Fiction:The Phytoworms/Society

The Phytoworms are renown throughout the whole Midia sector as a race of particularly cruel and violent pirates. Ever since their first appearance centuries ago, their fleets have ambushed and plundered, killed and kidnapped, never showing any kind of mercy and seemingly taking immense pleasure in doing it all. Their constant aggressions have brought unbearable pressure to a whole part of the sector, which they claimed as their own, naming it “The Territory”. As far as the people of Midia are concerned, they have made themselves a reputation of the most barbaric and detested creatures in existence. What no one knows, on the other hand, is that they are an artificial race of clones designed by the Spacions, a race of highly intelligent beings, to serve as a proxy Empire. The “Space Masters” as the Phytoworms call them, control all of the social aspects of their lives, directly or indirectly, from their birth to their grave.

Characteristics: When the Spacions created the Phytoworm Empire, they did so for a specific purpose. Dedicated to science, they wished to continue their experiments hidden without anyone questioning their very questionable methods. And so they created a proxy empire to control the region around them without being known: the Phytoworms. As such, the Spacions carefully developed their slave specie to conform to their exact needs, starting with their personalities. Aggressivity The Space Masters designed the Phytoworms to be as aggressive as possible towards any beings other than them or each other. The reason is double: it would guarantee that they would fulfil their purpose of “clearing space” around them by attacking other Empires, and it would make sure they would never befriend or be befriended by any other species. This trait was pushed so hard into them that, as a result, Phytoworms are seem aggressive in everything they do. Though there is some variation depending on individuals and social class, Phytoworms in general are rarely ever calm. Even when during the most trivial tasks, their aggressiveness is reflected in their every gesture. When cleaning, they violently swing their broom around. When eating, they rip their meat (they’re carnivores) with jaws and claws whether it’s needed or not. When using a console, they smash the buttons as if they had been personally insulted by them. Even when talking to each other they can’t stop themselves. At best they grumble menacingly, but mostly they shout and bark like savages even when there is absolutely no reason for it. Overall, they enjoy being aggressiveness so much they can’t help putting it in whatever they do. Needless to say that in situations that actually require violence, a Phytoworm is like a fish in the water. But one must never forget that it isn’t fighting that Phytoworms enjoy, it’s hurting. Fighting is just a step that leads to the pleasure of causing pain, that’s how they see it. As such they have honed their skills not only to fight, but to inflict the most gruesome tortures upon their victims. One visible proof of this is their love of close combat and melee weapons. These are far from being the most efficient, but Phytoworms tend to priviledge them as much as they can just for the pleasure they bring of hacking and smashing. They hunger for carnage, and savor it when they find it. Social organization : The Phytoworms are pirates. Piracy isn’t just an activity to them, it is a way of life, the reason of their existence and it defines their whole social environment. Their purpose in life is to kill, loot, and laugh while doing it. Since they are pirates, the Phytoworm’s most precious possession is his ship and, on a larger scale, the fleet to which he belongs. More so than the colony (which are more military hideouts) on which he was grown, a Phytoworm defines his origin by his pirate fleet. Each fleet acts as an individual tribe and is commanded by a Zeoworm, a type of Phytoworm bred specially for command. There are as many laws, traditions, habits and taboos as there are Zeoworms, as each one rules in his own way. This social system, along with their aggressive nature, can lead to inter-fleet conflicts for motives as various as they are trivial (territory fights, stealing loot form one another, not liking the other one’s face etc.) Why are they like this? Because that is how their masters, the Spacions, created them. The “Space Masters” as the Phytoworms call them, are the pillar that keeps the whole Phytoworm system together. Phytoworms could not exist without the Space Masters, and not only because they alone know how to create them, but also because they are omnipresent in every Phytoworm’s life. In fact, Phytoworms don’t have a properly organized Empire like the majority of species. There