Myr

The Myrmedion

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The Myrmedion are a race of ant-like people who exclusively populate the planet of Myrellion, their homeworld, and come in two distinct subraces: Red Myr and Gold Myr.

Red

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Red-colored Myr with an aggressive militant society, priding itself on being constructive members of society and serving the Federation. Of the Myrmedion population, Red Myr make up the minority.

Gold

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Golden-colored Myr with a passive monarchical society, priding itself on participating in communal efforts and producing for the Coucil. Of the Myrmedion population, Gold Myr make up the majority.

Detailed Characteristics

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Sexes: Male and female

Height: Myr are about human height, if possibly a tad shorter on average: a male is typically about 5 ft. 2; a female 5 ft. 6, being on average somewhat taller than the males.

Weight: For their heights, myr are heavier than humans thanks to their heavy chitinous armor plates and sturdier bone and muscle structures.

Hair: Blacks and oranges are the most common colors. Red Myr, as the name suggests, have a higher tendency toward fiery red hair while the Gold Myr have a sizable population of strawberry-blondes.

Eyes: Myr eyes are solid black (or more rarely grey) compound eyes. They are noted to have relatively poor eyesight, and blindness and various eye problems are unusually common.

Ears: Myr have pointed ears, called ‘elfin’ by first contact explorers.

Antennae: Much like the Zil race encountered earlier in the same Rush, the Myr are descendant from insects rather than mammals, and as such have highly sensitive antennae perched atop their head, used to sense airborne chemicals, vibrations, and air currents. The antennae are exceedingly sensitive to touch, and a non-verbal language seems to have arisen based on strokes and gentle tugs on these ‘feelers.’ It is hypothesized that these are acute erogenous zones, though evidence has not been collected to confirm these suspicions.

Combat

Myrmedions are notably covered in a partial ‘suit’ of chitin plates which protect the legs, arms, and parts of the torso and abdomen. This natural armor, combined with an average strength considerably higher than a human’s, has meant that melee combat still reigns supreme among the myr, with swords and hammers being about as common in their militaries as rifles. Due to the “world war” being fought when First Contact was made, researchers have had ample opportunity to study myr combat doctrine, which in large part resembles Napoleonic or early World War I-era tactics, including infantry lines and massed bayonet charges into melee under the cover of artillery and primitive tanks and aircraft. Myr military technology is perhaps on par with early 20th Century earth, with bolt-action or revolving cylinder powder weapons still being predominant.");

Supplementing their hand to hand abilities, Red Myr females have a venomous bite which, on contact, causes a mild paralysis in the victim. The venom is known to cause a ‘red heat’ sensation, inspiring rampant lust in the victim and usually putting him utterly at the mercy of the myr victor. Among Gold Myr, the venom of a Red is considered a strong but illicit aphrodisiac, taken in small quantities to induce a lethargic, horny state.

Gender Differences & Reproduction

Male and female myr have noticeable gender dimorphism, again tracing back to an insectile heritage. The vast majority of myr are wingless females, divided into casts of worker and warrior based on familial lineage. Females have larger hips than males and a single pair of full breasts which lactate a clear amber ‘honey’ based on the female’s nutritional state rather than her reproductive status: a well-fed female will lactate most of her excess calories out, while poorly fed ones will not lactate at all. Among the Gold Myr, most females are infertile, relying on their queens to reproduce; Red Myr, on the other hand, have a reproductive female population of about 50% and have no queens. Red Myr females lay single eggs when fertilized, which gestate for an average of six months before hatching.

A very few female Gold Myr are ‘queens,’ winged females able to reproduce without medical intervention. Usually serviced by several male drones, queens have exceptionally quick reproductive cycles, giving birth to large clutches of eggs fertilized by several different fathers. Queens can live for centuries, and birth hundreds if not thousands of young Gold Myr over her life span. As the name suggests, queens are highly revered by other Golds, some even revered as goddesses.

Gold Myr have a second alternate female biology, called the ‘honeypot’ myr: these females possess exceedingly active breasts, so swollen with their nectar they practically glow amber. Acting as living larders for the hives, these females' breasts swell to enormous sizes, often debilitating them due to sheer weight: so immobile, they act almost like diners in the hive cities, setting up on street corners and in specialized restaurants to provide their nectar to the populace ‘straight from the tap’. Honeypots are relatively rare, perhaps one for every hundred females, but their incredible metabolism allows these few honeypots to quite efficiently feed much of the cities themselves. (Though researchers have not been able to confirm, there are apocryphal reports of some males inheriting the ‘honeypot’ gene. These reports conflict between the males either growing swollen nectar teats like females, or their testes swelling to even greater sizes as their gonads begin to produce nectar rather than sperm.)

Males are shorter lived and winged, possessing considerably less strength than the average female due to his lighter frame. Affectionately called ‘drones’ by their female counterparts, most males exist in myr society to do very little other than breed: they are dearly prized by their females, and were often fought over during ancient times before intricate breeding schedules were established some hundred years before First Contact. Male myr are characterized by their slight, light bodies and massive genetalia, with disproportionately large phalluses and semen-swollen testes that often drag on the ground when not regularly used.

Typical Environments

Myrellion is the sole planet inhabited by the myr race, and it is fairly Earth-like in most respects. The planet has vast desert regions across much of its land masses, with some forested regions in the far northern and southern reaches. There are few, if any, snowy or arctic areas on the planet. Hot and dry, Myrellion is generally inhospitable above ground. The myr, however, are largely subterranean, and have over the years drilled out vast complexes of underground cities that rival the splendour of even the mega-cities of Terra. Due to the world war currently under way, many once-prosperous cities on both inhabited continents have been bombed out and abandoned, straining the population of the remaining cities as they accommodate refugees.

Society

Myr society is divided into two different cultures, divided along racial and geographical lines: the Gold Myr and the Red Myr. Reds are characteristically more militant and violent than the Golds, with a large standing army and military tradition. Golds, in contrast, are typically quite placid and artistically-minded, and control significantly less territory and boast a smaller population. Both are rigidly matriarchal and caste-based societies, divided up into worker, warrior, and drone groups (as expected, warriors are elevated in Red Myr society while workers receive the greatest praise among the Gold Myr). Castes are traced through familial lineage, usually through the father due to the difficulty of myr reproduction.

Myr have considerable trouble reproducing due to widespread infertility, tracing back to their insectile roots and the presence of ‘queens’ among their ancient ancestors, and still among Gold Myr. The vast majority of myr are female, with less than 10% of the population being male. Among the remaining populace, there are either only a handful of Gold Myr queens to go around, or in the case of the Red Myr, slightly less than half the female population is fertile at all, even without a reliance on queens for reproduction. As such, ‘breeders’ are rare and highly valued by both societies, usually becoming powerful leaders and politicians whose sway comes as much from their reproductive abilities as any savvy or natural ability in the field of statecraft.

Relationships

Due to the overwhelmingly female-heavy population, males are in high demand between fertile females and queens: infertile females of both races are unlikely to ever see a male in person, much less be able to copulate with him. As such, lesbian relationships are extremely common and widely accepted, with even breeder females usually taking a woman lover, since males are in such high demand they can never make proper commitments. Indeed, a marriage between male and female is quite literally unheard of in myr society, and most males are shared between several dozen females over the course of their lives. Female-female marriages, on the other hand, are quite normal, though monogamy is a relatively new concept for the myr, many of whom still fondly remember a more tribal past with great orgies centered around their precious breeders.

Sexuality among female myr is quite open, and most take several casual lovers - especially Red Myr warriors, who almost always keep “trench brides,” or worker females they have either captured or brought from home who serve their needs between battles. Gold Myr still practice regular public orgies as part of fertility rites led by their queens and breeder males, though they also have a higher rate of monogamous marriage than Reds do. While sex is considered highly private and personal among Red myr, and their dress and sexual mores are fairly conservative by galactic standards, Golds are quite open with their sex, even flaunting it in public: Gold myr dress is highly revealing, and there are no laws or inhibitions about public intercourse.

Technology

Myr technology is nearly analogous with early 20th century earth technology, with basic coal-powered electricity and gas-operated monorails having been recently installed in some of the larger hive cities. Highly primitive computers have just entered service before First Contact, using punch-tape processors and tubes. Despite their largely underground existence, the myr do have aircraft, though most have been re-purposed into transports and military craft due to the war (indeed, the current Joint Ausar Fleet base in Gildenmere, the Gold Myr capital, is a repurposed airfield). Just before First Contact, the war between Red and Gold Myr took an unexpectedly lethal turn due to the Gold Myr introducing poison gasses into the conflict, an incredibly effective deterrent against the unchecked Red Myr advance into their territory, followed by the Red Myr threatening to unleash a primitive atomic weapon the day before First Contact. Due to the appearance of the Ausar expedition to Myrellion, thermonuclear war has been temporarily averted, which has since given the Gold Myr the opportunity to fashion their own WMDs in response. The presence of the alien expedition is assumed to be the only preventative factor keeping the world war from escalating to a nuclear inferno. Due to the surprisingly advanced nature of the race, and their ‘honeypot’ biology (which is seen as highly promising by Xenogen), U.G.C. diplomats have arrived on the planet and are working with both hierarchies to achieve a cease fire in the seven year war.