Va Wreth

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Va Wreth
Four Letter Code
Federation Status
Planet of Origin	Unknown
Encountered
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level
List of Named Va Wreth
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The Va Wreth are a poorly understood, nomadic species. What is known is largely through the records of other species in the Menthar region.

Historical Records

• A nomadic species, traveling in single large colony ships, or small groups of the same. They follow cyclical routes that may take hundreds of years to complete.
• A trading people, they have dealings with many other species and will buy or sell anything for a price. Some say that this includes slaves.
• They have passed through the Menthar region of space on a number of occasions. Ten thousand years ago they were at war with the Ancient Alliance over attempts to block or regulate their trade routes which now ran through the middle of Alliance space. Despite heavy losses the Va Wreth eventually overwhelmed the majority of Alliance species. "They just kept coming, we don't know from where." There are Peppalexan records that they cannibalised their fallen foes.
• The Romulans record a very different peoples, eager to trade, communicate and make connections for the future. Two thousand years ago the Va Wreth passed through what became Romulan space and helped those fleeing Vulcan to establish themselves by trading supplies. Some were traded for 'future considerations'.
• The Kubarey have had no direct contact but they have unearthed records from the Ancient Alliance regarding the war with the Va Wreth and their attrocities, and are very wary of them.
• The Peppalexans regard the Va Wreth as monsters and stories circulate of the attrocities that they committed during their war with the Ancient Alliance.
• The Va Wreth were invited to join Astrofori One by the Tholians, who have had contact with them. Given the Tholians normally xenophobic nature, the move was surprising. The proposal was seconded by the Romulans. It later emerged that the Va Wreth and the Tholians are similar enough to have interbred in the distant past.
• Kior Clan Va Wreth - from whom Kethir Clan are descended - were responsible for the destruction of the Ancient Alliance. They were known as The Void by the Peppalexans, who travelled through time in order to escape them. Various Clans have traversed the area once occupied by the Empire at different times in the last few thousand years.

Technology

• Not warp capable when they left their home-world, the Va Wreth use large generation ships in their travels through space. They later developed or acquired the technology, but how widespread it is is not known. Given the time taken to complete their travel routes, if they have the capability they do not use it constantly.
• Their ships use centrifugal gravity, a very primitive system, but appear to have extremely efficient transporters.
• They do not appear to possess replicators.

Physiology

• The Va Wreth are blind. They navigate by using echolocation and changes in air pressure sensed using the torus on their heads and their shoulder protrubances.
• Originally a subterranean species, they are universally grey-white, having no use for colour and no way in which to perceive it.
• They have elongated bodies with eight limbs. The front pair of limbs are light and end in hand-like appendages which are very dexterous. These are used solely as hands. The last pair of limbs are heavy and end in solid appendages which are used solely as feet. They have ridged undersides which allow Va Wreth to cling to various surfaces. The two pairs of legs in between are of middling strength and have appendages which can be used as hands or feet, though not as dexterous as the front hands. They can walk on two, four or six feet, and the more legs are used the faster they go and the more difficult surfaces they can climb. They can also use two or four of the middle limbs to grasp something and the front ‘hands’ to manipulate it.
• They do not have an exoskeleton like an insect, but they do have certain areas of the body protected by plates of dermal bone, lying just under the skin, not unlike the chest plates in Klingons.
• The Va Wreth life cycle begins with a larval stage. The larvae are not sentient, but are robust creatures with strong mandibles able to eat a wide variety of foods and store large quantities of nutrients in their bodies.
• If they reach a certain stage of development a larva will begin to change, both physically and mentally, usually signalling their beginning emergence into sentience by 'singing'. At this point they are removed from the herd of larvae and raised as a juvenile Va Wreth.
• They have a high reproductive rate, but the majority of the larvae are consumed by the adults. This leads to an overall stable population.
• Adult Va Wreth have small, delicate mandibles and are only able to eat soft flesh.
• If a supply of meat is made available then fewer of the larvae are eaten by the adults and the population can expand, sometimes exponentially.
• Va Wreth have a lifespan of roughly one thousand years.
• The Va Wreth evolved underground and naturally live in burrow systems. The internal structure of their ships reflects this and they are not comfortable in open spaces.

Culture

• The Va Wreth are broken into various clans that move about particular sectors of space depending on their size and ranking. There is no overarching system of government, and two clans may not agree on key issues.
• Each Clan is led by a Matriarch, and is made up of the crew of a ship or crews of a group of ships. In the latter case each ship has a lesser Matriarch subordinate to the primary.
• Va Wreth do not form lasting relationships between the sexes and have no concept of romance. Their priorities are the wellbeing of the Clan.
• Va Wreth keep their larvae in well maintained herds as well-kept livestock. It is the responsibility of the males, or 'Kan', to monitor and nurture the herds, caring for the young. The Kan detect the early signs of emerging sentience and segregate those larvae for raising as juvenile Va Wreth. They also select those individuals next consumed, killing them humanely and taking them to the places of preparation.
• The Kan's duty is considered a sacred one and no female would interfere with their care of the larvae. They are largely immune from inter- and intra-Clan politics and aggression.
• Bonds between Clans are strengthened by the trading of Kan, thus supplying each Clan with new genetics. A Kan from another Clan is treated as something of a celebrity.
• Va Wreth operate in a series of castes, with individuals being trained for the duties of the caste into which they are placed. Only two castes are not trained. Kan, the males, are born and Kara, the Matriarchs, 'make themselves known'.
• A Va Wreth's name has three parts. The first is their own, personal name, the second is their caste and the third is their standing within that caste, as determined by their Matriarch. In conversation with another Clan they may add their Clan name as a fourth part.
• If enough alternative meat-based foodstuffs can be found, they can reduce the number of offspring eaten and thus grow their numbers exponentially. They use this practice in war, eating their fallen enemies and feeding the corpses to their larva, who then grow rapidly and mature to swell the ranks of soldiers. This technique was used during the war with the Ancient Alliance.

Caste names

• Kara - Matriarch
• Kan - Male
• Sethir - Negotiator, trained to communicate and trade with aliens
• Oran - Warrior, guard or fighter

Standing

• Anth - First
• Seth - Second
• Fawr - Fourth
• Orth - Seventh
• Verd - Tenth

Known Individuals

• Yal'Kara'Orth - Matriarch of the Embassy Va Wreth, previously a Negotiator of the Kethir Va Wreth.
• Zial'Sethir'Verd - A Negotiator of the Kethir Va Wreth.
• Nial'Kara'Anth - Surpreme Matriarch of the Kethir Va Wreth