User:Supahbadmarine/Sandbox 3

Welcome to the lair of Supah's Xenos ideas. Feel free to look around if any catch your eye. I put all the Fanon Xenos that I come up with here unless I'm ready to put them into an article. Some of these guys are gonna be here a while.

Harkriak
"My people do not desire war. We would be more than happy to live amongst ourselves, and leave the rest of the galaxy alone, harming and being harmed by none. However as the times change this is no longer possible. War will find us. So it is that we venture forth, not waiting for the future enemy to bring the fight to us, but striking them before they get the chance. We will seek out our enemies and allies before they find us, and with good fortune my children will survive the coming darkness."

- The Great Mother

The Harkriak are a race of Arachno-humanoid Xenos native to the Galactic south. The race is ruled by a powerful entity known as the Great Mother, who supposedly birthed their race. Despite having a fairly large sized empire of roughly a hundred worlds (by Imperial reckoning) the Harkriak have not had a major impact on galactic affairs for much of their history, opting instead to keep to themselves. However in the last century the Harkriak have taken a far more aggressive, and expansionistic stance. This has put them in conflict with many of the galaxy's powers, including the Imperium of Mankind.

Biology
The Harkriak bare a striking resemblance to humans. Their overall body structure mimics humanity's almost perfectly. Despite this there are still notable differences. Harkriak skin tends to be dark in color, with dark brown or black being prominent within the race. Studies by Mechanicus Xenobiologists have discovered that Harkriak skin is 10% denser than human skin, giving it more toughness, and thus making Harkriak slightly less vulnerable to injury.

The Harkriak have a human facial structure, including humanoid eyes, nose, mouth and ears. However the Harkriak also have a bone crest that extends from the top of their forhead to the back of their head. On this crest is a second pair of eyes. Studies have shown that these eyes are capable of seeing into the infrared range, allowing the Harkriak to see heat.

The Harkriak have two extra pairs of arachnoid limbs in addtion to their humanoid ones. These spider legs extend from their back, and are highly dextrous. The Harkriak often use them to facilitate manipulation of objects. They also use them in combat as the tips of these limbs end in sharp points.

The Harkirak possess sharp claws on their humanoid limbs. There can be sued for combat purposes, but Imperial Xenobiologists believe that these claws were originally developed for the purposes of climbing rather than to inflict injury. The Harkriak also possess sharp teath, indicating a primarily carnivorous diet. Despite this the Harkirak can, and routinely do ingest vegetation. The Harkriak's canine teeth contain ducts that lead to a pair of what are believed to be venom glands. However it seems that these glands became vestigial at some point in the Harkriak's evolutional development, and no longer produce poison. Despite this it seems that the Harkriak's bodies adpted through fighting with one another when they had active venom glands, and thus the Harkriak have a natural resistance to poison.

Harkriak muscle tissue is denser than that of human muscle tissue. This gives the Harkriak a wirey strength that seems disproportional to their muscle mass. It also gives them slightly superior speed, stamina and agility. Taking advantage of this Harkriak fighting styles are often very acrobatic and dynamic.

The Harkriak tend to live slightly longer than races such as humanity. The average Harkriak lifespan, unassisted by Bionics and advanced medical treatment is roughly a hundred years. Harkirak have a polyestrous estrous cycle, and their gestation length is around 400 days. Harkriak tend to give brith to three to four children at a time.

Balagath
The Balagath are a sub-species of the Harkriak. according the Harkriak legend the Balgath were the Great Mother's first children. Unlike the Harkriak the Balagath do not appear to be sentient. Their biology resembles a spider's far more closely. They have arachnoid heads instead of the more humanoid heads of the Harkirak. Their venom glands still function, and produce an extremely potent poison. Their additional limbs come out of the torso instead of the back, and all possess sharp claws. The Balagath have a large, hulking stature, and superior strength to their intelligent cousins.

Despite the Feral nature of the Balagath they recognize the Harkriak as their own. As a result they often live among the Harkriak or in colonies close by to Harkriak settlements. The Harkriak treat the Balagath well, and use them for labor, companionship and they even deploy Balagath during wartime as shock troops.

Ancient History
The history of the Harkriak begins with the Great Mother. This powerful entity has existed since ancient times. Despite this very little is known about her, and the Great mother herslef has been less than forthcoming about her origins. What is known is that for a long period the Great Mother travelled the stars alone, but eventually decided that she wanted to find a planet that she could settle on, and make her home. She eventaully found what she was looking for in the planet Tyrbamor. The planet was fertile with life, but had yet to develope any sentient species. It would be here that the Great Mother would set down her roots.

According the legends of the Harkriak it was shortly after this that the Great Mother gave birth to the Balagath. The Balagath spread across Tyrbamor and thrived on the planet. Despite this the Great mother was not yet satisfied. She loved her first children, but they were little more then beasts. she wished to have intelligent children. It was then that she decided to make the Harkriak.

Early History
Supposedly the first Harkriak and Balagath were incapable of reproduction. They relied entirely on the Great Mother to give birth to new life. Thus the earliest Harkriak existed in a sort of hive with the Great Mother at its center. However the Great Mother decided that she wanted her children to forge their own path. Thus she gave the Harkriak and the Balagath the ability to give birth on their own. Supposedly doing this required her togive up a portion of her life force.

With the ability to exist injdependently of the Great Mother the Harkriak spread across Tyrbamor, and established their own society. During this time the Harkriak mad numerous nations all across the planet, each with its own culture and society. During this time the Great Mother retreated to relative isolation. she did this because she wished to allow the Harkriak to develope on their own, free of outside interference.

With the Great Mother absent from them the Harkriak began to worship her as a goddess. Other religions would develope in different countries, but the worship of the Great Mother in one way or another remained the most prevalent of the Harkriak's religions. Furthermore these nations began to compete with one another over land and resources, often going to war. While it caused the great Mother sorrow to see her children fight and kill each other she still refrained from interfering. She knew that these growing pains were necessary to strengthen the Harkriak for the future.

Technological Revolution and Unification
The Harkriak had progressed into an age of technology when a remarkable technology was developed. In the pre-Unification country of Lakphormis a brilliant scientists named Phremia Sak'na Calitrum began developing a theaory on technological progress which would shape the rest of the Harkriak's scientific development. Phremia was a specialist in both the fields of Nanotechnology and Biology. through her studies she came to believe that technology reached its greatest potential when it mimicked living things.

As a result of this line of thinking Phremia attempted to create technology that blurred the lines between synthetic and organic. Phremia speant years on this research. Already wealthy from previous breakthroughs in her fields, Phremia chose to fund her own research. She did this because she did not want other to dictate the path of her project. She shut herself away in her private lab like a hermit, and worked non-stop to complete her research. Eventually she succeeded and shared her breakthrough with her people.

With this new form of technology at its disposal Lakphormis went into a scientific revoloution, and rapidly advanced. Fabricated Biology as the Technology came to be called soon became the standard in Lakphormis. It changed the state of the commercial, medical and military fields. Eventually Lakphormis decided to capitalize on their access to this unusual tech, and launched a series of campaigns to unify all of the Harkriak.

The Pacification of Tyrbamor by the Lakphormis Republic was a long and brutal set of campaigns. The other Harkriak nations did not take kindly to such naked aggression, and fought back with their full strength. After roughly half of the planet had been conquered by Lakphormis the other nations formed an allied force referred to as the Coalition in Harkriak historical texts.

The battle between the Coalition and Lakphormis lasted two decades, and marked one of the bloodiest periods in Harkriak history. The Coalition effectively pooled its resources, and part way through the conflict they even managed to reverse engineer some of Lakphormis' Fabricated Biology. However over time Lakphormis' technological advantage proved too much for the Coalition to handle, and the planet was unified.

Phremia, who had never wished her break through to be used in such a way, went into seclusion. She no longer wished to be a part of a society that was built on the blood of those killed by her creation. She departed to parts unknown, and left Lakphormis to its own devices.

Space Age and First Contact
Over time the Harkriak developed more, and more advanced technology. Eventually they achieved the ability to effectively travel outiside their planet, and began The lengthy process of Terraforming, and colonizing the other planets in their system.

The Harkriak also attempted to explore outside of their system. The government worked with a number of corperations and scientists to launch Project Krageon. Named after a sea creature on Tyrbamor that wass renowned for diving to extreme depths, Project Krageon was a massive colony ship that was to be launched, and attempt to reach beyond the Tyrbamor system. The ship managed to safely leave the system, but contact was lost shortly after, and was never re-established. The Harkriak assumed that those that had left on the Krageon were dead, and further attempts to explore outside the system were halted.

When the first colonies were founded intrasystem travel was slow. As a result many of the colonies had limited contact with the central Government back on the homeworld. As timke wenyt on many of the colonies, which had oractically grown autonomous of the Homeworld, decided that they wanted independence from Tyrbamor. The Government did not approve of this, and cracked down on the colonies, making talk of Independence into the crime of sedition, and harshly punishing the guilty.

This choice had the opposite effect of what the government on Tyrbamor intended. Within a year and a half of the new laws the other colonies went from merely talking of becoming independent, to a full scale rebellion. Tyrbamor immediately began campaigns to bring the wayward colonies back into compliance. The following conflicts were brutal. The government on Tyrbamor had superior troops and equipment, but the rebels had the support of their people, and were relentless. Whenever the government managed to reconquer one of the colonies they were inevitably faced by a determined insurrection fordce shortly after. Furthermore the sluggishness of the Harkriak's intrasystem transport ensured that new supplies, and reinforcements took considerable time to reach their destination.

It seemed that the fighting would continue forever, but a startling development occured that ceased the conflict. First Contact was made with an alien species. When reports made their way back to Tyrbamor the government was stunned. The report claimed that ships of alien design were currently holding position over a number of worlds in the Tyrbamor system. For a course of around three months these ships held their position, neither taking hostile action, nor making contact. During this period all fighting stopped, as everyone was focused on the strange visitors. Many of the Harkriak entertained the idea that the aliens may have come in peace. Sadly they were proven wrong.

Out of nowhere the ships began attacking the Harkriak worlds. Viscious orbital bombardments destroyed numerous cities before the harkriak could put up a proper defense. The bombardment were followed by the deployment of troops to the surface of the planets. The aliens, which had now been identified as a species called the Rodians, began a campaign of genocide against the Harkriak. Thier intentions became clear. The Rodians were not interested in conquering, or enslaving the Harkriak. They were their to lay claim to the Harkriak worlds, and their resources, and they intended to cleanse these worlds of their native population before they claimed their prize.

With the threat of extinction creeping slowly towards reality the Harkriak or both Tyrbamor and its colonies put aside old grudges, qand worked together. Their truce allowed the Harkriak top hold out against the Rodian invaders for a time, but even that could not stop them. The Rodians possessed technology, and number too superior to be defeated so easily. To make matters worse both sides of the Harkriak Civil War had devastated each other, and the Rodians seemed to know just how to hit the Harkriaks in order to do the most damage. it became apparent that the three months of inactivity had been spent monitoring the Harkriak, and gaining actionable intel in preparation for this invasion. With the colonies barely hanging on the main Rodian force made its way towards Tyrbamor.

From Darkness Comes Light
As the Harkriak's darkest hour was upon them they were saved by the origin of their people. The Great Mother revealed herself, and by her side was none other than Doctor Phremia Sak'na Calitrum. It seemed that the Great Mother had sought the scientist out during her exile. The Great Mother recruited the scientist for a great purpose, and used her powers to extend Phremia's life.

Naturally the Harkriak were shocked. Many had stopped believing in the religions that worshipped the Great Mother, and had long since dismissed them as the superstitions of their ignorant ancestors. To have the very goddess in question stand before them rocked their world view. However her arrival also brought hope to them.

The Great Mother told the Harkriak of Tyrbamor the same thing that she had told Phremia when she recruited her. She said that all the wars, and trials that the Harkriak had faced were to test and prepare the Harkriak for a greater destiny.She also told them that her revealing herself to them was the result of her belief that they were ready to take their place in the galaxy at large. Finally she told them that they would win the war, but only if the Harkriak were willing to set aside their differences, and unite under her.

While many were aprehensive of simply capitualting to some ancient goddess from the far past, the mixture of desperation and the hope that she provided were simply to much to deny. The Government on Tyrbamor agreed to her terms, and sent messages out to the colonies with the news.

It was then that the Great Mother gave her Children the tools they would need in order to defeat the Rodians. During her hermitage Phremia had devoted herself to refining and improving the technology she had created under the Great Mothers tuteledge. She had even created a viable Warp Drive for the Harkriak ships. Meanwhile the Great Mother gathered together the many Harkriak Psykers that had developed.

In fact Psykers had only started to appear a few years prior to this, and had then started appearing rapidly. This is because the Great Mother had stunted the Psychic growth of her people up until that point, and had then stimulated it. She claimed that the development of Psykers within the Harkriak had been a gift to allow them to reach a new potential, but the truth had been that she had stunted their Psychic growth in order to allow them to develope with a little influence by Chaos as possible. With these Psykers gathered they bound themsevles to the Great Mother, forming the start of the Harkriak's Psychic Web.

With the Psykers, and their Psychic Web the Harkriak forces were able to employ the power of the Warp against the Rodians, as well as navigate the Warp. Phremia's Warp Drive allowed the Harkriak to equal the Rodians' navy in mobility, and the improvements she had made to her Fabricated Biology not only allowed the Harkriak to fight the Rodians on equal terms, but actually gave them a scientific edge over their adeversaries.

The Harkriak pushed back the invaders world by world. As those forces that had managed to survive on the colonies were assimilted, the main Harkriak force managed to build up momentum. Finally the Harkriak pushed the Rodian's out of their system. The threat was over for now. The Harkriak spent the next few years licking their wounds under the guidance of the Great Mother. When she felt that they had recovered sufficiently the Great Mother announced that they were going to end the threat once, and for all.

During the war the Harkriak Psykers pulled the location of the Rodians' home system from Rodian captives. Using that information the Harkriak launched a counter-invasion into the Rodians' home system. In a twist of fate the Rodians suffered the very fate that they had intended for the Harkriak. The Harkriak purged the galaxy of the wicked Xenos, and laid claim to their worlds.

With the Rodian threat removed once and for all, the government was reformed around the Great Mother. The Great Mother named her new domain the Harkriak Star Web, and set the foundation for further exapansion. However she did so conservatively. Her powers of precognition had allowed her to see the coming Age of Strife as well as many other things. She kept the Harkriak Star Web small, so that it would whether the coming Warp Storms better than the Human Federation would.

Expansion
Thanks to the Psychic Web the Harkriak were able to maintain communication during the violent Warp Storms that caused the Age of Strife, though they were still incapable of Warp travel. When the Storms were finally over the Harkriak worlds managed to get back in contact with one another, and reorganize themselves. Before the Warp Storms began they only occupied two systems fully, and had only just begun settling a third. As such they were not as far flung, and disconnected as humanity had become.

With the Harkriak reunited they began to expand to more systems, settling even more planets. During this time The Harkriak encountered many more Xenos species. Many were simply ignored. The Great Mother was not interested in looking for conflict. However they also encountered a number of hostile species. The Great Mother ordered the genocide of these Xenos, for while she did not seek conflict, she would not allow any species to endanger her children to live.

Over time a new developement occured, revealing the weakness of the Psychic Web. The Psychic Web allowed the Harkriak to effectively communicate, and navigate through the Warp. It also provided the Psyker that formed it with increased protection from Chaotic taint and Daemonic possession. It required constant maintenance from the one at the center of the web, the Great Mother, in order to maintain it's integrity. As the Harkriak continued to expand so too did the number of Psykers that they needed. However with each new Psyker added to the Web it increased in scale and complexity. It soon grew to much for the Great Mother to maintain alone. If the Harkriak were to continue to expand out into the galaxy a solution had to be found.

This was when the Great Mother gave birth to the first Matriarchs. These direct daughters of the Great Mother bore her likeness, and a portion of her great power. This is because each of them had a fragment of her essence. As she gave birth to the Matriarchs, the Great Mother would connect them to her via the Psychic Web. However the Matriarchs would be in control of a territory beyond the range of the portion of the Web that the Great Mother was in charge. Psykers born in this domain would then be bound to the Matriarch. Thus by having the Matriachs take control over portions of the expanding Psychic Web the Great Mother had found a solution to the problem.

However the solution came at great cost. The birth of each Matriarch required that the Great Mother sacrifice a portion of her essence and life force. With the birth of each new Matriarch a little more of the Great Mother's life would be whittled down. The Great Mother has manged to keep this a closely guarded secret from the Harkriak. Most Matriarchs don't even know. Even to the present only the Great Mother's most trusted condidants know this secret.

At first The Great Mother gave birth to three Matriarchs. Their names were Kureva, Hakayla and Fratine. These three eldest daughters would become key parts of the expansion of the Harkriak, and would take a leadership role among their sisters. With their aid the Harkriak settled a number of new worlds. However they were still restricted by the orders of their mother.

Just as the Great Mother had predicted the invasion of the Rodians and the coming of the Age of Strife, so too did she foresee the rise of the Emperor and his Imperium. The Great Mother gave specific instructions to her people to avoid colonizing worlds that would end up in the path of the Great Crusade. However there were many among the Harkriak that did not understand the danger that the humans, and their Great Crusade represented, and wanted to colonise the worlds that the great Mother had barred them from. Many believed that their military might would be able to withstand the might of the fledgling Imperium, key amongst them being Hakayla.

Against her mother's wishes hakayla had her people settle within a number of worlds that the Great Mother had declared forbidden. Eventually the Great Crusade found these worlds. Hakayla put her formidable skills as a military commander to use, but sadly it was for not. The Imperial forces were pushed back for a time, but Lion El Johnson and his Dark Angels eventually crushed Hakayla's forces.

Hakayla was forced to retreat, and return to her mother in shame. The Imperium destroyed the Harkriak colonies, and in the belief that they had wiped out the Harkriak as a race, settled them. This blow to her pride, as well as the lost of her beloved vassals would leave a lasting bitterness towards the Imperium in Hakayla's heart. Despite this the Harkriak continued to expand, and this time they heeded the Great Mothers words, and expanded only in the area outside of the Great Crusade's reach without complaint.

War with the Dafrati
During this period of expansion in the galactic south the Great Mother recieved a premonition. She foresaw that a Xenos race called the Dafrati would become an enormous threat in the near future. The Dafrati were a militant, advanced species that had been tainted by the Warp. As a result the Dafrati were malevolent and arrogant to the extreme. Through her spies the Great Mother learned that the Dafrati were preparing for a massive campaign of conquest against the rest of the galaxy. With their powerful war machines, and their terrifying sorcery the damage that the Dafrati were capable of would be significant.

Realizing that she had a chance to defeat a serious threat while it was still forming, the Great Mother ordered her people to prepare for a war with the evil Xenos. Thus the Harkriak chose to exterminate the Dafrati, but this would be no easy task. The Dafrati were the most formidable foe that the Harkriak had fully pitted themselves against. The war would be a total one. Either the Harkriak would succeed in exterminating the Dafrati, or the Dafrati would turn back the assualt, and slaughter the Harkriak.

The Great Mother put Kureva and Hakayla in charge of the campaign. The two Matriarchs immediately set out to strike at the hated Dafrati, and they were determined that they would not return alive unless they were successful. The initial strike against the Dafrati territories was highly successful. The foul monsters had long been virtually unopposed in their region of the galaxy, with the other nearby Xenos being to scared to challenge them. The sudden, viscious styrike from the Harkriak caught them off guard. However they quickly recovered, and mustered their forces to retaliate.

The Dafrati counter-attack was more brutal than either of the Matriarchs had anticipated. The Dafrati war-machine grinded into the Harkriak lines, claiming thousands of lives. However while the disciplined, well equipped military of the Dafrati was something that the Harkriak could handle, they found dealing with the Dafrati use of the Warp far more tricky. The Dafrati had long studied, and utilized the power of the Warp with their foul sorcery, and they unleashed it now upon the Harkriak.

To make matters worse the Dafrati launched a counter-invasion. While the main force was dealing the the Harkriak task force, as secondary force was sent to invade Harkriak space. The Dafrati burned world after world. In certain cases the Dafrati defiled the harkriak worlds to such an extent that the Warp Taint left by their sorcery would render the planets permanently uninhabitable. Fratine organized her younger sisters in the defense of the Harkriak Star Web, and sent word to hakayla and Kureva of the dire situation.

With the Harkriak themselves suddenly under attack Kureva and Hakayla redoubled their efforts. Their attack against the harkriak forces became more furious as the situation became more desperate. Finally Hakayla had enough of the war going nowhere. In a daring strategy she took the most elite of her warriors, and organized them into a smaller force. She personally lead them deep into the Dafrati lines.

From there Hakayla began wreaking havoc on the Dafrati. She cut their supply line, ambushed them deep within their own territory, and even struck at some of their most crucial worlds. That the Dafrati did not locate, and utterly annihilate Hakayla and her warriors during this period was a testament to her military prowess. Finally Hakayla chose to strike a swift Coup de Grace, and attacked the Dafrati Capitol World.

In a short, but bloody campaign Hakayla breached the defenses of the Dafrati's Crown World, and she personally laid seige to the palace of the Dafrati King. She cut down the King's elite bodyguards, the Bone Knights, and took his head in personal combat. Furthermore in spight of her mother's command that the relics of the Dafrati be completely destroyed, Hakayla took trophies from the King's palace.

With their leader dead, and their capitol in flames the Dafrati forces became disorganized. This was precisely the moment that the Harkriak had been waiting for. Fratine pushed the Dafrati invasion out of Harkriak space, and continued the offensive in to their territory. Kurevas crushed the main force's general, the last true leader the armies of the Dafrati had, and continued to score victory after victory against her foes. Hakayla circled back, striking at the Dafrati forces as they retreated. This potent three pronged attack wiped out the Dafrati, bringing the Harkriak victory. The three sisters returned home heroes.

However just after this something happened that would haunt the Great Mother for the rest of her life. The Great Mother had no love for the Imperium. She knew that while the Dafrati would have caused considerable damage before they were stopped, the Imperium would have eventually purged them. Furthermore the Dafrati had been so fearsome that she was hesitant to risk the lives of her people against them. At first she was prepared to simply allow the Dafrati and the Imperium kill each other, but she changed her mind last moment because her prediction made her anxious.

Shortly after her scouts brought news to her that the Imperium was in the process of a massive civil war, a conflict that would come to be known as the Hoprus Heresy. This shocked the Great Mother, for while she had predicted the Great Crusade she had not been able to foretell the coming of the Horus Heresy. The Great Mother would later muse that her vision may have been clouded by the Ruinous Powers at the time.

After the Hrous Heresy the Great Mother came to a numbing realization. Had the Dafrati been allowed to launch their conquering armies, the Imperium, being embroiled in the apocalyptic Horus Heresy would not have been able to oppose them. They would have conquered, and slaughtered almost without challenge. Fruthermore during the Great Scouring the weakened Imperium would be able to stifle the Dafrati's exapnsion very little. Thus during the Horus Heresy, and in its wake the Dafrati would have forged a mighty empire that would become a threat to the rest of the galaxy. More so with the newly turn traitor Legions in the north, and the Warp crazed Dafrati Empire in the south the Imperium would soon crumble, and nothing would contain the spread of Chaos.

Since that time the Great Mother has been especially vigilant regarding her premonitions. Had she ignored this prediction she would have no doubt doomed the Harkriak, and perhaps humanity with them.

Respite
After the brutal war with the Dafrati the Great Mother declared a halt to further expansion. While it would have been easy to conquer new territory with the Imperium preoccupied with reconstruction, and purging their territories of Horus' rebels, The Great Mother felt that this approach would do more harm than good in the long term.

The Harkriak needed to recover from their own conflict with the dafrati, which had done serious harm to their worlds and forces. Furthermore while the Imperium was in a weakened state at the moment, the Great Mother knew they would recover. Perhaps not fully, but enough to easily destroy the Harkriak despite whatever gains they would have acquired in the interim. Bringing her people to the Imperium's attention so soon would not only render whatever gains they made pointless, but could also result in the death of her people. The Great Mother decided instead to bide her time, and keep the Harkriak out of further galactic affairs.

There were many among the Harkriak that disagreed with the Great Mother's decision, first and foremost being Hakayla. Hakayla saw the Imperium's weakened condition as an opportunity to exact revenge against them for what they had done to her subjects, and she was confident after her defeat of the Dafrati that she could handle the Imperium in its current state. There were many others with the Harkriak military that believed that building up territory and military assets was the way to go. These elements claimed that the Imperium would eventually find the Harkriak, and that it would serve the Harkriak better if the Star Web was a galactic super power rather than some fringe empire when the Imperium finally came. Despite this the Great Mother stuck to her decision. This would leave some lasting resentment within some of her subjects, particularly her daughter.

However the Harkriak obeyed. The Harkriak spent the next few years recovering from the war with the Dafrati. They rebuilt much oif the territory that had been ravaged, and restored the losses to their military. Following this came a long period of uneventfullness. The Harkriak would sometimes become involveds in small scale wars with various factions, but overall they went without major incident. The Star Web expanded during this time, but only slightly. Overall it was a period devoid of major upheaval. The largest conflict that occured was the defeat of Waaagh! Boregut by Matriach Fratine. However the destruction of the Waaagh! would be what brought the Harkriak back onto the path of war.

Society
The Harkriak are a very diverse race. They have a number of different languages and cultures that have survived even into the 41st millenium. Currently the majority of Harkriak belong to one of five distinct groups. The Harkriak Star Web, Hakayla's Daemon Web, Krageos, the Throst Union and the Free Clans. Each group has its own government, military and unique laws and cultures.

Harkriak Star Web
The Harkriak Star Web is the most ancient, and most powerful of the various Harkriak factions. Founded by the Great Mother immediately following the First Contact War, the Harkriak Star Web managed to survive the Age of Strife relatively intact, making it one of the few interstaller empires in the 41st millenium that predates the Imperium.

The Star Web is ruled over by the Great Mother, the powerful entity that gave birth the the Harkriak in ancient times. With her guidance, and those of the Matriarchs the Star Web has managed to survive the increasingly dangerous state of the galaxy. While the Star Web is ultimately run by the Matriarchs, it has a complex political climate. Each Matriarch is given the right to rule her portion of the web as she sees fit. some take a very direct role in running their domain, while others hang back and let the Harkriak make most of the decisions themselves. Thus the system of government and culture of the various Matriarchal Domains can be very different. While an Individual Harkriak tend to identify most with the Domain they come from, the Harkriak of the Star Web have a strong sense of public service, and often work for the good of the society as a whole.

While the Star Web is a fair sized empire, and has had several wars with alien cultures, most of its people know very little of other Xenos. Long ago the Great Mother set the Star Webs philosophy with alien cultures. Species that were deemed a direct threat to the Star Web were exterminated immediately, much like the how the Imperium chose to wipe out Xenos cultures. However unlike the Imperium the Star Web does not engage in aggressive acts towards those species that are not deemed a threat. Rather the policy is to avoid any contact what so ever with these species. As such the only those within the Star Web's military had any real contact with alien cultures for the longest time. However the Star Web has changed its policy in recent years, and has now engaged in aggressive expansion. As a result the Harkriak have had more interaction with non-Harkriak in the last few centuries.

Daemon Web
The Daemon Web is the name of the faction of Harkriak lead by the traitor Matriarch Hakayla. While the seeds of dissent were sown in Hakayla in many different times, and places, the ultimate cause of it was Hakayla's study of Dafrati lore. The Warp tainted Xenos had long studied the power of the Warp, and of Chaos. It is from texts, and artifacts recovered from their destroyed civlization that Hakayla learned of Chaos, and ultimately came to be a servant of the Ruinous Powers.

The Harkriak of the Daemon Web are an insidious and arrogant breed. They worship their foul Queen as a Demi-Goddess of Chaos, and believe that it is Hakayla that will lead them to supremacy over the galaxy, and Chaos to its final victory. The citezens of the Daemon Web are quite active in their attempts to bring ruin to the galaxy. Not only do they often strike out and invade the worlds around their nightmarish home, but they also seek to corrupt other from within by spreading the Cult of the Daemon Web, which has become a thorn in thw side of the Great Mother, and the Inquisition as well as many others.

The ultimate aim of Hakayla and her Daemon Web is to slay the Grat Mother, corrupt the entire Harkiak race to the service of Chaos, and then lay waste to the rest of the galaxy.

Technology
The Harkriak employ technology that is wildly different from the rest of the galaxy for the most part. Early in their history Dr. Phremia Sak'na Calitrum created a field of technology, and a scientific school of thought called Fabricated Biology. Phremia's research into technology was chaped by her expertise in the field of biology. She postulated that technology at its height should resemble, and function much like living tissue, as living things were some of the most complex, and sophisticated grouping of systems imaginable. Fabricated Biology soon came to dominate the Harkriak's technological innovations, and continued to shape their scientific development ever since. It should be noted that the Harkriak do study other fields of scientific inquiry, but the mainshare of their technology is based on Fabricated Biology, and the Harkriak have pushed this technology to the point where they can compete with forces such as the Tau, Imperium and Eldar.

To understand the full nature of Fabricated Biology one must first accept the idea that it is not bio-technology. Harkriak tech resembles living tissue in appearance and function to such a degree that many ignorant outsiders believe that their tech is biologically engineered, much like that of the Tyranids. However the tech produced using Fabricated Biology is entirely synthetic, containing no organic substances. To illustrate this an example could be drawn from the differences between Imperial, and Harkriak prosthesics. Say for instance that one was trying to replace a malfunctioning kidney. In the Imperium one would replace it with a Bionic implant, a machine that would simply perform the duties of the replaced organ. The Harkriak equivalent would look, feel and function exactly like the orginal organ if not better. It would even have the syntheitc equivalent of cells, and thus would be nearly indistinguishable from an actual kidney when looked at with the naked eye. This perfect blend of synthetic material, and organic structure and function has made Fabricated Biology a unique form of technology, and a subject of interest for factions such as the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Tau.

Synthetisms
Automatons created through Fabricated Biology. As a result they are far moire sophisticated than the Robots and Servitors used by the Imperium, or the Drones used by the Tau. Their bodies appear organic to the naked eye. However the creatures are entirely synthetic. The Harkriak use Synthetism in a number fo ways. Some are designed for labor, some are design to assist the Harkriak in their duties. There are also ferocious Synthetisms that go to war with the Harkriak. The majority of Synthetisms have the intelligence of a Servitor, or in more advanced cases may have an intellect like that of an animal. The Harkriak are capable of creating Synthism that possess sentience and self-awareness, but these are extremely rare. The Great Mother knows very welkl the potential threat that Artificial Intelligence can pose. Thus the creation and use of intelligent Synthetisms is strictly regulated, and offenders are harshly punished.

Ibrian Nirvana
The Ibrian Nirvana is a Xenos empire of roughly 58 systems located within the Ibrian Belt. The Nirvana is an entity of contradictions and dualities. The Dem'ri, the founding, and sole organic species of the Nirvana are a race of advanced, mildly psychic and utterly pacifistic humanoids. An extremely peaceful race, the Dem'ri originally lived an undistrubed existance on the three systems under their control within the belt. However when their peace was broken by outside forces the Dem'ri found they could not make war to defend themselves, having long since rid themselves of violent compulsions. In order to defend themselves the Dem'ri created the Sepharim, robots gifted with artificial intelligence that would fight the Dem'ri's foes in their stead. Since then the Sepharim have defended their creators and have pushed them out of their isolationism, driving them to expand the Nirvana.

History
The beginnings of the Nirvana began in the Ibrian Belt, on the three colonized planets of the Dem'ri that are known as the Trinity. There the Dem'ri lived an ideal existence. They had long since completely done away with war and violence, and had cured a great many of the societal ills that afflicted other races. The Dem'ri lived in harmony wit h their worlds, and with each other. They had achieved what many species only dreamed of, utopia. Yet this gift had come at a cost. Since all of the Dem'ri needs were met the society had ceased to progress, having become static. In addition to this the Dem'ri had been without conflict for so long that they had become incapable of waging war. This would nearly prove to be a fatal flaw.

Half way through M40 the Dem'ri experienced their very first alien contact. Up until this point the Dem'ri had been dimly aware that there were other forms of intelligent life in the galaxy, yet had not been visited by, nor sought to contact them. It was to their most ill fortune that their first interaction with another species would be with foul servants of Chaos. A fleet of Chaos worshipping pirates tranlated out of the Warp, and fell upon th helpless Dem'ri, who did not know how to defend themselves.

At first the Dem'ri attmepted to negotiate with their aggressors. However they soon realized that these invaders could not be bargained with. The Chaos force would not stop until the Trinity had been plundered, and the Dem'ri were either dead or enslaved. Faced with this prospect the Dem'ri contemplated something they had pushed out of their minds for eons. War.

Dem'ri legends had told of a time when they were a much more crude, and aggressive species. A Time when they had warred amongst themselves, and slaughtered their own kin. While the Dem'ri had long since abandonned these old ways they still retained records, and manucripts that detailed the ways of warfare, and even blue prints to ancient weapons of their people. The Dem'ri had kept them purely for academic purposes, but now they were most likely the Dem'ri's best chance at survival.

A Dem'ri elder named Krobus formed a group of Dem'ri that would attmept to reteach themselves warfare and turn the alien invaders from the Trinity through use of force. This faction, known as the Ka'jann manufactured basic weaponry and trained themselves in the ancient martial traditions of their people. They then tested themselves against the forces of Chaos.

The result was disastrous. It was only logical that the battle hardened pirates would be superior combatants to the inexperienced, and gentle natured Dem'ri. Many of the Ka'jann, trained though they were, could not bring themselves to employ the deadly skills they had prepared. Even more dangerous was what occured to the Ka'jann that could. The Dem'ri had not experienced the emotions of fear, anger or hatred for untold generations. These emotions are often instrumental to gfighting a war, and yet the psyche of the Dem'ri could not handle the reintroduction of these violent emotions. Many of the Ka'jann went insane, and ended up being corrupted by Chaos. They then became as much a threat to their fellow Dem'ri as they were to the invaders.

Hearts of Steel
It became apparent that even if the Dem'ri wanted to fight they wouldn't be able to wage war without losing their sanity. They had simply been docile for too long. Furthermore despite a few successes the Ka'jann had been mostly ineffective in battle. Against a foe that couldn't be reasoned with, and being incapable of defending themselves it seemed that the Dem'ri would be wiped from existence. It was then that some of the wiser Dem'ri thought of a solution. If they couldn't defend themselves they would simply require another force to fight in their stead. The Dem'ri knew no other species and had no allies, but they had highly advanced technology. Thus it was decided that a machine army would be created to defend the dem'ri from their enemies.

The first attmept at this was a series of combat robots called the Cheburim. Designed and programed for combat the Cheburim bought the Dem'ri a reprieve. However the Cheburim could only follow their combat protocols, and could not learn and adapt to the ever shifting situations of war. The pirates swiftly began to beat the Cheburim time and again. The ability to fight clearly was not enough. The Dem'ri needed warriors that could adapt and think for themselves.

Artificial Inteliigence had long been forbidden among the Dem'ri, but in this case the Dem'ri had no choice. To abstain meant extinction. Thus the Dem'ri designed machines with true Artificial Intelliegence called the Neliphim. The Neliphim were created to act as commanders for the Cheburim, guiding them towards victory. While the Nephilim initially had difficulty as they acclimated to warfare, they soon began to turn the tide of the war. if things continued the way that they were the pirates would be defeated. However a chill came upon the hearts of the wiser of the Dem'ri. With intelligence of their own there was no way that the Neliphim could be controlled unlike the Cheburim. With a lack of empathy, and having been born into slaughter the Neliphim had a dangerous chance of becoming just as much of a threat as the Pirates if not more so. The Dem'ri couldn't bring themselves to turn on their creations, as they were intelligent entities, but they discontinued the manufacture of the Neliphim. This posed a problem, as attrition would likely destroy the remaining Neliphim before they could secure victory.

It was then that one of the most brilliant of the Dem'ri, Omis came up with a new solution. Omis created a new Artificial intelliengce that he dubbed Sepharim. Like the Neliphim the Sepharim could learn and adapt, but they could also do so much more. The Sepharim had emotions, and they could understand morals, ethics and values like honor. The Dem'ri taught their new creations how to do battle and unleashed them upon the invaders. The Sepharim turned out to be everything that the Dem'ri had hoped. They had emotions such as anger, and thus could fight unlike the Dem'ri. They could think for themselves, and thus were not bound by protocols and subroutines as the Cheburim were. Finally they could feel, and understand morals, and thus were not bound by cold, pitiless logic like the Neliphim. Like the neliphim there was no guarantee that they could be controlled, but because they thought like organics there was a chance for coexistence.

The Dem'ri phased out production of the Cheburim and Neliphim in favor of the Sepharim. The Sepharim in turn fought fiercely to protect their creators, and finally defeated the Chaos forces that had asssulted the Trinity. With the threat gone the Dem'ri looked upon their creations. Machines though they were the Sepharim were as alive as any organic creature in their eyes. They embraced the Sepharim into their culture as brothers. From that point on the two would live together, with the aSepharim acting as the guardians of the Dem'ri and their worlds.

A Time of Turbulence
Following the event the Dem'ri and Sepharim remained in peace for many years, however many among the Sepharim felt that it would be foolish to simply wait for another threat to present itself. They urged their creators to send scouts out into the unknown so that they could better understand what was in the universe around them. The Dem'ri were reluctant, but eventually relented, sending several ships out to explore the galaxy at large.

A number of the ships did not return, and those that did brought tales of a galaxy wrought with conflict. THis disturbed the Dem'ri and Sepharim greatly. The Dem'ri were of the mind that it would be best to stay within their territories, allowing isolation to protect them. The Sepharim however were of a very different opinion. The scout reports told of enemies to powerful for the Sepharim to fight off at what was their current strength. The Sepharim knew that if such a foe came upon them it would mean the doom of all.

The Senturium begna to urge expansion into the galaxy at large. They argued that in order to defend against such foes a larger military force would be needed. This would require more resources, and a larger territory so that hostile forces would not be able to attack the heart of Nirvana, as the new union had been called. Once more the Dem'ri were reluctant. Increasing their territory and military could provoke an attack rather than deter it. However the Sepharim were adamant, and so the Nirvana began to slowly expand. The Sepharim would continue to urge expansion and military build up while the Dem'ri preached caution.

Eventually time would prove the Sepharim right. Over the ensuing centuries the Ibrian Nirvana has had to defend itself from all sorts of foes. From the savage hordes of the Orks, to the massive empire of the Imperium, and many others. The Sepharim have managed to preserve the Nirvana in the face of such threats, and have slowly grown into a foe worthy of fear. Yet always the Nirvana is under threat. Whether the peace that the Dem'ri once had will ever return is unknown, and increasingly unlikely.

The Tranquil Host
The military of the Ibrian Nirvana is called the Tranquil Host. As a result of the inherently non-violent nature of the Dem'ri the Tranquil host is made up entirely of the Sepharim. For the Sepharim military service is cumpulsory. Every Sepharim created will serve at some point, and rejoin the Tranquil Host as required. However it should be noted that this service is not mandated by the Dem'ri themselves. Far from it. The Dem'ri respect the Sepharim's right to choose how they live, and often try to steer their synthetic creations towards peaceful pursuits. It is the Sepharim themselves that have made military service mandatory.

After the first few years of a newly built Sepharim's existence they are called upon to join the Tranquil Host and undergo combat training. Technically speaking a Sepharim has the right to refuse, for certainly the Dem'ri disagree that an individual should be forced to fight. However should a Sepharim refuse they often suffer the contempt of their fellow Sepharim, and this social stigma is often enough to ensure that the young Sepharim will heed the call.

Upon joining the Tranquil Host a Sepharim is given a Basic Combat Frame, which serves as the standard infantry battle body for the Tranquil Host, and begins training. The Sepharim's efficient synthetic mind quickly master the basic training that it is given. Furthermore during this time the Sepharim is tutored in the warrior Traditions nad beliefs of the Tranquil Host, for the Sepharim do not consider themselves to be simply soldiers defending territory, but rather honorable warriors that fight for their ideals.

After a Sepharim passes their basic training they are allowed to undergo training in any number of combat specializations. As they progress in rank, or are deemed to have attained a certain level of proficiency in certain combat roles they are given access to new, and more diverse combat frames. Thus a Sepharim attains the right to use different military grade bodies during the course of their training and service.