Elowae

The Designated Photosynthetics, or Vivosilva sentiens, who call themselves the Elowae, are the plantlike sentient residents of E'loi, a living planet and powerful psychic being. In their native tongue, Elowae means "People of the Root," and "E'loi" means "Root." They consider themselves wholly a part of their natural environment, and they have a heightened appreciation for nature and natural harmony.

Biology and Physiology
The Elowae are both quadrupedal and bipedal, as they are able to walk just their hindlegs, utilizing their forelegs as arms, or on both pairs of legs. They stand at about 8-10 feet tall when on two feet.



They evolved at the ground level of a kilometers-tall global forest, making it nearly impossible for them to ever have contact w ith sunlight. For this reason, like many plants on E’loi, the Elowae are omnivorous, consuming other plants, animals, and fungus, some of which are also mobile, for sustenance. Also, because of this, the Elowae are blind, and must rely on their senses of hearing, smell, and their ability to feel the tiniest vibrations via microscopic fibers on their bodies. The Elowae can survive on photosynthesis alone, however; it is just less healthy for  t hem to do so. They have evolved to the point where they require a more diverse diet, and, while photosynthesis is enough to live off of, it is comparable to an unhealthy diet in animal terms. Likewise, excessive exposure to sunlight causes abnormal dilation of the flower-like constructs on their forelegs, which function as their sexual organs. They can rotate their head 360 degrees along its horizontal axis. Furthermore, t he Elowae are equipped with several natural weapons on their bodies, including tendrils, which can grasp, and an extended tendril-like protrusion stored in the maw that lashes out, punctures other living beings, and drains them of water and other nutrients,  desiccating them and causing rapid  death.

The Elowae have a long lifespan, with most living well into their 300th or even 400th year. The Elowae are also hermaphroditic. All Elowae are capable of pollinating each other, as well as being pollinated by each other. They do, however, require a partner for reproduction.

History
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Culture
The Elowae have a druidic culture and are a mostly peaceful race. However, the Elowae are quite capable of defending themselves and even invading others. They believe strongly in galactic harmony, and can mobilize quite easily into a state of warfare should they feel it is in danger. They generally try to expand into uninhabited sectors, terraforming planets into Weald Worlds, planets that resemble their homeworld, covered with unimaginably dense forests all year long. The terraforming process is violent and rapid, with the introduction of fast-growing, fast-adapting weeds that pump the necessary compounds into the atmosphere to facilitate the growth of massive, much more complex plants. These weeds are really nanoforges (see below). The Elowae have been known to use this process of violent terraformation when invading other planets, as such a rapid and radical technique is virtually undefeatable.

 Elowaen cities have a very unique structure. They construct massive treetop metropolises, using nothing but organic materials and organic technology. These cities are place in, around, and atop giant trees, some of which are migratory. Generally, one can discern the social status of an Elowaen from how high up in these treetop cities they live. If one lives lower, they are higher class, with the highest class, the priests, sometimes choosing to live in the hollow tunnels beneath the surface of the planet, never being exposed to sunlight. The reasoning for this is that the lower class Elowae choose to live near the canopy of the forest, as sunlight is a free and easy source of food. And, as the lower class moved up, the upper class moved down, causing this ironic phenomenon.

 There are also what are known as Elowaen Migratory Habitations, which are chains of large asteroids tethered together and terraformed to be habitable, with the help of the nanoforge technology.

Religion
The Elowae have somewhat of a techno-druidic religion. They revere and worship their living planet, E’loi, as well as nature and harmony. The techno aspect comes in when one realizes that they can literally communicate with those things—their god and nature—via the electrosynthetic cellular computers that constitute the consciousness of their homeworld. For this reason, the Elowae that live on the homeworld are always connected with their god, and those who talk to it—the priests, called druids—act as leaders, guiding the Elowae in accordance with the desires of their god. Their god, as a living planet, is a powerfully psychic being, whose consciousness is ancient and mystic, and who desires natural harmony above all else, although it demands the extermination of all that would hurt it or the natural harmony of the universe. And the Ceti would certainly do those things.

The Elowae all worship E’loi in their own way. There are no organized collectives that promote worship in one particular way. Rather, each Elowaen acolyte is given the freedom to express their reverence however they desire. Although it is common for rituals to be passed down within families.

Economy
The Elowaen economy is based primarily in agriculture. They produce the most food in the entire galaxy, thanks to the fertility of their homeworld and all of their Weald Worlds, which they sell to various other races and planets in need of foodstuffs.

Technology
The Elowae relied exclusively on organic technology during their ascent to the stars, whereupon they encountered races who utilized nonorganic tech. To this day, many Elowae continue to use purely organic technology, but there are those who have converted over to the use of nonorganic machines and devices, as they are typically much more efficient. The farther an Elowae ventures from the homeworld, the weaker its connection with it becomes, thus increasing the odds of that particular individual embracing nonorganic technology and abandoning its traditional Elowaen lifestyle.

Much of the Elowae's organic technology incorporates bioluminescent algae cells to produce unique and often threatening lighting. They rely on these algae to light the dark underworld of E'loi, and to give starships, weapons, and armor a unique look.

Nanoforge Technology
The nanoforges are constructs built by the Athos for the process of violent and rapid terraformation, wherein the nanoforges dissolve themselves and disperse themselves into the air, creating an atmosphere that soon grows thick with the necessary elements and compounds to facilitate the growth of Elowaen flora. This process allows small plants to grow within hours, thus pumping more nutrients into the environment and fostering the growth of the massive plantlife that E'loi is known for. The Elowae can terraform a completely lifeless planet, with the help of nanoforge tech, over the course of about five years, though for planets that already have life of some kind, that process can be quickened, sometimes to as little as 100 days. This process is utilized by the Elowae in battle whenever they must quarrel with another racee, as the rapid pace of the terraformation process can leave their enemies unable to defend themselves while simultaneously coping with a violent environmental and climatic shift.

Though it was left behind by the Athos, the Elowae have reverse engineered the nanoforge technology, thus allowing them to recreate it at their leisure. This is what has allowed them to spread amongst the stars and become a powerful force on the galactic scene.

Starships and Weaponry
The Elowae also rely almost entirely on organic technology. Their spaceships are propelled with the assistance of billions of plants that shoot a dangerous chemical spray at a high enough velocity to push their ships. Elowaen ships are massive but lightweight, as most of the space must be reserved for facilities to care for the propulsion plants, and, the ships must be lightweight to allow this process to work at all. And, of course, this chemical push is only enough for the ship to reach its maximum velocity and for turning; at all other times, it merely glides through space. Still, this form of space travel tends to be the slowest in the galaxy. Elowaen ships are built upon asteroids, reinforced with incredibly durable ancient treehides and sealed with a sap produced by various trees on their homeworld. Atmosphere within the starship is generated with the help of ancient nanoforge technology.

Elowaen ships also feature biological weaponry, in the form of massive electrochemical seeds launched out of carved tubes. The seeds are fired at an incredible velocity and puncture enemy vessels, drawing electrical energy from the damaged shielding, causing them to grow rapidly, ripping more holes in the hull and draining the shields further. Most Elowaen weaponry relies on these electrosynthetic seeds, as Elowaen guns are launched out of a predatory plant, integrated with organic computational cells and a hard exoskeleton, that shoots its seeds at living creatures to rip a hole in them from which the seed can draw nutrients and grow. In this sense, a shot from an Elowaen root rifle will start the process of corporeal forestation, wherein the body becomes a tangled garden of dark vines, roots, and bloody flowers. The victim of such a shot usually doesn’t die until the process of forestation is well under way, and they feel everything as they are drained of nutrients to feed the vampiric growth. The ammunition, seeds, is fired at a high velocity, and has evolved to be incredibly deadly in its shape, only furthering the anguish felt by victims of these deadly biological weapons.

Computers
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica;background-position:initialinitial;background-repeat:initialinitial;">All galactic civilizations need computers, and the Elowae have found the perfect solution, again, in biology. Deep within the tunnels of E’loi, their living homeworld, there are electrically-charged crystals, which in turn allow for electrosynthetic plants to receive the energy they need to survive. This produces towering forests beneath the surface, and the cave walls and ceilings are lined with thick electrosynthetic cellular cultures. These massive cultures—or, rather, culture—act as a biological computer, as well as the consciousness of the planet itself. The Elowae have since figured out how to manipulate these cell cultures to perform computations of their own, and they have integrated them into all of their technology, to the same extent that other races would integrate nonorganic computers, so they have better control of everything. The Elowae grow their own cultures on special farms, however, for they dislike taking cultures directly from the planet unless they need to, as these cells are their main method of communication with their god.

Governmental Structure
The modern Elowean government is a theocracy, due to the fact that they can communicate, quite literally, with their god. They have a strict caste system that is adhered to at all times, and movement between castes is virtually impossible. The Elowaen class system is structured like so:
 * Crystal -  The highest caste. The crystal caste is made up of druids, who act as priests, communicating directly with the planet and serving as wisemen and leaders. Those born into the druid caste are traught from birth to have a deep appreciation for nature and a mystical sense of harmony. Druids become Technodruids when they join the battlefield. Shielded with ornate yet protective armor, Technodruids are some of the most fearsome fighters in the galaxy.
 * Root - The elite caste. The root caste does not consist of wealthy Elowae, as the name might suggest. Rather, it consists of Elowae who are innovators and scientists. Their lessened exposure to sunlight is conducive to this heightened intelligence. The Shamans are also a part of the root caste.
 * Thorn - The warrior caste. The thorn caste is made up of powerful soldiers such as the Elowaen Carnitorix, who are trained from birth to be vicious fighters prepared to destroy all who stand in the way of galactic harmonization.
 * Stem - The caste of the commoners. Those of the stem caste serve the role of the average, everyday Elowae.
 * Flower - The flower caste is the caste of the poor and the destitute. The flower caste lives at the very top of the Elowae cities, constantly exposed to sunlight, which causes their flowers to be perpetually be opened, thus the name.

Military
The Elowaen military, like many others, can be excessive and cruel. Lead by the technodruids, who are skilled tacticians and deadly warriors, as well as priests, the Elowaen military will stop at nothing to ensure the galaxy is in harmony, even if that means genocide.

The Carnitorix are the elite soldiers. They are trained from birth to be lethal killing machines.

The Carnifex are the more basic troops, though they are still deadly. The Carnifex are not typically born into the thorn caste, though they become a part of it when they become a carnifex. Becoming a carnifex is one of the few ways for lower caste Elowaens to climb in the strict caste system.

Shamans act as medicine men, both in the military and in society. They are lionized for their healing abilities, typically utilzing various saps to greatly dampen the effects of severe laser burns and other types of damage.

Elowaen warriors are known to devour their deceased foes on the battlefield, and, of course, using their tongue-like protrusion to feed themselves whilst simultaneously draining their living enemies of water. Due to this, Elowaen soldiers are viewed as some of the most terrifying, disturbing beings in the galaxy.

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