Creature:Apteros

Apteros grew up from primordial swamps on their home planet of Kyssumio, gaining intelligence and dominion over the simpler lifeforms of their tropical planet. Forming several different polities, the Apteros built towns and trading centers along their major rivers, and often fought amongst each other for rare resources such as gold. All of this changed when a single king, Yauthumon, rose up from an unknown polity and raised an army of loyal companions. Riding giant beasts of war, Yauthumon's army proclaimed his home city a holy site and launched a vicious war upon their neighbors, the peaceful Oogie tribes. The Oogie were annhilated, and by Yauthumon's death around BC 156,900, all of Kyssumio was united under Apteran rule. Over the next five hundred years, the Apteran grew further apart, as a line of weak kings desperately tried to stabilize Yauthumon's massive empire. In BC 154,000, flooding and drought broke the kingdom apart. Millions died, and one nation stood standing over the rest. It was this nation that launched the first satellites into space, and a thousand years later the Apteran had over eighty planets under their control, smaller than the mythical empires such as the Grox or Hunter, but sizeable for the time. The Apteran are an aggressive species, being carnivores by nature; their natural instinct is to wage war, both against enemies and each other. It is surprising how they've managed to band together to form the Empire, but intelligence at this present time reports that the massive empire is on shaky ground right now--a combination of rebellion, drought and soaring inflation may bring it down in the near future.