Worldbuilding the Slavern part four of five

The fourth in a five part series on Worldbuilding the Slavern race.

Slavern

So I have newly applied Ideas that change everything to the Slavern, we’ll go through the results here.

Slavern are Hyena-men descended from carrion eaters and the strongest bullies rule. They live in a post apocalyptic wasteland and fight over scraps. The few who have enough old technology and knowledge to reach the stars use their ships and warriors to take what they can from neighboring star systems. The Slavern took what technology they could from the benevolent Tura and quickly ruined both their own homeworld and the Tura homeworld with an exchange of atomic weapons. Whatever strength remained of the Slavern was spent trying to take territory from the Eldred and they might have just succeeded if the Eldred didn’t live on the near side of the Old Trogon empire. A ragtag fleet of Old Empire ships met the Slavern armada in orbit over the Eldred homeworld, the Empire’s flagship destroyed every capital ship the Slavern had and promised to hunt down the survivors through Slavern territory if they didn’t retreat immediately. The Slavern ships broke and ran, a hastily assembled swarm of Eldred freighters and merchant ships chased down every fleeing Slavern until they reached their own border. Many of the Eldred ships never returned, they just landed on the nearest outpost and began rebuilding.

Idea	Slavern
Cannibalism	Dead meat is still meat, being descended from carrion eaters the Slavern have no taboo about eating their own kind.
Signs Symbols	The Slavern are somewhat superstitious.
Illusion	Slavern try to overwhelm opponents through strength, Deception is necessarily the refuge of the weak. If you win they call it cunning.
Pacifism	There are no Pacifists among the Slavern. Crawling up from the lowest fighting pits will not allow it.
Animism	The Slavern only put their faith in strength they can see or feel.
Vision Quests	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Magic	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Mana	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Orderly Universe	Slavern’s model of the universe is divided among the strong and the weak.
Timekeeping	Long have the Slavern counted days, moons and seasons, but hours and precision are not the norm for their people.
Ceremonial Burial	Once you’re dead the race to go through your possessions is almost instantaneous. If you’re really feared, there is a brief period of time allowed to ensure you’re really dead.
Buried Wealth	They won’t be spending it where they’re going, the dead are looted and their holdings divided.
Dynastic Inheritance	The strong take from the weak, a strong leader can only hope for a child strong enough to take over from them and not so strong they hasten their end.
Restricted Diet	Slavern eat anything they can get their filthy paws on.
Interbreeding	Slavern are not very discerning in their mating practices.
Artistic Expression	Lots of bloody imagery and battle scenes, sometimes songs are sung of great warriors.
Astrology	Until spaceships came to the Slavern homeworld, looking up at the stars was something only a few farmers would do.
Good and Evil	Slavern’s model of the universe is divided among the strong and the weak.
Black Magic	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Animal Magic	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Ritual Feasting	Celebrating victories with a ritual feast is a Very Old Tradition.
Trade	Slavern have practiced slavery since antiquity and trade in the modern sense with artisans and manufactured goods is very limited between the few clans that can trust each other.
Sacrifice	Long ago the Slavern would sacrifice animals and goods for favors from their ancestors. Somewhere along the way the tradition shifted to small ritual offerings of tokens such as incense and candles, nothing that was better served when kept among the living.
Portents	The Slavern are superstitious and some are craven cowards. A portent would have to be very jarring to dissuade a strong willed Slavern while cowards fear their own shadows.
Agriculture	The Slavern people have some subsistence farmers. The Tura brought irrigation and better farming before atomic fire scoured the land. The water and soil of Slavern homeworld are polluted with heavy metals.
Cities	The teeming pits of squalor that constitute most Slavern holds would not be called cities by the civilized races.
Hard Work	Slavern guards and masters are fairly lazy, but expect great effort from their slaves.
Goddess Worship	Though superstitious the Slavern aren’t very spiritual.
Women’s Equality	Strong women can keep whatever they can take.
Massacre	Common even to this day.
Writing	Slavern writing isn’t very formal, like many modern concepts it suffered with the end of the Spirit Warriors. Much that was written down was lost when the Slavern rained atomic fire on their enemies.
Government	The Slavern have a great Thugocracy divided among the clans in a feudal system.
Divine Right	Thugocracy always held that the strongest would rule. If their heirs were weak they’d be replaced.
One World Government	The Slavern have a great Thugocracy divided among the clans in a feudal system.
Marriage	A strong leader may take many mates or concubines.
Law	The Rule of Law on the Slavern homeworld is very much might makes right.
Honor Code	Before the advent of firearms Slavern swordsmen called Spirit Warriors kept to honor codes. Slavern Honor died with them.
Allow Surrender	When the morale of an enemy is broken, any surrendering warriors are taken captive and may raise through the ranks from the fighting pits.
Compassion	Sometimes the Spirit Warriors showed compassion, but they are long gone.
Oaths	Sometimes the Spirit Warriors swore Oaths, they are long gone. Slavern these days just swear, taunt and sometimes threaten.
Obligations	In the protection racket that is most Slavern clans, obligations only benefit the local thugs.
Pride	Make a reputation, take pride in whatever you can hold.
Individualism	Any Slavern that ascends from the fighting pits can make a name for themself.

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