Harika and Yorn

The Harika and the Yorn are a symbiotic race native to the Kessari Quadrant. They have developed an interstellar society of their own, based upon a unique predator/prey dynamic. The Harika, a species of large, warrior lizards, prey upon the Yorn, small furry creatures, to keep their population numbers down.

Biology
Harika are tall, powerful lizards, with sharp jaws and a strong digestive system capable of breaking down small stones. Yorn by contrast are small herd animals, grazers by nature, with an obscene ability to reproduce, generating dozens of offspring over the course of their lives. This is off-set by the Harika, who devour the Yorn and keep their population numbers at a stable rate.

The symbiosis of the Harika and Yorn is historic and intriguing. Beyond what can be inferred about their coevolution, however, little can be said about either the reptilian Harika or the mammalian Yorn. The non-conversive Yorn, who seem to be chiefly involved in cultural and intellectual matters, may be able to supply much needed data, but it is the bellicose Harika, uninterested in such banter, that monopolized conversive time. Perhaps in the years while waiting for Hyperspace travel to resume, the Yorn might fill in the blanks.

Another facet of Harika physiology that in known is that they are dependent on the Yorn for a vital hormone. The nature of that hormone, and to the degree such a thing can be synthesized, is unknown.

Culture
While most sentient races become so by abandoning their hostile temperments to allow cohesive thought, the Harika, who by and large dictate the actions of the two races, have maintained their feral, aggressive tendencies, largely in part to their odd symbiosis. As such, while the Yorn, wise in their passive nature, and apparently shrewd at perceiving and manipulating opportunities within other races, can mellow their predators, it is the Harika's carnivorous nature that ultimately manifests itself in negotiations.

The Harika are not a nice race by their own admission, and do not enjoy civilities, considering them a waste of time best spent doing anything else. At the same time, they know the difference between diplomacy and being rude, and, while unable to demonstrate this by example, predictably take offense at offensive statements. This is probably the work of the Yorn; the Harika tend to be brash when speaking, but defer to the Yorn when listening. And what the Yorn don't care for, neither do the Harika.

Along with this is their attitudes towards conflict. Neither race fears conflict, or at least the Harika don't, and their callous nature tends to earn them a lot of it. Both races are seemingly inured by death; it is a natural part of their relationship. The Harika kill and eat the Yorn, not out of cruelty, but necessity. As such, they do not place much value on life, as they take it daily. Unlike other races, however, they can have conversations with their dinners. Such a steeling of nerves to death is probably necessary to keep one from becoming overly apologetic or a vegetarian. Ultimately, of course, the Harika and Yorn are not crazy about dying; they recognize death as a natural part of the cycle, but when life is snuffed out unnaturally or in tragedy, they are pained and seek all methods of ceasing such a waste.

Ultimately, the Harika and Yorn have a nearly bottomless reserve of morale, unless their own welfare is threatened, at which point they seek any means possible of extricating themselves from that situation. Their shifting culture and seemingly mediocre scientific interest prevents them from dealing with many situations that go out of control, and so they must turn to outside sources for aid -- which usually gets them into trouble.

he Harika and Yorn co-evolved as predator and prey, and each is thoroughly dependent on the other. The Harika have eaten Yorn for so long their metabolism requires proteins found only in the Yorn. The Yorn require the Harika to eat them to prevent overpopulation. As the two species evolved sentience, they amicably resolved their ancient predator-prey relationship.

As the Harika evolved, their unrestrained predatory savagery became increasingly self-destructive. As nonsentient creatures, the Harika could only do limited damage to their species and their planet. But as intelligent, technology-using animals, they rapidly depleted their natural resources and gutted their once-lush homeworld. They almost destroyed themselves in bloody factional fighting until a few wise Harika began listening to the wisdom of their "food."

Reacting to the voracious appetites of the Harika, the Yorn developed the twin survival adaptations of rapid reproduction and sentience. They began calling out to the Harika, and told them how to stop killing themselves. The few Harika thoughtful enough to listen gained great insight from the Yorn. They began winning their battles against those Harika closed to the Yorn's wisdom.

The peaceful, contemplative Yorn continue to serve as moderating influence on the Harika's predatory, antagonistic temperament, urging them to act with care and wisdom. In turn, the Harika help the Yorn limit their overpopulation by agreeing to eat only the aged Yorn, who thus end their own lives to the cause of Harika survival. No Yorn is required to give his life to the Harika, but most do. After they have bred and raised their young, they often feel a need to move on to life's next mystery - death.

To mature Yorn, volunteering to die is no more frightening than volunteering to travel with the Harika to the stars. To the Yorn, dying in the slavering maw of a Harika is a sublime, majestic process, in which they can surrender to the greater good so fully and completely they feel they transcend to a higher plane of existence. Their sacrifice is their exaltation. The Harika supplement the Yorn's limited mobility, serving as hands in their journey to the stars. The Harika are warriors, the Yorn dreamers; both are eager explorers.

History
The Harika and Yorn evolved on the same homeworld, although possibly not simultaneously. In fact, it is probable that the docile and seemingly unsentient Yorn arose first, and existed in such numbers that a niche was created for a Yorn predator. Thusly, the Harika came to be. The Yorn, vast in number, were able to ravage their available food supplies, with a corresponding boom and bust population trend that also caused on in the Harika, who would fare well when Yorn numbers were high, and poorly when they were low.

Such a pattern of rapid excesses and inevitable, slow, painful die-offs is probably what lead to the drive for sentience in both. Neither saw the advantage in reducing the available food stock to nearly nothing; for both it meant a critical balance between predation and starvation had to be acheived or both species would go extinct. As such, the Yorn, while unable to control their ravenous appetites, became to depend closely on the actions of the Harika to cull the weak and to preserve the genetic integrity of the herbivores, and the Harika on the Yorn not only for food, but to ensure that the Harika genes would not get blindly screened by starvation events, thus weakening the race. This odd mutualism in the face of predation is unique, but neccesary for both.

As such, the Harika and Yorn forged a coevolutionary relationship to the benefit of both, and sped towards sentience. The Yorn are still unable to control their population, and so the relationship must continue until a form of prophylaxis can be developed, and this may not be wise, as it would eliminate the food supply for the Harika, as well as reduce the genetic value of the relationship for both.

Having managed to explore their space, the Harika and Yorn met up with, and almost certainly quarreled with, the Vyro-Ingo and Owa. In time, however, none of the races saw the merit in continued combat, and an uneasy peace settled between all involved, considering none of the races were particularly interested in taking territory from one another. However, the arrival of the Hegemonic Crux, an entity VERY interested in taking territory from the Kessari inhabitants, prompted the bloodlust of the Harika in full. The Yorn attempted to gain allies with the other residents, to no avail, but that did not decrease Harika zeal any. The pair of races declared war on the Crux, and were highly successful at this!

While the K'tang were struggling to hold back the seemingly unstoppable Harika and Yorn tide, the Daktaklakpak determined that the newly discovered Xchagger could be employed as an unwilling biohazard to the Harika, and so all Harika worlds were seeded with the sentient bacteria. As such, the Harika went into shock, their immune systems faring poorly against the "invaders," with the inevitable consequence that the remaining predators could not keep the Yorn in check. The Yorn began to overgraze, destroying their food souce, and starvation loomed. The boom and bust cycle that the Harika and Yorn had evolved to avoid, threatened to return, and both races surrendered unconditionally to the Crux.

Promised a cure by the Daktaklakpak, the two sentients worked with zeal, ever wary of the worsening condition on all of their colonies. It is not known how many of their colonies perished as a result of the sick biological warfare utilized by the Crux, but a mere two remain to this date. The Harika and Yorn fought against the League of Sentient Races with zeal, trusting the Daktaklakpak to develop a cure. When none was forthcoming, the two were ready to accept the League as allies should they promise one themselves.

The discovery of the otherwise benign Xchagger lead to the development of the Xchagger Eradicator Serum, but could not be used on the Harika because of its deleterious effect on the Xchagger Lost Dynasties. While the Harika were insistant to receive the cure no matter what the cost to the innocent microbes, it may be surmised that the Yorn were willing to wait for a better option even though untold suffering awaited their own species. As such, all three races, predator, prey, and parasite combined their efforts in search of a mutually benign cure, with the result that the Xchagger were safely removed from the Harika and Yorn worlds without incident. (It may be assumed, sadly, that the colonies eradicated by the infection not only left all Harika and Yorn dead, but the Xchagger as well, for, without a host, they would also perish)

Relieved of their infection and obligations to the deceptive and treacherous Crux, the Harika and Yorn immediately changed alliances, joining the League of Sentient Races out of loyalty and respect for their saviors over any desire to commune with fellow intellects. The twin races pledged their efforts and lives to the eradication of the Crux forces from the Kessari quadrant; to this end, they performed nobly, but their low numbers and colonies prevented much contribution in lives or ships. Still, they made noble allies, and were best won from the Crux.