Praezorians

The Praezorians are an insectoid species with the ability to psychically harm and dominate others. They have been involved in a number of military conflicts with the Earth Republic.

For many years, the Praezorians were the primary antagonists of the Earth Republic. However, the Gerenock Clan at the head of this war effort was overthrown from its position of prominence. Since then, the Praezorians have been more divided. Recently, they were absorbed into the Akech Hierarchy.

In the December Universe, the Praezorians have defeated humanity completely, following the December Offensive and the Battle of Earth.

## Culture

Praezorian society is matriarchal. Social organizations and clans are led, birthed and psychically dominated by single female leaders known as Matriarchs, who use their psychic abilities to communicate, coordinate and control the male drones over whom they have authority, and whom they have likely hatched. Most drones are highly specialized and bred for specific tasks, such as warfare or engineering, and are unhappy or anxious if they are kept from doing that task or asked to do something novel.

Matriarchs receive rankings based on a number of factors, some of which receive higher or lower priority based on the clan and what it values. Generally, however, Matriarchs gain status based on how many drones they have hatched, how many other Matriarchs they have trained (their "daughters"), how many ships they and their daughter Matriarchs control, how many planets they and their daughters have and control, the strength of their psychic ability and dominance, how many other rival (and higher status) Matriarchs they have killed, and conquests like raiding, pirating, and conquering other races and worlds. A Matriarch's psychic ability may grow over her lifetime, but generally it is a static talent; only a few Matriarchs are termed "Dominators," with the raw ability from a young age to dominate not only the drones but the minds of fellow Matriarchs. One such Dominator, Lizreel, a young daughter of Vahzeel, is an auxiliary member of the ERS Valkyrie and operates its mind-voice, a gifted technology from the Minzera Clan that allows Lizreel to project and amplify her psychic dominance over several light seconds.

## Clans

Gerenock: Believed to be defunct. Responsible for the previous two Praezorian wars, the Gerenock have since been overthrown and driven deep into Praezorian space.

Zara'ha: The Zara'ha prize technology and the acquisition of such from other cultures. Therefore, its hierarchy of matriarchs value and accord status predominantly for the acquisition or invention of technology. Both piracy and innovation are common pursuits of Zara'ha matriarchs as they struggle to attain status. Zara'ha ships are more likely to be seen singly, instead of in packs, than other clans.

Minzera: A highly religious clan aligned with the Earth Republic, the Minzera have become dominated by the most zealous matriarchs of their religion, which holds that that the entire universe was made by the One, and that someday all planets and peoples will be a member of the Minzera clan. Therefore the Minzera have a habit, especially at their most zealous, of "adopting" other species, rather than subjugating them; they believe it is the destiny of all species to become members of their clan. Rival clans who seek to thwart this destiny, such as the Zara'Ha, must be turned (with devices like the Mind-Voice) or destroyed. The Minzera joined the Akeck Hierarchy while seeking this destiny, and have also welcomed human settlers into parts of Praezorian space (the Pollux Corridor) in order to adopt them into the clan. Its most well-known powerful matriarch is Vahzeel, currently the planetary matriarch at Pollux, who (as a less powerful but zealous matriarch) joined with the ERS Valkyrie's crew after adopting them as her own, in order to gather the Minzera into a single powerful force and push back the Zara'ha. This action made the Minzera the clan with the greatest primacy at Praezor and throughout much of the central and southern Praezorian Sector. With this primacy, Vahzeel gained a very high status and uses this status in order to encourage the adopted link between Praezorians and humans, which has brought lucrative trade and an exchange of ideas to the Praezorian Sector.