Ok, this one I have been meaning to get out for a long time. it was originally supposed to be in the prologue for Asclepheus along with the brief explanation of the human/yautja war and the Myrmidons (the former of which will also be done in this story). Yet for some reason while writing Asclepheus I didn't want to flood the prologue with too much of my OC race.
I'll go further into that issue afterwards.
ALSO! Happy 3rd Anniversary of the Asclepheus! 3 long years I've been writing for this story and I'm nowhere near finished….oh well….Here is to another 3 long years!
But now, without further ado, the History of the Kamads.
Asclepheus Expanded Chapter 2
Evolution/History of the Kamads
"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto the death" – Sun Tsu, The Art of War
The ideals of warriors and their practises of warfare and battle have existed far before the birth of Sun Tsu, long before the dawn of humanity and even before the creation of the Earth itself.
One such example is the old and proud warrior race of the Kamads.
But to tell of the Kamads is to go back to the dawn and evolution of their species, refined on the vast glaciers and ice fields of their homeworld and of how their struggle to survive lead to their dominance as one of the most powerful species in the Universe.
The arctic world of Arkadia Prime has been theorized to have existed for 8 billion years, perhaps even longer. Its icy tundra's and vast fields of snow and ice have existed for about as long as Kamad recorded memory, and then some.
The world, like many life bearing planets was an ocean planet in its far history, that would certainly explain its vast and varied forms of life. The freezing of Arkadia Prime began soon after complex multi-cellular lifeforms had appeared, the sea life adapted to the harsh temperature drops, developing arms and legs to live on the land that hadn't been frozen.
The seas of Arkadia Prime became like the icy waters of the north and south poles of earth, a global ice age that lasted for millions of years. The land animals that left their watery homes grew thick scaled hides that would protect them from the harsh winds, their senses of smell and sight were elevated to a point that would rival Earth Bloodhounds.
The life forms of Arkadia Prime had the attributes one would attribute to a Reptilian/Mammalian, they had slitted eyes, four chambered hearts, scaled hides constructed of Keratin, forked tongues and other such qualities that would identify as reptilian, yet they had warm blood, gave birth to live young and formed family groups and nests.
The majority of the lifeforms on Arkadia Prime are carnivores, and those that aren't, are Omnivores. The plant life of Arkadia Prime is mostly located in the icy waters of the oceans, vast fields of seaweed nourish the sea life of Arkadia Prime which consist of crustaceans and arctic amphibians.
The evolution of Humanoid lifeforms on Arkadia Prime was started with the development of the healing ability that would make their life forms so formidable.
The healing abilities of the creatures of Arkadia Prime was created by the long process of colder and colder winds coming with the freezing of their planet and the harsh ice ages. Many animals would end up losing limbs to frostbite, and to counter this they adopted the Reptilian trait of regenerating tissue, like how an iguana would grow back a lost tail, an animal of Arkadia Prime would lose and grow back a limb.
*Kamad Biology
Over 6 million years of evolution resulted in the creation of the humanoid species known as the Kamads. Like Homo Sapiens, the Kamads are humanoids, two arms, two legs, a bipedal body structure and a very well developed brain. Unlike Homo Sapiens however, Kamads had a reptilian ancestry as opposed to Primate ancestry, resulting in their very reptilian appearances.
Such appearances were the Kamad's reptilian slitted pupils, their serrated teeth, scaled hides and long tails that resemble those of Monitor lizards. The Skeletal structures of Kamads were reinforced with naturally occurring Carbon Fiber that gave them bones with 10 times the density and strength of a healthy Human.
The word 'Kamad' in the native tongue of the Kamads means 'children of Ice' no surprise considering the climate of their planet.
Unlike Human biology, Kamads didn't have much in the way of diversification as the only differences between their species were so minute that one could not consider them a different race. All Kamads had chalk white skin, all had reptilian eyes, all had mandible lower lips and all shared the regenerating healing abilities that all the creatures of Arkadia Prime had.
The only real diversification between Kamads of different regions was the colour of their Female's hair.
Kamads of the Northern regions had Females with Red and Black hair.
Kamads of the Southern regions had Females with Blonde and Silver hair.
Kamads of the Eastern and Western regions had females with White and Icy Blue hair.
The reasons for why the Female Kamads had varied hair colours while their males didn't was simply one of many examples of the Sexual dimorphisms of the species.
While their eyes are reptilian in nature, the eye colours of Kamads vary greatly and can in some cases blend depending on the eyes of their parentage. Eye colours such as Blue, Green, Red, Orange and a striking steel Grey are the colours one would expect from an Average Kamad, however members of the royal family poses unique Golden eyes, and in the case of royal females, blue with golden highlights.
Kamad Males however only had black or white hair, black for heat conservation or white for arctic camouflage which worked well with their chalk white skin.
Kamad Males were also built larger and stronger than the females of their species, being the hunters that had to provide for their family groups. The muscle mass of Kamads leaner much further towards a leaner build that allowed for agility, speed and manoeuvrability.
While humans have 320 pairs of muscles within their body, Kamads have half that, excluding their tails, instead opting towards a quality over quantity in terms of muscle structure, resulting in the Average Kamad without any strength training being at least twice as strong as a human at peak condition.
Having such predatory aspects to their body resulted in the Kamads becoming very successful in stalking, hunting and bringing down their prey. It wasn't long into their evolution until they became the dominant species on their planet.
*Cultural History
The formation of Kamad society and culture reflects that of the formation of most human societies, a history of long feuds between Clans and tribes that grew into villages, into cities, into kingdoms and finally into the Empire that they would rule for millions of years to come.
The earliest Kamad Civilizations suffered the same problem as many early human civilizations, the problem of not recording their history through documentation. The first recorded Kamad civilization was one of great similarity to the ancient civilization of Scandinavian Warriors such as the Vikings and the Norse.
Kamad Civilizations built themselves upon the pursuit and perfection of the art of battle and warfare. Holding values such as Honour, Courage and respect were the foundations of Kamad society.
The Kamads, unlike many species did not have a system of religion, they did not believe in gods, or a single deity that watched or judged them on their actions. Due to their roots as Predators that took life, they believed in a systematic belief that heavily resembled the beliefs of ancient warrior societies, such as the ancient Greeks, Norse warriors and Japanese samurai.
The belief that dying in battle guaranteed a place in the afterlife, and that a warrior's blade was a part of his very soul was a staple part of this belief system, as were the tenants of honour, loyalty and wisdom.
*Historical Figureheads
Like how Human history has had many historical figureheads such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Genghis Khan, Charles Darwin and Martin Luther King Jr, are known for the ways in which they changed the history of humanity. Kamad History has a very select number of Kamads that brought forth the birth of an Empire that would last a million years.
…
Ryugau, The Bulwark - a black haired eastern Kamad warrior whom was famous for his freakishly fast healing abilities and his unnatural size. Legends say he was a 10-foot-tall Kamad that could regenerate a limb within minutes. His most famous exploit was defending his clan against another clan of 500 by himself, over the course of 5 days he held his own against the 500 attackers on a narrow bridge, until the other clan stopped their assault in a display of respect to his astounding strength and fortitude.
Valatan, The Guardian - a White haired Kamad Warrior who built what became the capital city of Arkadia Prime. Known for his kind and caring nature, Valatan rose through the ranks of his clan, soon becoming a chieftain who then united his people during a time of great famine. Valatan was considered the first king of the Northern Kamad tribes, as he begun the transition of the Kamad race from many warring tribes to a united people that would one day become an Empire.
Aleria, The Blademaiden - a great female Kamad warrior of golden hair. She was daughter to a great chieftain of the southern clans, and since she could walk she could wield a blade, during the great wars between the northern kingdom and southern clans she took up her father's mantle as chieftain, leading her people through the war. She soon united the southern clans under one banner, becoming the queen of the Southern Kamads.
Leuma, The Steelmistress - a Red haired Kamad female who was regarded an Einstein or Newton of the Kamads as she was known for great strides in the advancement in metallurgy and blacksmithing, thanks to her deep understanding of metal and steel she was able to reverse engineer a lot of the technology that belonged to alien invaders to better serve Kamads and further their technology to greater heights, she was able to send Kamad Technology galloping forwards with inventions like pulse engines, regenerating bio-steel and steel so strong that it was basically indestructible. The first pure Kamad steel blade was forged by Leuma and was given to the first Kamad Emperor, Elaren Vakran, the great ancestor of the Kamad royal family.
Elaren – The first and last Kamad High King, and the first Kamad Emperor. Elaren started the faith of Kra'Thran, and was the founder of the Kamad Empire, by uniting the north, the south, the east and the west under one banner against invaders from another world. Elaren's image in the eyes of his people is like that of Odin or Zeus, as ruler of the gods. Elaren was a white haired Kamad from the west, a skilled warrior and a chieftain, whom became immortalized as the saviour of his people upon his death at the ripe age of 11,000 years old. He was known for going into battle against the invaders, wielding a large double handed longsword of intricate and brutal design.
All five of the founders of the Empire are remembered in a way befitting a race of warriors, their names on the last words of dying Kamads on the battlefield.
*Birth of the Empire
Before the Kamad Empire existed, the Northern and Southern kingdoms were at war with each other, a war that had lasted for hundreds of years. The Northern Kingdom, led by Valatan and the Southern Kingdom lead by Aleria, for at least 500 years had been at a standstill. While the eastern clans, under the leadership of Ryugau, stayed neutral during the conflict.
The western clans, under the leader ship of Elaren's father, Ragnar, were a peaceful people, their land was rich with game and resources, and the people lived without care.
That was when the Invaders came.
The Kamads' technology was at a level comparable to earth in the early 21st century when an advanced race of aliens visited their world. The beings were not peaceful, nor did they come bearing any ill wills, they were a race without a name, a race of slavers that sold other sentient beings into servitude for profit.
They would abduct sentient beings in small numbers, and study them, see how they worked, how they ticked, how they could be sold whether as language slaves, hard labour or as pleasure servants on the black market. Once they knew what the stock was, they would eradicate any opposition, and begin to convert the planet to become a harvesting point, one where they could breed the slaves in numbers to increase profit and maintain a steady supply of sentient cargo.
The Planet's resources would also be harvested to be sold on the black market, the native's culture, history and people were worthless in the eyes of the Invaders, everything had a price, they would strip down everything of worth and ship it away before setting up a settlement to keep the people subjugated.
The Invaders started this on Arkadia Prime by abducting Kamads from small villages and settlements in the west, nothing too large to resist the more advanced species as they abducted the indigenous. The first clan they abducted was Eleran's, and since this was the first time the Kamads had interacted with another species, they were not prepared.
The Invaders attacked in disc-shaped ships and tripod mechs that fired intense heat based weaponry. At first they succeeded in burning down Eleran's home, out of Eleran's village, only 15 of the total 40 were abducted, all the rest were killed defending their home.
The Invaders were very much like the creatures portrayed in the works of H. G. Wells, Masses of flesh with bulbous eyes, slathering slit mouths and multiple tentacles allowing for the use of tools. When compared to Kamads, their flesh was fragile, they had no skin and their machines did most of the work.
The invaders studied Eleran, his father and the ones closest to him, studying their biology, their physical limitations and their capacity for learning. Unfortunately, the tests were brutal, and the Invaders would take the Kamads to their very limits. All but Eleran died in the tests, the young Kamad having to watch his father brutally torn to pieces by machines before he too was strapped to the medical table.
Eleran's stronger healing ability was thanks to his young age, only 1300 years old at the time, which to a Kamad is akin to 23 years for a human. The young Kamad, in the prime of his life managed to survive the endurance tests, the strength tests and the brutally agonizing pain threshold test, his evolutionary given abilities saving his life.
Over the course of months, the Invaders tortured Eleran, subjecting him to brutal experiments and sick and twisted games of torment. Keeping him restrained in a cell right next to the mutilated remains of his father.
The chemical tests performed on the Kamad had a lasting effect, his once Steel grey eyes became a Gleaming Gold, a testament to the experiments performed on him. Only later would Eleran find that this effect was permanent and it would live on through his bloodline from then on.
The Invaders then came to test Eleran's capacity for mental abilities, to do this they rammed a metallic syringe into his spinal column at the nape of his neck. The syringe was designed to transfer information directly to the brain stem, allowing a being to learn vast amounts of information in a matter of minutes.
Being other than Kamads would risk death or permanent brain damage by having this test performed on them, but luckily Eleran's natural healing abilities saved his life. The Invaders didn't intend on Eleran surviving this final test, and so they overloaded this syringe with every piece of data they had available.
Information included ship schematics, the language of the Invaders, the science behind their weaponry, locations of their settlements and much more. The Invaders didn't expect the young Kamad to pass this test, they expected his brain to overload and fry within his skull…unfortunately for them his healing ability saved his life once again.
Once the test finished, the Invaders decided to kill the young Kamad the only fashioned way, by taking a blade to his neck and taking his head off.
The Invaders had no further use for their test subject and letting him live with a head full of information about them was problematic, after all he served no further use…he was used stock, damaged goods.
The Invaders knew that they had struck gold, the Kamads seemed adapted to everything they needed, they were strong, durable and smart, and the females would be seen as attractive to anyone on the slave market.
Eleran had learned of the Invaders' plans from the information they had transferred into his head, filled with anger, rage and now knowledge that no Kamad before him had possessed, the young Kamad bit off the tentacle of the Invader that came to him and used the blade meant for his execution to brutally kill the Invader and free himself of his restraints.
Eleran's new knowledge of the ship around him and of the technology that the Invaders had, allowed him to navigate through the ship, killing any Invaders that stood in his way. The Young Kamad escaped the ship, but not before leaving a bloody trail of Invader entrails behind him.
Years passed after Eleran escaped the Invader ship, and the Invaders continued their attack of the planet, beginning their plans of exterminating all opposition. The Northern and Southern Kamad Kingdoms put up a strong resistance and managed to defend against the Invaders for a full 5 years, even though their technology was not sophisticated enough to push back against the aliens.
Things looked dire for the Kamad race as they lost more and more people with every battle, never managing to bring down an Invader Tripod or even one of the disc ships, it took everything they had to simply ward them off or push them to retreat. This wasn't even thanks to the Kamad's weaponry, rocket lances, explosive arrow tips and their specially made Melee weapons did minimal damage, and their only saving grace was their skill in warfare and the durability of their troops.
Eleran was the one who turned the tide, in the 5 years of the Invader's war with the Northern and Southern kingdoms he travelled to the east and met with Ryugau. The Bulwark was a friend of Eleran's father, Ragnar, and so the chieftain listened to the young Kamad's story of the Invaders and what they had planned for their people.
In the coming years Ryugau and Eleran worked together, preparing the eastern clans and western clans to join the war against the invaders.
Through a further 2 years of conflict, both the Northern and Southern Kamad Kingdoms lost countless battles, their armies slowly whittled down to half their original strengths. Eleran, with the assistance of Ryugau, united the Western and Eastern clans and came to Valatan and Aleria in hopes of uniting their people as one.
The leaders of the four peoples met at the spot that would one day become the foundations of the Capital City of Arkadia Prime, Arkadius. Valatan and Aleria due to their long standing feud and war between their peoples, found it hard to come to terms after the blood that had been shed between their kingdoms, while Ryugau tried the part of peacekeeper.
In the end it was Eleran's words that made the King and Queen reconsider their feud as little more than a distraction keeping them from facing the real enemy. The Four Kamad peoples united as one, for the first time in their history a mutual peace between the Kamads of the North, the South, the East and the West was achieved.
Under the threat of complete and total annihilation, the Kamad people became one.
From that point on the battles between the Kamad armies and the Invader forces took a turn. Because of Eleran's knowledge and insight of the inner workings of the Invader tripods and Disc Ships, the Kamads began winning. Bringing down Tripod mechs and Disc ships in mass and salvaging their remains.
The Kamads quickly got to work on reverse engineering the wrecks and parts that were salvaged from the downed ships and war machines.
The remains of the Invader Tripods contained technology that sent Kamad armour, Metallic bonding and machinery hurdling into the future, while the remains of Disc Ships contained tech that enhanced Kamad Computer systems, Plasma weaponry and propulsion tech that would give Kamads the push they needed to advance quicker than they would have without it.
As the Kamads brought down more and more Tripods and Disc ships, the more salvage they would gather and the more they would learn.
Kamads began developing Mechs of their own, but unlike Invader tripods, these mechs were bulky suits of armour that would greatly enhance the Kamad's strength, speed, durability and agility to levels that made battling tripods easy.
Kamad armour was made more resistant to heat, more effective ways of forging steel were made from close studying of Invader alloys. With the combination of this knew knowledge on metallurgy and steelwork along with the Kamads' already great knowledge of steel and metal, it was only a matter of time until the Kamads used this knowledge on the steel of their homeworld, a steel that when forged under the right conditions, can be stronger than solid diamond or titanium, that is ultra-resistant to heat, magnetism and energy in general.
The Invaders, by proxy, were responsible for the early creation of Kamad steel.
By using many different forging techniques, the Kamads forged weapons so strong that they could slice through the armour plating of Tripods with ease. They could forge suits of armour so durable, that the heat based weaponry of the invaders had minimal effect.
Tripod and Disc-ship weaponry advanced Kamad weaponry quickly as well, soon the Kamad Mech suits and vehicles outclassed those of the Invaders. Kamads began constructing ships of their own, ships that outclassed the Invader Disc-Ships in both speed, durability and power.
The Kamad's greatest strength was their ability to adapt, the Invaders however lacked this ability and battle soon turned largly in the Kamad's favour. Their knowledge of the terrain, their now superior weaponry, Eleran's knowledge of the Invaders' strength and weakness and the terrain of Arkadia Prime herself worked in unison to bring down the Invaders.
The Invaders were forced to abandon the populated sectors of the planet to avoid their temporary settlements from being attacked by Kamad forces, but that meant that the Invaders began building their settlements in the most hostile areas on Arkadia Prime, areas that even technologically advanced Kamads would venture.
Greater LarGuars would tear tripods and Disc-Ships that intruded on their territories asunder.
The hostile blizzards and snowstorms were so powerful that tripods would be flung around like leaves in the wind. Disc-Ships would lose all sense of direction in the harsh winds and storms that would interfere with their navigation systems.
It was only a matter of time that drove the Invaders to abandon the hopes of ever defeating the Kamads on their own ground. They would retreat and come back in force, hoping to destroy the Kamads with their superior numbers.
Unfortunately, when the Invaders left, Eleran rallied the Kamad people, preaching that the Invaders would return, the Kamads would not forgive or forget the Invaders for what they had done or what they had planned to do. The images of his father being mutilated still fresh in Eleran's mind, the young Kamad rallied the people, they would throw away their old hatreds, their differences thrown aside for the greater good, for the security of their people.
Eleran in that moment became the first and last high king of the Kamads.
The Kamads prepared, advanced, researched and developed their technology to better defend themselves, to better defend their planet, so that the next time the Invaders came…the Kamads would be ready for them.
Soon the Kamads left the atmosphere of their world, began colonising the other planets of their solar system, advancing and progressing all the while. Achieving their special Bio-armour, armour suits that replicated their natural healing abilities, soon the Kamads had technology that not only rivalled the Invaders' tech, but it became superior.
When the Invaders returned to the Kamad's solar system, their vast fleet of 300 battleships lasted a grand total of 15 minutes against the growing Kamad Armada. Within the small span of a few hundred years, the Kamads had not only became space faring, but they had also shifted their battle and war expertise to the stars as well as on land and sky.
The Invaders' pride led to their downfall, the vast majority of their forces were majorly outmatched and outgunned by the superior Kamad Battleships. The Invaders were scavengers, while the Kamads were warriors, the result was all but inevitable.
Soon the newly dubbed Kamad Empire began stretching further towards the stars, the ruins of the Invader fleet behind them, reduced to scrap metal to be salvaged and studied. The Kamad empire grew with every planet colinized, their reach grew further and their armada grew to its apex.
Upon reaching the core systems of the galaxy, the Kamads found that their race was not the only one rebelling against the Invaders. Many species that would make up the Empire
The Dwavarians, a species of short, bulky, bearded humanoids known for their stubbornness. Their planet of Dwelavar was rock and iron, a planet that was rich with minerals and precious metals and jewels, their race was one of innovative industry and science.
The Aralians, beings of pure energy that would inspire the Angels of many primitive worlds, their planet was one rich in natural energy resources, flowing rivers, windy peaks, oil reserves and massive amounts of plutonium in their crusts. The Aralians themselves were pure energy, energy that the Invaders would harvest like any resource.
The Vix, a Race of synthetic humanoids from a cybernetic planet, aside from the Kamads they were the most advanced, but not built for war but for learning, construction and the pursuit for answers.
The Anubians, a race of humanoid canines, tall as Kamads, skin as black as obsidian and ferocious in temperament. Their dessert planet was a hostile yet advanced one, bolstering technology advanced for a society as seemingly primitive as theirs.
It took 1000 years for the Kamad Empire to reach its present size, in those 1000 years they destroyed 90% of the Invader's remaining forces, freeing many species, allying with species like the Dwavarians, the Aralians, the Vix and the Anubians.
The Kamads led the other species to their freedom, all five races joining their forces and driving the Invaders into the blackness of space, their armies broken, their fleets in ruins, their stranglehold on the universe broken.
Eleran relinquished his title as High King soon after the final battle, claiming that the position of High King gave too much power to its holder. Eleran became the first Emperor of the Kamad Empire, a less powerful position than High King; while the High King had all power over his people, the Emperor would be subject to the laws and traditions of his people, more of a caretaker, a protector than a ruler. An Emperor would take Primarchs to guide and govern his Empire, while the Imperial Senate would govern the needs of his people.
The Imperial Senate was of course not exclusively Kamad, the other four founding species of the Empire would have representatives, the High Thane of the Dwavarians, the Archon of the Aralians, the Elder of the Vix and the Pharaoh of the Anubians would all have a place on the Imperial Senate, their positions maintaining the rights and freedoms of their people alongside that of the Kamads.
In the ensuing Million years, many races joined the Empire, its reach expanding slowly through the stars to many peoples, many worlds, many of which accepted the Empire, many that didn't, many that swore off the Empire as Enemies.
But those are stories for other times.
Stories that will also be told in time.
looking back on things now I wished that I had added a brief Kamad explanation in the Asclepheus prologue….but hey I don't want to unfairly change the past (UNLESS, you guys want me to add a bit of Kamad explanation added to the prologue of the Asclepheus) depending on your views I might make a change.
Then again choosing not to add that much of a synopsis of the Kamads in the prologue did manage to give them an air of Mystery of sorts….but then again I digress, its up to you guys.
Also, since this is the 3-year anniversary of the Asclepheus I want to do something special. Any of you very imaginative fans know a way that I can make it up to ya….let me know. anything, a one shot story, a series of one shots, anything you guys want.
If you liked this chapter Please favourite, follow and review. And like always let me know what else you would like Expanded on.
This is Dakkaman777 saying, see you guys next chapter!
