Lherok Empire

The Lherok are an ecologist race notorious for their extremism, and for frequently resorting to eco-terrorist behaviour. While most ecologist races view sapient people as one and the same with non-sapient animals, the Lherok differ in that they often view sapient people as a corruption or error of nature. They desire above all else to protect and preserve the organic world, but their seemingly good intentions are unfortunately spoiled by their misanthropic views and behaviour. However, the Lherok rarely show hostility unless provoked by an act of ecological abuse or destruction, as matters of religion, politics, economics, and territory seem to be of little concern to them.

## Appearance and Biology

Lherok are six-limbed, with four legs and two arms. They possess six eyes, a long, maned neck, and a tail tipped with long hair. All Lherok have green skin, but they also possess stripes which they can change the colour of at will via the stretching and contracting of chromatophores.

## Beliefs, Behaviour and History

The Lherok typically keep to themselves, rarely initiating interaction with other empires. When interacted with, they are generally peaceful and diplomatic, though ecologically fanatical. When observing acts of significant ecological harm or animal abuse, however, they quickly become hostile, demanding the actions cease and threatening retaliation if else. The retaliations of the Lherok have been described by other races as eco terrorism, and cases have included the following:

* Attacking large factories and industrial areas with explosives or gunfire
* Clogging pollution-expelling exhaust funnels of buildings, leading to the suffocation and/or poisoning of workers inside
* Tampering of products manufactured by ecologically controversial brands
* Attempted assassination of CEOs and other highly positioned figures of destructive corporations
* Attacking space vessels associated with acts of ecological destruction
* Attempting to infect people with a disease that causes meat protein allergy
* Destruction of years of potentially life-saving scientific research that had relied on animal testing
* Sabotage of equipment and vehicles, sometimes with fatal results
* Arson (Lots of it)

Despite their apparent extremism, the Lherok have some redeeming factors. They are proficient in technology that reduces or even reverses pollution and other ecological damage, and rarely hesitate to share it with other races upon request. The Lherok also have an understanding of individuality, despite their general misanthropy, and will not retaliate violently against entire races for the destructive actions of a few of its members. Such is the reason they co-operate with the Kasmanda Empire in the hunt for the notorious exotic animal trafficker Kasmo Koriaka. This sense of individuality applies also to the Lherok themselves, as they can vary greatly in their beliefs between communities and individuals. Some are reasonable and some quite fringe and radical, and they include the following:

* Sapience is an error and is not natural.
* It is immoral to ‘own’ a pet, as is domestication in general.
* If a community/nation cannot maintain their food supply without harming the animals and insects that are inevitable attracted to it, then that community/nation deserves to starve.
* The reproduction of sapient people is immoral.
* Only fruits, seeds and nuts that can be harvested without harming the plant should be eaten. Any type of harvesting that requires the removal or destruction of the whole plant is unnecessary destruction of life.
* Use of antibiotics or sanitisers is unnecessary mass-destruction of microscopic life.
* Carnivory is a biological error that can be corrected (ironically, this belief has led to Lherok harming animals).
* It is an abomination for a sapient person to find direct benefit from an animal in any way, even if harmless to the animal, as sapient people do not deserve such a grace.
* It is entirely unethical to consume meat of any kind… Except the meat of an ecologically destructive sapient.

Fortunately, the Lherok with more extreme and bizarre beliefs tend to avoid leaving the planet they are born onto, as they do not support the technology required for space travel. Communities with self-detrimental beliefs, such as shunning germicide and reproduction, do not last very long. While the Lherok are biologically omnivorous, the vast majority follow a strictly herbivorous diet, for obvious reasons. Those who are not strictly herbivorous may sometimes eat unfertilised animal eggs or lab-grown meats. Some Lherok acknowledge and accept the unforgiving cruelty that exists within nature itself, while others struggle attempting to justify it or consider it an error in need of correction. Not every Lherok is a fanatical eco terrorist and misanthrope, however. Some are friendly and happy to find someone to admire other living organisms with. The Lherok race itself is not evil, despite resorting to some terrible tactics, and very rarely engages in full war. They want to preserve and respect natural life, and they are open to diplomacy with anyone who can respect that.

The reason behind the Lherok’s ecological extremism is unclear, as a lot of their pre-spacefaring history is lost. It has been theorised that they may have destroyed much of their home planet’s ecosphere during world wars, then come to severely regret their actions once the war ended, with their current ways being a sort of repentance. The Lherok spread slowly, not daring to interfere with life-bearing planets but instead colonising barren worlds, then seeding life to develop around their existing infrastructure. They also operate on lifeless planets and asteroids for resource collection, allowing them to utilise metals, silicone, and other materials without damaging any organic life.

If there’s one thing the Lherok and most of the rest of the galaxy can agree on, it’s their disdain for the Grox. The Grox are the antithesis of the Lherok, being creatures with hatred for organic life and poisoning every world they touch. They are the one empire the Lherok are continuously at war with.