Katon'Mon'Za
Taken directly from
the book "Your First Steps" by Athlon M. Topia II
The single most
powerful race of beings in the Patrolled Sectors, and probably the
galaxy. The Mon'Za have made their presence known in our little part of
the 'verse for the last five years in a big way. When they first
arrived they didn't communicate with anyone for the first two years.
Drifting from place to place in their five mile long, one mile diameter
cylinder shaped "Black Ship" as they call them. Everyone tried to
communicate in one form or another but they just didn't respond. They
seemed to go everywhere, even secure areas with known bug infestations.
They could be on one side of the PS one moment, then on the other side
within a seconds time. They traveled deep into Cerian territory and
that riled up the Cerians, after thousands of terraquads of energy
blasts against the hull of the Mon'Za ship, there wasn't even a
scratch. Strangely enough, the Mon'Za never fired back once.
I don't know a lot
about the race to comment with any authority. I'll tell what I do know
based on the few first hand accounts I have, and the many second hand
stories I've been told. I do have one source of seemingly reliable
information, I've got one reader who claims to be a Mon'Za, but only
talks about certain things and never answers my questions. Although
judging by how his/her messages are worded, and the ego behind the
words I'm pretty sure it is in fact, a Mon'Za.
The Mon'Za are
actually three subspecies of one race. Collectively they are called
"Katon' Mon'Za" from the translations I've been given. I've also been
told they're not a naturally evolved race. Several hundred millenia ago
they were created for some purpose. Due to some genetic abnormality
they have extremely few male births which has gotten worse and worse
over the last few generations. For this particular Blackship, it's a
severe problem. Females outnumber the males 700:1. I've been told there
are currently fifty Blackships floating around in the 'verse. Twenty of
them are dead either due to mass suicides, or lack of male births and
the populations just died out. Because of the nature of how the
Blackships are designed and built, it's unlikely that the ships will
ever be used again as it will be all but impossible to get inside one,
and they're unlikely to ever be destroyed. They'll just be huge
monoliths and eternal graves that float through the 'verse and cause
future generations of beings distress, awe, and curiousity as to what
they are.
The different Mon'Za
Visions can interbreed with each other, but they are limited to the
children they bare. Vision "Mind" can only bare other "Mind", and
"Body". "Body can only have "Body", while the "Soul" can bare all
three. That could get confusing.
Vision 1 "Mind"
The leadership of the
Mon'Za people. They comprise about 5% of the entire Mon'Za population,
but hold 100% of the power. They are held in the highest regard, all
other Mon'Za believe that a "Mind" can do no wrong. "Mind" are all
quadraped felines, and in the entire history of the Mon'Za there has
only ever been two male "Mind". Naturally psionic, and unable to speak
any recognizable language they communicate with a combination of
empathy, telepathy, and various grunts and growls. They also don't use
any sorts of armor or tools. If it requires hands, they've got no use
for it. Fur colors vary very little between them, ranging from black,
yellow, or a mottled combination of the two.
(there have been so few males throughout history that we'll only list
averages for the female "Mind")
Length 8ft (from tip of nose, to tip of tail)
4 ft/GS at shoulders
350 lbs/GS
Vision 2 "Body"
If you could compare
the Mon'Za to anything recognizable to common peoples of the Patrolled
Sectors, they'd most likely be comparable to a colony of ants, but with
free will. "Mind" are the queens, while the "Body" are the drones. If
it gets fixed, cleaned, built, or moved it's because a "Body" did it.
They are the backbone of the Mon'Za people, also the most numerous
coming in at about 75% of the total population. Naturally skilled
crafters, they love to build. They've adopted many of the crafting
techniques used by the other races of the 'verse, and made it their
own. They've got a knack for function, but not much for design.
Everything they make is designed to function the right way, the first
time. Problem is, it's not always pretty. Their ships designs are
usually cubes or sperical in shape, there weapons are clunky, clothes
gaudy. To a Mon'Za though, appearance is a moot point, function is all
that matters. They're also indignant and haughty believing theirselves
to be superior over all else except Mon'Za. They refuse to deal with
anyone unless they prove themselves worthy, or bribe them. They are
packrats to the extreme as well. They see something they like, you WILL
sell it to them, or you'll find it missing the next day anyway.
"Body" are a bipedal
people, they stand semi upright on digitgrade legs, their faces are
partially humanoind but still have a feline muzzle. They have long
tails which they actively use as an extra appendage and very sharp
eyes. Fur color ranges every color imaginable, rarely do you see a
"Body" with it's natural fur color. They tend to dress flamboyantly
outside of their homes, and wear very little in their homes.
Males
6 ft/GS
160 lbs/GS
Female
5.5 ft/GS
150 lbs/GS
Vision 3 "Soul"
The "Soul" are the
soldiers for the Mon'Za, filling in the rest of the ranks at 20% of the
population. They are the most humanoid looking of the Mon'Za standing
completely upright with fully humanoind faces. They still have fully
feline teeth, fur on most of their body, and tails. Ears are sometimes
humanoind, sometimes feline. The only parts of their body that isn't
covered by a fine fur is a small patch on their stomachs, which here
recently has become a fashion statement to show bare. To a Mon'Za that
is very "risque'" and racey, even though the rest of us don't think
much of it. "Soul" are supremely strong and agile, there is no other
being in the 'verse that can stand toe to toe with one and come out on
top in a one on one. I've seen a "Soul" life a small cargo ship off
some trapped dock workers when they landing gear collapsed. However,
despite their abilities, they're very child like. Afterwards the poor
thing ran around in circles crying because he tore a muscle. It
literally took bribing him with a huge box of goodies to get him to
calm down enough for a doc to examine him.
"Soul" are also
rather lazy, I've been told that they spend the majority of their lives
sleeping or playing with other "Soul". Not to belittle their abilities,
because a "Soul"'s version of play is extremely rough and usually
involves picking up large objects and swinging it really hard at
another Soul. They have no other responsibilities among the Mon'Za,
other than to fight and protect, and that is what they do best. They're
incapable of learning any other language other than their own.
Partially because they don't have the capabilities of producing some of
the sounds necessary for Galactic Common, but they are tele-empathic so
they can more or less get across what it is they want if you pay
attention to them.
Now above I mentioned
the Mon'Za that lifted a ship, that's one of two first hand contacts
I've had with a Mon'Za, both of them were "Soul". The second one was a
female walking through a human bazaar on Theosis. She recognized me (I
think) and came over and started jabbering on like we were long lost
best friends. She went on for about five minutes before she realized I
had no idea what she was saying. I apologized and offered her some
candy, I didn't know what else to say or do. She hugged me tightly,
lifting me off my feet. The walked off. No clue what it was about. I
have noticed however that when Mon'Za greet their few Human friends and
allies, it's always with a strong embrace.
One last thing which
has made me feel horrible since I watched this. I saw a video clip of
some pirates who had coerced a "Soul" into a trap. Basically it was
like offering candy to a kid. In the video there were probably 100
'rats of different races armed to the teeth. They all open fired on
her. Her muscle mass was so dense that most of the projectiles
literally bounced off her. The energy weapons scorched and burned her,
but in a split second she went into war mode and dropped all but five
of the 'rats before she was finally killed. From the time the shooting
started, to the time she finally died, was about 6 seconds. Six seconds
ONE "Soul" destroyed 95 fully armed 'rats. Such a sad waste of life, my
only regret is she didn't kill all of them. Since seeing the video I
managed to kill one of the surviving 'rats if it's any consolation to
any Mon'Za that might be reading this. If you happen to be one of those
surviving 'rats and you're reading this, you better hope the Mon'Za get
to you before me.
Male
10 ft/GS
500 lbs/GS
Female
8 ft/GS
400 lbs/GS
Feel free to embelish the following
information. As I've done with other pages, I'm just going to list
facts about the race.
The Mon'Za travel the 'verse in what they call a "Blackship". It's
several miles long and shaped like a cylinder with flat edges on each
end, no appearant propulsion system, and the hull is perfectly smooth
and black.
Mon'Za "Body" are very selfish and self-absorbed. So much so that they
won't use equipment made by anyone but theirselves, or friends that
they trust absolutely.
Despite their general attitudes, once you gain the friendship of a
"Body" they are life long and loyal friends. They can be counted on for
anything.
Mon'Za of all types enjoy gifts, both giving and receiving. "Mind"
enjoy shiny baubles, preferably small items that they can hoard away.
"Body" like gadgets, they have a fondness for music boxes, old style
clockwork clocks, preferably mechanical items that can be taken apart
or having moving parts that can be seen. "Soul" like food, give them a
chocolate bar and you've got a friend for life. There's a GCvid of a
Human waving what looks like a piece of candy in front of a Soul, the
Soul is transfixed like hypnotized by the treat following its every
move, and the Soul is drooling and shaking, looks like she is ready to
take the treat and the hand that's holding it in one bite. When she
finally gets the treat she nibbles it like it's such a precious piece
of life.
Mon'Za technology is far superior to any other tech in the PS, but they
rarely use their tech outside of the Blackship. Tech they use they
acquire elsewhere, or is made by a sister.
All Mon'Za consider themselves blood relation. Minds are almost always
addressed as a "Mother", all the rest are generally called "Sisters".
There are many prefixes, such as High, or Grand as well.
The Mon'Za have no religion, and have stated that after floating
through space for the last 50,000 years and seeing the things they've
seen, there are no gods. They do however revere the eldest of their
Mothers as if they were deities. Wisdom holds a lot of weight with a
Mon'Za.
There is no such thing as privacy on the Blackship. A being that is
lucky/unlucky enough to board it will find themselves bombarded with
images, feelings, thoughts and emotions of every being on board. Most
aliens pass out within seconds.
Guests on a Blackship are left to freely roam as they see fit. There is
no "off limits" section on their ship. A being is also allowed access
to their computers, HOWEVER, their history past 100 years is off-limits
as is accessing data on their technology.
Their are several thousand more Mon'Za of various types in cryo-sleep,
and millions in genetic stasis ready to be force grown as needed.
A Mon'Za can go from soup to full grown and ready for action in a week.
Their pschic abilities allow for a Mon'Za to wake up fully trained and
educated.
The largest interior location of the Blackship is a park area. It takes
up at least 30% of the interior of the ship. It's where most Mon'Za
"live". They have massive gardens that keep them fed, and they eat and
sleep in these gardens. The sky is simulated, the earth/dirt under a
beings feet is real, the creeks are real, the small lake is real with
real fish. The entire area is designed to recycle and maintain the
entire ships life support system.
Mon'Za wear next to nothing on the Blackship, they only cover
themselves off the ship because they think the other races don't
deserve to look at them.
Body tend to wear what most folks would consider casual work wear. Soul
tend to wear lightweight wraps that cover everything up to their faces.
Then tend to cover their faces, especially if they leave their bare
stomachs exposed. Mind are nude always, gaze at their magnificence, you
are unworthy.
You must resist the urge to pet a Mind while onboard the Blackship.
(Although if nobody is looking there's a good chance they'll let you
give'm a good ear scratching.)
Mon'Za ARE feline, and one constant across all feline species across
the 'verse, they're flakey.
Mon'Za Souls are unable to speak other races languages, partly because
they don't have the parts necessary. They can eventually learn to mouth
words, but it's extremely difficult. It leads me to believe that the
speech center of their brain might not have developed.
More and more "Minds" have started adventuring careers much to the
chagrain of their subordinates. There is even one that has become a
rather good starship pilot. Her ship however has had some very
expensive modifications made and she pilots it while suspended in a
gelatinous soup that senses her movements and translates those into
ship movements. She was a good pilot before the mods using nothing but
her tk skills, now she could probably out fly a Bentrine.