Veydreth

### Skin color

The Veydreth are a colourful species, and the colour of their scales usually corresponds with their home environment

### Eye color

* Yellow
* Green
* Orange

## Sociocultural characteristics

### Language

Chardokii

The **Veydreth** are a race of brutal raiders, native to the fringe space beyond the Tejekian Badlands in the galactic eastern regions of Terran Alliance space. They are large, powerful draconian creatures, fearsome in appearance and nicknamed "Star Dragons" by early Terran explorers.

The Veydreth have no single "nation", but instead are organised into many different tribal groups, loosely overseen by the Tribal Confluence, a democratic council consisting of a speaker from each Veydreth tribe. What unites all Veydreth is their taste for battle and freedom.

## History

The history of the Veydreth people begins on the planet known as Chardok. It is an inhospitable place by all accounts, with dangerously high levels of volcanic activity, hostile wildlife, and very little plant life. Hoowever, in the midst of the vast deserts, salty seas, and fields of black volcanic rock, there were a number of large ravines carved into the earth. Within these ravines, fresh water could often be readily found, and they were teeming with life, even some non-deadly life. They were like green scars in a brown orb.

Veydreth, in Chardokii, literally means "warriors of the walled garden" or "raiders of the verdant prison", something along those lines. The early Veydreth were highly nomadic people, and many still are today. Staying in one place too long on Chardok was often disastrous. The Veydreth organized into tribes, tribes which would journey across the desert from ravine to ravine. The ravines were little more than short stops on their journeys, and they would never stay there for more than a week. After all, you constantly had to worry about packs of vicious wildlife, and worse yet, other Veydreth tribes. After all, what better way to make sure your tribe has enough to drink than to ambush other tribes and take their water?

The Veydreth may well have lived this way for millennia. After all, any attempt to establish a permanent settlement was quickly ended, often by other Veydreth tribes, but sometimes by the wildlife or volcanic eruption. Until one day, everything changed. A particularly clever member of a tribe whose name has been lost to time had an idea, and started drawing up plans, plans which were accepted by the tribe's warlord. The next time they reached a ravine, they began construction of a fortress. They named this new fortress "Chardok", and it was popularly described as unassailable. Many other Veydreth tribes took this as a challenge, but the mighty walls of Chardok bore the brunt of many assaults, and each time the dust cleared, the walls still stood.

Soon, more such fortress-cities began popping up in ravines. This started the true evolution of Veydreth society. Most tribes remained nomadic, but even they began to change with the times. The most important development for the nomadic tribes, at that time, was the skiff. If there's one thing in the deserts of Chardok you're not likely to run out of, it's wind. The skiffs harnessed that wind, basically giant sand-sleds with sails, which allowed the tribes to travel across the desert at unprecedented rates. These were soon militarized by the Veydreth, of course, and even the fortress tribes used them in combat.

With the advent of the fortresses came Veydreth who attempted to establish new and different forms of government. The Veydreth, however, are highly deviant, confrontational, and problematic. Trying to impose any form of governance over the Veydreth other than a rather loose one is an exercise in futility, and more than likely, of suicide. Some warriors thought to create authoritarian governments; they never survived long.

It is unknown how the term "Chardok" came to be used to refer to the entire planet instead of a single fortress-city, but historians believe it's due to the exceptional influence that the first fortress had over those times. Still, as the Veydreth species continued to advance, it was not the warlord of the fortress-city of Chardok who created the first form of the modern "united" Veydreth "government". It was, in fact, a different tribe entirely.

On an island chain in one of Chardok's oceans, a city was founded. Now, this wasn't your average city. The island chain had been formed largely by now-dead volcanoes, and the city of Gorok'lyn was founded inside the largest of these, and later established more cities in the others. The ground was highly fertile due to past volcanic activity, and the islands were highly defensible. Such was the prosperity of Gorok'lyn that it actually drew other tribes to them. They established the first ever tribal union in Veydreth history.

Due to the strength the tribal union of Gorok'lyn, other Veydreth tribes formed similar unions or alliances in hopes of countering them. This brought about a period of both war and collaboration, and with it, a period of rapid advancement. The Veydreth began their space age in this period, and both independent Veydreth tribes and tribal unions took to the stars, seeding planets, or simply becoming nomadic in fleets of spaceships.

However, the combat between Veydreth tribes and tribal unions grew more intense during this period, and in order to gain advantages over their enemies, they began targeting communications satellites, space stations, jump points, and fighting began escalating and becoming more indiscriminate. People became concerned about a possible technological regression if this kept up. As such, a meeting of all tribes was called in Gorok'lyn.

The meeting was... chaotic. There was a lot of fighting. Physical fighting. Many Veydreth teeth littered the floor of the meeting chambers by the end of the meetings. And the meetings did take quite a long time. Veydreth are generally argumentative and confrontational by their very nature. But eventually, they came to a solution. They would form a very loose alliance which would encompass every single Veydreth tribe. Given that it seemed to be in their best interest, and given that they knew by now that there were other sentient races in the galaxy, most tribes agreed. Those that didn't... well, Veydreth have never shied away from a fight.

With the Veydreth tribes together under the new Tribal Confluence, they began to turn their attention toward the rest of the galaxy. Now, the Veydreth found the chaos of that period suited them well, for this was just after the Singularity Wars. Still, it was quite easy to distinguish the Veydreth from the pirates and despots that rose up throughout the galaxy. The Veydreth carried themselves with pride and honour, treating worthy opponents with respect and taking care not to harm the non-combatants of other races. They were also noteworthy because most Veydreth tribes would allow members of other species to become citizens, provided they proved worthy of doing so. As such, the Galactic Council mostly left the Veydreth alone, even employed their talents as mercenaries. The Veydreth were generally more than happy to do so. It's also believed that the Terathians passed through Veydreth space during this timeframe, and dropped citizens who were tired of their intergalactic journey off with them.

Then, we come to the period of the Terran Alliance's expansion toward the Tejekian Badlands, which shield the Veydreth tribes' territories from invasion. When Terran colonists began to settle the regions around the Badlands, they quickly found themselves coming under attack from Veydreth raiders. They struck virtually at random in terrifying lightning assaults, and proved nigh impossible to pin down, with the Tejekian Badlands being exceptionally hard to navigate.

However, the Terrans themselves managed to earn the Veydreth’s respect in the process. The savage aliens admired the sheer persistence and fighting spirit of the Terran military forces. This respect was amplified when the Terran Navy finally made its way through Muishkin's Rift and began to fight the Veydreth on their own terms.

The Clan Assembly was actually pleased by the Terrans, and they called for an immediate cease-fire, and the commencement of negotiations. It took a surprisingly short amount of time for the two to reach a conclusion: the Veydreth would join the Terran Alliance.

It took longer, however, for the Alliance to actually trust the Veydreth. Most colonists, especially those near Muishkin's Rift, treated the Veydreth with a great amount of distrust. Nowadays, however, the rest of the Terran Alliance has come to accept the presence of the Veydreth within their society, and many have even come to appreciate the presence of the Veydreth. After all, they Veydreth are just about the only part of the Alliance Army that can hope to win a battle against the Razorbird armies.

## Culture

Please note that the following should be considered more a general guideline than a firmly factual explanation of Veydreth culture. They are nothing if not deviant.

### Law and Order

Veydreth society considered virtually anarchic by the standards of most if not all outsiders. The Veydreth desire for freedom has engendered a cultural mistrust of law enforcement, and 'laissez-faire' attitudes in general. While the worst offenses are quickly put down by the warriors of the ruling tribe in that area, many others are ignored and citizens are often left, nay, *expected* to make their own justice. Petty theft is common, as warriors will only go out of their way to deal with serious disruptions.
Generally speaking, the Veydreth believe that if someone steals something which belongs to you, it's not someone else's responsibility to deal with that. Commerce is given little official scrutiny as long as taxes are paid; businesses which would be considered disreputable by most civilized nations are not only tolerated, but expected. There are no laws regulating personal behaviour such as bearing arms, drinking, gambling, or even using many forms of drugs recreationally.

Now, none of this is to say that the Veydreth Tribes are entirely lawless. Even before they joined the Terran Alliance, they had a sort of legal system, though a loose one. A Warlord or his aids will personally appoint Nak'azids (which means "Arbiters"), which fulfill a role similar to that of a judge, to hear disputes. Specially appointed tribal warriors called Batka'zids (which is Chardokii for, literally, "List Keepers") who keep track of upcoming cases for a Nak'azid to hear.
Due to their busy schedule, it may take a while for the Arbiters to be able to hear a dispute. A Veydreth who is a suspect in the matter may choose to give up items or property to the Batka'zids of a predetermined value rather than being kept in a cage. If they show up for their hearing, their property is returned. If they do not, they are considered "tribeless", their property is kept by their former tribe, and they are hunted down. As Veydreth have a prejudice against long-term imprisonment, punishment in their society is often swift and violent. Public humiliation, disfigurement, fines and even execution are the most common methods.

There is, of course, no set rule which dictates who runs a household in a Veydreth tribe. Veydreth are very willful, and as such, tend to be managed by whoever proves most capable. Usually the eldest sibling inherits much of the family's property, but that is not always the case. It may be granted to a younger sibling simply because he or she is deemed more capable.

### Social Behaviour

The Veydreth approach to love and sex is remarkably free-wheeling. They find it baffling that any other society might discriminate against a person based on what consenting adult they choose to fornicate with. Polyamory is not common in Veydreth society, but it is present, and considered a perfectly reasonable thing. There is no marriage in the sense that Terrans know it, but they do have different ceremonies which signify that two or more souls are bound in love, it's just that the state does not get involved on any level.

The Veydreth are known for being very confrontational. Disagreements among their kind are to be expected, but curiously, the wide deviance in belief and opinion of the species seems to engender a great degree of trust. You will see a Veydreth buying a drink for a man or woman who he had been attempting to beat the crap out of just ten minutes before. They are often very water-under-the-bridge people. Even serious offenses, once the debt has been paid or taken, are quickly forgotten about. A Terathian once said "The Veydreth can be fast enemies, but faster friends." Still, this openly confrontational nature can be quite jarring at first. Seeing a fist fight break out on the street without anyone paying it any mind, or bar brawls bursting out from relative peace and then settling back into it over the course of two minutes can be very troublesome to deal with at first.

Over time, however, aliens integrating into Veydreth society come to appreciate their ways. The Veydreth are an honest and honourable people, steadfast friends. Veydreth have begun to learn social tact from interacting with other races, but there is still a remarkable level of sometimes uncomfortable honesty among them. Many Veydreth have very little in the way of verbal filters. If they find you attractive, they will be open about it. If they think you're being an idiot, they'll be open about that, too.

### Language

Veydreth names are one of the more elaborate things in their society, and they can be quite long. A Veydreth name starts with a single word which actually consists of two names joined by an apostrophe. The part in front of the apostrophe is what we could call their first name, and the part behind the apostrophe is their family name. But it's all joined into one word, for example, Valed'zakla and her son, Claz'zakla. The second word in their name would be their job, then the word after that would be the name of their tribe. So, Claz'zakla would be Claz'zakla Sel'nok. He would have no third name as Sel'noks ("Hunters") are tribeless. On the other hand, there is Tok'dalen Batka'zid Pobarenk, which means that Tok'dalen is a Batka'zid of the Pobarenk tribe.

In between the second and third name will be a growing number of further names. These extra names will generally denote one's reputation, any commendations they have been given, any particular shame, so on and so forth. The more active a Veydreth is, the more names they will have. A rough outline of a Veydreth's history can be found in their full name.

## Military

In space combat, the Veydreth favour swift and manoeuvrable craft. Their vessels carry large weapon arrays, built around the most powerful drive systems they can maintain. Due to this, Veydreth ships easily outpace the heavily shielded Terran ships of equal class.

Veydreth ships do not employ shields, their engineers preferring to rely on speed, strong hulls and overwhelming firepower. They do, however, mount many mine dispensers, allowing them to shape battlefields to their advantage. This has, once or twice, created unfortunate situations when the Veydreth wouldn't tell their Terran brothers their plan.

Veydreth weapons systems are almost always kinetic weapons, including both conventional projectile weapons and missiles and torpedoes, while the rest of the Alliance prefers powerful laser tech. Each Veydreth starship also comes with a companion, a sentient AI which oversees certain aspects of ship functions and performs a large array of tasks. Sentient AI do have all the rights a normal Veydreth would and are subject to the same rules, and this was the case even before they joined the Terran Alliance.

When their firepower is insufficient, or sometimes out of preference, Veydreth ships will strike at their enemies with massed boarding actions. This is usually accomplished by shooting pods full of warriors at the target ship. Veydreth warriors are terrifying at close quarters. They supplement their natural armour with heavy power-assisted battle harnesses and wield a huge variety of powerful firearms.

On the ground, the Veydreth are a fearsome force, if a bit... confusing. You see, unlike what one would expect from a bunch of fearsome tribal raiders, the Veydreth actually prefer long ranged combat. The Veydreth are famed for their accuracy with their magnetic rifles, which in and of themselves boast a range longer than that of a Legionnaire's laser rifle. These rifles are almost always equipped with wicked bayonets, because while they do love ranged combat, they are more than happy to get up close and personal. Some Veydreth even carry around melee weapons, highly advanced ones covered in a matter-disrupting energy sheath. Each Warrior also enters battle with a single ion mine to lay at any time he or she wishes. However, a Veydreth Warrior is much less versatile than a Legionnaire.

The Veydreth field many ground vehicles, each of them incorporate anti-grav technology. The most common Veydreth vehicles are their skiffs, which come in many different flavours. Skiffs are fast, and they mount long-ranged pinpoint accurate magnetic cannons or other weapons. They also allow Veydreth on board to fire from the vessel. There are also transport skiffs, of course. In keeping with their preferred space tactics, Veydreth vehicles are unshielded.

It is this maneuverability and speed that makes the Veydreth one of the Alliance's few answers to fighting the Razorbirds. While Razorbird armies can easily outmaneuver and pick apart Terran forces, Veydreth and Razorbirds will perform a deadly dance, and while it is one that the Razorbirds tend to come out on top of, the Veydreth have a far better success rate than any other branch of the Alliance military.