Cyth

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The Cyth in Deadlock II: Shrine Wars

**Cyth** is one of 7 playable Races in *Deadlock: Planetary Conquest* and *Deadlock II: Shrine Wars*.

## Advantages

* Morale generally stays the same.
* Only consume half the Food.
* Scouts can poison land.
* Command Corps can Mind Blast enemy units.

## Disadvantages

* Can never use the entire population.
* Disliked by other races.

## Description

> *From "DEADLOCK: PLANETARY CONQUEST PART II: COLONY LEADER’S GUIDEBOOK" p. 10-11*
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The Cyth have a harsh reputation mainly because they were the founders and instigators of the former Quadra Alliance's more horrific activities. Certainly they have committed more than a few atrocities (among their most notorious was forcing the Maug off their homeworld) but many of their actions have been merely misunderstood. The goal of most Cyth is to transform themselves into beings of pure thought. Once this evolution happens they believe that finally they will reach an age of new enlightenment.

Because of this the Cyth find their bodies a ridiculous nuisance; they even hate using their feet. Through self-discipline, many Cyth can move by levitation. Older Cyth are so good at this that they can fly through the air for short distances. However most Cyth never achieve this much mental prowess, so the average Cyth combines levitation with a sort of shuffle walk. Older Cyth eventually gain even stronger mental powers. They can mind blast any opponent from a long range, turning their enemy's nerve cells into sticky protoplasm. The victims that do not die are severely damaged. Buildings, defense fortifications, and warheads cannot be mind blasted; all other units are easy targets. Older Cyth who have this power are of the highest rank in the Cyth military. Thus only the Cyth Command Corps have this special ability.

The natural psionic ability of the Cyth is small, almost nothing. They get their psionic powers by ingesting a rare concoction of fluid squeezed from spider eggs. The arachnid that they get the juice from is unknown; apparently it is a spider only indigenous to their also unknown homeworld. They drink this juice constantly. For some reason digestion intensifies its psionic effects so the Cyth apparently regurgitate the fluid and drink it again. After an unknown number of these cycles, the liquid becomes even toxic to the Cyth and the foul smelling stuff is jettisoned out of a chest tube.

This concoction, called Kli fluid, is highly poisonous and so it is a useful weapon. Cyth Scouts use small amounts of Kli fluid to poison huge tracts of land. This poison frequently kills off a growing crop, cutting a territory's food stockpile in half.

The Cyth are always searching for ways to strengthen their fluid. During the old days of the Quadra Alliance they actively colonized planets to gather all kinds of extractions to mix into their fluid. A new planet would give them many new resources to manipulate. Obviously the Cyth are very keen on taking over Gallius IV to continue these experiments. If they win the planet they will enshroud it with clouds, so their work can be carried out unseen by the rest of the galaxy.

They allow themselves to be governed by an appointed psionic master, the Veil Lord. The Veil Lord is always the strongest Cyth with the highest mental powers; thus only a strongly disciplined Cyth can reach this level.

The Cyth rarely have problems with morale. Even though they may disagree with their Veil Lord, leaving Cyth brethren to abandon the mental transformation is unthinkable. Thus their morale rarely changes as they tinker with new ways to evolve themselves. Someday they will discover the way to their new existence. Someday....

## History

> *From "DEADLOCK: PLANETARY CONQUEST PART II: COLONY LEADER’S GUIDEBOOK" p. 11-12*
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The Cyth developed on an unknown planet somewhere in the Umbarian sector. Long ago an asteroid smashed into their homeworld, disrupting their society. Very little is known about their ancient past before the asteroid fell. According to a legend (which the Cyth no longer believe) the moon god Galesh became jealous of the brilliant light of Aswarth, the sun god. Galesh threw a great stone that hit Aswarth, killing her. A big piece of the stone broke off and fell onto their planet's surface. The skies permanently clouded and over any life that did not die suffered horribly. Different groups of Cyth blamed each other for Aswarth's demise and the planet was thrown into total anarchy. Many believed that some Cyth secretly had allegiance to Galesh, giving him the power to throw the stone. Rival communes would raid weaker communes in an effort to rid the world of Galesh's followers. Great numbers of Cyth died in these struggles.

The clouds and dust never left and their ancient civilization became more myth than reality. Eventually the upheaval ended. Forgetting the past and enjoying the present became all the vogue. Tribesmen experimented with bizarre roots, vegetables, and meat trying to make life more pleasing and bearable. An economy evolved whereby rival tribes would outdo the other by creating various pleasures of the senses. Sometimes the tribes would develop something specialized, like a prized mold, and sell it to the more established tribes. Eventually huge marketplaces arose called Consumatoriums, whereby one would go to ignore the hardship of the planet. But this did not change their world as the dust stung their eyes and filled up their lungs. All Cyth longed for a way to rid themselves of their terrible lives.

Rumors abounded that the old Aswarth communes were filled with salves and fluids that held magic from the ancient past. Small bands began exploring the ruins. One explorer, Kli, was tearing apart a stone wall and discovered a small room. Inside were the mummified remains of a commune member, dead for hundreds of years. The mummy was bent over a cauldron of liquid. Part of the liquid had not yet evaporated because of the dank temperatures. Kli dipped a talon in the goo. Instantly his mind burst loose a bolt of energy. His mind's neural energy had become charged and, with practice, Kli was able to turn this mental energy into a weapon. The modern age of the Cyth began.

Cyth space travel grew out of their need to increase the power of their Kli fluid. They became so intent on this task that they colonized many worlds. Eventually they discovered the ChCh-t and helped them achieve space travel. The Cyth are very proud of this benevolence. It was also a tricky feat allying themselves with the warlike, Tarth who had originally wanted to smash them to pieces. Only by giving up several planets to the Tarth were they able to pacify these huge warriors. The Tarth space ships were able to roam across large expanses of the galaxy, and the Cyth found their rugged ships invaluable for discovering new worlds and new data.

The Maug were at first very headstrong and would not become partners in the Cyth quest. With the help of the Tarth and the ChCh-t, the Maug were eventually forced to join the Cyth. The Quadra Alliance was born. According to Cyth historians, Maug respect for the Cyth became so strong that they voluntarily moved off their home world, Maug-hau, to let the Cyth perform many experiments on their planet! The Cyth helped them take over Arganis X, where the Maug still make their unfortunate home.

The Maug did not enjoy being part of the Alliance. When the Quadra Alliance met the Humans and the Re'Lu, a series of wars broke out called the Quadra Wars. The Quadra Alliance was easily beating back the two humanoid species until the Maug switched sides. The Quadra Alliance was defeated and the Tarth and the ChCh-t began to mistrust the Cyth. Relations continued to worsen until the present conflict on Gallius IV erupted.

## Gallery

**The Cyth in Deadlock: Planetary Conquest.****The Cyth in Deadlock: Planetary Conquest (with portrait's border).****A Cyth city as seen in Deadlock: Planetary Conquest's opening.****The Cyth in Deadlock: Planetary Conquest's game manual.****The Cyth in Deadlock: Planetary Conquest's race selection screen.****The Cyth in Deadlock II: Shrine Wars's campaign.****The Cyth in Deadlock II: Shrine Wars'.****A Cyth Air Unit. The concept was used in game for generic air units.**