Nadrakians

The Nadrakians had many names throughout the cosmos – First of the Living, the Firstborn, Children of the Stars, and other pompous terms. “Nadrakian” is simply what Rodinians called them, consisting of the High Rodinian language’s prefix “na” - meaning superior, ultimate or final – and “drakian” meaning dragon angel.   The Nadrakians spoke of how they were made by the Creator to be shepherds, meant to encourage the development of ever increasingly complex and diverse life in the cosmos, and to reduce its suffering. This claim has never been verified, as despite plentiful time travel technologies being available to civilisations like Rodinia, no one ever found the cradle of the Nadrakian race, seen the Creator make them (or seen the Creator itself), or witnessed their creation. They simply appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere, around ten billion years ago.   A powerful creed was believed to literally bind the entire Nadrakian race to their highest commandments:  

• To act in ways that promote the ever increasing complexity and diversity of life.
 
• To act in ways that reduce the suffering of life throughout the cosmos.

  If any Nadrakian went against this, the creed that essentially created and sustained their power was said to be broken. This would result in their powers becoming greatly diminished.   The universe under their care and management was for the overwhelming part a peaceful place, and civilisations prospered, with some even developing enough to unlock psikinetics (such as Rodinia and others). They were the lone superpower throughout swathes of the cosmos for ten billion years, reaching billions of galaxies and influencing hundreds of billions of civilisations.   Then, on a day three million years ago, the leader of their race, Archnadrakian Balaine, disappeared for twenty-one days. Upon his return, he committed the most savage act in the history of the universe, and massacred his own people in an event known as the Blood Harvest, bringing the Nadrakians to a tragic and bitter end.    

Breeds

  There were eight castes or “breeds” of Nadrakians, with each breed assigned a general goal. Each breed was lead by an Archnadrakian, which was usually an elder from that breed elevated to leadership by those under them. In having been elevated in such a way, upon the trust and confidence of their subordinates, they were further empowered to better lead their caste. If they should ever lose the trust and confidence of their subordinates, then they would lose that power and likely their status as an Archnadrakian.   The Archnadrakians were lead by the one among their number who could command the confidence of the entire Nadrakian race. This had been, for the last ten billion years since their creation, Archnadrakian Balaine – the closest thing to god in the absence of the Creator itself.   Engineers: The main labour group, and the vast bulk of the race. They were usually ‘young’ Nadrakians, less than a few tens of thousands of years old. They dealt with threats to life from mundane sources, e.g. supernovas, asteroids, volcanism, etc.   Auditors: These dealt with threats to life and civilisations coming from the usage of time travel, and generally greatly discouraged and limited the use of such technology. Firing up a time machine was a great way to have Auditors turn up and follow you around, watching your every move. Rodinia hated them.   Shepherds: Assigned to an intelligent species once discovered, to essentially act as that species’ guardian angels. They will call on other Nadrakian breeds for help when necessary. The Shepherds of Rodinia probably felt useless, but likely didn’t complain at having an easy job 'protecting' a civilisation that required no help.   Enforcers: Nadrakians fought with each other; usually Shepherds of one civilisation against the Shepherds of another. Nadrakians became incredibly proud and protective of their charges. Enforcers stepped in to knock some sense back into the two opposing Nadrakian parties.   Balancers: Sometimes, for reasons poorly understood, a Nadrakian would fall from grace. They would lose much of their powers as a result, but depending on how powerful they were that could take a while. In the meantime, they could inflict serious damage. Other times they would skirt the line, acting in reprehensible ways towards individual mortals whilst still fulfilling the High Commandments. Balancers watched for signs of this.   Final Arbiters: When Shepherds erred and their charges tried wiping out other species, Final Arbiters would discipline both the Shepherds and the civilisation they were protecting. This was usually a last resort, as it involved Nadrakians physically confronting mortals with a potential for violence, which they always tried to avoid. Rodinia hated them as well, as it was the Final Arbiters that defeated of the Creatures of Earth/Rodinians during their most recent attempt to rail against the gods and conquer the Milky Way galaxy (Around nineteen million years ago). Rodinians were confined to Rodinia and its internal Weave of Worlds for millions of years by the Final Arbiters as punishment for repeated warmongering, and only escaped from this confinement when the Nadrakians died out during the Blood Harvest around three million years ago.   Soldiers: The oldest and most powerful of the classic breeds, these patrol the universe looking for threats from beyond this universe. Rodinia also hated them, as the Final Arbiters borrowed warriors from the Soldier caste, and it was a very one-sided battle. Rodinia’s pride took a long time to heal from that encounter.   Aristocrats: This was an administrative caste that managed the activities of all the breeds on a granular level on behalf of the Archnadrakians. And yes, Rodinia also hated them, as they were the ones who sentenced Rodinia to its confinement for warmongering.    

Psychology

  Having supposedly been created, they were quite alien in their mindset. They didn’t have any of the usual fingerprints of evolution upon them, such as phobias (fear of the dark/loss of sensory awareness, fear of heights, fear of certain types of creatures/predators). They didn’t have a flight or fight response, and instead remained highly analytical and in full control of their emotions in confrontational situations.   They largely lacked a tribal aspect to their nature, and as a result didn’t seem to display sectarian, racist or species supremacist attitudes. Their biases were rooted more in the nature of their work, as opposed to innate characteristics. They were known to slander other Nadrakians for failing to maintain an orderly galaxy, or for failing to help a civilisation through a challenge or threat to its welfare. Nadrakians from galaxies bustling with intelligent and space-faring civlisations held themselves high as being very successful in their role, and looked down on those Nadrakians from "troubled galaxies".   Many would disagree with the notion that their elitism was solely related to their work however. There was a streak of unspoken arrogance and superiority in the way they carried themselves; in their demeanor, how they spoke and commanded others, how they looked at you, etc. It could be argued that assuming the role of the cosmos' peacekeepers carried with it a certain level of intrinsic arrogance. They certainly never entertained the question of sharing power with any other species, nor did they accept no for an answer or take into consideration the desires of others. They did what they believed was correct, and what they alone believed. Even if they never directly insulted any other species or ridiculed their inferiority, their unspoken arrogance, belief in their natural superiority, and potential for ridicule were always there.   Having never had to scavenge for resources, they lacked any materialistic drive or susceptibility to greed. Nadrakians lived fairly frugal lifestyles, and didn't seem to possess many personal belongings. They built surprisingly simple and very austere habitats in remote locations. For them, civilisation was their art, as opposed to architecture, sculptures or paintings. They would let others know of their greatness by how great they could make others. They didn't keep animals as pets, as intelligent species were their "pets" as the ones they cared for the most. They didn't maintain palaces, space stations or any domains on land or in space as all the universe was their domain, and all its contents their belongings. A Nadrakian Shepard living on a planet viewed the entire planet as their house, not the four walls they happened to be in at any one time.   They were very curious about other species, both intelligent and non-intelligent, devoting large amounts of focus and resources to studying them. They were driven to explore because the notion that there might be new types of life that they hadn’t seen before was intriguing to them. They also believed that if Nadrakians weren’t present then it meant some kind of suffering was likely happening, and this notion made them anxious. The anxiety they felt about there being suffering somewhere they didn’t know about was felt profoundly throughout their collective psyche, and it drove them to explore more and more.   Patience, rationality and empathy were also hallmarks of their mentality as well, and they were very meticulous. As each Nadrakian was intelligent far beyond even the likes of already superintelligent beings like Rodinians, they could effectively envision, conceptualize and understand the machinations of an entire civilisation if necessary, and learn almost everything about it, to give guidance wherever required.   They also maintained the sole monopoly on power to such an absurd degree that the universe was largely peaceful, because everyone understood that the Nadrakians forbid violence and demanded that people talk, negotiate and find ways to overcome disagreements and differences without using violence. Nadrakians enunciated certain rights that they wanted intelligent life to have, and expected these rights to be respected. The Nadrakians had spent millions upon millions of years building up this awareness through largely non-violent means. If it came to it, they would destroy the military-industrial infrastructure of a whole civilisation through destroying machines, factories, starship engines, resource extractions, ammunition stocks, databases, computational infrastructure, radar and sensor infrastructure, etc. At their most sinister however, they would telepathically brainwash key leadership and personnel, and implement social conditioning upon the populace. It was rare that they ever felt the need to kill someone, except when the species they were protecting was harmed in some way by an outside force. This seemed to trigger darker impulses for retribution, an emotional response that was somewhat of a mystery for such created beings.