Vespians

The Vespians (New Standard Vespian: ) are a near-human species native to the planet of Vespia in the Vespera system, located some fifty thousand light years from Earth. They are the creations of human scientist, Mikael O'Neill, who sought to carve out a society built in his image and with his ideologies, while bearing several traits which would make them superior to members of his own species. Living up their father's wishes, the Vespians built a civilization, which nearly twelve thousand years later, spans the entire galaxy. They are the only sentient species aside from humanity in the known galaxy known to date, though, as the Vespians pursue the colonization of other galaxies, it is believed by some that this will soon change.

Since the time of their creation nearly some twelve thousand years ago, the Vespians have built a thriving interstellar society spanning millions of planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Numbering more than 108 quadrillion, the Vespians are the most populous species in galactic history so far as they know. The Vespians adhere strictly to the ideals created by their father known as Mikaeanism, a socio-political ideology which since grown to also double as their religion. Ruled by a strict totalitarian government known as the Unified Vespian Directorate, the Directorate has maintained a iron grip on political power for since its formation, and continues to guide the growth and prosperity of the Vespian species into the modern day.

Physiology
The Vespians are a humanoid species not unlike their distant human relatives in terms of physical appearance and internal biology. Vespians possess dark brown skin and black hair, and all Vespians share the same grey iris color with surrounding black sclera. Vespians stand 184.5 cm (6') and weight 77.5 kg (170.8 lbs) on average, though it can vary between 173.7 cm (5'7") to 195.3 cm (6'4") and 56.2 kg (124 lbs) to 98.8 kg (218 lbs) depending on sex and diet. Regardless, males and females are generally equal in terms of height and weight. Female Vespians possess several purely cosmetic features on their bodies, such as their lips which are coated in an oily lipstick-like substance, and their nails which darken to a sheen jet black coating as they mature. Vespian females also produce a highly toxic black, ink-like substance from their eyes similar to tears, and is known to run from their eyes during times of stress or anger. Interestingly, male Vespians do not produce these toxic black tears, and lack the ability to cry in general. The tears in female Vespians also appears to be a defensive mechanism as well, increasing in volume and toxic potency when they are in danger.

Vespian blood is black in color, with the oxygen-binding protein in their blood known as hemombranin, being responsible for this unique property. Hemombranin can carry considerably more oxygen than hemoglobin, lending the Vespians their great stamina and endurance. A notable feature of this protein is the effect it has on Vespian muscles. With a higher level of oxygen provided to their muscles, the Vespian muscular system is on average three to four times stronger than the human muscular system. Their muscles are also considerably denser as well, meaning that certain blows do not harm Vespians as much as they would humans. Vespians can run faster and longer than humans as well, and possess a higher level of flexibility and agility. To deal with the cooler winters on the Vespian homeworld of Xyon, Vespian blood doubles as something of an anti-freeze, keeping the blood and other bodily fluids from freezing during the most frigid periods of the winter months, and helping the Vespians to survive in a range of cold and sweltering environments. The internal body temperature of the average Vespian is about 86ºF (30ºC), heavily regulated by the higher amount of oxygen in their bodies and the anti-freeze they naturally produce.

As a species, the Vespians are classified as a psychrophile and radioresistant species, able to withstand the lethal effects of the cold and radiation. Additionally, most Vespians possess chronically poor eyesight, inherited from their creator, and thus require eyeglasses or corrective lenses such as contacts to see properly. Vespians mature quickly, with the a Vespian individual deemed to be physically mature at age thirteen, the equivalent of a 21-year old human. A Vespian will remain at that peak physical and mental condition for the reminder of their lives. Vespians are long-lived, living on average for about 246.3 years, with females living up to 238.7 years of age and males living even longer to see 253.9 years of age. Vespians are a predominately female species, with males making up just five percent of the total population. Females have a biological imperative to protect the men in their species, and thus work in many hostile occupations that they have barred off to men, thereby decreasing their life expectancy considerably. As children, Vespians mature mentally very quickly, and can grasp information a human of the equivalent age would not. Likewise, Vespians thus deem their children to be adults in all but name long before the reach physical maturity.

The Vespians digestive system is effective in breaking down most types of matter, digesting all kinds of materials that others would have struggled to even bother as viewing as a source of food. Their saliva is incredibly effective at killing bacteria and toxins, and is acidic enough to weaken the connective bonds within their food. The Vespians possess a highly efficient waste removal system, with all waste expelled from their body in liquid form, as a clear gray liquid with a odor similar to chlorine. They have no large intestines, though their small intestines are instead connected to their bladders, which obliterate solid waste and refine them into liquids. So powerful are the chemicals used to refine the waste into liquid matter, that the liquid waste itself is deemed acidic and dangerous by Vespians. Additionally, the Vespians have a clean metabolism, meaning that obesity is impossible within the species. A Vespian can eat as much as they want, though they will become lethargic as their body attempts to cope with the extra materials they have forced into their digestive tract. It should be noted that male Vespians like a rectal opening, while the one females have isn't connected or associated with the digestive tract, and serves instead as a secondary sexual organ.

The Vespian skeletal system is dense and metallic in nature, with a black metallic coating and a strong honeycomb-like interior structure, increasing the strength and endurance of the Vespians bones to steel-like levels with only a fracture of the weight and mass. Vespians can survive falls from great heights or blows with little physical trauma, and recover from the even within a generally short period of time. Vespian teeth are also coated in the same metallic substance, and notably possess large upper and lower canines. Their teeth are also sharp and serrated, and appear to be self-sharpening. All Vespians possess a long, prehensile tongue, about thirty centimeters in length, which is black in color and strong enough to firmly grip objects with, and an opening in the tip that can be used to drink liquids with. The Vespian immunity system is equally robust, with an organ known as the tuera, responsible for producing millions of undifferentiated stem cells which can heal damaged organs, tissue, and even body parts. However, the tuera cannot heal itself, and damage to the organ can result in a Vespian losing the ability to regenerate organs and body parts. Aggressive viruses are still dangerous and even lethal to the Vespians, and though the immune system they possess is strong enough to lessen the lasting impact of the virus, proper medical treatment is still required from a hospital.

Reproduction
Vespians reproduce in a radically different manner than their human precursors in that they are monotremes, a mammalian species which lays eggs rather than give live births. Unlike humanity, female Vespians lack ovaries and have no vital biological role within the reproductive cycle of the Vespians. Vespians instead produce offspring via patrilineal oviparity, in which the father produces and fertilizes the eggs asexually. This process take place via the paragus and canubula, two organs created by O'Neill to allow for asexual reproduction by the Vespians. The paragus takes sperm from the testicles and converts them first into undifferentiated stem cells and then into egg cells. Another sperm is then used to fertilize the egg cell during the process, before the egg cell is transferred to the canubula for storage. The eggs can be stored there indefinitely, remaining viable even years after their creation in the paragus. The canubula stores the eggs until the father wishes to have a child, at which point the father can consciously select how many eggs he wishes to eject from his body. Since the eggs are already fertilized within the body, they are kept dormant within the canubula via exposure to the Vespian hormone known as xanogene, which suppresses the growth of the eggs until they leave the body.

The eggs can grow in any environment, but the morality rate of the offspring will increase depending on the harshness of the location they are left in. Recommended locations for the growth of eggs include warm bodies of mineral-rich water, or moist surfaces in humid regions. However, because eggs are much more susceptible to harm and damage, with the morality rate for the eggs skyrocketing due to exposure to the elements and predators. Many fathers have thus taken to acquiring the services of their female counterparts to protect their children by carrying the eggs in their wombs until the eggs are large enough to be left in open locations. The process takes place during sexual intercourse, in which the father passes on up to twelve eggs to the woman, who will carry the eggs as they grow for the next two or three weeks. At the end of this period, the woman's body will begin to force the eggs from her body, which are now better prepared for survival in the outside world. The eggs will continue to grow for the next five months until the offspring hatches from them.

The eggs themselves are less than one millimeter in diameter at the point of their creation in the paragus, and will grow to the size of more than 76.2 centimeters. The eggs are glossy embryonic sacs which are black in color, and which expand until the child tears its way out of the egg. In spite of the fact that Vespians hatch from eggs, the newly born Vespians offspring are referred to as newborns rather than hatchlings. Vespians who were born via a female laying their eggs on behalf of their father are known as womb-born, and those born through their fathers alone inside of purpose-built housing for eggs are known as creche-born. There is considerable social stigma attached to creche-born Vespians by their womb-born relatives. Those who were womb-born are considered superior given that their father sought to protect them and have a direct hand in their upbringing, while creche-born Vespians were instead born to serve as workers, soldiers, or fill any roles required of them by their society. Thus, creche-born Vespians are considered to be expendable assets of their people by womb-born Vespians.

Psychology
The Vespians thinking patterns are radically different from that of their human relatives. The psychology of the Vespians is based largely off of their creator's, Mikael O'Neill, who wished to create a society that was like himself with his views and ideals ingrained into their very minds. While a mentally stable man with no history of crime in his background, O'Neill suppressed all of his often psychotic and homicidal thoughts. Though not uncommon for a human, O'Neill's thoughts were incredibly frequent and often extended to include everyone around him. These thoughts manifested themselves in his Vespian creations. While male Vespians inherited their father's disposition and self-control given their stronger genetic heritage with him, as they still do today, the females instead inherited the completely uninhibited violent and psychotic thoughts and anti-social behavior their father held but kept in check. The resulting effect was that Xyon now possesses an incredibly high crime rate, of which the majority of the crimes are committed by Vespian females, who account for 95% of the Vespian population.

Somewhat "complimenting" their mental state, the Vespians are notably apathetic and amoral, just like their father Mikael. In spite of the crime which plagues their society, the Vespians care little about the victims of criminal activity, rape and murder included, and have expressed little to no moral outrage at the state of their society. Instead, the Vespians maintain a strict, unemotional, black and white justice system, in which the focus on punishment and prevention for crimes takes precedence over rehabilitation of the criminal population. Further exemplifying the amoral nature of the Vespians, they have no reservation on committing atrocities of a massive scale, feeling little to no guilt or anguish of their actions and the suffering of their victims. The is widely accepted by the Vespians that "might makes right" and "cruelty should be repaid with cruelty", and that exercising one's strength over others, especially when it is themselves, is an honorable act that only they could possibly appreciate. For this reason, Vespians often root for the antagonist in novels, plays, and entertainment as well as in real life. Criminals are only condemned when they are caught, often solely for the fact that they got caught.

Aside from their violent behavior, the Vespians possess a number of psychological "quirks", some inherited from their father. Firstly, the Vespians are typically erratic, prone to mood swings, and possess several obsessive compulsive disorders, such as tapping pens against a piece of paper before writing, staring off into corners randomly, and constantly apologizing for perceived slights when they haven't done anything wrong. Second, the Vespians are perfectionists, refining a product over and over again until it cannot be refined any further, hampering Vespian technological and societal development. Their refusal to adopt new ideas until the old ones have been refined to their absolute limits has resulted in the species stagnating to the point of cultural immobility. Third, the Vespians, quite literally, cannot comprehend the logic behind irreligious beliefs. The idea that someone could believe that a god does not exist, often doesn't register with the Vespians, and results in the Vespians viewing atheists and agnostics, the former more-so than the latter, as untrustworthy and unnatural.

The Vespians have a hatred for disorder, uncleanliness, and vermin, even beyond what humans would consider normal. Their obsession with order has meant that the Vespians as a species actively promote totalitarianism as the most effective and efficient government in existence, and have such a government in their own empire. As for filth, the Vespians have allowed such hatred of filth to dominate how their build their ships and cities, and what type of clothes they design and wear. All Vespian built are flat and angular, with bleak, sterile interiors based upon a strict minimalistic system. Vespian clothing is designed to be self-cleaning and liquid-repellent so as to prevent dirt and grim from spoiling clothing, ensuring a Vespian remains clean even when in nature. And Vespian worlds are generally sterilized by the Vespians to destroy all vermin living on them, allowing the Vespians a pest-free environment. While it absolutely warps the ecosystem, the Vespians aren't above dominating mother nature to ensure that their pathological hatred for vermin is fulfilled wherever possible. Thus, while humans believe that nature could easily live without them, the Vespians quite vocally exclaim how they can live without nature.

Vespians view themselves as superior to all other life they have encountered. Even when much of the life they have discovered were far more advanced than themselves, either culturally, socially, technologically, or economically, the Vespians simply refused to accept an inferior position to that race. Instead, the Vespians become envious of the other species, jealous to the point of homicidal rage, and extensive "excision" campaigns launched against the alien race. This mentality is the reason no other race has survived long after contact with the Vespians. Adding to this fact is the deeply ingrained belief by the Vespians that the universe is their's and their's alone. Given that the Vespians accept that they are replaceable in their species highly populous society and its high reproduction rate, the Vespians seek to contribute all that they have to their species while they are living, and have no reservations when it comes to sacrificing their lives for their people. As a result, when the Vespians fight, especially one another, all Vespians fight until either they or their opponent has been destroyed. Such as belief does not bode well for alien species when combined with the Vespians extremely xenophobic psychology.

Origin
The Vespians were the brainchild of human explorer, Mikael the Traveler, who was the first human being to travel another galaxy. Mikael hailed from the human homeworld of Terra, originally part of a program to seed the Vespera Galaxy with human life. According to Mikael's own historical recordings, his original goal was a failure, part of a long list of issues he recorded when he arrived in the galaxy. According to his writings, Terra was in the midsts of a major interstellar conflict that was raging from one end of the Milky Way Galaxy to the other. From what Mikael wrote, humanity was losing and a major illness was effecting all sides, the result of a failed bio-weapon test that was originally suppose to win the conflict. As the foremost authority on the then groundbreaking intergalactic travel program, Mikael was tasked with finding a way of getting the few remaining human survivors to another galaxy to start fresh. From what modern historians have gathered, that goal did not go according to plan, and Mikael came to the Vespera Galaxy alone.

Apparently, Mikael was unable to save any of his fellow humans as the virus had claimed his homeworld, along with most of those who were supposed to have come with him to the new galaxy. Mikael himself had been away with his ship in a safe location after the enemy forces attacked the location the vessel was located, forcing Mikael to flee alone. Gathering what little supplies and technologies he could gather, Mikael left his home galaxy, and came to the Vespera Galaxy as the sole surviving member of his race, and apparently his entire galaxy. From what is understood from the records, the soldiers who fought against humanity returned to their people carrying dormant virus with them, wiping out entire civilizations in the process. Alone in the new galaxy, Mikael was determined to rebuild his society anew, though determined to prevent many of the issues that led to the conflict. Additionally, he understood he was going to die one day, and that he had to get to work quickly, hoping to live his mark before he died.

Path to creation
Mikael had brought with him many tools that would aid in the rebirth of humanity, though Mikael had forgotten, some say purposefully, to acquire the embryos needed to restart human civilization. Determined to correct many of the issues he associated with humanity, Mikael designed the Vespians to be stronger, smarter, and generally better looking than humans, along with a host of personal modifications. As Mikael stated on many occasions in his journals, humanity was bested time and again by their inferior physical abilities and their lack of cohesion based on petty rivalries, religions, and ethnicities. This was not to be the case with the Vespians. Mikael based many of the Vespians' traits off of his own, believing that with a common identity, the Vespians would remain unified as a race, something that even in their darkest hour, humanity had failed to do itself.

Utilizing the technologies he had brought with him from Terra to assist within re-population, Mikael began experimenting with new ideas to incorporate into his planned offspring. With plenty of time, resources, and motive to succeed, Mikael set about his task of building a better human from scratch, using himself as a template. The middle-aged human man was not the same as those who preceded him centuries before. Physically and mentally fit, intellectually adaptable, and long-lived by the standards of humans from centuries past, Mikael was the prime specimen needed to rebuild his society, albeit with some minor changes he sought to include. Though he had plenty of time to work on his project, Mikael had yet to find a homeworld to settle upon himself, something that was an absolute priority if his children were to develop properly.

Dividing his time between working on his offspring and finding a new homeworld for both himself and his children, Mikael was a busy man with an important task. Determined to leave his mark on the new galaxy he would be as a first and only human to visit, Mikael had no plans of dying in space, and felt that if he was to die prematurely, then it would be on the planet of his choice, and not the spaceship he had fled upon. For years, Mikael sought out the world he thought would best reflect the desires and qualities he wanted in his children. Not a fan of green, "upbeat" leafy worlds, Mikael totally eschewed them, and not suicidal, he also avoided barren desert worlds and volcanic planets falling apart at the seams. It was in the eighth year of his search that he discovered a cloudy torrent world that was both fertile and serious, with a balance of darkness and light.

This world was grey and foggy, but full of life and promise. Covered by clouds all of the time, and raining for more than two-thirds of the year, the world was a perfect reflection of Mikael's emotional makeup at the time, and the world he found to be the most comfortable in his opinion. Mikael quickly named the planet Vespia, taking the name from the Latin vespera, meaning "evening". Mikael named the galaxy as a whole Vespera, having viewed his arrival in it as coming at a dark time that was at no point a joyous occasion. Reflecting greatly the dark, grey atmosphere that dominated the landscape, Vespia was to serve as the homeworld for Mikael's soon to be born Vespians. Once settled on Vespia, Mikael got to work on the Vespians at once.

Issue of reproduction
Almost immediately when making the Vespians, Mikael ran into a rather important issue with regards to reproduction. As the most important part of their survival, Mikael understood the importance of how he handled reproduction, and the danger of genetic bottle-necking, which would harm his descendants if not cared from properly. As the issue went, Mikael, being the template for the Vespians, was the only person from whom the genetic pool for all future generations of Vespians would draw from. However, the Vespians would soon fall victim to what Mikael branded "Eden Syndrome", in which inbreeding would ultimately take place as the tiny population of Vespians would start breeding with close relatives either knowingly or unknowingly at any point in the future, as there was only enough genetic material Mikael could pull from himself to create the first generation of Vespians. The effects of Eden Syndrome would ultimately destroy the Vespian population within what Mikael determined to be five or six generations tops. Therefore, to counter this problem, Mikael would have to develop a new way for the Vespians to reproduce without breeding themselves into infertility and eventual extinction.

Mikael's original plan was to go with an ant-like reproductive system, in which a single female would produce all of the children upon fertilization. However, from this arose another problem–who would fertilize her and then any future mothers down the line? As it turned out, it would have to either be Mikael himself, or another male, who would undoubtedly be the mother's brother, and subsequently any daughters would have to be fertilized by their sons or brothers, once again leading to Eden Syndrome. Mikael sought to circumvent this issue by having the female Vespian self-fertilize, but that would prove to be too difficult and ultimately impossible, as the female could not produce sperm, and any children she had would, as a result of her only carrying XX-chromosomes, would all be female and therefore infertile, as they could not self-fertilize without the aid of a male who would once again be their brother leading to Eden Syndrome.

Thus, Mikael formulated a solution to the problem, though perhaps the most unorthodox one he could imagine. Rather than have the females produce the offspring, the males would produce the offspring. Though Mikael found this idea to be unsavory personally, he understood that if he wished to leave his mark in the galaxy he was to die in, he needed to go with the plan. To that end, Mikael drew out how the entire method was to operate. The plan would work given that though he could not, with his resources that is, prevent Eden Syndrome, he could cut out the primary factor of it, inbreeding. By having the male Vespians produce the offspring, three major benefits could be derived from it. The first and most important was that the males could self-fertilize if given the proper abilities to do so. Looking back to stem cell research performed in the past, Mikael was able to draw upon the fact that sperm cells were the most malleable to transformation into stem cells, stem cells which could be turned into fertile egg cells.

The reason Mikael couldn't do this with egg cells had more to do with the natural limitations of egg cells as they were. The egg cells were a finite resource subject to deterioration overtime, with increased risk for deformities or disabilities the later in life they are fertilized. Additionally, the egg cells were simply too complex and too precious to risk turning into stem cells to begin with to produce a handful of sperm cells. In the end, too many egg cells would be lost just to fertilize one of them. On the flip side, sperm were a dime a dozen, easily produced and easily wasted in the scale of billions. They could be transformed into stem cells with little issue or danger, and the dangers associated with self-fertilization were minimized enough that future generations of Vespians could correct the danger of Eden Syndrome once the technology existed for it. Mikael could easily develop a reproductive system geared to aid male Vespians in creating, storing and fertilizing the eggs,

The second benefit was that men had both an X and Y-chromosome, meaning that they could produce both genders of Vespians without completely removing one of them. Though the gender ratio would be heavily imbalanced in favor of females to fill the roles of worker, warrior, and gatherer, it would help in protecting those who expanded the population individually, while removing from harm and protecting those young boys who would soon become patriarchs themselves. The final benefit was that the population could expand exponentially, as a single male could have several million offspring by himself in a single month alone. With a single man producing a whole city's worth of people on a monthly basis, the Vespian population would be secured so long as there was a single male Vespian in the population. In doing this, Mikael's lineage would be secured in the foreign galaxy. With the problems facing him in the reproductive sphere, Mikael set about putting his plans into action.

Completion of the Vespians
From his entering into the Vespera Galaxy to his completing the Vespian genome and by extension, the Vespian race itself, Mikael had spent more than thirty years perfecting his work so as to ensure that his children would not succumb to the violent end his species had just three decades before. The first Vespian created by Mikael was Lucius, also known as "The Firstborn", bringing about the birth of the species Mikael had for so long labored to create. Humanity in his time had associated the name with an ancient figure of power, the meaning of Lucius's name was that of "light", which Mikael felt a suitable name for the boy who was to bring about the birth of an entire species on Vespia. Mikael spent the remaining years of his life teaching Lucius everything he knew, and gave him what could be referred to as a blueprint on how he wanted the Vespians to develop. This blueprint came in the form of a high-tech storage device that contained technologies Lucius was to introduce into the Vespian population at set intervals so as to ensure the swift and controlled development of Vespian civilization. This would ultimately aid in the formation of a type of society which was not so removed from that of humanity's, but did not contain so many of the same cultural viewpoints.

Finally, Mikael urged Lucius to maintain the languages Mikael loved so dearly, namely, English, French, and Russian. Lucius would keep his promise to do so, and with that, he began his own work of building Vespian society. Mikael died fifty-seven years after his arrival in the Vespera Galaxy, only ever to see the creation of his first and only son, Lucius, through who all other Vespians were to be born. Mikael's death was to serve as the center point of the Vespian calendar created by Lucius after the death, with 1 NE, or "New Era", denoting the year Mikael died. Mikael made it clear he did not want Lucius to have any children until after his death, so as to ensure that only Lucius would be the man to whom all future Vespians would look to as their leader and ancestor. In spite of his wishes, Lucius, following Mikael's death, made sure that he was buried in a grand mausoleum that was built one hundred years after his death. Mikael's body was placed inside of a cryo-tube aboard the ship he came to Vespia on, preserving his body until a devoted system within his mausoleum could be built in the future. The tomb would remain closed off to the public for centuries, until the technology within the mausoleum could be matched by that in general Vespian society.

Ancient history
Under Lucius, the Vespians began their development in an orderly manner, maintained just as Mikael had wished it to be. With the exception of the grandiose mausoleum built for Mikael, all else on Vespia remained primitive in comparison, with Vespians wondering what the tomb was for, but never venturing inside thanks to Lucius's warnings not too. Vespian cultural development progressed smoothly, with Lucius introducing cultural innovations that would become the norm of Vespian society in the modern day. The first and most important of these was the introduction of the household concept. Each household was to be made up of a father, his sons, and the daughters that the father and sons had altogether. A law dictating that no grandson within a household could have offspring of their own was created by Lucius in 43 NE, became a religiously enforced law, as it helped to control overpopulation in the eyes of the Vespians, as well as prevent conflict within a household over food and resources. Understanding that this law would restrict population growth in certain built-up areas of Vespia, Lucius created seven households from his own House Lucius, of which all Vespians were members. This decision would effectively divide the Vespian population into seven groups to be sent to seven parts of the globe.

The households Lucius created were each to be governed by one of his seven sons, known today as the Seven Forefathers, the number of sons Lucius had restrained himself to having. These households in order of creation were: House Nazarov, House O'Neill, House Veilleux, House Madora, House Morgan, House Archambeau, and House Kane. Each of the names came from a list Mikael had given Lucius prior to his death, each of the surnames having been important to him before his flight from his home galaxy. Lucius disestablished his own household in 48 NE, removing himself from the public eye not long after that, hoping that he would be better able to guide his children more successfully if he was not directly involved in the day-to-day affairs of running the government of Vespia. In allowing the houses to govern themselves, Lucius had ended the short-lived unity of the Vespians, though this would help to add energy to the development of Vespian culture and society without the artificial introduction of new ideas and concepts. However, true to his word decades prior, Lucius would make sure that Mikael's plans were carried out after his death, and that the Vespians would develop according to the blueprint given to Lucius.

Until then, Lucius was content to watch the growth of his offspring across the globe. The Nazarovs settled the vast, fertile plain regions of Vespia, while the O'Neills took to the central regions surrounded by the mountains of Vespia's planet-spanning continent. The Veilleux took to the far northwestern coastal regions, while the Morgans settled the northern, mineral-rich mountainous tundras close to Vespia's north pole. The Madoras claimed the underbelly of Vespia's continent to the east of the Nazarov lands, while the Archambeaus chose to settle the rocky and flood-prone lands just to the northeast of the Madoras. And finally, the Kanes settled the giant island to the direct east of the Archambeaus' holdings, away from the continent. The locations each of the seven households selected to serve as their homelands would serve to shape the culture of each, dictating how they would develop as a group within the same species. For the centuries to come, the events that took place on Vespia would set off that process of shaping the seven great houses into the nations they became as the Vespians know them in the modern day.

Caste system
The Vespians are organized into a strict caste system, which is organized in such a manner that all Vespians born throughout the Directorate are managed in accordance with their assigned caste, or in the case of womb-born individuals, their selected selected caste. There are currently six castes, these are the bureaucrats, clergy, intelligentsia, soldiery, artisans, and laborers. Members of the creche-born population are assigned to each caste according to the current needs of the species, while womb-born Vespians may serve in the caste of their choice following a series of stringent exams to determine whether or not they are qualified for the position they are applying for. Creche-born Vespians are bound to their caste for life, and only have the potential possibility of rising within the ranks of their caste if they have proven themselves capable of handling the responsibilities of that rank effectively and efficiently. The majority of Vespians are purposefully conceived with a sole purpose in life, and therefore never leave their assigned position.

All children born into a household creche are surveyed extensively by members of the intelligentsia caste assigned to the creche the Vespian offspring are located in. The scientists within the intelligentsia caste are responsible for logging all possible information on the children they are tasked with, and then preparing the reports that will govern to a large extent which sub-caste within the child's caste they will be assigned too. As time progresses, the child will come to fit the criteria of the sub-caste they have been assigned to as the creche scientists mold the child's physical and mental growth patterns to the needs of their caste. If, for example, the soldiery requires additional pilots, then the scientists will ensure that the children are given enhanced spacial awareness and rapid reaction capabilities, two vital traits for combat pilots. If the bureaucrat caste finds itself in need of additional members, then Vespians assigned to that caste in the creche will be modified to ensure that they possess the skills required of leaders and politicians.

Each caste is governed by members of that caste, and elected to the position by members of their respective castes to govern the internal affairs of their group. While they have no direct say in the out-workings of the Vespian government, the caste leaders can certainly sway the feelings and opinions of their fellow caste members. However, caste leaders have only ever been known to use this kind of influence when seeking better deals with their local government with regards to rations, supplies, and government funding for special public projects within their castes. The caste system is neither hereditary nor exclusive for womb-born Vespians. A member of one caste is free to marry a member of another caste, and membership into another caste is open at all times to those wishing to join, so long as the individual can qualify for the position, and the caste leaders grant permission for them to join the caste. Also, creche-born Vespians showing considerable talent required for another caste may be offered the opportunity to join if they too can qualify for the positions.

Religion
Though the Vespians don't look like it, they are in fact, a highly religious species with a strong belief in a divine entity. Mikael, unlike the majority of his scientific colleagues, had known very well the fact that humanity was an innately spiritual species, and that no matter how hard atheist elements with the race had tried to weaken or outright destroy religion, it always made a comeback, and always had a strong following. Rather than fight human nature, Mikael decided to embrace it fully, and pass those leanings down to the Vespians. A deeply religious man himself, Mikael succeeded in ingraining into the Vespians those strong spiritual and religious traits. However, he did not pass on his own religious beliefs to his children, instead wishing for them to find their own way as a spiritual people, and find the religious path that best suited them and their needs. What he didn't foresee was that he would become the center of new Vespian religion.

The Vespians idolization of the family unit extends to their creator Mikael, whom they rightly refer to as "Father of the Vespians". While the some of Vespians, generally the patriarchs, regard their father as a simple mortal man who created them through scientific means, the majority of Vespians, ranging from womb-born to creche-born Vespians, consider Mikael a newborn god who had been guided by the superior Unknown Creator, the unknown creator of the universe, to create their species. A cult of personality came to surround the man, with images of him found in every residence, government building, business center, and place of worship. Vespians who go into combat routinely place photos and drawings of their father in their pockets, helmets, shoes, and mouths, and many more Vespians keep shrines devoted to him in their homes and dormitories. Voidships all possess a shrine on-board, located in the most secure part of the ship.

Family and marriage
Family is the most important thing to a Vespian outside of their service to the state, and all are grouped into familial polities known as households. All Vespians are the biological offspring of their creator, and share his traits and personality as well as all of his genetic information. Since the Vespians reproduce in a manner that results in millions of Vespians being born to a single parent at a time, as well as their limited form of shared consciousness, the Vespians regard each other as literal brothers and sisters regardless of who their father is. Many Vespians refer to their species as the "Children of Mikael" or "the Family", and refer to each other as "brother" or "sister", with the exception of elder men with children whom they always refer to as "father". Often when speaking to members of other households, the term "cousin" and "uncle" may also be used. The strict patriarchal political system which governs their society has not changed since their creation, and the Vespians are extremely protective of their family members to the point of personal sacrifice.

Marriage for the Vespians is radically different from that practiced by humanity. Whereas most humans marry out of love for each other and to build families together, marriage in Vespian society is largely about convenience and a series of contractual obligations levied upon the the man and his female partners, ranging from everything to housekeeping, secretarial work, and even bodyguard duties. Often, when a man wishes to raise a family with his own personal involvement, rather than sending all of his fertilized eggs off to a creche for them to be raised in the caste system, he may call upon the services of a female Vespian, typically his own sister or a woman deemed suitable in his eyes, to carry some of his eggs, protecting them until it comes time to lay them for further growth. Depending on the nuances of the marriage contract, the wife may or may not be paid by the husband, or may have residency, in which she lives with her husband and his children, and serves as something of akin to a mother in the nearest human sense.

Morals and taboos
Though the Vespians appear similar to humans in a physical sense, but in a moral sense, they are absolutely alien. What humans would have considered universally condemn as immoral, would be regarded as perfectly acceptable by the Vespians, and to such an extent that many humans would perhaps view the Vespians incorrigibly corrupt. While the practical/impractical morality varies from Vespian to Vespian, as a species, the Vespians adhere to a religious code drawn up by their father for the entire species, operating on what he deemed to be practical, rather than what his society at the time deemed to be right and wrong based on their cultural norms of those times. Murder is classified as impractical, as it robs society of valuable manpower and experience, but practical in some cases where the group or individual endangers or weakens the majority. Because of this erratic sense of practicality and rationality, the Vespians are incredibly difficult to work with, as their moral compass is always in flux, making it nearly impossible to strike a deal with them that they would deem "rational" from their point of view. This has long made it incredibly easy for the Vespians to engage in countless atrocities and actions that most humans would have deemed absolutely horrific, such as rape, torture, and pedophilia.

For the Vespians, as a species, sex and reproduction are two entirely separate concepts, with no bearing on the other outside of marriage contracts. Reproduction is solely in the domain of the men, who can reproduce individually asexually, without the need for sexual intercourse. However, the Vespians understand the concept of love and courtship, the manner of their reproductive process and familial structure have made romantic relationships an unknown concept within the species. The Vespians have a more casual approach to sexual relationships. Most other species would regard sexual intimacy as an indicator of a deep relationship between two people, while the Vespians simply regard it as a part of family and friendship. Siblings and friends would perform sexual acts as a sign of their relationship, especially for members within the same creche or cadre, as a regular part of their life, thus making the concept of fidelity generally unknown to the Vespians, unless contractually obliged to do so in a marital contract. Vespian sexuality is such, that the concept of marriage for the sake of love and romantic partnership is unknown to the species. Vespians marry solely for legal and economic reasons, such as a father wishing to see his eggs mature in a safe and mobile environment, marrying a woman for a specified amount of time to carry his eggs for him, repaying her for her services with either monetary compensation, residency, or sexual favors, all outlined within the marriage contract.

However, marriage is not a requirement one seeking sexual gratification or prolonged partnership, but more of a legal statement of one's obligations within said partnership. The contract simply ensures that both parties know their roles and responsibilities, and offers legal protections. Men can have as many women as they wish to have under their direct headship, and can be very territorial as well. A man need only tell a woman he wishes to have her, and she will accept. Many men, especially the wealthy, have harems, and often build harem blocks into their residencies to accommodate their wives. For women, it is common for them to partner up with fellow women given the lack of men in their species. Bisexuality is the biologically natural course of behavior for females, though it is well known that men take precedence as the preferred partners for women given the great prestige that one could draw from their relationship. Because of this, many women are known to fight and kill one another for that privilege, driving up the crime rate throughout Vespia. In spite of their sexual behavior, homosexuality remains totally condemned by the Vespians. Only among men is this behavior unacceptable, however, the reason lesbianism remains allowed has to do with the sexual organs available to females as opposed to the males, allowing them to physically and naturally engage in sexual intercourse, and to fulfill their biological needs rather than romantic desires.

When combining Vespian honesty with Vespian promiscuity, the resulting effect is rather interesting. The Vespians do not bother with the process of courtship as a function of choosing a sexual partner. For them, one need only ask for sex to get it, Vespians seeking a change in pace may go the romantic route. In Vespian society, all Vespians within a household are literal brothers and sisters, while those outside of the household are cousins and extended family members. Incest has never been condemned by the Vespians for various reasons, most notably the manner of genetics and reproduction within the species. Also, the concept of strangers does not exist for the Vespians, meaning that one can speak to any other Vespian with complete openness, and ask for anything, including sexual intercourse, as easily as they would the time of day. As such, the Vespians think absolutely nothing of unisex showers, bedrooms, and undressing in front others, including those of the opposite gender and differing ages. Modesty is non-existent within Vespian civilization, and privacy remains a vague concept reserved for those within the clergy. If one Vespian were to walk into a room as another Vespian was undressing or taking a shower, they would begin talking and going about his or her business as if the event had never happened at all.