Phamysht

The Phamysht are a race of artistic and cultured serpents, formerly members of the Scryve Empire before seceding and beginning a war for their own survival. The Phamysht, in spite of their cultural superiority, have a strong taste for sentient flesh, believing it to be the height of cuisine.

Biology

The Phamysht resemble thick grey snake-like beings, who cling to the ceilings of their ships. This behaviour comes from their history of being tree dwelling predators, whom would descend from the treetops to devour prey. They possess two small forearms and a pair of larger arms lower down their body. Their heads are largely featureless, with a hooked beak protrusion on the top of their head and a huge maw with rows of sharp teeth, perfect for tearing into flesh.

The Phamysht have long been cannibals, devouring their own kind to begin with, though this came with the usual difficulties a species may experience, such as sickness or effective poisoning. Phamysht stomach acids and digestive systems are strong enough to devour most sentient races, though those from different universe cause them to be sick and fall ill. Indeed, the Phamysht are omnivores, capable of eating plants and other animals, but they view cannibalism with an almost perverse glee, so it is largely reserved for special occasions.

Culture

Phamysht culture was renowned for being advanced and of great value amongst the Scryve Empire. Indeed, the Phamsyht were viewed favourably within the Empire for a few decades, as official artisans for the Scryve homeworld. This even extends to their engineering, as their ships are designed after their own period of modernism, something the Scryve took greatly to during their enslavement. This high culture attitude is seen with their polite discourse with any species they encounter, being very upfront about their desire to eat new aliens and asking if a captain wouldn’t mind sparing a member of their crew. The Phamysht are quite an aggressive species, in spite of their polite nature. They insist on eating any aliens that enter their space and this hasn’t won them any friends. However, they are willing to let ships go if they are given a crewmember as a gift for dinner.

Cannibalism has been a part of Phamysht culture for hundreds of years prior to their discovery of spaceflight. Indeed, it became such an intrinsic part of their culture, that even in times of war, the Phamysht place great importance in the consumption of other species, including the enemies they are fighting.

Under the Scryve Empire, cannibalism was illegal and the Order of Phamysht Lords, the central government of the Phamysht, put up the façade of stopping the practice. This obviously wasn’t the case, as the Phamysht began consuming the ward species of the Scryve and even a few Scryve themselves.

A notable part of the feeding process is the Phamysht’s fondness for conversing with their food. This is facilitated with a mixture of painkillers and mood enhancers for the prey, so they don’t fight the Phamysht as their extremities are slowly consumed. It is during this period that the Phamysht are their most talkative, willing to talk about even military secrets and classified information with their food. Understandable, given the victim isn’t going to be telling anyone, but the Phamysht seem to overlook the concept of other species viewing their meals via listening devices.

Phamysht technology matches their high society, powerful and equal in measure to the Scryve Empire as a whole, as they were able to hold their own against the Scryve for over two years. This is largely assisted by their alliance with the Xraki, who provided the Phamysht with extremely advanced weaponry and delicacies from another universe in exchange for their rebellion against the Scryve.

History

The Phamysht evolved as the apex predators of their world, developing sentience of their own, where they would descend from trees to devour their prey. Over time, the Phamysht would come to view the consumption of other Phamysht to be the height of culture and it became a central pillar of their entire society.

Around three hundred years ago, the Phamysht developed space flight and took to the stars, where they encountered a whole host of sentient races and the Scryve Empire. Willing to consume these other species, the Phamysht were absorbed into the Empire, where their culture started a trend amongst the civilian sector of the Scryve.

In time however, the Phamysht began to devour members of the various Scryve ward species, often in secret, as under the Empire, cannibalism was illegal. This continued for some time, until some Phamysht managed to eat some of the Scryve. Such a crime was punished by the Scryve, destroying a ward species as a warning to the Phamysht as a whole and their cultural exports slowed in popularity, becoming viewed as old fashioned amongst the Scryve.

Chaffing under this ruling, the Phamysht began to plot to secede from the Empire, but were loath to do so, given the sheer number of Scryve in existence and the destruction of the ward species being a reminder of what could happen if the rebellion failed. Relief came in the form of the Xraki, who disguising themselves, provided the Phamysht with the resources to begin their war, under the condition they don’t ally with any other species to do so. The Phamysht almost refused the deal on principle, but were enticed into agreeing when presented with three members of a race called the Khandri.

These creatures were from a different reality, who the Xraki had captured during their time stuck outside the universe and were presented to the Phamysht Lords to consume. However, the Khandri proved to be inedible, but the Phamysht had already struck their deal. Forced into war, they began their rebellion against the Scryve and were able to fight them to a standstill, devouring a few colonies of the Scryve, whilst also losing some of their own.

Eventually the Phamysht would encounter the Federation of Allied Species and indeed humanity. Expressing distrust of the Captain of the Vindicator, the Phamysht remained neutral in the Federation’s own war with the Scryve, believing the Xraki were their allies in their war. This proved to be false after the opening of the Origin and the emergence of the larger Xraki forces. The Phamysht were decimated from the inside out, the Xraki claiming their territory as their own and forcing the Phamysht to run. Only a few ships remained, who set out to settle another world, humbled in their defeat and humiliated on a galactic level.