Biology & Society
Clan Angara's agri-freighter AVS Persephone (Elite:Dangerous)
It is no easy task to feed an interstellar empire. Every world produces enough food to sustain itself; however, it is the breadbasket world Murgori, held by Clan Angara, which produces and exports the most food to the rest of the Zaalan colonies.
Zaalan space structures and outposts make heavy use of hydroponics. Even small settlements need some measure of self-sustainance, at least until proper food is imported. Agro-ships that trade between the major colonies are as large as the first proper colony arks, and their environments simulate a range of ecosystems. This allows for fresher food to those colonies that do not produce enough, and a wider range of nutrients and foodstuffs. Many crops have been extensively genetically engineered in order to fit their new environments and for increased productivity. "Gene crops" are common-place, along with augmented livestock. However, some clan-states do not eat organic meat; indeed, synthetic meat can be created and replicated on a small-scale level, and some cities ban "real meat" outright. |
A highly powerful psi-electric field.
To followers of the One Way, psionic technology is a self-evidence. To many others in Zaalan space, it is the stuff of superstition and caution, and many psionics have been killed or pacified "for their own sake" in ages past. Psionics is the result of too much exposure to nullfields - a process known as Torching, which remains poorly understood to this day, but involves raw Amberdust forcing a symbiotic relationship within the brains of unborn children, and is far more common in "space babies" and spacer communities.
Psitech is especially sought after by the clan-states' military forces for its formidable uses. The Sisters of the Ward are a psionic order that have specialized in generating formidable mini-nullfields with their minds, whereas the House of Tides employs Prescriptors and Scryers as "spellcasters". Psi troops might also soon become a genuine thing - though there has been some resistance to this idea amongst the many clans. Psi emitters are the most ubiquitous piece of psitech, and are more and more present in a wide variety of industries. It seems that psitech, once shunned and feared, is now set to start a new industrial revolution in the Zaalan tribes. |
Gene sequencing and selected lineages are a part of Zaalan life. (Stellaris)
Technology has opened up a can of worm. Eugenics have been a topic of debate for time immemorial : while traditionalist warlords insist that only the strongest lineages should be allowed to endure, others will instead curate exotic genomes for various niche purposes. While genetic research on Zaalans is mostly banned (though not on xenos...), there are many research facilities out there in the dark that experiment on genomes.
Healthcare benefits from such research, of course. With several destructive diseases eradicated in the womb, bred out of the Zaalan gene pool or merely far more easily overcome, Zaalan life expectancy has shot through the room, while cancers have become the #1 cause of natural mortality. Gene banks have offset this trend only somewhat, yet genetic healing is more and more common, if of little short-term use on the bloody battlefields beyond the Vigils, where Zaalan troops die to defend the homespace. Gene tailoring is very common, and has allowed colonists on dreary worlds to augment themselves. With this newfound branch of medicine also comes the real and imminent possibility of clone armies. Officially, the idea insults the very fabric of life. However, small-scale testing programs such as those run on the remote starbase at Sapphii IV has demonstrated the possibility of creating Zaalan clones, and there are voices that claim that a cloned and nerve-stapled army would be able to swarm xeno worlds and defend Zaalan space more loyally and expendably - after all, planetary invasions are a daunting task that has only been attempted twice - once on a rebel Zaalan world - and would be made easier with the widespread use of expendable soldiers and automated drones. |
It has been speculated that Seyama II is theresult of failed terraforming. (Endless Space 2)
Zaalan people are hardy and hard-working, and not every single one of their worlds has been hospitable. From the allergens naturally present on Murgori (and which require visitors to absorb copious amounts of antihistamines) to the narrow habitable band of Novr'i, many colonists have had to adapt their environment to their bodies.
Technologies deployed by the Zaalans include sophisticated ecology management strategies and climate control networks - including on the homeworld Delkhi'i. Soil remediation procedures have been used to reclaim land and make soils fertile, and some planets, such as Novri are beginning to explore and exploit subterranean chasms in order to increase habitable and usable area on some smaller worlds. Atmofilters are also routinely used with the possible outcome of being able to adapt entire ecologies to become more bearable on their colonists. However, Zaalans have not yet been able to master the art of genuinely terraforming a narrowly habitable planet into a genuinely thriving and fertile world. Difficulties include the hard facts that many planets have developed the way they have through millions of years of inertia and unchangeable orbital characteristics. At such, control networks alone cannot hope to change a planet's ecology and climate. Eco-integrated studies aim to bridge that gap, and several planets have been ear-marked for testing experimental terraforming strategies and soil enrichment technologies. Y'riam II, which possess a sentient, pre-Warp civilization, could become the next playground for would-be terrestrial sculptors - but very few, even amongst the most warlike Zaalan clans, can justify the uprooting of an entire species for an unproven and most likely futile attempt at playing god. |