The Korr are a technologically advanced alien race from a parallel dimension. They are violently xenophobic and believe themselves superior to all other races. The Korr excel at science, particularly biotechnology, and specialize in breeding and control of lesser species.
Physical Description
The Korr are carbon-based lifeforms that resemble large, black, beetle-like aliens with retractable necks, insectile heads, and greasy manes. Their bulky frames average about 2.5 meters tall and contain eight to twelve segmented legs and two powerful fighting claws. These war claws make formidable weapons, but they are also capable of wielding tools and melee weapons.
A Korr’s mouth is located in its chest, surrounded by a mass of prehensile tentacles that are used to perform delicate operations. Korr communicate using a combination of mandible clicks, whistles, and throaty growls. They are extremely tough and able to shuffle along at a surprisingly fast pace.
The Korr are a long-lived species who number only a few million. They are asexual, having both male and female sex organs and reproduce only once every hundred or so years, laying dozens of egg sacs, only one of which contains a fertile egg. Since every Korr death brings the race one step closer to extinction, the Korr prefer to conduct war through a variety of bioengineered servitors. A Korr only enters direct combat against a lesser species as a last resort, or as a sign of great respect for a particular foe.
Society
Korr society is a capitalist society based around a caste system that is divided into four separate castes--nomen, takari, korrital, and welka. High-ranking caste members are afforded respect and luxuries equivalent to their rank. They are responsible for setting caste-related policies and mediating grievances. Mid-ranking caste members are responsible for managing affairs and troubleshooting problems. Low-ranking caste members handle day-to-day caste-related operations.
Rank and status within each caste is typically determined by age, however, younger caste members may rise within their caste through exceptional caste-related performance and achievements. Nomen caste members typically ascend through political maneuvering, takari through creative bioengineering and new scientific developments, korrital through victories, and welka through hard work and determination. Korr are typically born and raised to a particular caste, but a Korr may join another caste if he hears a different calling later in life. Only one such change can be made over the course of a Korr’s life and the Korr may suffer prejudice from current and former caste members.
Although the caste system has largely stabilized Korr society, rivalries between castes are always present, with nomen leadership often being challenged by the korrital, especially during times of war, and the welka viewing the takari as elitists who sit back and reap the benefits of others’ hard work. In addition, each caste is divided into many different members, factions, and sects all vying for wealth, influence, and power. The caste system has recently been challenged by factions such as the Korruun (see The Korruun, pg. xnx) and many believe that major changes to its structure lie on the horizon.
Nomen (Noble) Caste
Members of the Korr noble caste occupy the upper levels of Korr society. The nomen are responsible for managing government, setting policies, enforcing laws, rooting out dissidents, and making decisions that affect the entire race. On earth, nomen are most often found in command of arejjik motherships.
Takari (Medical Sciences) Caste
The takari caste is made up of bioengineers, physicians, and scientists. It is the smallest caste, but perhaps the most influential as so much of Korr society is dependent upon biotechnology. The takari are rarely encountered on earth and almost never leave the protection of their mothership.
Korrital (Warrior) Caste
The korrital is the Korr warrior caste. Korrital pride themselves on physical prowess and skill in battle. They specialize in hand-to-hand combat, feeling that ranged weapons are a sign of cowardice and weakness. Korrital warriors collect trophies such as weapons, patches, gear, and other distinctive items from slain enemies. They are the only Korr known to eat meat, often dining on the flesh of their enemies during elaborate post-battle rituals. During the Korr Civil War, the ranks of the korrital swelled to record numbers. After the war, with no enemies left to fight, the warriors began to clash with members of the other castes. It was the warrior caste who pushed hardest for the premature invasion of earth.
Welka (Worker) Caste
The Korr worker caste is the largest of the four castes and is made up primarily of merchants, educators, technicians, and security personnel. Welkas are responsible for overseeing tasks too important to leave to verem and other servitors such as constructing interface cavities, hollowing out organic passages and chambers inside arejjik motherships and ganj juggernauts, and overseeing verem cleanup teams.
Attitudes and Customs
Korr society is based around strict adherence to tradition and laws. In fact, the recent civil war was fought between Korr old guard conservatives and those who wished to break with many of the ancient traditions. The Korr believe they are the master race who holds dominion over all other lifeforms and that it is their right and duty to decide the fate of the lesser races. In their view, it was pure chance that humanity had evolved enough to pose a serious threat to the Korr.
The Korr prefer warm, humid climates over cold ones and avoid freezing weather whenever possible. For clothing, they normally wear decorative streamers that flutter in the wind and trail behind them as they walk. The more ornate and colorful the streamers, the higher the Korr ranks within his caste. In battle, the korrital remove most of their streamers and wear harnesses to carry weapons and gear. A Korr’s carapace is also engraved with symbols indicating his caste, rank, major achievements, and arejjik mothership designation. Hair is worn loose, braided, beaded, or stiffened back into a spiky, quill-like mane. The oldest and most influential Korr often carry ornately decorated staffs made from alien wood.
The Korr are a vegetarian race that subsists on trees and treelike growth. In particular, rarer trees such as redwoods, acacia, and several species found in the Amazon rainforest are considered delicacies. Although the Korr prefer to dine on fresh plants and raw wood, they can also eat processed wood such as lumber, paper, etc., and have even developed a pulpy nutrient paste for extended campaigns. With only a few exceptions, the Korr consider those who eat meat to be little more than savage animals.
War
War is an essential component of Korr society. When war begins, everyone prospers--the nomen expand their influence by dictating policies and managing resources, the takari receive new test subjects and are able to oversee field tests of experimental servitors and other bioengineered creations, the korrital have a means of attaining honor and glory, and the welka are inundated with additional jobs and funding.
The Korr have never lost a war. In fact, outside of their own civil war, the Korr have never been seriously challenged in any sort of conflict. The most advanced weaponry the Korr have ever faced was roughly equivalent to that of earth’s Iron Age. If the invasion of earth continues to prove costly, however, the Korr may be forced to rethink their warlike ways.
Weaknesses
If the Korr have a weakness that humanity can exploit, it is the race’s unyielding nature. The Korr are a stubborn race who despise change. In their view, if something works 1000 times, there is no reason it should not work another 1000 times. This makes them reluctant to adapt to changing situations or admit defeat, even in the face of overwhelming odds. During the initial stage of the invasion, this ideology almost proved to be their undoing as wave after wave of living war machines broke against the devastating weapons of earth’s defenders. Only the fact that the Korr’s legion of bioengineered servitors had swelled during the civil war gave them the resources to continue the invasion.
Currency
Korr “currency” is based upon a complex web of rank, status, achievements, favors, and property. A high-ranking Korr is treated to gifts, food, favors, etc., by lower-ranking Korr. Taking too much advantage of these gifts, however, lowers the Korr’s status. Similarly, giving gifts, favors, etc., to higher-ranking Korr (within reason) increases one’s own status in Korr society. A master storyteller who tells a tale at a formal nomen gathering increases his status (and thereby his wealth) in Korr society. A welka who happens to be present to hear the tale also increases his status. However, the same master storyteller who tells the same tale in a Korr marketplace decreases his own status while increasing the status of those who listen and even the status of the marketplace itself. If the Korr currency system seems confusing, it should--the Korr are an alien race whose culture is extremely different than those of earth.
Entertainment
In stark contrast to their herbivorous diet, Korr prefer violent entertainment, the bloodier the better. The three primary forms of entertainment are death matches, blood mazes, and death races.
In death matches, Korr animal handlers collect specimens from earth and stage fights in a variety of interesting ways. Obviously stronger fighters are often handicapped to make the fight more fair (i.e. crippling a tiger and pitting it against a pack of wolves). In rare cases, humans are captured and forced to fight against animals or even other humans. In even rarer cases, Korr outcasts and dissidents are forced to compete in these deadly games.
Blood mazes are another favorite Korr sport. Specimens are brought aboard a mothership and placed inside a maze full of strange traps and deadly creatures. The specimen must find its way out of the maze without being crippled or killed. Those who do are usually sold off as prized pets.
Death races occur when a specimen is turned loose and given a head start. Korrital warriors then hunt the creature down to the delight of the watching crowds. Death races typically occur on earth’s surface and often involve human prey.
Government
The Kaladri Council governs Korr society. The council is composed of twelve appointed members, three from each representative caste, but each member is free to vote as it pleases. Matters of great importance to the race are discussed and voted upon in council. In the case of a tie vote, the three nomen council members hold a separate, final vote.
Religion
The Korr pay homage to a divine entity known as Abas who appears in their mythologies as a massive black hole. Abas embodies the Korr’s destructive philosophy towards other races. He is portrayed as a harsh and unforgiving god who consumes everything in his path. The Korr frequently curse to Abas, but seldom actually pray to him except for a small, reclusive priesthood known as the Abas’akorr.
Korr History
Although Korr society is largely at peace now, the Korr have a violent and turbulent past that is marked by a number of wars and conflicts.
The Doomsday Wars
Ages ago, the Korr were divided into several industrialized nations who lived on the surface of their homeworld Chiirika. These nations were constantly at war with one another, forging new alliances, breaking old treaties, and trying to protect and expand their power, borders, and influence. Things changed when a Korr leader named Shivik’sa developed (some say discovered) a doomsday device named the Akorras which was said to be capable of wiping out the entire Korr race.
Shivik’sa demanded that the various Korr nations submit to his rule and when they refused, he unleashed the Akorras, not fully comprehending the devastation it would cause. Although many of the details of this dark time in Korr history have been lost, what is known is that the destructive power of the Akorras swept across land and the resultant deaths, famines, plagues, and pollution were so great, that to this day, large swathes of the Korr homeworld are unable to sustain life. The first stormrifts also appeared at this time, seemingly triggered by the Akorras’s awesome power.
The Dark Ages
The Akorras eventually ran its course and disappeared from Korr history, but the devastation it had caused forced the Korr to retreat into the enormous geothermal caves beneath the surface of Chiirika. There, the Korr split off into family tribes and regional clans who retained only a fraction of their technology, customs, and knowledge. Despite the decline of their civilization, it wasn’t long before territorial disputes between the clans boiled over and the Korr were once again warring with one another.
The Lawgiver War
The Lawgiver War began when a Korr leader named Tii’haiak peacefully united several clans under a series of laws that marked the beginning of the caste system. Korr were assigned duties and roles based on their skills and then trained their offspring to follow the same trade or path. Tii’haiak’s clans prospered under the caste system and the other clans, envious of their prosperity, began plotting against them.
The rival clans stormed Tii’haiak’s caves, but Tii’haiak was a brilliant leader and an excellent tactician and his entrenched forces crushed the invading armies. Rather than exact revenge on the clans as was the custom, Tii’haiak offered their leaders the chance to accept his laws and join his confederation. With most of their hunter/warriors dead, the clans agreed, leading to an age of increased growth, peace, and prosperity. Only a few outlying clans remained independent of the union, but these were eventually pushed into the deep caverns of Chiirika.
The Riikin Uprising
Once relative peace had been established, Tii’haiak slowly steered the Korr away from the destructive technologies that had poisoned and befouled their world, spearheading major advances in Korr science and medicine. During this time, the Korr and their servitors began being implanted with biotechnology, however, Korr bioengineers had not yet mastered the technology and could not halt the growth of nanoborgs in all infected subjects. In higher lifeforms such as the Korr, the nanoborgs expanded unchecked, transforming infected Korr into individual biomechanical lifeforms. As a result, the Kaladri Council convened and voted to terminate any Korr infected with nanoborgs. As the command was being carried out, the infected, also known as the riikin, rose up in rebellion, using their biotechnology to take control of several breeding facilities and turn the bioorganic servitors into living war machines. The riikin were eventually defeated and hunted to near-extinction. Most Korr believe the riikin no longer exist and they have become the equivalent of the Korr boogeyman, although some claim the riikin still dwell in the deep, dark parts of the world or even on the blasted surface if Chiirika. Korr takari eventually mastered the nanoborg technology in higher lifeforms and Korr biotech and servitors began to play an increasingly vital role in Korr society.
The Conquest Wars
The Conquest Wars began after a Korr mothership was caught in a stormrift and transported through the rift to planet earth--an entire new world rich in resources. The takari immediately began working on ways to control the stormrifts. Once they succeeded, the Korr began the first invasion of earth, easily overpowering the primitive insectoid natives. The war provided the glory-hunting korrital with a means of gaining rank and status as well as supplying the race with food and new types of servitors. After the initial conquest, the Korr tried to settle on earth, but the alien landscape and climate proved too erratic for colonization. The Korr then began a process where they would return every few thousand earth years, conquer any evolving species, collect new specimens and servitors, and harvest wood products for processing and storage.
The Korr Civil War
The Korr Civil War began as a series of protests organized by a Korr nomen named Jajunn. Jajuun was the leader of a faction of free thinkers and reformists named the Korruun who gained the popularity and support of many younger Korr. The Korruun demanded major changes be made to the Korr’s rigid caste system including more equal distribution of wealth and status, less reliance on biotechnological servitors, particularly verem, and more emphasis on traditional technology. Korruun dissenters disrupted and/or ignored traditions, vandalized takari laboratories, and committed other acts of civil unrest including freeing verem and teaching them how to speak, think, act, and even fight for themselves. Civil war broke out when the Kaladri Council finally ordered a brutal crackdown on Korruun subversives. During the last stages of the war, desperate Korruun warriors employed plasma energy weapons that destroyed not only their enemies, but also ignited a series of wildfires that decimated several subterranean sustenance forests. After the fires, the Korruun lost the support of the public and were hunted down by the korrital and the nomen secret police. The last of the Korruun were executed after the Civil War, however, many of their radical ideologies linger with old and young Korr alike.
Postwar
The Korr Civil War ravaged many levels of Korr society and prevented the Korr from returning to earth. Looking to replenish their food supplies, the Korr opened a stormrift and discovered the human race which had evolved far beyond any species they had encountered before--possibly even enough to be a threat. What’s more, the Korr were alarmed to find that humanity had depleted earth’s natural resources, burning fossil fuels, felling trees, and polluting the air and water.
The Kaladri Council quickly convened to discuss plans for an invasion of earth. A vote was held between those who wished to attack earth immediately and those who wished to wait and rebuild their forces which were still reeling from the civil war. The vote was split, forcing the nomen council to hold a separate, deciding vote. With food supplies depleted by the civil war and facing civil crises at home (namely pressure from the korrital), the nomen voted to launch a premature attack on earth.
The Invasion of Earth
The Korr did very little reconnaissance before launching the invasion and knew almost nothing about earth’s governments, alliances, or its defensive capabilities. The Korr simply saw an evolving species and decided to eliminate them as they had so many others in the past.
The Korr know that the simplest way to conquer an evolving species is to take away its ability to resist. Therefore the Korr began the invasion of earth by opening hundreds of stormrifts and launching meteors of frozen voss across the earth. Their primary targets were earth’s major cities and the damage was catastrophic. Millions died in the first assault. Millions more died in the chaos that followed. More importantly, the asteroids vaporized on impact, spreading voss gas across the globe. A few weeks later, as earth’s technology began to fail, the Korr launched the second wave of the invasion, sending arejjik motherships loaded with assault forces through the stormrifts.
Confident in their superiority and accustomed to facing much less technologically advanced cultures, the korrital led their forces against the armies of man only to suffer staggering losses. The Korr’s living war machines were simply no match for the deadly-accurate long-range human weaponry. However, the tide of battle soon turned as the corrosive voss began to take effect. No longer able to stop the Korr’s advance with conventional weapons, the world’s great powers ordered strategic nuclear strikes against the Korr motherships. Many motherships were damaged and several were destroyed outright, but the damage to the earth and her people had farther-reaching consequences.
The Korr were initially surprised and alarmed at the level of resistance humanity mustered against them and several Kaladri council members lobbied to break off the invasion. However, the damage caused by the nuclear attacks hardened the Korr’s resolve to exterminate the human race. The Korr believe that nothing short of conquest can remove the threat humanity poses to Korr society.
Intelligence on the Korr
Humans are largely ignorant as to the intricacies of Korr society and way of life. What information they have gathered is unreliable at best, as captured Korr refuse to communicate with what they consider lesser beings, even under pain of torture. A few psions claim to know more of Korr culture and rumors have begun to circulate of a Korr faction or possibly a separate alien race providing aid and information to the Resistance or remnants of certain earth governments.
Korr Homeworld
Very little is known about the Korr homeworld of Chiirika, but from the creatures that come from within it must be a terrible place.
