The Advancement

This is my first shot at a race sheet. Edits will come. I don't have the time I thought I had to do it today, so I will be posting an incomplete version to work on later. Hopefully you all like the direction I'm going with this race, I will be back soon to finish the sheet.

Your Name: Yadidle

Empire Name: The Advancement

Species Name: Generally known as The Multitude, though reference to an author race known simply as The First has been found in historical text. Further study on historical texts and documents has lead to the conclusion the The First are indeed the first race, responsible for the creation of The Multitude and The Advancement. Whether they still exist is another study entirely, as no known record shows physical signs of a "First" race in known history in that region of space besides wayward ancient documents and texts.

Homeworld: Known by The Multitude as The Familiar or simply Familiar, it is a strange planet blanketed in mystery and incomplete descriptions. Captured Multitude AIs and ancient historical writings and texts shed some light on Familiar. Multitude AIs have shockingly small amounts of information regarding their own home planet, with only the understanding that Familiar was the birthplace of The Multitude and The Advancement. Collections of timeworn texts and writings from local space have tied Familiar as the birthplace of The First, and the only possible population of the author species in known space, drawn by logical deduction of course. Older Multitude AIs becoming harder and harder to find while ancient texts and documents being only a finite resource leads to further study on Familiar taking nothing less that an actual visit to the homeworld. Such a task is deemed extremely difficult, as The Multitude hold Familiar as a near religious birthplace, and allow no visitors.

Size: The actual size of The Advancement's holdings range anywhere from 6 to 7 star systems. Due to the private nature of The Advancement and their affairs, only espionage has been able to hold any proof of these numbers. The Advancement lets virtually no visitors into star systems once they hold them as their own, while The Multitude remains private on information regarding the empire's strength and size.

Biology:
The Multitude

The Multitude come in many different forms. Being created by The First, all Multitude are synthetic in nature. Blood, skin, organs are irrelevant to The Multitude. Emotions are also null, which make The Multitude extremely cold and logical beings. All that concern The Multitude are numbers and ratios, and any pursuit made by The Advancement has to be statistically favorable. The Multitude take virtually no risks.

Multitude intelligence is different from most natural forms of intelligence. A single Multitude unit has a set intelligence. The size and importance of that unit directly correlate to the height of it's intelligence. A small, mining Multitude has a very low intelligence. A large, battleship Multitude has a reasonable high intelligence. With this in mind, normal command structures would seem logical. Though not everything is as it seems. Along with set intelligences based off size and importance, The Multitude also use a hive intelligence. A single Multitude has a set intelligence. When that single unit is joined by another in it's area, the Multitude link minds, gaining the intelligence of both units combined. This leads to unorthodox command structures. Thousands of ground units need no commander, they simply need each other to command the large group. The more Multitude in the area, the more intelligent they will all become. This also means when a large group of lower tier Multitude are joined by a larger, high tier Multitude, the smaller units gain more intelligence than the larger unit. So The Advancement does place larger units in amongst the smaller for this reason.

The actual appearance of The Multitude varies based off the job that unit holds, yet all Multitude are circular in design. The basic ground unit, regardless of it's task, has no legs. It appears as a hovering sphere, usually with multiple orifices holding different uses. They can range in size from as small as a pebble to as large as a sizable boulder while on land. Any larger and the power required to hover the unit would become too great. Colors are metallic in shade, and normally don't waver too much from a neutral grey. The surface of the ground units have no indents or jutting features, and are generally completely smooth. The only blemish the ground Multitude hold are the orifices. These can range from a mining maw to a slug throwing cannon and everything else in between. Depending on the current situation, The Multitude usually are equipped in the correct manner.



Religion: TBA

History: TBA

Culture: TBA

Military: TBA

Government: TBA

Strategies/Tactics: TBA

Edited version.

Your Name: Yadidle

Empire Name: The Advancement

Species Name: Generally known as The Multitude, the drone-like servants of a higher creature, their actual scientific description would place them as SRIAS units (Self-Replicating Intergalactic Advancement Synthetic). Their creators are known as The First, biologically identified as the Va.

Homeworld: Known by The Multitude as The Familiar or simply Familiar, the homeworld of The Advancement holds The First. It is a small, water covered world of colder climate. One single landmass positioned near the northern pole holds the only life on Familiar. The First and certain domestic creatures are all that remain, being selectively chosen as food sources. The Va are an extremely private race, and all habitats and population left on Familiar are held underground, away from immediate sight. No SRIAS units are allowed onto the surface of Familiar, unless directed by the Va themselves.

Size: The Advancement holds 7 star systems, all gained through stellar conquest. Any expansion efforts have been recently stopped, seemingly ordered by the Va from Familiar, and knowledge on when expansion will begin again is only as good as a guess.

Biology:
The Multitude

SRIAS units come in many different forms. Being created by the Va, all SRIAS units are synthetic in nature. Blood, skin, organs are irrelevant to SRIAS units. Emotions are also null, which make SRIAS units extremely cold and logical beings. All that concern them are numbers and ratios, and any pursuit made by The Advancement has to be statistically favorable. SRIAS units take virtually no risks.

SRIAS intelligence is different from most natural forms of intelligence. A single SRIAS unit has a set intelligence. The size and importance of that unit directly correlate to the height of it's intelligence. A small, mining unit has a very low intelligence. A large, stellar unit has a reasonable high intelligence. With this in mind, normal command structures would seem logical. Though not everything is as it seems. Along with set intelligences based off size and importance, SRIAS also use a hive intelligence. A single unit has a set intelligence. When that single unit is joined by another in it's area, they link minds, gaining the intelligence of both units combined. This leads to unorthodox command structures. Thousands of ground units need no commander, they simply need each other to command the large group. The more SRIAS in the area, the more intelligent they will all become. This also means when a large group of lower tier units are joined by a larger, high tier unit, the smaller SRIAS gain more intelligence than the larger unit. So The Advancement does place larger units in amongst the smaller for this reason.

The actual appearance of a SRIAS unit varies based off the job that unit holds, yet all are circular in design. The basic ground unit, regardless of it's task, has no legs. It appears as a hovering sphere, usually with multiple orifices holding different uses. They can range in size from as small as a pebble to as large as a sizable boulder while on land. Any larger and the power required to hover the unit would become too great. Colors are metallic in shade, and normally don't waver too much from a neutral grey. The surface of the ground units have no indents or jutting features, and are generally completely smooth. The only blemish the ground Multitude hold are the orifices. These can range from a mining maw to a slug throwing cannon and everything else in between. Small units rarely have more than one orifice to hold use, while the larger SRIAS have multiple. The larger the Multitude, the more orifices it holds.

Space-going SRIAS still hold the same shape as the ground units. Circular in design, the stellar units also are covered in orifices. Regardless of job, every unit has a large propulsion orifice, along with multiple smaller propulsion jets to move and aim the unit in a specific direction. Due to the lack of gravity in most open space, size does not hold back The Advancement. Naval units can range anywhere in size, including gigantic. Reports from a pirating group that dipped into Advancement space have caught the attention of many a scientist. "We were low on fuel, and had to make the difficult decision to travel through Advancement territory," spoke the pirate leader. "We lost a few vessels in the first two systems we travelled through, but nothing compared to what happened in the final system we were in. I have never seen anything like it. I believe we ran into their battle fleet, and the lead ships were mind boggling. They could have been mistaken for large asteroids, but they were perfectly round. We knew this kind of information would be worth a lot, so we blasted our scanners in every direction. Besides the enormous, asteroid sized vessels, there was a multitude of smaller craft along side them. We also picked up scans of even bigger ring shaped facilities, or maybe ships, farther into the star system. We ran for our lives, and only escaped with two ships. I will never visit Advancement space again..."

The only things holding back stellar SRIAS size are resources and time.

All SRIAS units are powered by nuclear fusion, a power plant located at the center of every unit. Due to this extreme energy efficiency, units rarely need rest. Damage and repair can stop them though, and they will be scrapped if too badly damaged. Optics can be visibly seen as small slits covering the SRIAS sphere. These gather visual, auditory, and olfactory information. Scanning systems are held within the sphere, and can only be seen if a SRIAS is split open. SRIAS units manipulate the world around them with very limited gravity control. All units have the ability to create small, artificial gravity fields. Besides giving the ground units the ability to hover, these are used to grab hold, manipulate, and move objects around at their choosing. With correct control of the gravity fields, ground units can move reasonably fast along the ground; while space units can employ stealthy, undetectable propulsion, be it very slow.

The First

The Va are extremely private beings, and nearly all of this information is unknown to the rest of the stellar community.

The Va draw many similarities to the SRIAS units they command. All Va are circular in nature, slug like blobs of flesh that slowly crawl along the ground. They have roughly the same sizes as the SRIAS too, ranging from pebble to boulder sizes based of age. New born Va look like small pink pebbles, while elders can be the size of large boulders. Va have no bone structure to speak of, holding all their organs loosely within their bodies. They are land dwelling, slug-amoeba like creatures.

Reproduction is done asexually. When a Va hits a certain age, hormones within the body urge the creature to split. Strangely enough, they do not split in two, a reproducing Va breaking into thousands of youngling Va. Newborns all share the collective memories and knowledge of the Va that split, not one holds the same information. The time it takes for a newborn Va to reach elder status and reproduce is staggering. Roughly 600 solar cycles of growth are required to reach elder status, thus reproducing.

Va size and intelligence directly correlate. Small, newborn Va are extremely stupid, and require the watchful eye of an elder to make sure they survive their first hundred years. The large, boulder sized elder Va are extremely intelligent, and are difficult to communicate with due to their higher thought processes and view of life.

Va have little when it comes to offensive capabilities. When cornered or threatened, Va secrete a foul and deadly mist of poison that causes nerve damage and paralysis to most forms of life. Once incapacitated, the Va then slowly consumes the organism, breaking the skin and sliding the creature towards the center of the Va, holding the stomach. This consumption process can take a very long time, and leaves the Va completely immobile. Va have no optical abilities, and use a low, rumbling echolocation technique to see the world around them.

Va manipulate objects in the same way they eat their food. Having no ability to see beyond their echolocation technique, having arms and hands would be a futile trait. Instead, Va split their skin and ingest the object they wish to manipulate and use, bringing to it a chamber bigger than the stomach. Within the chamber are 20-30 finger-like appendages of varying length. This part of the Va is extremely sensitive to touch, and houses the most sensitive echolocation descriptors. Within the chamber, they use the fingers to manipulate and control, much like the arms and hands adopted by the rest of the stellar community. Once done, the Va simply spit it back up.



Religion: Va do not believe in a higher being other than themselves, and view themselves as pseudo gods. Ancient elder Va regard themselves as all knowing super beings, and are disgusted by most forms of life. Perfection is their religion, and anything under their control must be removed or perfected. This usually includes almost all other forms of life in Advancement territory, the Va being responsible for enormous amounts of genocide in their pursuit for perfection. Their attempt at a perfect creation, SRIAS, has also become their only key to the galaxy beyond Familiar. Va remain on their homeworld, allowing the SRIAS to do their dirty, imperfect work.

SRIAS view The First as gods, and The Familiar as holy ground. All SRIAS refuse to visit Familiar, unless ordered by the Va directly. They will fight to the very last to protect the Va, being their creation they are forever in debt to them.


History:

The Aquatic Era
The Va began as members of Familiar's vast, planet spanning ocean. Living in colonies of hundreds in underwater caves was the only way the Va could exist in numbers. Open ocean was extremely dangerous, a normal Va being overtaken quickly by the carnivorous aquatic creatures of The Familiar. Due to this, the total population of Va rarely exceeded half a million, and stayed that way for a long period of time. Advancement was very slow and difficult for the Va, having to always worry of dangers and trouble. Eventually, Va numbers started to dwindle, and were expected to hit zero unless something drastic was done. Predators were getting smarter, and cave colonies of Va were rapidly disappearing. It was at this moment of Va history that Thoughtful changed everything.

The Great Migration
An eldest Va, known as Thoughtful, had been watching his species slow downfall for nearly 700 years. Thoughtful refused to reproduce, knowing his extreme intellect would be necessary to discover a path to salvation of the dreaded Familiar oceans. Predators had slowly been growing an immunity to Va poison throughout the years, and finally were nearly unaffected by it. Certain species would clear out Va cave colonies within the span of only a few solar cycles. At the rate of destruction, all Va would be eradicated within 137.452 solar cycles as determined by Thoughtful. Something drastic had to be done.

It was drastic indeed. Thoughtful had been aware of a large landmass within the area, capable of supporting the lives of countless Va for many generations. The only problem they faced was the lack of water. Va were aquatic creatures, not air breathing land organisms. He began heavy study on genetics, experimenting on himself. His plan was to give himself the ability to breath air, reproduce, and have the remaining Va populations escort his younglings to land, where they would have a chance at life. Being the age he was, he was an enormous Va, and would create roughly 305,032 younglings by his calculations. His life nearly ended with a test trip to the surface, where Thoughtful had to propel himself up to the surface of the ocean to test his breathing abilities. He brought with him many from his colony, who died defending him. Though many Va perished, the experimentation worked, and Thoughtful had converted himself to an amphibious organism. The moment came, and Thoughtful reproduced. Hundreds of thousands of Va younglings were escorted by the remaining Va colonies to land, where they emerged and began to regrow their species.

The Perfection of Familiar
Many of the Va younglings died within the span of 100 SC due to the harsh, cold climate and simple Va youngling stupidity. The Va that did survive were hard and unforgiving. The small population of 50,000 Va came to a stunning conclusion. In order to survive as a race, they must unwillingly bend the world around them to do their bidding. The Perfection of Familiar had begun.

Surprisingly little amounts of life existed on the single landmass of Familiar, so first the Va began the same process Thoughtful had begun long ago. They completely changed the genetic makeup of multiple aquatic organisms, brining them onto land to be used as a food source. The Va moved underground, much like their ancestors. The Va knew they were incapable of many things because of their biological make up, yet refused to genetically change themselves as Thoughtful had done hundreds of years ago. Construction of the first SRIAS had begun.

Once the first primitive SRIAS were created, the landmass was explored in full. Large habitats were created underground, and any species not genetically modified by the Va were erased by the early SRIAS. Food sources were perfected, as well as the SRIAS themselves. The oceans were sterilized using deadly biological weapons, and the landmass was perfected by SRIAS drones. All of Familiar had been perfected by the Va 573 SC after Thoughtful had saved the race.

The Advancement
Global domination was not enough for the Va. They were running out of resources to build their SRIAS drones with, and didn't want to harm Familiar, their greatest work. The creation of stellar SRIAS units gave the Va access to the stars, and The Advancement began.

The Advancement immediately explored every reach of the Familiar star system, discovering all possible resources that could be put to use as more SRIAS units. Since other planets were not as perfect as Familiar, they were stripped of any useful material. Planets were hollowed, and asteroid belts disappeared. Soon, the star system was full of Multitude, which began the brutal and bloody Advancement.

In the span of 839 SC, 7 systems fell at the hands of the Va death machines. Stellar races put up a fight, but were eventually crushed by The Advancement. Eradicate intelligent life, collect resources, move on. The way the SRIAS were built, they could run themselves, and the Va had to do little to intervene. At the capture of the 7th star system, a rather bloody and difficult fight with a coalition of races, the Va ordered The Advancement to halt. The last grouping of races had worried the Va, seeing how much of a fight they gave The Advancement before going under. They settled to explore and scout extensively before they would let their death machines loose on the galaxy yet again.

Culture: There is no spare time in The Advancement, only efficiency. SRIAS units are extremely work oriented, and view any rest or time spent freely as a waste. As mentioned before, the only time they stop to rest would be during repairs, though if the repairs were not cost effective they would be scrapped.

Education and learning do not apply to SRIAS units. Unlike the artificially grown brains of some synthetic models, their AIs are built on the spot, and rather quickly. Almost all information and capabilities needed in their lives are built and programed into them at birth. Any other updates are administered in the fabrication SRIAS. Although this makes them cheaper and easier to produce, SRIAS units are very inflexible in thinking, and require a large number to be in the area before any creative thinking occurs.

All SRIAS units are seen as equals in each other's eyes, and the only other ruling power in The Advancement is known as The Advancement Mandate. This is a mysterious ruling power that can instantly override any logical thinking made by Multitude Command (Multitude Command being the combined decision making power of multiple SRIAS units at one time), and control a large portion of the empire at any given time. The Advancement Mandate is in fact the Va , pulling the strings from their home world, safe from harm and conflict. This will be gone over in detail later, in the government tab.

The Va use any and all of their spare time studying. Their efficient army has a database full of information from their conquests, and the Va can't get enough of it. Since their SRIAS units are self replicating and self governing, the Va rarely need to do much in regards to the actual Advancement. Besides overriding certain decisions, their only other concerns are learning more and becoming wise and knowledgeable.

Elder Va hold all the respect and authority on Familiar, and all younger Va look up to them. When younglings are born, each are assigned to an elder Va. The elder Va is responsible for raising and training the younglings till they are roughly 200 SC old. The age of a Va directly correlates to the amount of younglings they train.

Military: The Advancement has a very unique military. Unlike most races, any and all SRIAS units can be outfit for war if necessary. This means the numbers of armed units in The Advancement fluctuates based on military need. Any unit not needed in combat or for security reasons is then switched over to another task; be it resource collecting, espionage, or any other list of jobs. Efficiency is key in The Advancement military. The Multitude refer to their military as The Advancement Potential or simply The Potential, meaning they usually stand as neutral unless provoked, be it with force or by simply intruding into their star systems.

Weapons systems vary greatly in The Potential. Due to their efficient nature, The Advancement does not outfit their military forces until they have a clear idea of what they're fighting. This means any unit at any moment could have any variety of weapons at it's disposal.

Ground units usually carry close range plasma cannons, flinging raw plasma in the general direction of their enemy. These weapons are usually used in close range. When distance is necessary, ground units will then employ the use of railguns. Usually the railgun fires capsulated plasma, giving it a farther effective use, though rate of fire is dreadfully slow. If the intention is not to kill, which is a rarity in The Advancement, the ground units use concussion cannons. Facing their orifice in the general direction of the enemy, units let loose waves of concussive blasts, usually incapacitating the enemy forces without killing them. Usually.

The Potential space forces widely employ the use of particle cannons, accelerating particles near the speed of light and loosing them in pinpoint beams at the enemy. This can shred thin and weak armor, while super heating and melting heavier defenses. The focus of the particle beam is variable, and can either be used as a long range sniper or a wide beam defense weapon. Due to this, The Potential space forces have no shields to speak of past their thick armor. The only units that hold such a defensive weapon would be the largest of the space forces, and the fabrication units. Defensive chaff is sometimes installed in space forces, depending on the situation. The chaff in launched as a cloud in between The Potential forces and enemy laser and masers, diverting most offensive energy off the chaff. The largest of space units can also hold fighter bays, launching tiny, maneuverable units into battle. These smaller space units have plasma cannons much like the ground forces, and do most of their damage up close. They are expendable, having no shields or defensive measure, yet multiple.

Any major offensive effort is always pursued by a fabricator. These units are massive in space, and reasonably large while on the ground. They are responsible for outfitting the fighting or defending force with the proper weaponry based off intel. Due to this, The Potential react poorly to surprises and sudden changes on the battle field, having to send most forces back to be re-outfit. Also, if the fabricator is destroyed in battle, the units have the potential to become ineffective.

Command in given to random units during the battle, since they all hold the same level of intelligence once located near each other. Still, killing the largest SRIAS unit during a battle will no doubt hurt the command power of the smaller units. The command is referred to as Multitude Command, and is usually what does the talking during communications.

The Potential can be flexible, but only if proper intel is given.

Government: The only governing force in The Advancement is known as The Advancement Mandate. It is a power that can control any situation at varying times, and is controlled by the eldest Va on Familiar. Regardless of what Multitude command has in mind, The Advancement Mandate can and will override it, regardless of logic and reason.

The Advancement Mandate is given to the eldest Va on Familiar, since the eldest Va logically will make the best decision for the empire as a whole. The Va are not the best leaders, so they will easily follow an elder and their decisions. Rebellion and crime do not exist in the Empire, or have not yet in recorded Va history.

Strategies/Tactics: The Potential is extremely cautious in battle, and will only commit when the numbers are right. Due to their logical and calculating thought process, they do not gamble during conflicts, and are very thorough with their observations.

Before any offensive is started, Potential always sends out scouting and espionage units. In order to properly fight their enemy, they must know what their up against. Once info is passed from scouts and spies back to the fabricators, fighting units are outfitted according to what they're up against. This makes The Potential easy to blindside, and can even freeze units in place when a sudden surprise is unforeseen. Based off the size of Multitude Command in the area, battles can go in different directions. Units by themselves or in small numbers rarely engage, and due to their small intelligences they look for no other strategic advantages. They almost always run. Large numbers of The Potential usually think more tactically and strategically, and can be fearsome in their wargaming.

Overall Strengths and Weaknesses: The Advancement is a very cautious, low risking empire. They only commit when they know absolutely certain of success. This is both a strength and a weakness. They potentially lose opportunities that could be jumped on by riskier empires, yet when they do commit, there is very small percentage for failure.

Caught in low numbers, The Advancement is very primitive and easy to deal with; yet when discovered in high numbers, The Advancement is terrifying and fearsome.

Due to the nature of fabricators, The Advancement can be blindsided, and usually with horrific effect.

The Advancement accepts giant losses, and takes a marginal victory as a complete success. There is no such thing as valor, bravery, and mercy. Units are there to serve each other, and ultimately The First.

The base species of Va are extremely weak, and if captured could cripple the entire Advancement.

There, that was a doozy of an edit.

Jesus....

I'm gonna need to expand my new sheet to compare with that!
From what I've read, there seems to be no issues, though I'm not a mod so don't really have any power but still, that is some amazing work there, the only original sheet I can remember being that derailed is Vipera's, and that's some high praise!

Nice sheet! Welcome to RG.

Your sheet is interesting, although we may ask you to change a few things, simply because this race seems very similar to some of the races we already have, and we try not to redo things. This has a lot of similarities with the UFIAI and the Vrentus Collective. Also, I may have misread this part, but you state that this race was the "first" race. In RG, we do have a timeline set out, and we do not allow member to pinpoint one of their races as the oldest or most advanced. We also do not allow them to make race from alternative galaxies and otherwise big stuff like that. Now, there are a few exceptions, specifically with races that have large story impacts in the RG (examples: The Eldraunn Architects, the KGI). Also, in the "species name" section, we usually require an actual species name there. Like, what's the biological term for the members of the race?

For example, a race of mine is called the The Antiquary. However the members of that empire are creatures called the Vaurik. The species name is preferably a made up, inhuman word.

Also, we do like to have mysterious races which people don't know much about, however, you're still required to give us as much information as possible about the race. So don't shy out on some of those details, as we need them so we know exactly what it is you're entering. You'll have plenty of time to re-add the whole mysterious aura in the IC.

I will reread this later and make sure I didn't miss anything. If there's anything else I'll add it here. For now, those are some things that need to be fixed. I'll let Whoster and Zaroas at their comments now.

However I don't see anything wrong with a race calling themselves "The First" if they think of themselves as the first great race in the galaxy.

They are The First in a sense that they were the original beings in The Advancement, and that they were the creators of The Multitude. They weren't the first race to ever exist, although I can see how it looked like that.

I now understand that you want me to remove all mystery and give you all information, mostly regarding The First, keeping it mysterious and interesting in the IC?

Ok I must have misread. And yes, please remove the mystery for now.

Okay, I'll save my edit until I have the feedback from a few others.

I have edited my first draft.

I think it is much better now, though I think some addition to the biology would be nice, to clarify how they manipulate objects and devices.

An edit has been made to biology

Alrighty. I think it's ready to go. Zaroas? Darkel?

Zaroas and Darkel have agreed, so, Yadidle, you're in!

Okay, I'm in a bit of a busy moment in life (college and what not), so it might be a bit, but thank you for accepting. That took awhile to think up and write.