The Draco codex

The N.O.H. was built to preserve the Sonto species in the event of disaster--a safe haven project. It took hundreds of years to complete. Porter Wright designed it at the behest of the Court of Nations. The N.O.H. can hold an entire nation; as the name implies, it remains in orbit around Tronun.

Multiple ion engines are positioned throughout the station to allow the captain and crew to make course corrections to maintain the stability of its orbit. Its hangers house multiple squadrons of transport ships and short-range fighters. The vast station is subdivided into housing sections, research levels, mechanical bays, the military sector (which contains the secure meeting room of the Court of Nations), and a commons area. The commons includes a commerce subdivision which facilitates trade and organizes mining expeditions, as well as civilian organizations such as news networks and leisure services.

A total of three nations had the wealth required to produce N.O.H.s: Ashez (designated Donscher 2056), Manst (named Leviathan 815), and Wreene (called Epicticus 211). The core functionality and overall structure of each station is similar, but the layout and proportions of the subdivision varies from nation to nation.

 Like our own bodies, Sonto’s have flesh and bones. However, they are animated by an energy force called the Refulgent. Much of their tissue is composed of a mixture of enzymes and tightly-woven filaments that are analogous to veins and arteries. They do not breathe from necessity, but respiration increases the efficiency of their internal functions, granting them temporary boosts in stamina and energy.

Sonto are sustained by a substance called famish. In the distant past, sontos could get their nutritional needs by eating the plant called Famish. However, after eons of war had ravaged their natural sources of food, they looked for another means to meet their need.

The solution was found in the cimmerians--creatures that naturally excreted the famish enzyme. Sonto specialists designed a procedure to insert a cimmerian into a Sonto’s head at birth. This established a symbiotic relationship between the two: the cimmerian  would feed off a small portion of the sonto’s latent Refulgent energy, and the sonto would be sustained by the famish enzyme. Of course, this procedure is only possible due to the sonto’s unique nervous system. Instead of a centralized mass of nervous tissue, the sonto’s “brain” is actually an interconnected network of ganglia located in the head, spine, and chest.

Although immortal, sontos can die if the cimmerian inside them is eliminated. Normally, a famish malnourishment would merely leave the sonto catatonic. However, cimmerians (in addition to feeding off the sonto’s Refulgent energy) will, over time, integrate with a sonto’s nervous system. Thus, the death of a sonto’s cimmerian sends a lethal shock to its host.

Mining colonies were once a great way to condense populations around the lucrative resource of Cimmerians. Thousands of years ago rebel groups and bandits began to take over and kill colonies further out in the desert. These destroyed areas in between the bigger population hubs became known as the wastelands. Once the trend of ransacking grew the cities began to put up three hundred foot walls to keep out unwanted bandits and rebels. Kidnapping for Cimmerian ransom and other forms of stealing went down dramatically within these new walled cities thanks to the strict laws, watch drones, and gate keepers. Some sontos still live out in the wastelands and trap unsuspecting sontos in desperation for ransom for their unborn children.

Entry No.4

the 12 nations of Tronun

West          Skill/Ability

Popeal                       Technical systems

Lanjamin                   Cyborg engineering

Manst                           Mass Weapons

Sonto pregnancy, from conception to birth, lasts anywhere from 11 to 13 years (most births typically occurring in the 12th year). Until the actual birth, the mother experiences relatively little discomfort; a few even continue to fight as soldiers.

Unlike mammals in our own world, the sonto child grows throughout the body of the mother, rather than within a womb. The child’s arms and legs fill, to a minor extent, the arms and legs of the mother, allowing the child to experience movement. The child’s muscles are also activated to assist with the mother’s movement, thus maintaining the child’s strength through this form of semi “exercise.”

The connection between mother and child is very direct: even the ganglia of the two are connected (particularly at the linguistic and motor cortexes). This neurological connection “teaches” the child speech and movement, allowing the child to speak fluently and walk with ease by as soon as one month after birth. As the time of birth approaches, these connections wither. However, until that time, the intermingling of neurological tissue can had a number of side effects on the mother.

During pregnancy, sonto mothers report a range of side effects, including the loss of certain emotions (as well as greater emotional sensitivity), aversion to light, muddled thinking, strange dreams, and (in uncommon cases) hallucinations. This is in addition to normal aspects of pregnancy such as weight gain, increased respiration, and diminished flexibility.

Because of a sonto’s unique position within the mother, birth is a dramatically different affair compared to the creatures of our own world. When the mother enters into labor, a fissure opens up down the middle of her torso, running from just below the suprasternal notch to the middle of the pelvis. The mother generally falls unconscious after delivery. However, at the onset of labor, the female’s body begins to over-produce catalytic enzymes used in the sonto’s healing process. Thus, by the conclusion of labor, the mother’s body is well underway in healing the birth fissure. The mother awakens to a sense of great euphoria. Generally, recovery from birth takes two weeks, although the birth-fissure takes a year to fully heal.

Shortly after the fall of Gidon in 1000 A.L., the political superpowers of Tronun established the Court of Nations. Each nation elected five delegates to serve as a judges; the Court would then elect one judge to serve as the Supreme Justice when majority votes were impossible. Initially, the organization was formed to deal with high-level matters of international diplomacy. This included the exchange of classified information in an effort to police the production of weapons that could produce planet-level catastrophe.

Each judge enjoys privileges that rival even those of official heads-of-state: bodyguards, nearly unlimited access to restricted areas, high-level clearance for classified intelligence, luxury traveling conditions, and high salaries with seemingly endless benefits. The title “Judge of the Court of Nations” is as coveted as the judges themselves are hated.

Like the countries from which they came, the system was soon dominated by corruption. Now, membership in the Court means membership to an elite caste of society that plays a game of war with countless pieces that can be easily written off under the heading of “acceptable losses.”

Cermon city was a technological and scientific advancement hub for Wreene nation. The cure for the famish enzyme deprivation came from this very city as did the birthing beds and procedures. This city is often revered by Wreene citizens as the highest of all cities. To be a citizen of Cermon city you must pass a rigorous test of intelligence and aptitude or qualify in a maintenance postion to keep the various machines running. No one is allowed into the city other than its citizens besides the high ranking military officials of Wreene including the Wreene Court of Nations. The is due to a bombing in 500 A.L. that destroyed an advancement in a healing machine that still has not been replicated.