Hiver
Intelligent major race with a large federation trailing the Imperium. Hivers average 1.5
meters from ground to top of upraised head and weigh about 150 kg.
Descended
from omnivore gatherer/scavenger stock, they are the most alien of the
major races. Hivers exhibit a modified six-fold radial symmetry;
the body
has a calcareous internal skeleton consisting of a series of rings
supporting the limbs and a fused carapace protecting the brain and
internal organs.
The head is a modification of one of the limbs and contains six
eyestalks
and six manipulative tentacles, plus paired infrared sensor organs.
The
other five limbs are identical (except for slight modifications of the
hand
opposite the head) and are used as arms and legs indiscriminately.
Each
limb ends in a six-fingered radial hand. Fingers are very
flexible and
have muscular suction cups on the lower surface about halfway to the
tips.
Hiver arms and hands are generally weaker than a human's but are very tough and difficult to
injure.
The mouth (digestive opening) is on the lower surface of the body.
There
is no sound-producing organ, but hivers do have three ears placed
around
the neck near the head.
Hivers have only one sex. Reproductive cells are exchanged each
time
that hivers meet, using the modified rear hand (the process has been
termed
by humans "shaking hands"). The cells are kept in a reproductive
pouch
on the lower body surface where they conjugate and exchange genetic
material.
Once every forty days or so, a cell will develop into a larva,
which
then drops from the parent's body.
Hive planets are mostly wilderness, and the larva enter the wilds,
where
most are killed. After about a year, survivors return to
civilization,
where they are welcomed into any nest and begin their education as
citizens.
Parental instinct in hivers is very strong, and the young are
adopted
by the entire nest. (Note that this instinct applies only to the
year-old
returnees; Hivers have no concern for the younger larvae, and in fact
they
consider them minor pests.)
Hiver language is a combination of arm/tentacle waving and physical
contact.
The written language is ideographic and is used as a standard
language
among the races of the Hive Federation.
Hivers talking among themselves use all three aspects of language
(gesture,
touch, and writing) at once, a process capable of great subtlety and
sophistication,
but unintelligible to the outsider.
Hivers are unique among major races in that they had a complex culture
before
becoming sentient. Originally, they lived in the tunnels and
built-up
mounds of a large (1000 kg) burrowing animal. In exchange for
shelter,
they gave food. They farmed fungus and foraged outside for
decaying
vegetation and dead animals as a source of food for the fungus.
Burrowers were allowed to graze in the farm tunnels. Hivers ate
the
fungus and whatever fresh food they could find outside.
Intelligence arose as the outside environment changed, forcing the
foraging parties to
travel farther to discover new sources of food and fertilizer; foragers
advanced
from simple scavenging and gathering efforts to complex cooperative
efforts
of hunting and trapping live game.
Today, fungus remains the staple of the Hiver diet; fungus growing is a
highly
developed art. Most buildings retain the beehive shape and large
underground
tunnel complexes of the original burrowers, but they are constructed by
machines;
the burrowers (known as snohl) are now reduced to the secondary
function
of keeping the tunnels clean. Hiver attachment to them is
essentially
nonrational; they just feel more comfortable with snohl around.
Society: Hive society is highly individualistic. The term "Hive"
results
from an early human misconception which stems from the appearance of
the
Hivers' building and tunnel complexes. Nests contain from five to
five
hundred individuals, who are usually centered around some common
endeavor.
While one hundred is an average size for a nest (and was the size in
precivilized
times), larger groups may come together for some civilized purpose such
as
large manufacturing companies or universities. Small nests are
usually
spaceship crews or isolated research parties. A young hiver will
spend
his first fifteen years in his home nest; thereafter, nest changes may
take
place as often as a modern human might change jobs.
Because of the nature of their reproduction, hivers never experienced
the
population pressures so important to human history. The
population
of the homeworld is now only a few hundred million, only ten times
greater
than it was in prehistoric times. Predators control the young;
when
the adult survival rate rises, thus increasing the numbers of young
produced,
the predator population increases proportionately and the balance is
maintained.
Space colonization arose not from pressure but from curiosity,
with
which Hivers are amply endowed.
The Hivers have colonized only those planets with climates most
pleasant
to themselves; if the planet has no predators that like to eat Hiver
larvae,
they are imported. Because of the high birth rate, a colony will
rapidly
fill up to its maximum population level of a few hundred million and
will
then stabilize. Hivers like planets of size 6 or less, with thin
or
standard atmospheres and unvarying climates. Hiver enclaves, for
commercial
or scientific purposes, are found on worlds of more extreme
characteristics.
Hive industry and business excels at communications technology and
robot
construction. Major exports include artificial and computer
languages, translators, and sophisticated electronic hardware of all
types. Hiver mathematical systems are much in demand for their
power and elegance.
-IE ld