Harch

Harch physiology, which derives from their arachnid ancestors, features six fully functional arms and two legs. Harches have two large primary eyes and four smaller ones above, less capable of seeing colors and details, but excellent at sensing movement and changes in light. The hair that covers their bodies ranges from brown to pale gray, and they sport two large, protruding jaws, or chelicerae. Though shorter and stockier than humans, Harches weigh about the same due to their tough exoskeleton.

As a result of their genetic diversity, some Harches inherit their ancestors’ spinnerets or venom. Harches prefer a liquefied protein diet, but they can and do eat solid meat and vegetation. They are genetic cousins to the Aqualish. According to rumor, Harches are long-lived, with lifespans that stretch centuries.

Traditional Harch society didn’t have war in the traditional sense of the word. Though Harches are as capable of violence as any other species, their individualism tended to obstruct organization into large armies. They could band together in smaller groups and skirmish with enemies, but they never had a planetwide standing army until recently.

In earlier times, individual Harches might wander the galaxy to make their fortunes, and though they sometimes returned to the homeworld, most had no more allegiance or loyalty to other Harches more than to non-Harch friends and peers. Harch cultural groups and subspecies, of which there were a vast number, had widely different cultural norms. Communities of Harches on other words often incorporated the local culture into their own.

This changed during the Andoan Wars more than twenty years ago, when the ruling nests decided to back the Spiverelda government of the Aqualish in suppressing the Andoan Free Colonies. The Harch homeworld turned their industry toward warfare, but its militarization likely would have subsided if the Republic hadn’t stepped in to spare the Andoan Free Colonies, dashing the dreams of a “Great Harch Prosperity.” Still smarting from that insult, instead of returning their economy to peacetime production, Harches continued building weapons of war, selling them to corporate interests and ignoring Republic restrictions. Eventually, they joined the Separatists.

Many of the solitary and individualistic Harches still remain scattered across the galaxy. Those who have stayed on their homeworld, who are more predisposed to cooperation and social hierarchies, have formed a powerful information network to serve the ruling nests. Since the Andoan Wars, the more solitary and the more social Harches have been working well together. Offworld Harches sell information and contacts to the ruling nests, which in turn use the information to improve the homeworld or support other offworld Harches.

While Harches away from the homeworld have a more galaxy-spanning view of politics, they have also been infected with a pro-homeworld, antigalaxy sentiment. Even their membership in the CIS hasn’t altered their newly formed distrust of other species. Most believe their alliance with the Separatists should be one of equal partnership that supports the new Harch ascendency. If the Separatist government ever acts in a way that appears to disadvantage them, the ruling nests fully intend to act aggressively against their former allies. After all, it is their right.

Secundus Ando, located in the Mid Rim, is a temperate, cavern-riddled planet with a wide variety of ecosystems. It sports massive, craggy trees rooted in loamy earth in ecologically protected parks. Within these massive trees, the wealthy Harch ruling nests sit in the center of a network of information as intricate as the webs their ancestors once made. These green and flourishing paradises, of course, cost such a vast amount of credits that the average Harch citizen could never afford the real estate in their lifetime.

The majority of the population lives in the megacities. These industrial areas look like mechanical mockeries of Secundus Ando’s preserved, arboreal areas. Giant spires and cloudcutters funnel waste gases into the upper atmosphere from the war factories on the ground levels. The Harch people’s craving for war has expanded industry into their oceans—since the ruling nests control significant protected territory-through the development of artificial islands. The water serves both as cooling source and waste-disposal system.

Harches speak Harchic, Aqualish, and Basic, though they speak the latter two with an “accent” in the form of rapid clicks. For centuries, Aqualish was their primary language due to the influence of the nearby Aqualish species, with Basic a close second. This is still the case for the older generations, but in the past twenty years, Harchic has become the primary and official language of Secundus Ando, pushing the Republic’s Galactic Basic down to a distant third place. Younger generations of Harches have made Harchic their only language, which has been somewhat inconvenient for Harch homeworlders interested in exploiting their new alliance with the Separatists.

Joining the Separatists provided a means for Harches to express their wounded pride from the Andoan Wars, and on a societal level, Harches have thrived with the Separatists. Supporting the war effort against the Republic with a near-fanatical fervor, Harches have begun to elevate their heroes and military leaders, such as Admiral Trench, to near-deific levels.

Strangely, the majority of Harches don’t actually want an empire. Caught up in their jingoistic fervor, most haven’t given any thought to maintaining an empire—though the ruling nests intend to capitalize on that ignorance. The Harches originally wanted the spoils of war, although those spoils required the razing of the Free Colonies. Most do want the prestige and profit of being recognized by the ruling government, whether the Republic or the Separatists, and to become a major player in galactic politics.

While the ruling nests can trace their lineage back for generations, they are not technically aristocracy. The families of the ruling nests have cultivated training and interest in the social arts, diplomacy, negotiation, and leadership. As the prime motivators of the new militant Harch expansion, the nests not only brought Harches together toward a common goal, they negotiated the conditions upon joining the Separatists.

This did not happen by accident. The ruling nests have always pushed Harch society toward a militant patriotism. Over the decades, they have backed the Spiverelda in exchange for additional wealth and information while manipulating their society toward war. Their end goal is a Harch empire, with them as true aristocratic dynasties.