Creature:Protori

The Protori are a vast race of birdlike reptiles that have spread dozens and dozens of colonies throughout their local galactic cluster, accounting for almost 40% of the sentient life there. The core of their empire is planet Solverus in their home system of Aganta, and this hearth has become the center of technology and culture for Protori across the galactic rim.

History:

The Ancient Era

Along the fertile coasts of Solverus, the Protori evolved in tide pools until they had become dominant, and soon enough, cell-like flagella and cilia grew to become legs, and land creatures were born. However, other creatures adapted to land just as quickly, and the Protori were faced with competition. Although the Protori usually responded with a social attitude towards other life forms, they would be just as quick to snap at a marauding nest-invader with their somewhat primitive jaws. It would be their next adaptation though, that really changed everything. Claws evolved from cilia that were meant for walking on soon raised off the ground more and more with every generation, and it was then that the opposable thumb evolved on Solverus. The invention of fire followed shortly, and before long, the Protori had taken to living in small cluster villages with huts made from the sparse trees that had sheltered their ancestors for so long. Being the social and communicative animals that they were, the Protori recognized the similarities between themselves and others of their species, and created long trade paths. The levels of sophistication that these entailed far surpassed their time, and when one innovation was created, all interconnected Protori would learn of it. It was during this time that metal was discovered, and so were the ways to tame it with fire. The Protori were nearing the beginning of civilization.

The City Era

With the workings of metal, fire, and the trees of the forest at their whim, Protorian architecture around the globe began to change. Tribal huts would no longer support the rapidly advancing Protori, and bigger, stronger structures made from the trunks of trees, and of the ore of the ground were seen being created. Building design differentiated, and soon buildings had different purposes. Some were meant for housing, others for working, and much more. Finally, the Protori cast off their barbaric tribal adornments and began to fashion themselves in what was beginning to become Protorian culture. However, the interconnected passageways that held the Protori together in the tribal stage would not hold much longer. New Protorian nations had been discovered on separate continents, and they had invented new metal craft for traversing the oceans. These Protori though, did not share the benevolent attitude of their brothers, and were warlike, firing upon their cities. Alliances were made, deals forged and wars started, and at the end of it all, one sovereign nation ruled supreme. Thus ended the Protorian age of cities, and now, the age of the stars had begun.

The Star Era

The Protori had at long last conquered their planet of Solverus. There was now nowhere to go, but into the last great frontier: space. Everything the Protori had done to this point had been on a terrestrial surface, with materials from the land of Solverus. Now, they would have to work outside of their safety zone, and brave Protori engineers worked around the clock in a zero-g environment in Solverus’s atmosphere. Finally, after over 70 different prototypes and 4 stellar cycles of hard work, the first spacecraft ever designed by Protorian hands proudly floated in the orbit of Solverus. It possessed a wide cargo hold to carry ample alien plant and animal life forms, and had crew quarters for 50 Protori, excluding the bridge crew. There was only one other planet orbiting Aganta, and it was a gas giant. The Protori mission however, was to one of its moons. What the explorers found there went beyond anything they had expected. Littering the moon were the remnants of a long gone civilization, and in one of their ruined shipyards, the Protori found an interstellar drive, an engine capable of letting them travel between stars at great speed. The first space faring race encountered by the Protori was an eccentric species called the Demetrius. This astounded the Protori, as they had long since thought that they might be the only intelligent species, in a comparatively empty cosmos. The Protri were quick to befriend these new aliens, and trade routes of valuable spice and other commodities sprang up almost overnight. In addition, the Protori gained from their newfound allies the technology to create colonies on alien worlds, and even to terraform them into habitability.



War erupts

Things were going well, until a hostile empire was discovered near the Protori home system, Aganta. They were known as the Grobits, and they worshipped a deity called Spode, killing anyone who did not share that belief. Although their fleets were no big threat to the Protori, they were allied with the warmongering Civers Empire, and their battle fleets oppressed the peaceful Protori convoys. A state of emergency was announced, and the Protori, Demetrius, and a new allied race called the Shaell sent warships to defend their outlying systems. The Civers fought viciously until a combined task force with members from all three allied species converged on their shipyards, decimating the ships still in dry-dock and effectively crippling the Civers Navy. Despite many transmissions from the Protori leadership, the Grobits stubbornly refused to surrender, leaving the Protori, Demetrius and Shaell empires no choice but to bomb their home world into oblivion. Before their ultimate destruction however, Protori ecologists beamed up 75 Grobit citizens from the doomed planet and deposited them on a faraway, habitable planet in a barren region of space, thus preserving the species from ultimate extinction.

Expansion and Rebuilding

After the war, Protori citizens could finally get back to normal business. Many colonies had to be repaired or even scrapped and rebuilt, resulting in quite a few displaced colonists. New ships were sent out, and a great many took up shop on distant worlds. All of this activity effectively worked to expand the empire, and the end result was a Protorian civilization stretching from where the galactic arm met the core to the very tip of its spiral. Protorian sovereignty reigned throughout the sector, and a plethora of new alliances were formed. By now, the Protori had firmly established themselves as the dominant empire in their quadrant.

Anatomy:

As a species, the Protori are avian reptiles possessing several traits from both categories. They lay eggs but are warm-blooded, and have padded feet tipped with claws on three toes. Their hands are strange and cup-like, each like a separate opposable thumb and giving Protori great dexterity and finger strength, Their body is covered in gray scales with an orange patch on their front and back. Going upwards, their heads are possessed with two outward facing spikes and a strong beak below two standard eyes and a third stalk eye at the top of their forehead. On average, Protori are exceedingly tall for humanoids, and their architecture and vehicle designs reflect this. Centered on a Protori’s back is a small nub (the purpose for which is unknown) flanked by a set of wings. Protori rarely fly however, and ironically, it is quite common for a Protori to be nauseous when high up off the ground.

Culture:

Protorian culture is centered on three main ideals;

1: The preservation and examination of all living things they come into contact with.

2: The advancement of Protorian technology and society in a way that disturbs no other natural processes.

3. The destruction of all that threatens to disrupt the natural life cycle.

With these outlines, particularly the third one, it is not a surprise that the Protori regard the Grox and other similar races as erratic problems that must be eliminated. However, they are far too peaceful to engage in open genocide, and only respond with force when provoked. One of the most horrible things that can be conceived in the mind of a Protori is the extinction of another species. It is for this reason that they never completely killed off the Grobits, and have been equally merciful with other hostile empires in the past. It is unknown what actions the Protori would take if by some chance, the Grox ever fell into this position of defeat. One of the greatest achievements made by the Protori concerning the Grox though, was the actual capture of a Grox citizen while under a cloaking device using experimental shield bubble technology to prevent the subject’s disintegration in a cargo hold. The ship safely returned to Solverus, and scientists working there successfully removed the Grox’s implants after strenuous experimentation and research. The implications of this are unknown, and a conversion of Grox citizens made by a superior empire in this manner would prove impractical, as the process is costly and time-consuming. Still, the Protori continue to work on this and other projects to further better themselves and the course of nature, the basis of the philosophy of life they so loyally follow. The Protorian government is ruled by a senate with a head chairman, and its official name is the Protorian Alliance of Planets. The government’s symbol is as shown.