Creature:Ruddlin

Ruddlin is a creature and empire originating from the planet Lesandro in the Bileon star system. They have established a small and compact space empire that spreads to a select few star systems around their home star, although they intend to expand through economic means, and potentially by force, but only if force is used upon them first - they live by the motto "Never strike first," which dates back to their Creature days.

= History =

Cell Stage
Ruddlin originated as Rudd, an herbivorous cell. It briefly became omnivorous, but this "didn't really work out" according to the Ruddlin Elders. They say they "don't really like to talk about it."

Creature Stage
Rudd eventually got onto land and sprouted two legs. Over time its two stacked eyes moved to be side-by-side, and it grew arms and another pair of legs, along with suction-cup feet. It was around this time that Rudd began to be called Ruddlin.

Rudd/Ruddlin made a strong effort to befriend all other creatures, but had some failures when interacting with creature groups that were hostile to begin with. They did, however, befriend a helpful rogue creature, who was tragically killed by an Epic shortly afterward.

By the end of Creature Stage, Ruddlin had developed wings that would prove a vital tool in exploring their world later on.

Tribal Stage
The Ruddlin Tribe was a peaceful one, befriending all 5 other tribes on the planet, with some effort. They were not above fighting off attackers, however - whenever raiders came to steal food or burn buildings, the Ruddlin were willing to fight to the death to defend their camp, even if it meant losing tribe members in the process.

Civilization Stage
Ruddlin City, being a Religious city, worked hard to bring together the entire planet of Lesandro through religious means. They always converted any newly-captured cities to Religious ones. They would relentlessly use their Religious power to convert cities, sending more vehicles if their existing ones were destroyed. Eventually, through sheer persistence, their conquest of planet Lesandro was complete, and with the first Starship Guardian set to launch, they moved into space.

Space Stage
The Ruddlin Empire was uneasy about entering space at first, but quickly found friends in the neighboring Ashonas and Shaell Empires, who are still two of Ruddlin Empire's most powerful and prominent allies. Unfortunately they also found enemies in the Hunchy and Gooplet Empires, both of whom declared war on the Ruddlin Empire shortly after Ruddlin began defending the Ashonas Empire from their onslaughts. Both wars ended with Ruddlin victory, and an uneasy but nonviolent state of peace exists between all three groups.

Ruddlin also showed their ruthlessness against those who strike against them soon after entering space. The Frug Empire, longtime enemy of the Ashonas Empire, began attempting to invade Ashonas - and Ruddlin - space. Ruddlin stood up to them and began to really experiment with their previously unused weaponry, and discovered that wiping out a colonized planet isn't as difficult as previously believed. The Frug Empire was pushed back, and eventually destroyed when the Ashonas Empire, with financial backing by Ruddlin, invaded and conquered the Frug homeworld.

The Ruddlin Empire has a relatively new ally in the Dubel Empire, whose scatterbrained and spontaneous nature the Ruddlin disapprove of, but who can be entertaining and seem incapable of harm, and perhaps more importantly, of defending themselves adequately should the nearby Hunchy Empire move in for another attack (the last one was some time ago, but they have been behaving in an increasingly aggressive manner as of late...).

Eventually it was inevitable that the Ruddlin would encounter the Grox Empire. After some communication, the Ruddlin took a Scroll of Science from a Grox colonized planet, not realizing that it would start a war that still rages today. Although the Ruddlin have destroyed several Grox colonies (mostly by terraforming), the Grox continue to attack the Ruddlin colonies, and more recently, their homeworld. Only one of the original cities on planet Lesandro still stands, but more are being built to attempt to recover from the incessant Grox attacks. Ruddlin space crews are currently working out how to better defend their planets (such as acquiring Uber Turrets to place on all colonized planets as a primary line of defense against assaults), starting by forming (with difficulty) an alliance with the Knight-archetype Mada Empire, in the hopes that they will be able to trade with them and acquire military tools for lower prices than from other sources.

Despite their ongoing conflict with the Grox, the Ruddlin have managed on one occasion a lightning-quick rush to the Galactic Core, where they successfully acquired the Staff of Life.