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Kalgrost — Cralst
Published: 2013-10-03 16:40:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 5645; Favourites: 59; Downloads: 0
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Description
This composite image shows Cralst (“flat”), the homeworld of the galgrokst. Northern and southern ice caps are shown at their respective winter extents, and an approximation of the oceans's average depth is represented by color.Cralst is a hot, arid world, with an average surface temperature of 19 °C. Much of the supercontinent that makes of the majority of its landmass is dominated by sandy, rocky deserts or the equivalent of scrub plains.
Dense vegetation is rare, and shows here as areas of brownish-gray or brownish-green. In these areas, wild plants roughly analogous to brambles grows in vast thickets. The purplish-pink areas show mountain vegetation in full bloom.
The darker areas are intensively cultivated land where a handful of species, genetically engineered for high yields and resistance to agricultural chemicals, are grown. Water for these comes from enormous desalinization plants and is carefully delivered by networks of underground irrigation pipes.
These vast fields are necessary to feed Cralst's 15 billion inhabitants, almost all of whom are urban dwellers. The largest cities are easily visible from space, and can be seen here as grayish patches among the cultivated land, especially along the northern coast toward the center of this image.
12 of these 15 billion are subjects of Cralst's largest and most powerful nation, whose name translates as “Keeping”. Keeping is a totalitarian police state which has endured since the beginning of mass industrialization a little over a century ago. Keeping controls or lays claim to nearly all of cralst's main continent, and the handful of continental nation-states not under its direct control are essentially vassals.
One notable exception to this is a political entity occupying the two large islands near the center of the image. Roughly translating as “The Stone Place”, this authoritarian corporatist nation has a population of nearly 500 million and access to rich natural resources despite its comparatively small size. These resources combined with its current dominance of space has allowed it to maintain an independent existence.
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Comments: 39
I really want to see Cralst's wildlife, like, the wild animals of this planet.
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I get a real vibe from all the work you've done that when humanity finds this world it will be a radioactive, barren, toxic hellhole with necropoli filled with the blast shadows of billions of Galkgrost. Xeno-archaeologists will work for decades to uncover the information of how this species arose, industrialised, became a pair of global governments, then wiped themselves of the face of their own planet in a nuclear holocaust.
And back on earth, people will look around and say 'there by the grace of god go us'. . . .and suppress a shudder at what might have been.
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Thanks, Dave.
The galkgrokst face a number of serious threats to the existence of technological civilization because their main drives are to form strong, agressive hierarchies and either conform to their dictates or force others to do so by destroying the intransigent. They see the future as one managed by force and weight of numbers rather than careful consideration and rational action to manage long-term problems.
There but for the grace of God, indeed.
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I get a real vibe from all the work you've done that when humanity finds this world it will be a radioactive, barren, toxic hellhole with necropoli filled with the blast shadows of billions of Galkgrost. Xeno-archaeologists will work for decades to uncover the information of how this species arose, industrialised, became a pair of global governments, then wiped themselves of the face of their own planet in a nuclear holocaust.
And back on earth, people will look around and say 'there by the grace of god go us'. . . .and suppress a shudder at what might have been.
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15 billion! They can really pump em out can't they. I guess there birthing process is much easier than human. they probably give birth to a litter and it's probably shorter than nine months. Too bad there a bunch of fascist bigoted hate filled worms who are probably going to make their planet a more barren world then it is with there warlike and polluting nature. They'll probably go extinct before they infest the universe. And another creepy note the main country on the planet sounds suspiciously like the US right now
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They've been at it a little longer than we have, and without much in the way of cultural restraints. A few big plagues have periodically knocked population down, but there's always been a boom following.
You're right about gestation; it's eight months. Single births are most common, though about one in five pregancies produce twins--almost all multiple births are of male offspring.
As for extinction, it's hard to say. Societal collapse, perhaps triggered by large-scale nuclear war, does seem likely.
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It seems like there a very tough species we stayed at 1 billion and tell about the 1930s and 80 years later were at 7 billion. They either have really tough babies or are a century or two ahead of us in order for their population to be that big.
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Mostly they've been at it a bit longer than us, and haven't made efforts to curb their population growth. In fact it's often encouraged, as birthrate is another way to outcompete other polities.
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How is their sea travel? I can see how the Stone Place would survive when it was in virtual isolation for possibly centuries while the Keeping on the main continent subsumed and exterminated pretty much every other different tribe, state, and empire in their path.
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You've got it pretty much nailed. Sea travel in cralst is about what you find here, with wider use of wing-in-ground effect craft and nuclear power plants than we have.
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I'm not exactly sure what level of technology these guys have, but based on the other images in your gallery I would guess it's more or less equivalent to humanity's current technological development. That being said, how do you think a first contact scenario would go down between us and them on equal technological footing? I gather that they're xenophobic and not too fond of the idea of other intelligent life, but I guess what I'm asking is would they see us as a threat? Would we be a blight on the universe they felt compelled to wipe clean or would we not be even worth their time to interact with beyond contact?
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Very much the "blight on the universe" option. You know that instinctive, violent revulsion that causes many humans to crush insects, and the disregard for the other that allows many others to shoot rodents? Much stronger versions of those are a normal part of galgrokst psychology, and they would apply to us. Our very existence would be viewed as a loathsome crime for which we are responsible, with death the only suitable punishment, while the bleeding-heart liberals among them would see as sad, twisted creatures, and death a mercy.
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It's funny, I see their existence as a little sad myself. Closed off to so many ideas and concepts due to psychological limits that are by no means their own fault... I'm sure individuals in their societies lead happy lives in their own way, it just seems to be such a shame that they wouldn't be open to sharing those lives with other citizens of the cosmos, or letting them share theirs. Oh well, c'est la vie. Thanks for answering!
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My pleasure. And it is a little sad, isn't it? Especially to those of us who live in this tiny temporary bubble of freedom and prosperity.
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Did the Keeping's social organization evolve directly from galkgrost pre-industrial societies? Or did it arise from the change in material conditions? Basically, was their monoculture different before their industrial revolution?
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A little yes, in that there were some other polities which were fairly similar in organization and form. The industrial revolution and the ease of travel and mass slaughter which it brought allowed the expansion of Keeping to its present extent. Most of the oligarchy at the peak of its hierarchy are also descendants of those whose wealth and power came from the new industries that arose in that time.
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So, the world essentially lives in dictatorships here? Bleak.
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To you or I, yes. But to the galkgrokst, this is the obvious and natural way to live.
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This fascinates me. Suppose one of their most powerful leaders and one of their lowliest soldiers/peasants/whatever were to both be shown our more pluralistic and consensus-driven governmental patterns, how would they react? I realize they're supposed to be xenophobic, but I am more interested in a... genetic response to it I guess.
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The instinctive feelings that would well up would be of violent loathing. Disgust and even pity would be possible, if the individual were older, or for some other reason more moderate in his or her emotional reactions. Most galkgrokst would feel a strong moral obligation to destroy our hideous, misshapen civilisation and our hideous, misshapen selves--to free us from the suffering of being so inherently wrong.
A strong argument might also circulate--in the highest circles, where such discussion is considered appropriate--that some small number of us could be saved, given the mercy of serving a proper society run by a people who are not the victims, as we are, of nature's mocking cruelty.
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A shorter term for these guys in our perspective would be "Complete and Utter Hitler-Level Assholes".
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So, what I'm seeing here, just for comparative purposes, is a society not unlike a mixture of the Turians and the Yahg of Mass Effect. They are like the former in that they are psychologically attuned to established, controlling, and all-encompassing hierarchy, and like the latter in terms of explosive tempers and self-righteous xenophobia by human standards.
Would they admire/agree with our own history of police states and autocracies? If so, would they most easily be characterized as fascist in the vein of 1930's Italy/Germany, or is there a really fundamental separation from Keeping/Stone Place's system and those of our populist far-right?
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Our own forms of totalitarianism and fascism would likely seem like odd fumblings in the direction of proper government to the galkgrokst. The puffed-up little tyrants of our world have created systems that share elements with those of Keeping and Stone Place, but there are also some differences.
First, populism is right out. In our world, would-be rulers can use populism to hide their true agendas and manipulate the natural desires and inclinations of homo sapiens, but this would never work with the gakgrokst. Glorification of the common kalgrost (singular for galkgrokst) would be a bizarre and uncomfortable idea to them. The vast majority of galkgrokst need and want a strong hierarchy with strictly defined roles.
Second, there is a very strong element of paternalism to the political system of both Stone Place and Keeping. The oligarchs of both polities are certain that they are protecting and sheltering the "lesser people" below them. In their view those of lower position need wiser people to make the right decisions for them and guide them into proper, healthy, productive lives. To deprive them of this guidance would, they think, be tremendously irresponsible, akin to leaving an infant out in the desert night.
Third, as alluded to above, the typical kalgrost feels much more comfortable when he or she has a clearly defined role in a group with a powerful leader. The idea of equality would be outrageous and disgusting to them. There is, therefore, very little in the way of mass uprisings or people's revolts. More common is the clever and ambitious duke, lieutenant, or branch manager who makes the right alliances and seizes on weakness to take a position of power.
There are some major similarities, of course, such as strong ties between industrial leaders and politicians. Indeed, in Stone Place, the two are the same.
As for the turian and the yahg, from what I've read of them their creators must have some of the same background, and done some of the same research, as me! From what I understand, however, the turians would find Stone Place and Keeping deplorable--there is very little of the turian meritocracy in either of these systems. The yahg, it seems, have a similar evolutionary history to the galkgrokst, and some similarities in mindset as well. However, from what I've been able to read about them, the yahg are much less xenophobic. They do not appear to find the existence of other sentience instinctively offensive, which the galkgrokst would.
The meeting of either species with the galkgrokst would make for an interesting fight!
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The galkgrokst would make the krogan look reasonable, and those guys accept headbutts as an appropriate expression of disagreement.
On second thought, let's not go to Cralst. 'tis a frightening place.
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Ayup. It's admittedly primitive, but I learned a lot doing it and it solidified my ideas about Cralst.
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It looks professional actually.
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How'd you... Get the geography so defined?
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I totally cheated. Layers, masks, and liberal use of public domain satellite images.
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Oh ahaha... I've never thought about doing that on my maps before.
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Hmm, I would think that judging by the shear isolation between areas of life, there would be more than just two nations on the planet. I have a hard time understanding how the Keeping can control such a wide area without severely over extending itself.
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Fear will keep the local systems in line; fear of this battlestation.
Wait. No.
Keeping is severely over-extended. Galkgrokst naturally tend toward extremely hierarchical points of view and tend to feel a very strong loyalty to that hierarchy, and they also tend to be highly conservative and xenophobic. Even so, the distance and isolation you mention has become an increasing problem; there's a trend not so much toward unrest as toward a kind of cultural continental drift, with local leaders feeling a social and psychological pressure to exert more sovereignty over their individual demesnes.
Burgeoning populations, most of whom live in abject poverty, along with increasingly severe environmental degradation as a result of unchecked industrial development are all adding to this. The fact that Keeping is focusing a whole lot of attention and resources on a buildup of arms to wipe its primary rival from the map while ensuring the personal survival of its oligarchy is not helping matters.
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