Kurugallu Civilization

DISCLAIMER: This page is currently under construction. Information may be changed to reflect new and recovered information in the future.

The Kurugallu Civilization was a civilization that existed on the planet of Kurugallu in the Urgulu Planetary System.

Etymology

Due to their discovery on the planet of Kurugallu and the lack of information on any endonyms, they are named after the planet on which their remains were discovered.

Extent

Kurugallu civilization was spread across thousands of boreholes and a network of tunnels and chambers within. As the history of the Kurugallu progressed, their population would bury deeper into the planet.

Boreholes

Kurugallu tunnel entrances are marked by intentionally designed boreholes on the surface. These boreholes are usually over 1 km in diameter with a ring of structures along their sides. These boreholes are made up of thousands of levels and tunnels providing access to chambers, some of which are as large as modern stadiums.

Borehole 814

Main article: Borehole 814

Borehole-814, also known as the “Gateway to Hell,” is a quarantined borehole discovered in 2279 located in the Northern Wastes just beyond the 38th parallel on a salt flat. Borehole-814 is unique for being surrounded by a perfectly circular field of tall, black, jagged spikes up to 323 meters in height jutting out of the ground. There have been many reports of humans experiencing negative physiological symptoms from being in the presence of these spikes. Scientists believe that these spikes were made by the Kurugallu to serve as a warning to others.

Discovery and History of Excavation

Remains of the Kurugallu civilization were first discovered during the early interstellar age when human explorers arrived in the Well of Embers.

Biology

The Kurugallu were an extraterrestrial, carbon-based species dependent on oxygen, nutrients, and water to survive. The existence of art in the form of paintings, sculptures, and reliefs suggest that the Kurugallu were a sentient species and research shows that they understood the concept of mortality.

In regards to physical appearance, the Kurugallu looked most like a cross between Terran termites and crustaceans and were roughly the size of an adolescent human. They moved around on six pairs of legs, some of which ended in claws such as a large front pair that could be manipulated as tools and/or weapons. Their bodies were divided into four major segments with between eight and 23 secondary appendages attached that gave the Kurugallu a tactile sense of environment as well as motor controls. They additionally possessed antennae with delicate sensory bristles that allowed them to detect minute changes in the air as well as vibrations that would be unnoticeable to humans.

Research suggests that they had senses superior to that of humans, though they perceived sounds, smells, and touch in different ways. They also had compound eyes which provided them a wide field of view and low-light vision, though they could not perceive some wavelengths that humans can.

Culture & Society

There is an academic debate over whether or not the Kurugallu were an individualist society or if they had some form of “gestalt consciousness.” While it’s known that the Kurugallu operated in a communal manner in many aspects, such as working together in communities, archaeological discoveries of paintings, statues, and reliefs carved into the halls of ceremonial chambers indicate that they had some sense of personal identity and socially transmitted knowledge.

Kurugallu society also existed in a state of “perpetual total mobilization,” able to seamlessly shift between militaristic, expansionist, economic, and scientific pursuits as circumstances demanded, described by some researchers as “like a machine shifting gears.”

“Caste System”

Variance in Kurugallu biology suggests that their society had some form of a “caste system.” While this term is not a perfect representation of the system, it is the closest description that humans have. Thousands of strains have been discovered, with differences in physical ability and intellectual acuity between each one. While parts of this structure were artificially imposed and manipulated by the Kurugallu as their culture and technology advanced, such as the ability of one strain to transition to another through artificially-assisted metamorphosis, there was almost certainly some kind of naturally existing hierarchical framework.

Archaeologists have grouped these strains into five overarching castes: labor, soldier, scholar, priest, and reproductive, based on their roles within Kurugallu society. It’s important to note that these terms are the closest human terms for these roles and they did not neatly fit into the human concept of these roles.

Technology

The Kurugallu were technologically advanced, with extensive genetic modification and cybernetics capabilities. Mechanical augmentation was common, though likely extremely painful and permanent, with some remains showing signs of chipping and subsequent puncturing of internal organs. Some of these augmentations were embedded deep inside of the body, making removal destructive to the bearer. There is ongoing academic debate on whether or not this was due to design flaws or a deliberate means of control. Additionally, they extensively used genetic engineering to modify members of their own species to perform specific tasks, though some of these processes resulted in strains that were unable to survive in a natural state. They've also been shown to have utilized biological computers specialized for complex problem-solving and logic, invented highly complex machines. It's been confirmed that they were a spacefaring species.

Government

While the Kurugallu did not have a government in a conventional sense, each of their castes had “quartermasters” that collectively guided the Kurugallu through mass communication and control. These quartermasters came from distinct strains of Kurugallu, one born in ten million, who had heightened instincts and awareness.

Chronology

It’s believed that the Kurugallu are not indigenous to the planet for which they are named due to a lack of genetic similarities between their remains and the native flora and fauna of the planet. This is supported by the boreholes being only a few thousand years old and all carved within a short period of time. Paintings, sculptures, and relief carvings are the only records of Kurugallu history that exist.

Early History

The first Kurugallu communities emerged on their homeworld and progressed through a series of ages loosely analogous to the agricultural and industrial revolutions coupled with a series of events that archaeologists struggle to categorize.

Golden Age

At some point in Kurugallu history, there was a kind of “transformation” or “rebirth” that resulted in a “golden age” of development and expansion.

Interstellar Colonization

Towards the end of their golden age, the Kurugallu are believed to have settled on their eponymous planet, sometime between 600 and 2,000 years ago. Within two centuries of their arrival, the Kurugallu in the Well of Embers began to experience a gradual decline.

Decline

Kurugallu remains show gradual degradation in the sophistication and ubiquity of cybernetics alongside signs of systemic violence. These findings are backed by discoveries of disposed remains from this era that suggest Kurugallu society was slowly unravelling amidst widespread disorder and desperation.

Collapse & Extinction

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Kurugallu went extinct as a result of rapid societal reorganizations across its castes, resulting in either mass death or deformation due to the constant artificial metamorphosis. Some theorize that this came about due to a lack of quartermasters among their population, either from attempts to create more or the result of their absence and resulting lack of guidance. It was after these events that their birthing chambers and technologies critical to the artificial metamorphosis process began to experience widespread failure. According to most researchers, a behavioral sync manifested within the Kurugallu in the aftermath, occurring across three stages A, B, and C.

Stage A

The first stage of the Kurugallu’s collapse and extinction saw a new social order violently emerge as the greater caste system broke apart. Exoskeletons from this era show an absence of both cybernetics and genetic modification as well as extensive physical harm such as fractures, deep lacerations, and crude repairs. It was during this time that traditional burial ceremonies and processes were abandoned in favor of simply dropping the corpses down the hollow cores of each borehole. Additionally, the higher levels of the boreholes seem to have been abandoned with the Kurugallu concentrating in isolated clusters inside of smaller chambers deeper underground. Aspects of society continued to break down as the Kurugallu began to behave more violently towards one another.

Stage B

In the second stage, the different castes began to behave more erratically and self-destructive. The soldier and labor castes began to experience periods of extreme lethargy followed by periods of equally extreme violence, even within their own ranks, which resulted in widespread death of the population. At the same time, the strains of the reproductive caste which were able to move around independently retreated further into the boreholes, attended to by what remained of the priest caste. Communities were formed around the remaining fertile Kurugallu, existing on the edges of the main host. While they were mostly ignored, they occasionally attacked rival communities, presumably to seek better nesting sites. The scholar caste began to isolate themselves to small groups, if they were in any at all, around the vast machines that now lay abandoned. Some of the scholar caste from this period have also been found on the surface of the planet near the crane structures. It is believed that very few of the scholars survived stage B and that they were the first of the Kurugallu to become extinct.

Stage C

In the third stage, the Kurugallu’s automated food sources which they had relied on to feed themselves began to fail, triggering mass starvation and death across what remained of the species. The survivors attempted to migrate once more, moving around in dense living colonies of tens of thousands due to a developed dependence on social clustering. These migrations through the Kurugallu’s tunnel systems resulted in further deaths due to crowding and stampeding. When groups of Kurugallu confronted each other during these migrations, extreme violence ensued between the two, causing further population loss. This period also saw cannibalism become a more common practice, as victorious Kurugallu colonies would consume the defeated for sustenance. In situations where these groups broke into chambers housing what remained of the reproductive caste, they would consume the young, even those in larval form. This resulted in the reproductive caste beginning to direct aggression towards their own young as a result of these acts of aggression, driving newborn and immature Kurugallu out into the labyrinths where they were unable to survive. The increased aggression that resulted from declining access to food, resources, and increased exhaustion and stress culminated in the Kurugallu’s extinction.

Reported Strange Occurrences

Stations and outposts, particularly those constructed on the edges of boreholes, have reported strange occurrences - especially in their deeper levels: damaged or missing sensors and recording equipment, detection of strange vibrations, and dozens of recordings of biological sounds resembling sizzling grease.

References

1. "The Gateway To Hell". Champlain Group.