The Gruntuk Empire

The Grun'Tuk Empire
Founder:
Basics
Alignment(s):	Unknown
Motto:	'
Leader(s):	Unknown
Logo:
Group Colours:	Predominantly Black and Gold
Playerbase
Levels:	All
Play style:	Casual
Roleplay:	Villains
Timezone(s):	Primarily EU/UK
Recruiting:	No
Contact:	@Gruntuk / @Absitomen
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The Grun'Tuk Empire

Overview

Article still a work in progress

The Grun’Tuk Empire are an interstellar species of creatures that have taken to the stars for a singular purpose. To conquer everything they set their eyes upon.

Looking similar to Earth’s mythological creature "the Minotaur" they are mostly humanoid with the visage of a bovine creature. Despite Earth's minotaur having its origin in myth and magic, the Grun'Tuk are creatures born of science and genetic engineering. There are subtle differences, but only those who have been able to study one of them under a knife would notice.

Highly advanced and capable of interstellar travel, the Grun’Tuk has spread to the stars to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs: everything the universe has to offer.

With this ability to travel the stars they strive to widen their dominion and bring more worlds under their control. Any potential planet seen as viable to support the Grun’Tuk people, be it as living space or for its raw materials will find the large fleets of the Empire darkening its skies.

The Grun’Tuk are pragmatic when it comes to selecting their potential targets for expansion. Early in their existence, they found themselves nearly wiped out trying to invade every single world they came across. This spread their forces out too thinly and resulted in the needless loss of many soldiers and ships. Sometimes it can take a few hard lessons to knock some sense into creatures with incredibly thick skulls.

Having learned from these early campaigns the Grun’Tuk took a much more measured approach to selecting planets to invade. They would find clusters of planets close by and send scouts out to these worlds to investigate their worth. Once a cluster is deemed worthy, scouts would be sent to each world to evaluate their worth. The scout's assigned task would be to infiltrate the planet and analyse the local flora and fauna. Intelligence would then be fed back to the fleets for the high command to decide upon the benefits and costs of beginning a campaign against the potential target planet and any inhabitants upon its surface.

A writer's note

Some of the stuff I have created would put these guys into the realm of "Empire too stupid to exist..." I am entirely aware of that. Its a comic book universe and I am having a little fun here. Some of the lore might change over time as I fine-tune the brutes

Some of the information given here might not be known by those upon Earth. So, if you wish to use it to your advantage please put the effort into thinking up a reasonable reason why you may know something that has not been voiced by one of the Grun'Tuk themselves. I will do my best to highlight that which has not yet been mentioned in public.

All the best from @Gruntuk, I hope you enjoy the read

And Remember "Be safe and strong."

Grun and Tuk

The name of the people, and by extension their Empire, is derived from a mixture of the genetic species and the home world they draw their origin from. Their language has a tendency to mix nouns and verbs together to spawn brand new words.

Not a people for colourful language, they like to keep things simple. Grun, in effect, is also the name of their language. They are Grun and they speak Grun. Their language will be discussed in more detail later in this article.

The species itself is called Grun. They have referred to themselves as Grun from the moment the first of them could write. They will forever be Grun, no matter how much they have been genetically altered. The Grun that first left their home system would look much different from the creatures you see today.

Tuk is the world that gave birth to their species. They honour their shattered home by weaving its name into that of their Empire so they can forever remember what they did to their world.

Physical Description

Physiology

For the smart-asses amongst the human population... some would describe them as Space Cows.

For the misunderstood amongst the human population... some would describe them as Space Minotaurs.

The species, Grun, physically have the visage of a Bovine creature and do, indeed look like "Sons and Daughters of Minos," (What the Grun'Tuk call Minotaurs). However, these looks only go skin deep. They are genetically engineered beings, each individual of their race is grown/bred for a specific purpose in their war machine. Some are incredibly large, having vast amounts of muscle mass to weather incredible punishment, while others can be leaner and agile for more delicate operations or surgical strikes.

Physically their height ranges from 6ft to 10ft in height. Their mass varies wildly depending on their purpose. Their natural fur colouring varies just as wildly as well. Unlike Minotaurs, they possess human-like feet. Some will possess horns of differing nature, others will have stumps where horns used to exist or have failed to grow. There are "cultural and societal" reasons why a Grun would not possess horns.

All are physically strong and incredibly quick, however, there are exceptional Grun who exceed their base strength and agility. They can suffer incredible punishment before they fall, being a warrior race they have bred fortitude and resilience into themselves. However, and this might not technically be a physical trait, some will have their mental facilities reduced so they can be better soldiers. Jar-Heads are indeed something the Grun'Tuk use.

When they bleed, they bleed red with what appear to be flecks of gold mixed in their blood. The Grun'Tuk see these flecks of gold as a sign of vitality and power so they choose to wear gold with pride. Only those who are censored are forbidden from wearing gold upon their bodies.

Armour and Clothing

They can be found adorned in the armour of their people. The armour is made of a heavy and dense material, alien in origin to Earth. Where brute force is needed a Grun'Tuk soldier needs armour that can bear just as much punishment as they physically can. Armour plates cover the vital organs and reinforce defence over the areas needing it most. Underneath these armoured plates, they would wear a form-fitting body suit for extreme environmental protection. This second skin is optional. Some Grun'Tuk prefer only to wear the plated protection as it gives them the most freedom of movement.

Their war gear, much like their people, is mass-produced. Entire brigades of soldiers can be easily outfitted within days of them being born from their Vats. Grun'Tuk soldiers are prepared to die for their cause, therefore their armour is built to a certain degree to help prevent death, however, so as not to waste vital materials only what is needed is woven into their suits.

Its colour indicates the soldier/citizen's rank or unit assignment.

Affiliations

They are an Empire that conquers worlds, so they have both subjects and enemies spread throughout the quadrants of Space they occupy. Several species are subordinate to them and fill roles the warriors feel they are not fit to do. Others act as auxiliary forces for their war-machine.

To Earth, they would be seen as an aggressive and invasive force with fleeting affiliation to those who ally themselves with.

Idiosyncracies and way of life

Unity: We Are One

All Grun'Tuk are bound by what they call their Unity. Each individual sees themselves as a cell in a larger organism. When they fight, they fight as one. Unit cohesion is incredible and their adherence to their battle doctrine is even more so. Watching the Grun'Tuk battle would be like watching ants go to war. A soldier will always be precisely where they need to be without even realising it. They see this as their Unity guiding them.

Outside of battle it also helps keep them focused on the Empire's objective. Conquest. Even the mundane tasks can be seen to fulfil some objective for the Greater Good of the Unity.

Every breathe you/they take, every move you/they make... Unity is guiding you/them... and is done in service to the Unity. Their Unity, to the Grun'Tuk, is seen as a way of thinking. It binds them, guides them and overall drives them to conquer and expand.

Unbeknownst to their people though is the sinister undercurrent that comes with the Unity.

Author Note: I don't want to give away too much as there is currently an arc I am working through that is revealing more substance. If you are ever interested in hearing more speak to Aghorn.

Confidence: Might Makes Us Right

The Grun'Tuk are supremely confident creatures. They have been fighting in wars throughout their entire species' existence. This means they can speak with confidence when it comes to their physical ability to achieve their goals. This, however, does not breed overbearing arrogance within them. They are well aware of their own weaknesses and flaws as well. They don't let these hold them back. When they set their mind on a task they will throw every fibre of their being into achieving their objective. If they cannot achieve it, they will retreat and rally and weigh up their options.

They are also not arrogant to dismiss any enemy they face, no matter how infallible they believe they are. So, they will compliment a species when they see strength, and even provide advice on how to better themselves if given the opportunity.

Society: Caste to Die

The Grun'tuk society is a caste-based system. Warriors, fighters, admirals, marines, commanders... anything that would fight as their primary purpose are seen as a higher tiered caste than anything that fulfils an auxiliary role. Some Grun'Tuk are unfortunate enough to not rise to this rank, most times through no fault of their own. Genetic quirks can cause a Grun'Tuk to be underdeveloped physically in their VATs. Those that come out of the tank and are seen as inferior stock are reassigned to auxiliary forces, most frequently the science divisions where their sharp minds can be put to task on other objectives in the Empire.

However, like a few things with the Grun'Tuk, there is a barbed twist to this. Those who are found insufficient out of the tank have their horns removed as a mark of shame. Those who develop insufficiencies later in life are assigned to Rhel units, suicide/penal units.

Most remarkable tech hallmark

Interstellar travel, biological engineering, becoming a species of Vat grown warriors/monsters.

One thing to note about their tech is that they have found it better to conquer those with the technology they want, rather than invest the time and effort into drawing up a proper scientific sect of their species. This has resulted in their scientists both being seen as second-class citizens.

Those not of their species are seen as subjects. They don't abhor their subjects, but they also dont see them as equals. They are just another tool or weapon in the war machine and the Grun'Tuk take great pride in looking after their tools or weapons. However, if a tool or weapon is no longer of any use it is disposed of, efficiently.

Cultural Progress Level

Cultural "progress" is not something they really do. More like Cultural acquisition... and even then only if it will conform to their ideals.

They are an ancient species and have been space-borne for the last near millennia and a half.

They have got to the level that they can pew pew in space though... if that hasn't been made abundantly clear until now.

A History of violence

The Death of Tuk

The Grun'Tuk have had an incredibly violent past. From the moment the first Grun was able to lift a stone there was a near incessant need to cause violence. Much like humanity their people went through their own elemental/metallic ages, bronze, brass, steel, through the Atomic and finally into an age when they could effectively take to the stars in armoured ships. Sadly they found themselves trapped in their own system due to the inability for them to harness faster-than-light technology.

A neighbouring planet with a smaller species known as the Flovian Accord tried their best to trade with the Grun. However, their more pacifist nature was met with extreme hostility but the Tuk bound creatures. Seeing it as a sign of weakness, the Grun refused any help from their more than willing neighbours. Woefully outmatched by the Flovian science, the Grun had to look elsewhere to achieve their need to expand.

Turning inwards Grun scientists were ordered to throw everything they had into breaking the laws of physics so the burgeoning warmongers could spread from their planet and expand their dominion across the stars. Every avenue was explored. No stone was left unturned. For a species that was perpetually at war with itself for its entire existence, the need to escape their own planet finally united them all in one goal. It was the first time within Grun recorded history that the species felt United with one goal.

Little did they realise that in the distant future there would come a time where breaking away from this Unity would be a near impossible feat.

The different nations around the world were able to accelerate their scientific potential. Exotic weapons never heard of before were invented. If the Flovian would not give them the technology then they would suffer. Seismic weapons, capable of breaking continents were invented. Early stages of cloning themselves had also begun. Inter-system shipcraft were upgraded and made more brutal and savage.

The planet of Tuk was preparing for a war with the Flovian. However, the first shot that would start a war of extermination was not fired upon Flovian soil, instead, it was upon Grun that the bloodshed began.

Their initial semblance of a unified front evaporated over time as some nations made bigger breakthroughs than others. Nations grew jealous, frightened and paranoid. The very weapons they built to obliterate their neighbouring foe were turned upon themselves. A war that would truly end all wars erupted and ended violently within weeks of the super weapon being deployed.

Tuk could not withstand the punishment and it began to break apart. For only the second time in Grun's history did they unite together to achieve a singular objective. Survival.

Every vessel that could ferry their people to the starships above was employed. Many Grun survived the ordeal, but the species was a shadow of its former self.

In a moment of desperation, the eyes of the Grun settled on the Flovian's planet... and with one last gamble they launched their species, every male, female and child, into an all-out war to conquer their neighbours and claim the planet for their own.

A war in the heavens: The Flovian Accord

They blew up their own planet. Around the time they finally managed to attain sublight speed there was a war upon Tuk that ruptured the surface. It was what forced them to spread out and conquer their first world. A world owned by the Flovian Accord.

The war with the Accord was brutal and bloody and nearly resulted in the Grun'Tuk's extermination, but they prevailed and took the Flovian tech and harnessed it so they could travel beyond their native stars.

In more recent history they found Earth, and saw it was good... so they wanted to take it and add it to their Empire.