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Made in ca
Stormin' Stompa






Ottawa, ON

Being an armchair scientist I like to daydream about how alien societies function when I'm bored at work. What are their economies like? Their schools? What sort of social bonds to they maintain? An age old pass-time since the days before the days of Star Trek. Today is a particularly slow day at work. So share with me your little bits of head-cannon and worldbuilding for those who don't fall under the purview of the imperium.

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Made in ro
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Being an armchair scientist I like to daydream about how alien societies function when I'm bored at work. What are their economies like? Their schools? What sort of social bonds to they maintain? An age old pass-time since the days before the days of Star Trek. Today is a particularly slow day at work. So share with me your little bits of head-cannon and worldbuilding for those who don't fall under the purview of the imperium.


craftworld eldar don't really have a "childhood" in the sense it is understood by humans. their whole society is devoted to strict, disciplined self control,1 to avoid She Who Thirsts. therefore, form an extremely early age, eldar children are kept on the straight and narrow, on the Path of the Child, which is walked like any other Path the eldar walk. this Path is initially focused on teaching the child basic skills like simple speech, but rapidly switches to lessons on self control, on moulding the child into a being that can walk the many Paths of adulthood in a safe manner, before rounding them off with general societal skills and basic milita training before they finish the path and become a full member of the craftworld, able to choose thier own Path. in short, they go form "baby" to "young adult" without spending any time in the "child" or "teenager" phases humans do.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
several Tau attempts to reverse engineer Imperial tech have been stymied by a difficulty in separating the "science" form the "superstition". They cannot tell whats parts of the operation, maintenance and use of it is important operational knowledge stored in a ritualised manner, and what is just cargo cult nonsense that is dressed in the same ritualised manner. When they ask a co-operating tech preist what the this part of a warp engine does, and he answers "it keeps the deamons at bay", is that a literal truth? a allegorical description of it's purpose? A completely misunderstanding, or even outright untruth? Does the part even have a function, or was it blindly copied despite not having any affect? are those "sacred oils" being applied purely for holy ritual or do they have a practical aspect that the ritual ensures is covered? this inability to understand has lead to major problems for the tau, like the 4th sphere expansion disaster, where the "thats the gellar field, it keeps the deamons out" turned out to be the literal truth.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/05/26 22:49:56


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in de
Perfect Shot Dark Angels Predator Pilot




Stuttgart

I have spend some time thinking about how an upstart race at the fringe of the Imperium would act concerning their foreign politics etc.
Let's assume a race not to dissimilar from us humans:
- About same level of intelligence and autonomy of the individuals
- Technologie comparable to what could be possible here on earth in the next 100 to 200 years, but no/limited FTL
- Some limited psychic potential
- Bipedal, with comparable phycial strength and abilities to humans

Next up: what do they know of the galaxy at large?
- some awareness of chaos
- Humans exist and their Imperium

So the first obvious point would either a strict regulation of psychers, or the psychers start to take a dominant role in their society, either as rulers or some kind of priests/fortune tellers. I really like the idea of different cults forming around figures with a great psychic potential, some walking a thin line to chaos, others following a strict moral code to prevent corruption. Seperated from those "psychic cult leaders" are the worldly heads of state of the alien society, some of them may be gifted in psychic potential as well, others not. As they are aware of humanities tendencies to snuff out inferior "neighbors", they enforce a harsh policy concerning any kind of noise heading out of their home system. Be it radio waves comparable to what NASA are sending out here on earth currently, psionic messages or even unmanned spacecrafts. Their entire race would live in constant fear of an Imperial Invasion. Because fo this, their society might be leaning heavily into technological advance at the cost of everything else. If the Imperium should decide to take a closer look at their system, the alien society must be able to face of the danger. Quickly neutralizing imperial scouts or disguising their planet as an uninhabitat rock. On the other hand, they may engage in a limited trade with Rogue Traders or even other Xeno Factions. These trades would be beneficial to them. A Rogue Trader might be interested in keeping the trade partners alive, their considerable influence on local sector command could lead to the Imperium not invading. Other Xenos might be interested in Non-aggression pacts. And of course the trade could allow scientific insights and valuable inteligence information on the Imperium.

With all this background in mind, individuals of this race would have a very bitter outlook on the Galaxy. They resent the fact that they are essentially forced to hide. Some may even consider the Imperium a great lie so that the rulers can keep up their oppressive regime. The arms race and research into specifically military technologies come at a great cost for other parts of society. Weapon tests and military industrie slowly pollute the planet. Civilian application of new technologies are slow or even nonexistent. Culture, espacially self expression, is heavily limited. Because of the high fear of enemy detection, they can't use powerful radios or psionic communication, further limiting even their in-system space exploration. Worst of all, they must fear that their species suffocates itself, as it cannot expand and secure valuable ressources required for their ever hungering military complex, dooming them to slowly rott under the weight of their own fear.

This sounds extremely dark and all, but I have already looked into creating some representatives of such a species as characters for Blackstone Fortress or Necromunda.
   
Made in us
Stabbin' Skarboy





Orks have a pretty turbulent childhood. Ork yoofs are a bit smaller than boyz but are immediately thrust into ork society, in which they must find their role quickly before da WAAAAGH comes. one of my favorite thing is that yoofs rebel by joining the stormboyz, to show all those other orks their rebellious side by marching in formation and following orders.

"Us Blood Axes hav lernt' a lot from da humies. How best ta kill 'em, fer example."
— Korporal Snagbrat of the Dreadblade Kommandos 
   
Made in ca
Stormin' Stompa






Ottawa, ON

xerxeskingofking wrote:
 Mr Nobody wrote:
Being an armchair scientist I like to daydream about how alien societies function when I'm bored at work. What are their economies like? Their schools? What sort of social bonds to they maintain? An age old pass-time since the days before the days of Star Trek. Today is a particularly slow day at work. So share with me your little bits of head-cannon and worldbuilding for those who don't fall under the purview of the imperium.


craftworld eldar don't really have a "childhood" in the sense it is understood by humans. their whole society is devoted to strict, disciplined self control,1 to avoid She Who Thirsts. therefore, form an extremely early age, eldar children are kept on the straight and narrow, on the Path of the Child, which is walked like any other Path the eldar walk. this Path is initially focused on teaching the child basic skills like simple speech, but rapidly switches to lessons on self control, on moulding the child into a being that can walk the many Paths of adulthood in a safe manner, before rounding them off with general societal skills and basic milita training before they finish the path and become a full member of the craftworld, able to choose thier own Path. in short, they go form "baby" to "young adult" without spending any time in the "child" or "teenager" phases humans do.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
several Tau attempts to reverse engineer Imperial tech have been stymied by a difficulty in separating the "science" form the "superstition". They cannot tell whats parts of the operation, maintenance and use of it is important operational knowledge stored in a ritualised manner, and what is just cargo cult nonsense that is dressed in the same ritualised manner. When they ask a co-operating tech preist what the this part of a warp engine does, and he answers "it keeps the deamons at bay", is that a literal truth? a allegorical description of it's purpose? A completely misunderstanding, or even outright untruth? Does the part even have a function, or was it blindly copied despite not having any affect? are those "sacred oils" being applied purely for holy ritual or do they have a practical aspect that the ritual ensures is covered? this inability to understand has lead to major problems for the tau, like the 4th sphere expansion disaster, where the "thats the gellar field, it keeps the deamons out" turned out to be the literal truth.


Tau reverse engineering Imperium technology would make for a great comedy. Some poor earth caste programmer trying to make sense of some mechanicum coding with a millennium's worth of updated software. I imagine all this allegory and forgotten history would gives humans within Tau society a stereotype for being story tellers (or liars).

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Made in ca
Drop Trooper with Demo Charge



Canada

Well; I've been worldbuilding an Ork world;

A small tidally locked moon, .75 Terra gravity, orbiting a gas giant, Bachgrum IIIA is a mostly arid world, covered with flat plains, ripped open across it's tropical regions by the gravitational forces of occasional near approaches to it's neighbouring moon.

These canyons are as much as 2km across in some cases and dozens of km long, and, directly on the equator, these canyons become home to the planet's hot swamps, full of far more lush vegetation and bio diversity than anywhere else on the planet.

The greenskins live primarily in these canyons, or on the edges of them; with a relatively small overall population of Orks, and more than twice their numbers in Grots, spread out between one major spaceport and hundreds of small outposts and small fortresses scattered across the planet, from which various Ork bands conduct their squig farming.

For that is the main use of Bachgrum IIIA to the Orks, the production of Squigs. Many freeboota kaptains frequently stop in at the moon to resupply on squiggly beasts, and shipments are sometimes purchased by Bad Moon boys from other systems as well.

Zhigdox, the moon's primary spaceport and largest population centre, houses most of it's Orks in large, ramshackle apartment complexes perched on the walls of the canyon mouth that it inhabits, with suburbs of huts and shanties on the outskirts of the city; and deep caves dug far back into the canyon cliffs, within which live both the huge grot population responsible for most of the daily feeding of the Squigs, and huge mushroom farms. Indeed, over half of Bachgrum IIIA's Orkish agriculture is conducted underground in these mushroom farms and in underground squig caves.

The various small settlements and squig farms which dot the rest of the surface are linked to Zhigdox by means of a dirt road network, which is collectively known as the "Squig Highway" and is home to most of the planet's infighting, as various Ork tribes frequently attempt to ambush or intercept one another on the road to steal squig cargoes, or; even better, the loot they traded their squigs for.

As such, it is common to see armoured convoys of Battlewagons and Trukks rolling down dirt whigdox, Zhigdox, full of Squigs on the way it, and weapons and speed gears on the way home.

Imperial Guard - 1500 GSC - 250  
   
Made in ca
Stormin' Stompa






Ottawa, ON

Some_Call_Me_Tim wrote:Orks have a pretty turbulent childhood. Ork yoofs are a bit smaller than boyz but are immediately thrust into ork society, in which they must find their role quickly before da WAAAAGH comes. one of my favorite thing is that yoofs rebel by joining the stormboyz, to show all those other orks their rebellious side by marching in formation and following orders.


It would be interesting how an ork transistions from yoofs to boyz. I like to imagine the youngest orks are just called 'boy' and get pushed around all the time. Maybe once they find a name for themselves and are big enough to push back they are recognized as proper orks.

VonGerrow wrote:Well; I've been worldbuilding an Ork world;

A small tidally locked moon, .75 Terra gravity, orbiting a gas giant, Bachgrum IIIA is a mostly arid world, covered with flat plains, ripped open across it's tropical regions by the gravitational forces of occasional near approaches to it's neighbouring moon.

These canyons are as much as 2km across in some cases and dozens of km long, and, directly on the equator, these canyons become home to the planet's hot swamps, full of far more lush vegetation and bio diversity than anywhere else on the planet.

The greenskins live primarily in these canyons, or on the edges of them; with a relatively small overall population of Orks, and more than twice their numbers in Grots, spread out between one major spaceport and hundreds of small outposts and small fortresses scattered across the planet, from which various Ork bands conduct their squig farming.

For that is the main use of Bachgrum IIIA to the Orks, the production of Squigs. Many freeboota kaptains frequently stop in at the moon to resupply on squiggly beasts, and shipments are sometimes purchased by Bad Moon boys from other systems as well.

Zhigdox, the moon's primary spaceport and largest population centre, houses most of it's Orks in large, ramshackle apartment complexes perched on the walls of the canyon mouth that it inhabits, with suburbs of huts and shanties on the outskirts of the city; and deep caves dug far back into the canyon cliffs, within which live both the huge grot population responsible for most of the daily feeding of the Squigs, and huge mushroom farms. Indeed, over half of Bachgrum IIIA's Orkish agriculture is conducted underground in these mushroom farms and in underground squig caves.

The various small settlements and squig farms which dot the rest of the surface are linked to Zhigdox by means of a dirt road network, which is collectively known as the "Squig Highway" and is home to most of the planet's infighting, as various Ork tribes frequently attempt to ambush or intercept one another on the road to steal squig cargoes, or; even better, the loot they traded their squigs for.

As such, it is common to see armoured convoys of Battlewagons and Trukks rolling down dirt whigdox, Zhigdox, full of Squigs on the way it, and weapons and speed gears on the way home.


A whole planet of cattle thieves sounds like fun. I imagine they have some complex system of brands and tattoos to try and mark what ranch the squigs come from. granted, each squig inevitably becomes covered in a mess of tattoos and scars as each thief covers up the old marking. And goodness, what does an orkish action look like? There must be guns involved somehow.

But the real questions:

Is there squig tipping?

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