Creature:Aranta

The Aranta are a reptilian race that originated on the lush, forested world of Loradia, the second planet from the sun in their home system of Amarasmus. They have since evolved to become the second largest empire in their galactic sector, below only the Protori Empire.

History:

Very Early History and Tribal Phase 

The Aranta were believed to have broken off from a species of carnivorous cell and crawled onto land sometime in their planet’s 1.5 billionth year. They did not possess exceptionally powerful weapons, nor were they the quickest or friendliest creatures on their planet, but they had numbers and tenacity. Although quite a few sentient species arose on Loradia, the Aranta were the only ones to expand across the entire globe. Once they had attained sentience and invented a rather crude language, the Aranta began to exterminate as much of the intelligent competition as they could, paving the way for their future militaristic culture. It is believed that sometime during this era, a spacecraft of unknown origin (although it was likely a Protori ship) arrived on Loradia for a scanning mission and accidentally left behind a small mining vehicle. The inquisitive Aranta took the vehicle apart and put it back together again, but more importantly, they learned how to make more. Civilized phase

Roughly 15 planetary revolutions around the star later, the first city was created. This ushered in the civilized era for the Aranta. Much time passed, and before long, a superpower had arisen. It consisted of an alliance between the Prah’thirus Sovereignty and the URS (Unified Republic of Sotrass). These two nations controlled the mineral-rich continent of Sotrass, and began pumping out warships and battle tanks, all reverse engineered from the wayward alien mining vehicle. Soon, this superpower had conquered Loradia, and the planet now set its sights on the stars.

The Space Era

Due to strange radio activity coming from Loradia’s closest planet, Giron, the Aranta were convinced that other sapient life resided there. After some time, the Aranta launched a makeshift space program, consisting of an experimental space station and three intra-system space vessels. After a scan of Giron, it was revealed to the Arantas’ dismay that there was life, but only in plants and bacteria; the radio signals were caused by emissions from the planet’s atypical core. However, the fledgling Aranta Empire was not about to be put down. They scoured the other planets of their solar system, and then invented the technology to traverse the stars. Finally, an alien race, the Kronkey Empire was discovered. A new era of discovery and prosperity was ushered in, and the Kronkeys became great allies, though the Aranta were rather warlike in some instances, decimating the Gooplet Empire after a simple trade route mishap. Things were still going well though, and the Aranta had set up many colonies across their local star cluster.

The Amahani War

Many stellar cycles after the establishment of the Aranta Empire, an undocumented alien race provoked an unprecedented border dispute on one of the Empire’s border colonies, the planet Drignos. These aliens were known as the Amahani, and before retaliation could be made, they had captured three colonies and ruthlessly slaughtered all of the Aranta inhabitants. The Empire was thrown into a state of emergency and immediately sent all available war fleets and battle cruisers into the contested space. The war waged for a long time, with blows being exchanged on both sides. Finally, the war neared its close. Aranta scouts had discovered the home planet of the Amahani, and their leaders mercilessly decided to obliterate it. Massive Aranta terraforming drones descended on the world, breaking through its defenses and deploying their dreaded heat rays. Before long, the Amahani home world was a charred rock, barely recognizable from its previous state and without even a trace of Amahani civilization. Over the next few stellar cycles, the remaining Amahani enclaves were rooted out and destroyed, but finally, over 15 galactic years of bloodshed were over.

Economic Crisis and The Grox

Following the Amahani War, the Aranta Government was in peril. The economy had been completely drained from the war effort, and with little money in hand, factory planets were pumping out spice on overdrive to make up for the shortcoming. It was at this time though, that the Aranta Grand General implemented a bold and new strategy; Aranta Leviathan-Class Colony Dropships were sent out to find other suitable places to exist in the galaxy, creating pockets of Aranta civilizations that could be called upon to send resources back to the heart of the empire. Before long, the dropship Pride of Loradia had encountered a peculiar spacefaring race unlike any other encountered before. They lived in dense star clusters surrounding the center of the galaxy, and according to garbled radio transmissions, possessed an empire of unthinkable size. Due to the communication lag from the great distance, the transmissions between Aranta control and Pride of Loradia took over 3 planetary cycles to be recieved, but from translations intercepted from the ship’s last message revealed that the aliens felt insulted by their presents and meaned to destroy them, but before they could do so, the last word transmitted by the ship was the somewhat cryptic syllable, “Grox”.

With the information gathered from that transmission, that Aranta government was forced to destroy all far-flung colony ships, effectively abandoning their deep space colonies but ensuring that this hostile super-empire could never follow them back to their home systems. It is unknown what became of those colonies; they could have been destroyed by the Grox, or could even have grown into their own separate empire. The Aranta however, now prosper due to the discovery of three worlds rich in purple spice and support from the Kronkey and Lillo Empires.

Anatomy

The Aranta are a race of lizard-like Reptiles. They are cold-blooded but are not affected by temperature change as much as their non-sentient counterparts. Females lay eggs, and the gestation period is rather long, around two stellar cycles. They have three-fingered sucker-tipped hands with strangely taloned, almost birdlike feet. An Aranta’s mouth and head area consists of a fairly typical array of teeth, antennae-like ears, and two spikes protruding near the cheekbones. Scientists of other races, such as the Kronkey speculate that this is a throwback to the Aranta cellular phase, although the Aranta themselves are too proud to admit that. Finally, the creature is rounded out with twin back spikes and a formidable pair of wings, allowing Aranta to glide and even fly on wind currents for great distances.

Culture

The Aranta have an intricate culture involving many millennia-old customs and traditions. On the outside, it may seem strange and almost ritualistic, though upon further examination, it appears more practical. An Aranta “hatchling” as they are called, emerges from the egg in special nurseries kept on Loradia and certain other respected planets. The child is raised and cared for by its mother until it reaches the age of 15, at which time it is sent into the jungle to fend for itself for an entire year. If it survives, the young Aranta is sent to live with its father, where it is taught combat skills and how to work at a job. This continues for another 15 years, until at age 30 (the Aranta age of maturity) the Aranta can finally see both of its parents at once, and must choose a job, usually away from Loradia. However, all Aranta must travel back to Loradia every year on the anniversary of their maturity and engage in a ceremony that soon devolves into a grand party. On the tenth anniversary and upon their return to Loradia, they must choose a husband or wife, wherein the whole cycle starts over again upon the birth of a child. Although some parts, particularly the abandonment stage of this process can seem cold or even cruel, Aranta are actually loving parents, and the possession of a child is the height of pride for an ordinary Aranta, and they will remain in contact with their children until the death of either the latter or the former. The Aranta Empire as a whole follows the philosophy of force, and will be quick to attack and conquer a rude or arrogant civilization. However, if shown kindness, they will not fail to reciprocate, and great alliances can be born.