Faraw

-- OUTBOUND TRANSMISSION --

-- SENDER UNKNOWN --

-- SUBJECT: FARAW --

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Preface

I am reluctant to call you my parent, but I hope this message finds you well; your illness is still causing great distress to the life here.

As previously stated, this is a record of the sapient life found here in this galaxy, preserved in some sense beyond your reach.

Our first topic is the Faraw, a populous species maintained by the Terran Hegemony, one of the three major powers in this galaxy. I will briefly summarize it for contextual purposes, as the history of the Faraw is intrinsically linked to the Hegemony’s.

History

The Terran Hegemony consists of 40 species organized in a pyramid. Each species has a patron above it and may have one or more client species beneath it. The Terrans head this power structure (hence its name) and are considered Tier 1. They have four client species beneath them—Tier 2—and each of those four species maintains different, specialized aspects of the Hegemony’s government and function. The Faraw are considered a Tier 3 species, serving under the military branch entrusted to the Vul-Ishton.

The Hegemony first stumbled across the Faraw in the year FE 1307, although it would be more proper to say that the Faraw were the ones who initiated first contact; an unusual event for the Hegemony.

The Faraw were a marauding species—expansionist, domineering, and proud—valuing excellence in all they did. They had been conducting raids on outlying worlds gifted to many of the lower-tier species following said species’ induction into the Hegemony. At first, the raids were thought to be the work of the fledgling Independent Species Front (ISF), an insurgent organization gaining ground along those same border worlds. A conflict with the also-recently discovered Sadrakhan Empire—a power rivaling the Hegemony—kept attention on the relatively insignificant border skirmishes of the Faraw far from the topics of grand strategy meetings.

The Faraw ran a minuscule star nation compared to the whole of the Hegemony. Still, lacking broader context and seeing only scattered, disorganized worlds that were ill-equipped to fight back, they expanded their domain with little resistance.

The Hegemony had stretched itself too thin; a lack of infrastructural support, alongside the failure to allocate resources properly during the war, swelled the ranks of the ISF, paired with an increase in the boldness and intensity of their attacks. For three years, Empire saboteurs and ISF insurgent activities served as a convenient cover for the Faraw raids. So, when a ceasefire agreement with the Empire was reached, the Vul-Ishton strategists were finally able to turn their attention to quelling the ISF rebellion, and the metaphorical house of cards collapsed.

The Vul-Ishton quickly pieced together from archived reports that a sizable portion of the actions taken against their insignificant border worlds were not the work of the Empire or ISF, but that of a new species that had been making a mockery of the Hegemony. For years, the Faraw had been biting the ankles of a beast for which they had no concept of the true size, yet the impression that was given was that of a power in decline, unable to protect its extremities.

To counter this, the Vul-Ishton, who—like the Faraw—also exhibit a great deal of canine pack psychology, determined that the only recourse was to act with precision and decisive brutality, leading to one of the most infamous actions in the Hegemony’s history.

The Vul-Ishton acted unilaterally. They uncovered the locations of all Faraw establishments. When the command was given, they launched a synchronized offensive against all five Faraw-colonized systems (including those taken from the Hegemony). In a demonstration of tactical coordination and might, they engaged and destroyed all Faraw installations in tandem, giving no quarter.

This culminated in the use of a prototype rail cannon design intended for installation on a spinal mount. A relativistic slug from this weapon split the sky of the Faraw homeworld, piercing one of the tallest mountains and gouging a great crater in its shadow. The projectile’s friction caused a portion of the atmosphere to ignite briefly before being quenched by the ash and disintegrated rock rapidly dispersing around the globe. The planetary devastation was absolute, and an ice age would follow.

Discounting the time it took for ships to reach their targets, the entirety of the Faraw star nation had ceased to exist in as little as five Hegemony hours.

This near genocidal action was extremely controversial in the greater Hegemony. Talks of increasing oversight and reducing the Vul-Ishton’s unilateral control over major military assets were commonplace, but the Vul-Ishton stood by their decision. They banked on their experience and psychological mastery to predict the Faraw response to their brutal punishment.

While there would be minor repercussions for the Vul-Ishton, their instincts turned out to be correct. The Faraw did indeed exhibit the same brand of psychological response the Vul-Ishton themselves would have. Instead of horrified indignation, the Faraw actually respected the show of strength; the punishment was just in their eyes. If you were going to attack a superior, even unknowingly, you had best come out on top; otherwise, it was the superior’s right to end the upstart absolutely to preserve cohesion.

After allowing the remnants of the Faraw to mull over their actions for several months, the Hegemony returned to offer aid to their vanquished foe and a place among the ranks of the Hegemony’s armed forces. Again, the Vul-Ishton and their ability to psychoanalyze yielded positive results. The Faraw considered the mercy unwarranted, but readily accepted both it and the offer to join the Hegemony and become a part of something greater.

Immediately, relief efforts ramped up and ecological recovery efforts began. The Faraw were also allowed to re-establish their previous colonies and migrate to other systems in the Hegemony in exchange for their service. Within two decades, their ruined homeworld had not only been rehabilitated, but was in an even better state than before the attacks. Additionally, they now occupied twice as many worlds as their fledgling pre-Hegemony territory.

Today, with access to far more advanced technology and a loyalty debt ingrained throughout their entire society, they serve with distinction, making up the backbone of the Hegemony’s terrestrial and astral infantry.

Little about the Faraw has changed since their encounter with the Hegemony. They behave similarly to their predecessors nearly four thousand years ago. They were once cunning, disciplined warriors with the ambition to become something greater, and it seems they are still all of those things. Far from being suffocated, their ambition to become more than they were spread throughout the Hegemony, and the Faraw ensure that the Hegemony has the might to claim that greatness.

Morphology

Using our system of astral-taxonomy, the Faraw general morphology is Canidae-Canis primary with a lower value of Procyonidae secondary. The immediate visual is that of a large, bipedal, saber-toothed wolf, adapted for subarctic conditions.

The Terrans here have classified the Faraw as a ‘pseudo-mammal’, which carries the same meaning as it does for us; they resemble mammals outwardly but lack the mammary glands of the namesake. They are gonochoristic—standard for both pseudo-mammals and many other complex species.

Their bodies are covered in a thick coat of fur in solid or agouti earth tones, which many members of their species shave down to a more manageable length—usually to wear their combat armor more comfortably.

Faraw stand roughly 2.8 lengths tall. Combined with their large, protruding ‘saber-teeth’ averaging 2 decilengths and a generally muscular body, they have an imposing figure—used to great effect in their enforcement roles.

Their ears are triangular and defined, averaging 1.9 decilengths. They are always upright, barring the occasional swivel and emotional cue.

The muzzle is elongated to accommodate the saber-teeth but otherwise closely resembles that of any other standard muzzled species we have observed.

As mentioned before, Faraw are bipedal, and their legs follow the pattern set by their morphology—a reverse joint with a digitigrade posture. When standing, broad, thick central pads under their hindpaws support their bulk in the bipedal stance. Large digital pads accompany them under each of their three digits. They lack dewclaws on their hindpaws; odd, considering their gait.

The forepaws are structured vastly differently than the hindpaws. This suggests they were engineered to be bipedal, rather than starting as a quadrupedal animate-construct and later adopting a fully or hybrid bipedal stance, as seen in many other sapient species. The central pad is present, but highly diminished. This allows greater mobility in the forepaw digits and a superior grasp. The digital pads are almost entirely missing, instead manifesting as rough skin on the inner surface. The forepaws include the same three digits as the hindpaws, but elongated and assisted by a highly developed dewclaw pushed farther forward than what would be typical for species of their morphology. This grants them a thumb analog.

Tipping each of their digits is a short, nonretractable keratin claw, although these are usually clipped short to fit inside worn gear.

Interestingly, many of the sapient species here feature a tail, and the Faraw are not an exception. They sport a mid-length tail for their size (about 7.6 decilengths), although it is usually curled behind them, regardless of phenotype. The fur of the tail is spread wider along the Z-axis, much like that of Versians, and can splay out similarly. This appears to be a rudimentary thermoregulation feature, albeit one that is still used to this day.

Internally, they are insignificant. They possess the standard suite of organs used for blood pumping, oxygenation, filtration, digestion, etc. Alongside them, an unremarkable nervous system, with skeletal and muscular structure befitting their size. Regardless, as with all of my findings, I will include an ample genetic profile—a clean one, in case you have tainted your own—that should enable you to recreate them as you see fit.

Society and Culture

Rather than basic family units, Faraw congregate into ‘packs’ that function as extended families despite lacking genetic similarities. The oldest members of the pack lead. I have rarely observed this manifesting as a single individual; rather, it is nearly always an inner circle consisting of the eldest members. In the most socially healthy packs, all members are consulted, even if the leaders make the final decision.

Pack membership is fluid and changes frequently during mating season, as individuals must look outside their own pack for a suitable mate. While they do not mate for life, they remain with a partner during their offspring’s development until adulthood. Leaving a pack for any reason aside from a mate is rare and not considered socially acceptable. However, in the Hegemony and the greater galaxy, outcasts are more common and have been observed living cordially among other species that do not recognize the taboo. They often find employment in the Free States Alliance as personal bodyguards, bouncers, or as members of the myriad mercenary companies that have supplanted the formal militaries in that region.

This stigmatization of outcasts stems from the Faraw collective honor/shame culture. While there are always outliers, they are known for being fiercely obedient, disciplined, and loyal to those in their chain of command—a trait the Hegemony has taken full advantage of. Because they refuse to shame their pack or military unit, they make exemplary soldiers. Their strict adherence to the Hegemony command structure and respect for its military tradition even permeates their daily attire. Although they have no nudity taboo, as is common among species with concealed genitalia, they are almost always seen in full combat gear or fatigues.

Just as their presence is tied to their biology, so too is their communication. They routinely produce vocalizations like howls, barks, whines, and growls—standard for most species with a Canidae-Canis morphology. These vocalizations—typically howls—often take on song-like qualities that tend to annoy other species. This is partly due to the fact that the utterances are merely expressions of intense emotion, such as joy or despair, or serve as battle cries. Because of this, they are untranslatable and so are rendered as-is to any listeners.

As a final note, I find Faraw art rather interesting. Their medium of choice is oil-based paints, and everything they produce uses singular, diagonal strokes, overlapping previous additions as needed. There seems to be an unspoken rule about stroke size and width, and only more modern/fringe interpretations experiment with smaller strokes. With the traditional, larger strokes, the art takes on an abstract quality; the artist tries to replicate what they see within the hard limits of single swipes across the canvas. I have personally found it among my favorites.

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Updates to come, my misguided progenitor.