[Inaius] The Grohl of Grohl

St George

RolePlay Moderator
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Deputy Speaker
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Pronouns
He/Him, They/Them
“This one is dead. As of the cataclysm, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim what was lost, and earn the paradise of the Mindscape.

This we do without complaint, for we are Grohl.”


Fierce, nameless, and forever searching for a new home, are the Grohl of Grohl just warriors bent on this one singular purpose?

The Grohl are a faster-than-light capable species that occupy an area of space located in Sector 007, though Grohl chapters are notably present in other parts of space, especially in human or near-human occupied space, such as the Greater Siezon Union and the United Republic of Moebius.

Biology

The Grohl are blue-skinned humanoids, with heavily developed skulls and foreheads, enabling effective use as a weapon without risk of major injury. Their ears and noses are set deeper into their heads than humans for comparison, and they stand slightly smaller than their pink-skinned counterparts.

Grohl tend to have brown-orange eyes, and will often engage in extensive body modification, either for practical or aesthetic reasons. The warrior-class of several Chapters have experimented with artificial limbs - either as replacements for their own, or as additions - as well less obvious ‘improvements’, such as improved vision or hearing.

Aesthetic modifications range from subtly changeable skin based on mood, to tattoos that can shine with light during appropriate moments to even the addition of hair and beards, things that Grohl cannot grow normally.

There are also two subsets of Grohl that vary from the baseline. The ‘devolved’ Grohl - Tarma’Dek - are Grohl who seemingly regressed after the destruction of the Mindscape and subsequent mental shockwave. These Grohl are mostly harmless, with paler skin, rounder heads and a lolling tongue.

In large numbers, Tarma’Dek can be dangerous, though most Chapters have Councils responsible for herding the Tarma’Dek from one area to another, usually alongside Spals, a common livestock in this part of space.

In addition to the Tarma’Dek, there is also the Idal’Dek - the ‘mutated’. An Idal’Dek is a rare sight, but one which occurs when a Grohl becomes an addict of ‘dust’, a narcotic that attempts to replicate the feeling of being in the Mindscape. The drug’s uplifting effect is fleeting, and long term addict will eventually mutate.

Idal’Dek are larger than baseline Grohl, with more heavily developed bodies and often sporting extra eyes and a longer, wider mouth, with yellowed, rotting teeth. Idal’Dek are considered extremely dangerous and hunter councils exist to exterminate them. Some Chapters, however, are suspected of attempting to breed Idal’Deks, controlling them with implants that can release dust into their bloodstream.

History

The Grohl first evolved on the planet Aldar, a word which later came to mean ‘longing’ in the Grohl language, almost 4,000 years ago, but developed rapidly, achieving space flight some 1,500 years ago. This rapid development did not unite the various clans of the Grohl, however, and true unity only came after T’Mal Al’Chek unified the Grohl clans, around 650 years ago.

1,000 years prior to unification, T’Tek Ar’Den became the first recorded Grohl to fully tame the Verdal Mar, the Mindscape, a form of gestalt intelligence all Grohl could access. Prior to Ar’Den’s taming of this joint consciousness, Grohl would avoid spending too long in the Verdal Mar, as overexposure could lead to madness.

Much of Grohl history is lost to time, as the Grohl practiced an oral model of passing on information, even after achieving advanced technology. What is known is that after Al’Chek unified the clans, they led the Grohl on a voyage of conquest in the local cluster, and founded the practice of awarding axes made of material or trophies taken from defeated enemies. Al’Chek won seventeen axes.

The Grohl spread by conquest and colonisation, though they established friendly relations with the nearby humans of the Alanician Alliance. This expansion though, brought them into conflict with the Yviiri Combine, a similarly warlike state.

The Yviiri War, later known to the Grohl as the Cataclysm, saw some of the most vicious fighting in known history. Both sides engaged in chemical warfare, the Yviiri with a cold efficiency, the Grohl with fanatical zeal. Yviiri soldiers and observers were surprised to find that a defeated or injured Grohl would rather kill themselves with a grenade if it would take out Yviiri soldiers, rather than be captured and kept in relative comfort whilst they recovered.

The Combine’s technological and numerical advantage, along with a series of tactical blunders by the last known named Grohl - K’Ten Tal’Gen - resulted in the war ending with a Combine victory. The Grohl homeworld was vitrified, and the Mindscape destroyed along with it.

The Yviiri took control of Grohl space, and attempted to absorb them into their Combine, as they had with other races. The Grohl, in their grief, proved resistant to these efforts, as although the Yviiri possessed the military might and covert capabilities to keep the Grohl quelled and divided, they could not bring them into the fold without a Mindscape, which they were incapable of replicating, despite many efforts.

After the failure of the Yviiri attempt to create a Mindscape Functionary, the Grohl began to migrate into the largely unexplored area of space they now reside. Here they came under the sway of the Kal’Dek - ‘the foolish’ - who attempted to copy the Yviiri methods of controlling the Grohl.

The Kal’Dek were much less effective than the Combine was at controlling the Grohl, and were soon in danger of being out-bred by a resurgent Grohl people. An attempt to poison a colony of Grohl was uncovered with the aid of the Pahl’Dek - ‘the helpers’ - another species also under the control of the Kal’Dek. Led by a religion prophet, the first Grohl of Grohl, the remnants of the species overthrew the Kal’Dek, driving them into exile.

This was the beginning of the Grohl’s repentance, so it was decried. The Grohl had turned away from the truths given to them by the gods, and the Cataclysm was punishment for that. These truths are a closely guarded secret, and rather than re-engage with them, the Grohl instead have undertaken a period of penitence in the 550 years since the Cataclysm. The Grohl abandoned their names, their old homes and even their clans, reorganising under a system of Chapters, led by a Provost-Grohl.

Each Provost-Grohl originally controlled a colony ship, as Grohl of Grohl had commanded that the Grohl must tame the wild space the Yviiri had forced them into. Coming into contact with few other species at this time, the Grohl quickly formed new colonies, and began to rebuild.

Society

Prior to the Cataclysm, the Grohl were divided in a series of Clans and sub-Clans, based along family lines and mostly ancient ties of loyalty. A Grohl would be loyal to the Clan leader their parents had been, and their parents, and their parents before that. So it had been for all of time.

After the Cataclysm, and freedom from Yviiri slavery, the Grohl re-organised under the Grohl of Grohl, and the Provosts. The Grohl of Grohl was organised into self-sufficient Chapters, called Rudal, that would operate as colonies under the overall direction of the Grohl of Grohl, the mightiest warrior-priest of the Grohl.

These religious-administrative units further subdivided into Councils - ‘Rutar’, with multiple Councils working together temporarily being termed a Grand Council - a ‘Rutar’Mal’. Chapters only came together when called upon by the Grohl of Grohl, for grand assemblies or campaigns of war.

Chapters were given permission to move far beyond Grohl space - taking on work as mercenaries, soldiers and chemists in the space of Grohl-friendly species, such as the Siezons, and the Moebius Republic. In exchange for these services, the Grohl gain access to information, and engage in intelligence gathering to aid the Moral’Ald - the Long Return.

The Moral’Ald is the ongoing search for a new homeworld for the Grohl. Plenty of planets in Grohl space are suitable for settlement, but none of them are host to a proto-Mindscape, the deciding factor on which a new homeworld would be declared. There is a portion of unexplored space under Grohl control, and Chapters are currently working to discern whether a proto-Mindscape is located in one of these systems.
 
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