Gadal

> "Individuals united in purpose, each Gadalic represents a society in its own right and a testament to what we must all strive for."
>
>

 - Xenobiologist Qain, Cestian Empire

## History

Created from the union of the Allat fungi and their ancestors the Gadeshi, the Gadals emerged suddenly into the world as bipedal humanoids with the intelligence to forge weapons and organize themselves into societies. Originally quadrupedal in their previous incarnation, the Gadals came to dominate their homeworld through adapting to their environments and harnessing tools to outperform predators. Marked by an early history of cooperation and peace, the Allat fungi helped keep group cohesion among the Gadals and prevented conflicts from arising; that is until Gadalic mental capacities developed further and began to overcome their natural inclinations. Staking their own paths from the collective as individuals, the Gadals went through a period of extreme vanity as groups split from their communities to forge individualist cults. Believing in the exaltation of the self above the group, these cults came to overtake portions of the populace and caused divisions to form among the tribes; a state of affairs which the Allat had to adapt to for their own survival.

Allowing their host Gadals to enact their urges for violence and individualism, the Allat yielded to the cults so as to prevent themselves from being threatened. An era of unbridled war followed after this decision and formed the modern Gadals into warriors and despots which use violence as a means to solve disputes. Reaching the stars through a variety of political organizations and alliances, the Gadals remained disunited up until the Cestian Empire made contact with them and began to skirmish with them over territory. Raising up the mythic warlord known as Chaldesh to become their vassal, the Empire assisted him in defeating the other Gadalic nations and forming the first unified government for the species. From -640 to -628 NAC, Chaldesh ruled uncontested until his assassination at the hands of an ambitious officer known as Ad'gul.

Loyal to the Empire so as to further his own career, Ad'gul attempted to enter Cestian society as an equal and was denied multiple times the honors he felt he deserved. Overly taxed by an Empire that didn't desire him, the warlord mulled over his options until the destruction of Nevisca and Jotal forced him to act. Forming the Southern Pact of Gadal from the Empires disgruntled vassals, a war was waged against the Cestians which saw to the decline of Imperial dominance and Ad'guls death at the hands of Tyvius II. Fractured among varying factions, the Gadals eventually had their homeworld retaken by the Empire and sacked by Imperial forces, their species having been enslaved and the few remaining freeholds becoming spacer communities. It wouldn't be until the Hallow War that the Gadals would get another chance at freedom, many having taken part in the slave revolts and helped in the formation of Xa'Sela. Once more free to be warriors of their own path, the Gadal are split between varying factions with some swearing loyalty to one of ZOZ's territories while others look towards a new path for themselves.

## Biology

Designated as a hybrid species created from the Allat fungi and the mammalian Gadeshi, the Gadals are the product of this union. Originally created through the Allat infecting Gadeshi hosts, this parasitic relationship rapidly developed into a beneficial one through the fungis assistance in biological functions and development of the brain. Forcefully evolving the feral species into one of sentience, the final product came to be known as the Gadals; a single entity sharing both identities at once. Intertwined through the Gadals various biological systems, the fungi is an extension of the hosts form and assists its mental, respiratory and fitness processes.

Acting as the bodies first line of defense and as secondary organs of the greater system, the fungi can harden its structure to act as a natural form of armor when threatened and can inject stored adrenaline into the Gadal for increased physical capabilities. Able to store energy and other bodily needs remotely in its caps, the fungi can grant their hosts a surge of nutrition or energy during times of crisis or great focus; this makes it a target of warfare as well, the reduction of fungi impacting a Gadals capabilities. Injecting spores into the respiratory system to spread itself to surrounding Gadeshi, this function has become vestigial in modern times with the extinction of the original species and instead helps damaged fungi regrow. To feed itself, the fungi consumes a portion of their hosts digested food for their own needs and will begin to eat their host in the event of starvation.

Able to reproduce like other mammalians, the Gadal transfer Allat spores to their offspring when they are conceived and have it naturally running through their bodily systems to ensure infection. Children which are born without the spores are unable to function and Gadal which cleanse themselves of the fungi suffer a similar fate; their body being unable to work without the help of a fungus colony. Given that their species appears to be the the only one on their homeworld that can be infected by the Allat, it is believed that the PH of their blood is at the right level required to host the spores internal. Holding an alkaline PH of 11.44, their stomach acid was originally the issue which prevented a beneficial relationship, it having burned up the fungi until it changed the Gadeshis biology and raised its alkaline level.

## Trivia

Gadals were originally created to be the Gauls and Goths of Cestian history, however inevitably developed into something else.

The fungal infection the Gadals suffer from is a beneficial equivalent of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.