The evolution of the Torians

Or how the Torians came to be- a complementary origin story

from GalCiv3 Forums

Ok, you all probably know that my favourite thing to do is to think up stories about our favourite races in Galciv. I like in particular to create origin, or evolutionary stories for them. I hope Frogboy won't think that I am trying to usurp his posts and I'm not really trying to. This is just my take on things, to let discussion flow and anyhow, have some fun :) If you guys don't like it, just tell me and I'll stop. If you do like it I'll go ahead and write some more.

So, this is the first part of the evolution of the Torians.

The story of the Torian evolution is interesting, and it isn't a coincidence that they were enslaved by the Drengin…

When the Telenanth exploded into myriads of shards, one of them, touched by the evil Draginol, spawned the red star of the Drengin, and we know how this worked out.

Another shard on the opposite side of the Drengin one went into a similar direction. This shard was slightly bigger and it ended up in an empty sector of space where it started attracting dust clouds. The shard however split into two smaller pieces. When this happened, the dust clouds coalesced and collapsed to form a yellow star. The Drengin didn’t know it, but this was the star they were bound to visit sooner or later to enslave the Torians.

Life evolved on the fourth planet of the system. Toria, as it came to be called, was covered with water except for medium sized continent. The oceans were deep and sparkled under the yellow sun. Life quickly grew and evolved in the absence of predator.  All animals were herbivores except one parasitic species which slowly evolved towards intelligence.

Its way of life was simple. It attached onto other organisms and burrowed under their skin. There it leeched some nutrients and while it didn’t outright kill the host, it was sufficiently disadvantaged to reduce its chances of survival. The parasite however reproduced rapidly, until of course the host died. Over the millennia the parasite evolved and grew more complicated means of attachment to its hosts. Some of them developed means to neurally attach to its host and start controlling it. These became dominant and eventually became the only ones alive.

Their lives however felt empty. They had evolved enough sentience to realise what they were doing, and even if they could justify it as their way of life with no other means of survival, they felt that something was wrong. This gave rise to their religion, that the Great Being of Understanding would deliver them from this life. They only had a vague idea how this would work, but a saviour species was the main tenet. Now if this meant the parasites destruction, they had no idea, but this at least gave them some peace of mind.

 It was at this moment that they met another species in the oceans of Toria. This species was evolving differently, but of course the parasites didn’t know this. The newly discovered species  was a capable swimmer, living their lives in the oceans, but coming out of the water to reproduce. When the first parasite attached itself to the new host, the heavens opened as it thought it heard or maybe felt a gentle voice:

“Hello”

 ...

 

32,222 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

(The second part is, of course, better ;) )

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I would like to see a scenario about how the dread lords captured a bunch of Home heildebergs and took them to Altaria. After your done with the species on the game I would like to hear more about other species for the game too. I think it was cool how you turned the Torians into the Trill from Startrek. Looking forward to more. This is good.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

No, the Torians are nothing like the Trill. You will see why in the second part.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I read some of your fanfic in another thread and now here...

Not bad... not bad at all *raises bottom lip over top lip and nods head*

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hah, thanks ;)

So here is the second part:

===

The parasite was almost immediately at ease. It recognised the voice from somewhere. It seemed like it always knew it. Was this the saviour species? It was more than that in the mind of the parasite. This was the Great Being of Understanding itself.

 The parasites came to understand that they weren’t the only sentient species on the planet. The new species were sentient and in a different way to themselves. They had one common feature though. Their lives were empty as well, and they called this the Great Desolation. They didn’t know what they were searching, but it drove them around the planet looking for what was missing in their minds and their souls. From the beginning of their evolution they were nomads, always looking, always searching, but even they didn’t know what it was they were looking for. The Great Desolation was their way of life and thinking that every creature felt this way, they talked, in vain, to every living creature they encountered. At some point they thought that this might be because they were born on the land and had to move back to the water, but over three generations they had experimented with parents being there at the moment of hatching the Desolation was still there.

In a flash of mutual understanding and without knowing exactly why, both species came to realise that they were each other’s anwer. The aquatic species always felt alone in its own body, in its own brain, but with the company of the parasite they would forever be in contact. The Great Desolation would vanish. The parasite felt that the other species welcomed it in its body and was waiting for it its whole life. It didn’t feel like it was invading. In fact, it felt that this was its home, opening its doors wide open for it. It didn’t have to prod and control. There was a space just for it. There was cooperation at the neural level and both species didn’t have to force it. The Great Being of Understanding finally erased its Great Desolation.

From then on, every parasite found another member of the aquatic species and they joined together. Their evolution was now intertwined and over the passage of the centuries and the millennia the coevolved into the Torians in a form which the humans would call symbiosis. The Torians call it the Understanding as for them it is more than symbiosis. Even if it was possible for their bodies to live without each other, their minds would wither without each other. Forever they are discussing the secrets of the universe and forever they are trying to get closer to each other.

The Torians engage in advanced philosophy so often that they have neglected technological advances. Cultural enlightenment is far more important. In fact, they have developed their healing pools to help support their bodies as they go for days without any food while they are in their Deep-level Trances internally in deep communication with each other. Nobody may or even can interrupt them, while in this state. When their trance is finished they move to the Tides of Cleansing where they will wash themselves to get ritually clean any thought that might prevent them from reaching galactic understanding.

It is said the Torians, while their two parts are trying to reach closer to each other, are unlocking the secrets to near omniscience, going back to the past when they were one, in that one shard that came from the Telenanth. The day when they manage to be in perfect union will be the day they shed their mortal skin and become beings of pure energy, finally revelling in their reunion with themselves. On that day, they will be able to say:

 “Together, We are the Torians.”

 

===

A small third part awaits.

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I would like to hear more of these. For later on I would like to see a back story on how the Altarians and the humans are the same species. The only way I can figure that is that the dread lords captured a bunch of humanoids a long time ago on earth a long time ago and brought them to Altaria.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Actually it was explained in the lore that Draginol was present on primordial Altaria and his presence caused the evolution of the Altarians, who took on a similar form to himself, this is also why the Anor/Dread Lords look similar to humans and probably why humanoid life is far more common than other forms in the galaxy.

It was stated that hair, for instance, spontaneously evolved - no other species on Altaria has hair. So whilst the Alatarians are physically (and genetically?) close to Humanity, they are in fact a separate species whose evolutionary path converged with Humanity due to the presence of the Dark Mithrilar.

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I'm probably not going to write about Altarians or humans as Brad has covered it already anyway!

 

But here's the final, small, concluding part:

==

The Torians, never thinking that other races would be evil, never set up any defences and would always accept other species with trust.

Their neighbours the Drengin were of course the polar opposite as they would soon find out. The Torians were able to survive the Drengin occupation and slavery only because of the partnership of their two parts. This allowed them to withstand the pain and adapt as they supported each other internally. Any other species would probably crack under the whip of the Drengin.

The Drengin on the other hand took delight in their torture of the Torians. While they didn’t have any way to know, the reason for their attraction to Toria was that the soul energy coming from the Torians was of course almost double due to their dual nature. The Torians never let other species find out about this. In the beginning they assumed that all sentient being would be like this, as how else would perfect sentience develop if not from cooperation and discussion?

After the Drengin however, and all the suffering, they discovered they were unique in this and would find it difficult to trust other civilizations.

==

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Great I look forward to hearing this.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting admiralWillyWilber, reply 9

Great I look forward to hearing this.
End of admiralWillyWilber's quote

Hearing what? I'm confused. I've posted it already.