Fiction:Valian Empire/Rose Protocol

The Rose Protocol was a directive put in place by the Valian Secretariat, ordering the transformation of Volanti—inhabited worlds into “Rose” worlds: planets whose entire ecosystem was derived from the Strand, the genetic sequence shared between the Volanti and all extinct Nol Arisian life, to be extracted from spores of the Valian rose specimens found after the destruction of the Motherworld. To achieve the protocol, new species to replace the old would need to be bio-engineered from scratch to fill every ecological niche, from sea bottom-feeders to great predators in the land and air.

The splicing of the Strand, the shared genetic code of all Nol Aris-derived life, from a spore of a Valian moonflower, brought about an entirely new era for the Volanti, filled with attempts to repopulate the galaxy with species sharing their own genome. It led to the creation of entirely new plant and animal species and ecosystems, and eventually the Rose Protocol, dictating that only life created from V-DNA is to exist in Valian worlds.

Volanti bio-engineering, however, had a long way to go before reaching its modern level of sophistication. The first beings created with the Strand as its base were mere breathing gobs of flesh, followed by mindless plant-like beings like the Kenosorids, which weren’t meant to act as animals but simply to serve as machines and perform tasks. Other, more complex species followed, modeled after the hardiest or most impressive beasts the Volanti encountered in their travels.

Kenochrid Spores
Kenochrid spores (from the Volanti keno, life, and chrid, seed) are invasive and highly infectious spores central to all Valian biotechnology. It was the V-DNA extracted from one of these spores, which belonged to a lone Valian Moonflower stowed away in one of the ships that escaped the Ruin of Nol Aris, from which the Volanti were able to replicate some of their lost homeworlds’ species and create many new ones to spread their genome: this gave rise to the Rose Protocol, dictating that all Volanti-inhabited planets must have V-DNA- based ecosystems. Kenochrid spores, containing these key genes, were instrumental in this: specially-altered spores, when placed in liquid, develop into embryos of different species They have been adapted for many uses by the Volanti, including the creation of new, better crops, the seeding of lifeless planets destined for habitation, and even for warfare, as the gas released by the spores and spore-derived species is toxic to most alien species.

Kenosorids - Valiensis dispersum – (Valian spore-spreader)
Kenosorids (from the Volanti keno, life, and sore, to spread) are living tools created by the Volanti: engineered in labs, they are released into targeted worlds’ atmospheres, whereupon they float suspended by their own gas, releasing Kenochrid spores into the air as they move. The spores can be customized to do anything from seeding planets with bio-engineered plant species (as per the Rose Protocol) to releasing toxins into the air to kill or sicken the planet’s populace. Though Kenosorids are slow, defenseless and flammable, firing at one causes the explosive release of Kenochrids spores in liquid form, which are incredibly corrosive: it would be like popping a balloon full of acid.

Valian Brahk - Valiensis comidus - (Valian land-sponge)
Brahk- derived from the word feeder, were the first bio-engineered life-forms intended to fill out a slot in the new Strand-spliced ecosystems. As such, due to the technological limitations of the time, they are extremely basic herbivores whose intelligence is often (correctly) compared to that of a common potato. They have no higher brain function, vision or hearing: they were intended to simply wander around and serve as easy prey and food supply for carnivores. Like every other species engineered by the Volanti, they have growths of kenochrid spores growing on their bodies, which spread upon their death to give birth to new members of their species. Brahk embryos are formed from B1-class keno-spores.

Herbivores

 * Valian Carmaran – Carminus valiensis - (Valian spider-crab)

Carmaran embryos are formed from C-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Ryll - Broncus valiensis - (Valian boar)

Ryll embryos are formed from R1-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Renki - Rinkurus valiensis (Valian jumper)

Renki embryos are formed from R2-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Pider – Valiensis aranata (Valian spider)

Pider embryos are formed from P1-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Amaerole – Caracolicus valiensis (Valian snail)

Amaerole embryos are formed from A-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Buloji – Valiensis altus (Valian jackal)

Buloji embryos are formed from B2-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Kiarkil (Valian pounder)

Kiarkil embryos are formed from K1-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Rhenii (Valian rhino)

Rhenii embryos are formed from R3-class keno-spores.

Carnivores & Omnivores
Bio-engineered carnivores and omnivores form the upper levels of Valian ecosystems. Because they are formed by splicing V-DNA with most fearsome animal species the Volanti have found (they have the idea that predators must be dangerous by nature), the creation and reproduction of these species is greatly monitored and restricted: unlike in the case of plant-like and herbivore organisms, carnivores and omnivores’ body spores are sterile unless mixed with specially-administered serums, which means they cannot reproduce on their own.


 * Valian Serugula - Serugulo valiensis (Valian land-squid)

Serugula embryos are formed from S-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Fenil – Valiensis letalus - (Valian deviltrap)

Fenil embryos are formed from F-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Wyhe – (Valian wyhe salamander)

Wyhe embryos are formed from W-class keno-spores.


 * Valian Ba’jir – (Valian tiger)

Ba’jir embryos are formed from B3-class keno-spores.

Kehr’ni’anki, named after the ancient Volanti goddess of wrath, are enormous deepwater starfish. Most Valian worlds’ sea-beds are infested with these carnivores, which can grow to the size of small islands (one in Serina was actually large enough to cause rogue waves and be visible from space, and had to be hunted down, which led to the Biological Creation Limit Act of 67,097 AF). Kehr’ni’anki embryos are formed from K2-class keno-spores.
 * Valian Karia’h’nki – (Valian deepwater starfish)