Vrusk Hive History

iggy's picture
iggy
March 1, 2010 - 9:36pm
Saturday night (2/27/10) Imperial Lord, Jedion357, and I were chatting about vrusk history before they achieved FTL space travel.  We identified vrusk society going through a major change from hive dominance to corporate dominance via their equivalent of the industrial revolution.  This thread aims to explore vrusk society during the dominance of the hives.  So here goes a little history with some ideas I had after the chat.

The hive structure developed in vrusk pre-history.  No records exist from this time.  Some archeological evidence has provided clues the to the development of the ancient hives.  The oldest hive records date to about five thousand cycles (vrusk home world years) before vrusk / dralasite contact.  Nine hives start their recorded history during this period of about four hundred cycle.  Of these only two hives existing at the time the hives gave way to the corporations could trace their history back to these hives.

At the height of the hive structure power was maintained by the royals.  The royals were vrusk who had elevated themselves to power by their own efforts and blood lines.  These royals dominated the vrusk of their hives.  Royals were educated and enjoyed many benefits that the remainder of the hive were not exposed to.  The common vrusk of the hive was trained in a specific task from birth and worked tirelessly at that task all of his days.

Hive vrusk belonged to their hive.  All larva were birthed in the nurseries and the privilege to mate was controlled by the royals.  Most common vrusk males never received the privilege to mate.  Females surrendered their young to the hive and returned to their life's task.  Common males and females of the hive lived segregated lives as part of the controlling structure used by the royals.  Females received tasks protecting them within the hive due to their value in providing young to grow the hive.  Males were tasked with external duties and dangerous work.

The most important  aspect of the hive system was the acquisition of resources to support the growing numbers of the hive and expansion of the hive to secure these resources.  Anciently it was easy for hives to stake claims to new land.  However as time progressed the available land diminished and conflicts between hives occurred.  These hive wars became increasingly bloody as land diminished and the most powerful hives became bigger.  Eventually competition for resources pressed the development of technology to better utilize the resources controlled by each hive.  This however did not diminish the conflicts between the hives.  Wars escalated even further during this time due to improvements in military technology.

Two major developments then combined to cause the shift from the hive system to corporations.  As the hives industrialized the common vrusk became educated for the first time in history.  Many of these educated vrusk established trade and cooperative ventures with their counterparts in other hives.  This benefited their hives and themselves with power and wealth.  Secondly new military technology developed at this time increased the strength of many smaller hives upsetting the balance of power.  The larger hives quickly adopted and improved upon the new military technology and the resulting wars caused a break of loyalty of the educated vrusk to their hives.  There were revolts and fracturing of hives.  Within a hundred cycles the power of the hives had given way to corporations.

I am still puzzling about the details of the power shift.  Maybe as we fill in more of the hive history we can develop a strong foundation for the transition to the vrusk corporate structure.

-iggy
-iggy
Comments:

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
March 2, 2010 - 7:41am
Now I want to play a vrusk from a lesser-hive and TAKE BACK WHATS MINE!

:-)

Good stuff guys. Talk to your wives and gf's about how female vrusk fit into society.

iggy's picture
iggy
March 2, 2010 - 12:36pm
Pondering on the drive to work this morning.  The transition to corporations from the hive structure entail a new assertion of the individual.  Otherwise the corporations end up being just new versions of the hives and the individual vrusk remains a slave as it were.  Contracts between the individual and the group(s) is a key development in vrusk culture that liberated the vrusk.  Modern vrusk likely treasure these contracts as they are personal constitutions.
See for other thoughts on contracts that lead me to this.

Just a thought to kick around.

-iggy
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 3, 2010 - 1:49pm
@ iggy I was thinking that the vrusk needed their own version of the declaration of independence for much the same reason you suggested.

Maybe the emergent corporations were just another pyramidal power structure that would treat its workers just as bad as the hive did.

Along comes an inovator who wants to stake a bit of market share and to overcome his disadvantages hit on the idea of a contract and manages to recruit top shelf personel through the revolutionary use of contracts and possibly proffit sharing. His corporation becomes a rising star that eclipses all others that fail to adopt its revolutionary practices.


I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 3, 2010 - 2:18pm
Good start Iggy.

I would just like to decouple this historical angle as much as possible from humanity.

We must put our minds in the carapace!

For example, we can probably eliminate the bloodline aspect.  I would see them as seeing bloodlines and those sorts of things as meaningless.  Perhaps the "royals" as you call them (and the term could use some work too, although it will do for now...) were picked randomly, or through some sort of religious ceremony?  

The picking of the ruling class should be part of the backwardsness and obsolesence of the Hives themselves.  Keep in mind that we should be building a rather awkward, unwieldy, and flawed system - which is why the Vrusk smashed it to pieces.  It was not so much that the Corporations were built *from* the Hives, but that the Vrusk swept the foundation clean and virtually started over.  Of course, some of the Hive mindset persists - being part of ancient/prehistoric Vruskan mental "hard wiring".

It bears repeating: we need to avoid humanish thinking as much as possible.  Try to go an "other way" at every turn.  I understand that there are some universals in terms of power structures and societies and whatnot, and commonalities that will emerge, but let's keep them to an absolute minimum to maintain the uniqueness of the Vruskan Race - just as we are trying to do with all the other august members of the Core Four.

iggy's picture
iggy
March 3, 2010 - 2:19pm
There ya go!  That's a good angle to pursue on this.  Who is this paradigm shift guy?  The vrusk must venerate him deeply.  Could be a her too.  Don't read my use of pronouns as discriminatory.

-iggy
-iggy

ArtMic's picture
ArtMic
March 3, 2010 - 6:02pm
  It's the hardest part of creating an alien race. shedding the human in us. I just lapse into my spider side, seeing everything as possible prey or predator, Survival of today is the only thing in my mind besides Food and terratory.

 The only human connection I can see with the vrusk is the japanese ( culturaly ), the buisness man of today struggling to make his mark in the company. And thus making the company greater. His love for art and beauty a hold over from the past when a cultured man knew many diferent arts and produced works of arts them selves.

 You think the vrusk would like Zen/shinto or Buddism and bushido? You'd know they would either laugh at or love the book of five rings and Art of war. With there mindset they could quite possible evolve a religion/way of life almost along the same lines as Zen. A twisted buddism take of materialize is the way to happiness and The more beautiful the art you surround your self with the happy you are.

 
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

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 3, 2010 - 6:13pm
Imperial Lord wrote:
I would just like to decouple this historical angle as much as possible from humanity.

We must put our minds in the carapace!

For example, we can probably eliminate the bloodline aspect.  I would see them as seeing bloodlines and those sorts of things as meaningless.  Perhaps the "royals" as you call them (and the term could use some work too, although it will do for now...) were picked randomly, or through some sort of religious ceremony?


Yes you're the bloodline goes but forget the religious ceremony- royal jelly (as in bees) or vrusk equivelent got fed to the "royals" and the royal in this case are just randomly chosen or unless someone has figured out what the criteria bees use to feed royal jelly to create a queen. the better nutrition meant naturally mentally accute vrusk. poorer diets at the larva stage led to mentally dull and docile vrusk that were easily
controlled. The vrusk industrial revolution and the need for warriors that were more than dum brutes forced a decision to imporve the diet of larva destined to be the "new model swarm" (sorry ImpLord it is based off a human historical reference but it just sounds to good to pass up- for thousands of cycles warfare was primarily swarm tactics of brute force backed by numbers and melee weapons but the advent of gunpowder required new thinking and tactics to take advantage of the technological improvement it represented the new model swarm was the trun of phrase used at the time but it is a misnomer cause it was nothing like a swarm)
 
Imperial Lord wrote:

The picking of the ruling class should be part of the backwardsness and obsolesence of the Hives themselves.  Keep in mind that we should be building a rather awkward, unwieldy, and flawed system - which is why the Vrusk smashed it to pieces.  It was not so much that the Corporations were built *from* the Hives, but that the Vrusk swept the foundation clean and virtually started over.  Of course, some of the Hive mindset persists - being part of ancient/prehistoric Vruskan mental "hard wiring".


I dont agree that the structure of the old needs to be demolished down to the foundation by the vrusk. they're practical and would keep some of the structure and cultural elements.
when revolutions happen and the partisans smash everything down to the foundation in favor of building new the examples we have in human history of that produce pretty crappy results that just dont endure and usually the motive for doing this is to set oneself up as a dictator. revolutions that dont seek to smash away everything of the past have a better track record. My view of the vrusk is practicality and sensibility. not flaming radicals waving a red shirt. The leaders of the revolution would almost need to be pushed to go beyond the where they want to go by circumstance because they will largely make logical decision and not emotional.

Imperial Lord wrote:
It bears repeating: we need to avoid humanish thinking as much as possible.  Try to go an "other way" at every turn.  I understand that there are some universals in terms of power structures and societies and whatnot, and commonalities that will emerge, but let's keep them to an absolute minimum to maintain the uniqueness of the Vruskan Race - just as we are trying to do with all the other august members of the Core Four.

there is a fallacy in your logic here: "try to go the other way" really any parallels between vrusk and humans, however slight are wrong? there cant be a quirk of fate that allowed for some small parallel?

Ultimately: we're all human and the audience for the work being done here is human and thus the vrusk will need to be understandable to a human. It should "feel" alien but in the end if its too alien it will unpallatable.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 3, 2010 - 11:39pm
Hey, I never said this was going to be easy...

And again, if commonalities emerge, then that's fine.  Let's just do our level best to avoid them.

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
March 4, 2010 - 7:10pm
Just a quick comment from me (I'm not at the level with you guys!)
I like the idea of one of the races worlds having harsh preditory creatures - some huge, some deadly. Large ocean and land creatures.

"Ancient vrusk leaders called choragus got their title from fighting (and winning) against the largest deadliest creature in the area. They were crowned vitories and given a royal title - their strength drove the common vrusk together into one. Where there was no choragus - every vrusk went their own way, leaderless, abandon - many died without identity."


jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 4, 2010 - 8:59pm
w00t wrote:
Just a quick comment from me (I'm not at the level with you guys!)
I like the idea of one of the races worlds having harsh preditory creatures - some huge, some deadly. Large ocean and land creatures.

"Ancient vrusk leaders called choragus got their title from fighting (and winning) against the largest deadliest creature in the area. They were crowned vitories and given a royal title - their strength drove the common vrusk together into one. Where there was no choragus - every vrusk went their own way, leaderless, abandon - many died without identity."



Woot watched Avatar!

This goes further back in time that what we were gassing about.  -I'm metza metza on it as I hadn't invested any thought- I might have to let that one grow on me.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

iggy's picture
iggy
March 8, 2010 - 1:13pm
Over the weekend we got talking in chat about the transition from hive to corporations and thought about electricity being a technology that the vrusk may have achieved that would have upset the balance among the hives.  Assuming we are thinking of the hives as having a physical structure similar to a termite mound, bee's nest, ant hole, etc.  The vrusk would be keen on technology that added light to the hive without the added ventilation problems of chemical fuels.  Electricity would allow the hives to centralize the chemical fuel use to a well ventilated area associated with the power plant.  This would also benefit the newer hives because they can build around the technology.  The older hives would have problems adopting it because they need to rebuild the hive(s) to include a power plant.  Electricity could make some of the newer hives disproportionately more productive.

A question to be posed to all is do the vrusk of this time actually build very large common housing/city?  Do they build actual hives?  Also, what were they like?

Assuming actual hive structures, then siege warfare would have been a part of their history.  A hive could be designed to be easily defended / hard to invade.  The addition of electricity makes the traditional siege tactics even more difficult to employ.

-iggy
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 8, 2010 - 3:24pm
Something to consider: Thomas Edison championed DC current and Westinghouse championed AC and once Edison staked out his position he stuck to it even though the writing was on the wall that AC was going to be the thing.

What if electricity had been around for a while but only as DC current and battery powered applications- the revolution was AC current and it happened in new younger hive and they intorduced electrified defenses. So that when the horde of a larger hive decended on them, they were able to bug zapped the lot of them and counter siege the bigger hive that sought to wipe them out?

Someone a royal realized that innovation gave the edge and started the process of changing his/her hives societal matrix to feed the workers better to generate smarter vrusk that would give them a larger pool of smart ones to put into research and innovation. Naturally it led to other readical shifts and had other consequences on food and resource supply but hey a little hive just ganked a big hive and took over its territory. so it could afford to ride a wave of innovation and conquest . eventually you'd get a collapse but by that time their would be lots of the smarter less  controllable vrusk and they'd all want their share of the pie.

Some anarchy would ensue and it would be realized that a structure was needed for a society of all royal vrusk (everyone gets free will-choice) but no one wants to go back to the hive so they develop a cooporative hive- the corporation.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 8, 2010 - 5:55pm
I have to differ with Larry's selection of royal by conquest or violent action.  Battle, conquest, glory, yada yada are in the purview of Yazirians and Humans, not Vrusk.  They do not revere military heroes, hunters, soldiers, generals, or any other such people.

Vrusk wars, when they happened, were probably semi-organized hordes of bloody death and destruction.  Extremely ruthless and practical.  Dudes climbing over each other to kill.  No medals, no awards for bravery, no retirement programs or lands distributed to survivor/winners.  Break into the hive, crack into the egg chamber, kill everything.

Siege warfare was indeed important in Vrusk wars.  Tunnel fighting too, since many of the hives were probably below ground, at least to some extent. 

Not fun.

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 8, 2010 - 6:00pm
I would also prefer to avoid techological determinism on the end of the Hive system.  I am not saying that technology did not have a role in its end, but there should be something deeper that happened to the Vrusk psyche and society.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 8, 2010 - 10:28pm
Imperial Lord wrote:
I would also prefer to avoid techological determinism on the end of the Hive system.  I am not saying that technology did not have a role in its end, but there should be something deeper that happened to the Vrusk psyche and society.


like what? give? I need something to sink my teeth into.
Technology works cause it changes things and I cant see the vrusk not recognizing that .

come throw some mud against the wall so we can see what sticks.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

ArtMic's picture
ArtMic
March 8, 2010 - 11:56pm
 I think they would master metal working and chemistry first. Seeing as they are tunnelers, they would have to either tunnel around hard metals or go through them, either way they will have metal first in their tech timeline. BUT...would they, do they have fire? being insectoids would they be able to smelt metals...

They would have a inside view on chemistry, and could master that fast. then metal cause fire would be discovered with chemical reactions...

ideas....
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

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 9, 2010 - 12:29am
Ok jedion, some mud...

How about the idea that there was a certain mental/spiritual exhaustion associated with the Hives?  That the entire system was wrong and was hurting many members of the various societies.  A vast awakening, brought upon by centuries of slavery.  A realization that the whole system was violent and unjust, and benefitted a tiny few at the expense of the vast many?

Of course, technological development could have fed this.  But this is, again, where the present day non-violence/pacifism comes in.  A Great Turning, if you will - away from violence and force and towards healthy competition along specialized lines of identity: The Corporations.

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
March 9, 2010 - 7:43am
Imperial Lord wrote:
Ok jedion, some mud...

How about the idea that there was a certain mental/spiritual exhaustion associated with the Hives?  That the entire system was wrong and was hurting many members of the various societies.  A vast awakening, brought upon by centuries of slavery.  A realization that the whole system was violent and unjust, and benefitted a tiny few at the expense of the vast many?

Of course, technological development could have fed this.  But this is, again, where the present day non-violence/pacifism comes in.  A Great Turning, if you will - away from violence and force and towards healthy competition along specialized lines of identity: The Corporations.


Identity is the element were looking for in vrusk society.
Previous identity came from belonging to a hive (geographical area).
After the Great Turning (a time where all vrusk came to the same conclusion, an awakening) many laid down their weapons and squabbles and started forming common elements that graduated into The Corporations.

Certain eggs from corporate egg hives were traded between The Corporations to stimulate goodwill.

Good start?


jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 9, 2010 - 8:13pm
Imperial Lord wrote:
Ok jedion, some mud...

How about the idea that there was a certain mental/spiritual exhaustion associated with the Hives?  That the entire system was wrong and was hurting many members of the various societies.  A vast awakening, brought upon by centuries of slavery.  A realization that the whole system was violent and unjust, and benefitted a tiny few at the expense of the vast many?

Of course, technological development could have fed this.  But this is, again, where the present day non-violence/pacifism comes in.  A Great Turning, if you will - away from violence and force and towards healthy competition along specialized lines of identity: The Corporations.


the problem with a society coming to an awakening is that in america there was a long standing realization that slavery was bad and wrong with abolition movements even in the south 40 years before the civil war
yet in the end it wasn't a spiritual awakening but the threat of a President who might do something about salvery and ruin the slave based economy that drove the south to arms. Ultimately it all comes down to money, states rights sound nice (I believe in them) but it was probably an excuse more than anything else.

This is why I cant buy that idea.

people in power like to hold on to power and people not so much in power like to maintain the status quo. and people on the bottom just get cinical and apathetic. You can start a revolution with the bottom but by and large they will just seek to smash and destroy not build something new simply because cynicism runs to deep. In the wake of the destruction from the bottom its not uncommon for the middle to side with the top out of fear. Sure there are revolutions that started with the bottom and were successful but for the most part they ended up co-opted by someone from the middle or higher and these people are smart enought to put a stop to the rampage at a point and the bottom go back to being the bottom with just a new top.

I'd perfer to have a visionary hive leader that said lets change the way we do things for X benefit but the changes begin to take on a life of their own and get away from him/her and leads to the revolution in their society. The stink of that is that now centuries latter he is revered as the visionary that brought about the change when in truth he didn't want it to got that far.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

iggy's picture
iggy
March 10, 2010 - 2:20pm
I feel like we are looking at different ends of the same elephant.  Technological change begets social change begets technological change begets social change begets …..

The vrusk hive structure was oppressive.  Then some guy in a moment of seeking freedom thinks up a way to be free.  His vision of freedom was relative to his time and circumstances.  Not necessarily the vision as seen later in history.  He does this and shifts the society a little.  This could be technological or organizational.  This is something that builds on itself or goes through cycles or periods of both.  Anyway, by the time that the hives give way to corporations we are in a period of time where many if not most hives are trying new things socially.  Some hives try bad ideas and fail or become worse than the hives they were trying to improve.  Other hives hit upon good ideas and improve things.  We can come up with many vrusk visionaries and pivotal technologies in the full story.  Some visionaries end up getting elevated by history.  Some technologies get more attention by history.

I think that the educated populace plus the hives trying different ways to outdo each other allowed for the hive system to fracture and loose control of the populace.  Add in a few conflicts taking advantage of hives that weaken and some of the populace finds itself without a hive governing it.  These vrusk that slip through the cracks form the first small corporations partly out of their desire to belong to a group.  Thus you get the first free vrusk.  They negotiate contracts with the hives they do business with that include freedoms and rights generally associated with hive membership.  These freedoms and rights might be:
Freedom to enter the hives of their clients and suppliers.
Freedom to raise and educate their own larva.
The right to be armed to protect their merchandise.
The right to build hives or own land.
The privilege to rent space in other hives.

Some of these things require the exchange of goods or services as a means of payment.  Thus the hives that allow this new class of vrusk would impose taxes or other fees upon them.  This would appeal to some of the smaller hives without large dominance over resources because they could tax and charge these free vrusk for the resources they lack.

One unique idea I came up with that these free vrusk could offer would be education.  Imagine a group of vrusk that set themselves up in an area not desired by the hives.  This place lacks resources, strategic importance, etc.  The free vrusk here can live without a general fear of being invaded.  They take to contracting with other hives to educate their larva.  Initially the hives seek to educate only the select ones that will become royals.  However, this free hive of educators begins to think more and more outside of the hive traditions and invents the corporate model of society.  Over time they seed the hives with larva that are loyal to their visionary view of the future vrusk society.  Maybe they even have to keep their population in check by sending some of their own back with the larva they educate, servants (actually hidden advisers) for the new young royal.  Some of the great education corporations could trace themselves back to these groups.

-iggy
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 11, 2010 - 8:30pm
iggy wrote:
I feel like we are looking at different ends of the same elephant.  Technological change begets social change begets technological change begets social change begets …..


true, very likely we are

iggy wrote:
I think that the educated populace plus the hives trying different ways to outdo each other allowed for the hive system to fracture and loose control of the populace.  Add in a few conflicts taking advantage of hives that weaken and some of the populace finds itself without a hive governing it.  These vrusk that slip through the cracks form the first small corporations partly out of their desire to belong to a group.  Thus you get the first free vrusk.  They negotiate contracts with the hives they do business with that include freedoms and rights generally associated with hive membership.

Iggy you Glorious ....., well whatever, That is one Heck of an Idea

I can see one the visionaries making the dicision that though the big hive that just tried to wipe out his small hive and got itself ganked because tech inovations. The visionary decides to only wipe out the leadership of the hive not the rank and file which goes agains all prior precident for swarm warfare, but then he's not practicing swarm warfare but rather smart warfare with educated vrusk. This is the moment that leaves large numbers of vrusk leaderless and without a hive and the mass of vrusk that he just spared looks to him and ask, "what do we do now?" and the visionary says, "form you own hive", the respond, "We have no leader/royals" He says, "choose one"

In the chaos many will starve and die but a core of the better educated ones will organize and even choose a leader but dont as they organize and begin to move forward they come to the realization that their numbers are to small (many of the dumn rank and file wander off or simply give up the will to live plus in the larger scheme of things brute labor is of limited utility to the effort of evolving a new paradigm and orgainzing the first proto corporations

iggy wrote:
Some of these things require the exchange of goods or services as a means of payment.  Thus the hives that allow this new class of vrusk would impose taxes or other fees upon them.  This would appeal to some of the smaller hives without large dominance over resources because they could tax and charge these free vrusk for the resources they lack.

One unique idea I came up with that these free vrusk could offer would be education.  Imagine a group of vrusk that set themselves up in an area not desired by the hives.  This place lacks resources, strategic importance, etc.  The free vrusk here can live without a general fear of being invaded.  They take to contracting with other hives to educate their larva.  Initially the hives seek to educate only the select ones that will become royals.  However, this free hive of educators begins to think more and more outside of the hive traditions and invents the corporate model of society.  Over time they seed the hives with larva that are loyal to their visionary view of the future vrusk society.  Maybe they even have to keep their population in check by sending some of their own back with the larva they educate, servants (actually hidden advisers) for the new young royal.  Some of the great education corporations could trace themselves back to these groups.


Hah was the corporation called Kaplan? Seriously though not just educational groups but other things- lots of other groups begining to evolve in this time- even a mercenary corp. an agri corp

all the while the hives are fracturing  and more leaderless vrusk are cut loose in the fracture- maybe that visionary is a little napolean and he takes down a few hives but in the evolving ethic that is going on he just decides to not kill everything. Though He doesn't lift a finger to save the lives of those that will starve and die he just decides to not kill them himself. In the end his pivotal dicision goes down in history and he's sainted when in reality he was nothing of the sort.

Good stuff iggy!

EDIT: couple of educated vrusk round up a group of brutes that they worked with in the hive and organize a corp with them at the top and the brutes at the bottom. they're simply doing the same work they did in the hive but for the other emerging corps and freelancing with hives too.

Tunneling, growing food, shepherding "milk cows", growing food, waste removal, etc
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

iggy's picture
iggy
March 11, 2010 - 10:22pm
jedion357 wrote:
Iggy you Glorious ....., well whatever, That is one Heck of an Idea

I've never thought of iggy and glorious together. Remember Igor worked for all the mad scientist guys. He's smart but get stuck with the grunt work and no glory. Kinda like Zathras. But, thanks!

-iggy
-iggy

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 13, 2010 - 6:43pm
I like Iggy's track as well.  Elephant indeed!


I can see some sort of Intermediate Period, as the various visionaries/survivors from the defeated Hives, etc. come together in those previously uninhabited areas as you described.

The Hives are so damaged by warfare and are so backwards politically/organizationally that they can't recover.  More and more Hive Vrusk simply "walk off the job", excited by new opportunity and new identity in these refugee areas.

Meanwhile, the refugees form the first Corporations.  I think Iggy's idea that the first Corporation would be an educational one is an excellent idea.  It also is very important symbolically.  Perhaps the actual history is different in some detail, but the concept is that the break with the Hive corresponds with the violence to non-violence.  I.E. The Hive (brutal and unjust) gives way to the Educational Corporation (with rights and opportunity for all.)

Finally the whole Hive system just starts to implode.  They just can't compete with the justice and efficiency of the new Corps.  Perhaps within a few years, they are all gone - replaced by Corps that represent specialized identity.  The Hive system is unable to keep up with demands of labor, who start to become precious as more and more workers leave the Hives.  More leave, the remaining make more demands, leading yet more to leave, and the cycle continues until the Hive is gone - an empty shell with a tiny group of hopeless loyalists.

Thus the breakup of the Hives results into a political manisfestation of the never-ending quest for Vruskan identity.  Specialization now extends to actual political and economic roles - it is no longer just a slot within the Hive labor force.  Organization leads to promotional opportunity.  Management and salesmanship replace military generalship and brute force.  Meritocracy emerges and this fact gets multiplied by the natural abilities of Vrusk as bean counters, leading to standards of living far greater than any in the Hives - even, in some cases, of the royals themselves.

Concurrent with this is a veritable explosion of technological progress.  Newly educated Vrusk, now with a NEW identity: Scientist (or Researcher, etc...) work in meritocritous (is that a word?) teams to produce new devices, products, goods, and services.  Not only are new doo-dads developed, but extremely efficient methods and best practices of producing and manufacturing them.

This is, indeed, a Revolution of unparalleled proportions when compared to anything in the Human/Earth experience.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 13, 2010 - 11:22pm
I'd love to see a vrusk historical society, a vrusk version of Pilgrim's Plantation,- a K'th't Hive that has been restored or reproduced based on one of the smaller hives from this period as a living hsitory museum.

I think the natural inclination as bean counters would also lead to bean counting in history as it were.
Knowing what we had before and what we have now and projecting where we will go.

I can see the vrusk biological drive to belong would push toward being able to touch history to know and understand their race's history that they belong too.

what about vrusk that dont belong to corporations? Those vrusk would also have have the belonging drive and I could see them joining/ banding together in civic or professional organizations.
The very fact that they represent small businesses or sole proprietorships would make these vrusk even more commited to their professional org or civic org.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

iggy's picture
iggy
March 15, 2010 - 11:49am
We've found our way out of the labyrinth of the hive tunnels and into the light.  Before us is a sweeping view of the world below us, forests, plains, rivers, and the distant ocean.  We have a broad view of history.  Dare we put pen to paper and make a time line?

I like Imperial's insights about the crumbling of the hive society as vrusk leave for corporate membership.  I see this as a generational shift.  I also like Jedi's idea that the Vrusk would preserve the old hive ways in some sort of historical recreation.  Potentially a couple of the venerated hives survive like this.  The modern face of the hive is a corporation that dedicates a portion of it's profits to preserving this little piece of history.

-iggy
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 15, 2010 - 7:00pm
iggy wrote:
We've found our way out of the labyrinth of the hive tunnels and into the light.  Before us is a sweeping view of the world below us, forests, plains, rivers, and the distant ocean.  We have a broad view of history.  Dare we put pen to paper and make a time line?

I like Imperial's insights about the crumbling of the hive society as vrusk leave for corporate membership.  I see this as a generational shift.  I also like Jedi's idea that the Vrusk would preserve the old hive ways in some sort of historical recreation.  Potentially a couple of the venerated hives survive like this.  The modern face of the hive is a corporation that dedicates a portion of it's profits to preserving this little piece of history.

-iggy


Have at it iggy- I have a lot on my plate now- though even as I type this at the back of my brain is this itch that says "you could write a 'Prolifes In Vrusk Innovation' or some such" and my front right side brain says NO! you have too much to do!

If you do put pen to paper I'd like a peek at it and maybe I'll whip up some biolographical sketches.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 16, 2010 - 10:21am
Yes, I think a "Colonial Hiveburg" would be maintained by the Vrusk, similar to Colonial Williamsburg in VA and other such communities.

The Vrusk do not hate the Hives.  It was a stable system for many centuries that provided that all-important identity.  In spite all of their problems and lack of efficiency, and later the endemic violence associated with them, the Vrusk see their Mega Revolution as simply a move forward to a better plan.  The Hives had outlived their usefulness, and like the molting of a great new shell, the Vrusk sloughed them off to start a Great New Age.

The Hive legacy is in all Vrusk.  It contributes to the sinews of their mind, creativity, and spirit. 

They are not ashamed of this, nor should they be.


Yazirians, anyone?

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 16, 2010 - 10:22am
Yes, I think a "Colonial Hiveburg" would be maintained by the Vrusk, similar to Colonial Williamsburg in VA and other such communities.

The Vrusk do not hate the Hives.  It was a stable system for many centuries that provided that all-important identity.  In spite all of their problems and lack of efficiency, and later the endemic violence associated with them, the Vrusk see their Mega Revolution as simply a move forward to a better plan.  The Hives had outlived their usefulness, and like the molting of a great new shell, the Vrusk sloughed them off to start a Great New Age.

The Hive legacy is in all Vrusk.  It contributes to the sinews of their mind, creativity, and spirit. 

They are not ashamed of this, nor should they be.


Yazirians, anyone?

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
March 16, 2010 - 10:24am
Sorry for the double post...  oops