 February 21, 2010 - 11:49pm | For quite some time I have been speaking with Larry and Bill and others about Vrusk. Along the same lines as the rest of the Core Four, we have been trying to make each Race as distinctive as possible. Therefore, we have to try as best we can to create unique perspectives and points of view for each Race, while keeping in mind that all are sentient and would want some kind of love to sustain themselves and give them a sense of higher purpose. This is seen by Humans, and some Yazirians, as very cruel. But to the Vrusk, it is perfectly acceptable. Within a few years of hatching, Vrusk youngsters are given various roles in the Corporation to try out and see what they like during their educations. The key here is the ancient Hivemind. Vrusk are "hard wired" to have these roles, and they want them as soon as possible. While the Hivemind was destroyed centuries ago, it still has cultural, historical, religous/spiritual, and even genetic influence on Vrusk society - even the very young. Hence, Vrusk need to BELONG. It's not about stability, per se. It's about having that role. Promotion and progress are also very important, but the foundation/core job identity is essential. Changing jobs is fine - the Vrusk are not too rigid in this regard - but maintaining a defined role is crucial. |
 February 22, 2010 - 1:23am | O, your making me switch my brain out of dral mode into vrusk mode. This is a very different mind set. Hard shells, ridged sense of humor, poorly developed sense of play, but funny shaped! First, the AD rules list vrusk reproduction as heterosexual, ovoviviparous. From Wikipedia, "Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, or ovivipary, is a mode of reproduction in animals in which embryos develop inside eggs that are retained within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovoviviparity I see vrusk as birthing the egg which immediately hatches into a larva. Likely they produce several eggs in a mating. This lends well to the cultural practice of community nursing of the larva. I like the concept of modern vrusk society having the corporations takeing this responsibility. I see Vrusk parents trying very hard to place their larva with the company they admire most. Trying to promote their offspring by their successes. Thus the prestigious companies have higher standards for selecting who their larva are coming from. That said, once the larva is placed, the parents accept that they will loose track of it. They do not expect to name their young, the company does that. Likely the vrusk mother goes to a corporate hospital/nursery to birth, the young are whisked away to the nursery, and the mother is pampered then released. There is a reverence to motherhood displayed to the birthing mothers that has its roots in their hive history. This reverence is also displayed to egg baring females. Vrusk females may take more than one male as a mate. This custom is also from the ancient hive foundations of their culture. These males will compete for mating opportunities. -iggy -iggy |
 February 22, 2010 - 8:48am | Imperial, iggy hacked into my memory core!  (We have the same idea about the parents choosing whom to give the offspring too). +1 I have an idea I pawned from "Cherryh's Foreigner Universe" - a society of shipfolk that live exclusively in space - aboard stations or ships never wanting to touch the ground. I can see vrusk society perfect for this! Question: What about vrusken frontier societies that do not have industrial centers, population centers or corporations? Vrusks that live on the fringes of society, outdoors-men, farmers, etc... |
February 22, 2010 - 9:00am | Yes Larry, there are some gaps/flaws that we need to work on. Maybe these corporations have a tremendous reach through the Vrusk lands. So even your "boondocks" areas would have at least 1. Maybe the poorer Vrusk regions are hampered by these few numbers of Corporate choices, while richer, more urban areas would have dozens of Corporations to choose from. It's a work in progress, but I think we have a solid foundation through identity. |
February 22, 2010 - 9:13am | Agreed, excellent foundation. :-) I would propose that "frontier vrusk" would form cooperation based society - maybe a membership of sorts. Not socialistic, but a society that is well defined where they can belong and become a part of it. (stab in the dark) I think that is why we see a lot of vrusk pirates - there is a sense of belonging and a well defined pecking order. |
February 22, 2010 - 12:55pm | I was pondering the non-big-corp vrusk this morning commuting to work (perfect place to be in the vrusk frame of mind). Living were a vrusk corp is not present is an opportunity for a vrusk to advance in society. He can set up his own corporation and gain status. But I thought, there are extra strings attached to starting a vrusk company that we humans don't consider. The vrusk company is a core of society. The company is responsible to provide for it's members (vrusk would use a term like members rather than employees) the child rearing mentioned above, care for the elderly (the company you retire from is who would eventually bury your bones), social needs (recreation, dating, community involvement, clubs, ...), etc. I also do not envision a socialist society, but rather a society where these "perks" in human terms are sought after by vrusks as they pass through life. Some companies have great reputations in match making so vrusk of the mating age seek work in those companies. Elderly vrusk who have hit their glass ceiling seek the companies who retire well. All vrusk companies have these responsibilities, but some end up specialized based on the needs of their members. Vrusk society can tend to push companies one way or another by what the population as a whole perceives. Adolescent vrusk join companies with the primary responsibility of educating them in their chosen field. The child gets it's primary education from its parent company. Then through interviews and three-way contract negotiations between the parent company, the academy company, and the adolescent vrusk candidate they start pursuing their higher education at the human developmental equivalent of a ten year old. These academy corporations are junior high/middle school, high school, and university all rolled into one. They board the members and educate them while they are working for the corporation. Humans may view this as child labor but to a vrusk it is contributing to society and belonging. It is also great on-the-job-training and provides opportunities for future advancement. By the time the vrusk has received a "degree" he has experienced many different career possibilities and tailored his education to what he really enjoys and what best fits him into society. Sure there are compromises but vrusk expect some of that as necessary for society (the "hive" in old speak). Then there are further contract negotiations between the academy, potential companies, and the graduate and the vrusk is placed with one of the many sponsoring companies that have contracted with the academy. The contracts would have to be based on factors other than just years of service or we end up with a slave race and PCs that don't tie in well. My current contribution to the "negotiations" (vrusk speak). -iggy Last thought, the vrusk far from the corporations likely still has a corporate tie. Imagine the PC who has to file status reports from the field. -iggy |
February 22, 2010 - 6:47pm | Great stuff Iggy! I thought about the child labor angle as well! And yes, it bothers the other Races, but does not bother the Vrusk. After all, the youth longs to have that role, and does so willingly. There may be abuses of this from company to company, but the vast majority of these child-workers are willing and eager. This, in turn, gives the Vrusk company in question a competitive advantage. I also like the idea of well-to-do parents influencing the selection process. And also the sheltering and care for females bearing fertilized eggs. There is a joy of motherhood - but much less than what humans experience. What I want to do next, after completing all of these analyses, is to start a thread about "Core Four Dysfunction." That is, what happens when the family, clan, corporation or social school/stoa fail the various Races - or if the Races fail them. For example, I can see Vrusk suicide as being a major problem. A Vrusk without a role for an extended period of time could fall into a death-spiral of depression. Corporations also go out of business - that can cause major social problems and upheavals. Anyway, more to come on all of that. |
 February 27, 2010 - 5:44pm | Wow this is some great reading. heres my suggestions. The hardest part about this is seperating the human in us, forgetting how we live and imaging how an alien race would evolve and how their society would. So I see the Vrusk and Yarzirians having a few things in common, Clans. I kinda see that each great corperations on Vrusk home worlds starting out as Might Clans who dominated areas of the planet. And as the Vrusk started to evolved so did the clans. The biggest strongest clans becoming great mega corps. And just like clans, marriages created blood ties to keep houses united and strong and honorable. This act also evolved into a please take my child (apprenticeship) , may his hard work bring you great profit and honor. Kinda like the Japanses, children are groomed from birth to learn, work hard and sacrifice for the company. and when they graduate they look for work. You'd have hundreds of small families living just like other races, working jobs and raising families. And hoping that their offspring would be worthy to join higher ranking families through Mega corps. and like you folks suggested about the longing to belong, I also think they have a strong urge to leave their mark and be more then a foot note in history. Gold is for the mistress-silver for the maid-copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.But Iron-Cold Iron- is master of them all |
February 27, 2010 - 9:08pm | ArtMic - The Yazirian Clan system is one steeped in religion, tradition, history, and blood ties. None of those things mean too much to the Vrusk. The Vrusk Corporate system exists to deliver identity. This is a kind of "hard wiring" from the ancient Hivemind - long gone, but still a part of the Vruskan "spirit". Marriage is a good question, as is mating. I would imagine that Vrusk would select mates, but that the love felt between them is much less important to them than that coveted identity. Perhaps Vrusk should not have marriage at all? |
February 28, 2010 - 12:16am | I agree with you in some aspects, and I agree about the different paths for each race. But I love a good Debate.. Actually they are very similar in my book. to make sure I was reading the rules right I went back and refresh my memory. A vrusk see his Corporation as the most important thing, in the rule book it states that the Corp becomes it's family and nation. And that it will do anything to protect the corp. a Vrusk is loyal to it's Corp. if they live-eat-breath-reproduce all for the good of the company so that the company thrives. Are they not working for a leader? even if that leader is a corporate logo? are not his co workers his brothers and sisters in a way? And whould not said Corp have it's own living spaces and support structures? Thus a large "hive", thus its trait left over from their past. So in a way they are like the clans the Yaz's have. I believe this is a grey area, and it could be both ways or 1 or neither. They also respect the Yazirian's life enemy practice. Why would a pacifist race respect a war like vendetta custom? Unless they themselves have a similiar custom. Pacifism is what I believe to be a human trait. What we can think of as being pacifism from an alien creature could just be a cold calculating everything calm before they strike insectiod way of being. The race loves art, they collect it. is not art one way a person makes his mark for the world to know. Art is a personal expression and your taste can say a lot about you. if they developed this great taste of art before they meet the other three races, then who did that art? Who struck out on their own to create something so personal as art. I believe that the whole race was a rush job, badly written up or edited badly in the original rules. A lot of conflicting traits. I am not trying to flame, but these are questions I like to ask myself, even the creators. Art Gold is for the mistress-silver for the maid-copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.But Iron-Cold Iron- is master of them all |
