplars had come to oversee the festivities. By all acounts it was to be a day for rejoicing. However this would be the day of the Sothu'mi's first contact with another Xenos species, and it would not be a peaceful one.

almost out of thin air fearsome dark ships appeared in atmosphere, and began to decimate the ships in orbit. Planetside swarms of troops carried aloft by gravity skimmers fell upon the population. The Sothu'mi had just had their first encounter with the sadistic Dark Eldar. Their assailants were the Kabal of Cursed Blood led by the fearsome Archon Bailreth Thrice-Damned.

The sothu'mi were not defensless of course. Omer'sen had known that a time would come when his children might have to defend themselves. Thus he had made sure that the Sothu'mi were equipped tofight back. The Sothu'mi had developed weapons, and military forces on all of the worlds that they had settled on. They had also gone over the military history, and strategies of the Ko'rees which Omer'sen had preserved. However this would only take them so far. Until that point there had been no need for armies. The soldiers of the Sothu'mi had not once needed to ply their trade, and war for all intents and purposes was an alien concept.

Needless to say the Sothu'mi, untried in the arena of blood-shed, were massacred. The Dark Eldar butchered and enslaved whole cities on Basrime. The defenders did their best to fight back, but the Dark Eldar proved themselves to outmatch the Sothu'mi in nearly every facet of war. Two of the three Exemplars were slain by the Dark Eldar, and the third suffered a far crueller fate as she was dragged off with the other slaves to Commoragh, never to be seen again. Bailreth unleashed arcane weapons of terrible power, and foul purpose on the world, leaving the planet devastated and cursed. Finally the Sothu'mi drove the Dark Eldar back into the shadows, but by then they had learned a terrible lesson at great cost.

Creation of a New Ideal
Almost overnight panic and confusion spread throug the Ascendancy. The invasion had been sudden and devastating. Survivors returned to the Acendancy with stories of horrors and atrocities that the Sothu'mi had never imagined. Instantly there was a fear that the incident might be repeated. For all the Sothu'mi knew the attack had merely been an advance force for some larger invading army.

Their worries were not unfounded. The Kabal of Cursed Blood traded and sold their slaves in Commaragh. The allure of these exotic new playthings along with the fascination over their unique biology quickly put Sothu'mi slaves in demand in the Dark City. Soon other Kabals began to raid Sothu'mi settlements for fresh slaves, though these attacks were not of tyhe same scale as the first one.

In the face of this aggression the Exemplars ordered an increase of military force. The Exemplar Hadriphor founded the Bakram with the support of many of his siblings, Forlain first and foremost. Up until then the military forces of the Ascendancy had been made up of numerous disorganized planetary militias. The Bakram would be the first formal military force of the young race.

Under Hadriphor the Bakram began taking thefiht to their aggressors. While this formation had been inexperienced in the nuances of war at first, the Sothu'mi's exceptional ability to learn and adapt meant that the Bakram became accustomed to war quickly. With the Bakram at the forefront the Dark Eldar attacks began to lose their bite, for the Sothu'mi were no longer easy targets. Hadriphor even went so far as to track some of the Kabals to their traditional raiding territories, hunting them down and destroying them. For the time being the crisis was over.

During the fighting the Sothu'mi went into unknown space hoping to launch a counter-invasion against the Dark Eldar, being ignorant of Commorragh's actual location. During this time the Bakram encountered other Xenos that were hostile. The Bakram returned to the Ascendancy with tails of the conflicts they had been in. The reports they brought back concerned the Exemplars and other lofty officials. At Forlain's recommendation the Ascendany sent scouts out to locate other species in the nearby area, study their military capability, culture and politics, and determine whether they would become a threat to the Ascendancy in the future. To the despair of the Sothu'mi the evaluations of the scouts indicated that coexistence between the Ascendany and all the nearby intelligent lifeforms was impossible, and that even those lifeforms that were not inherently hostile would likely become so in the future for one reason or another.

With this sobering news Forlain proposed that the size and resources of the Bakram should increase considerably, and that the Ascendancy should prepare for the coming wars, and perhaps even be the first ones to strike. His proposal was accepted by most of the Exemplars, but not all. Some of the Exemplars were uncomfortable with the idea of launching unprovoked attacks on nearby species, and they were concerned that the purpose of the Bakram might change from being a means of defending the Sothu'mi to a weapon. Omer'sen was chief among the ditractors as he did not want to see the enlightened beings he created descend into warmongers. However the majority of the Exemplars saw the prudence in the course, and with assurences by Forlain that their fears would not come to pass the dissenters relucatantly agreed.