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Gorm are six-limbed creatures Terran biologists would class as "mammals," as they are warm-blooded and bear their young live. They are large (a mature adult stands between 2.25 and 3.25 meters when fully erect) and, compared to lower-gravity races, extremely powerful. They are also unique in the known galaxy in possessing four well-developed arms, each ending in an agile, three-fingered hand. Their two rearmost limbs are used for walking and running, but in rough terrain, a Gorm may use his lower set of arms as "auxiliary legs."
Most Gorm are gray or grayish-white in color and have a splotchy covering of black, white, or blue body hair (concentrated on the head and neck) over their thick, armor-likearmorlike hides. Their facial features appear remarkably "human," aside from the extreme breadth and flattened quality of the nose. The Gorm have an extremely sensitive olfactory sense, but seem rather deaf by Terran standards, as the atmospheres of lower-gravity planets are thin compared to the air pressures and densities to which they are accustomed.
In addition to the readily apparent physical senses, the Gorm have an additional telempathic sense called minisorchi. Minisorchi does not permit direct telepathic communication between Gorm, but it does communicate emotional overtones. This very probably explains the consensual nature of Gorm society (as it is literally impossible for one Gorm to misunderstand another's emotions or intentions), and also forms the decisive factor in the Orchukani bond.
Almost every Gorm child has an Orchuki, or "matched parent." The Orchuki is an adult other than the child's biological parent whose personality and, in particular, minisorchi are similar to and compatible with that of the child. It is the Orchuki's duty to nurture and guide his or her Adachi, or "matched child," in a mentor and guardian role, and an Orchuki is often more pivotal in a child's life than his or her biological parents. Orchukis normally come from the same Home Circles as their Adachis, but this is not always so, and a "foreign" Orchuki is regarded and treated as a family Senior of his/her Adachi's Home Circle.
The Gorm practice a strong, universal religion based upon the worship of Gormus. Although Gormus was originally a primitive sun deity, the Manaki Tólhar, or "Church of the Ray and Shadow," has evolved over the millennia a complex, sophisticated theology which emphasizes the ultimate unity of the universe and all within it. The Yncho Gormus, or "Tract of Gormus," the essentially Animist foundation of Gorm theology, maintains that all objects, entities, and forces are manifestations of the Power of Gormus. As part of this philosophy, it follows that fundamental harmony between all sentient races is the ultimate objective of Gormus.
The Manaki Tólhar plays a strong role in Gorm society, as the Gorm clergy act as arbiters of the legal/judiciary system. To the Gorm, philosophy and proper conduct are inescapably joined. In effect, "philosophically correct" and "legal" are synonymous terms, and as the Church is largely responsible for providing philosophical direction, its clergy are the logical judges of the Gorm legal system.
Conflicts, vendettas, and the like are very uncommon among the Gorm, although a holdover (and now largely ceremonial) code duello persists. Duels are permitted only when the Manaki Tólhar decrees that Synkiharno ("blood honor") is involved, and such decrees are now extremely rare. In the ancient days of the VÇskVQsk Gormak, or "First Assembly of Gormus," however, Synkiharno was used as a means to maintain the integrity of the Yncho Gormus, and the millennia-pastmillenniapast "Assemblage Conflicts" (the last major Gorm-versus-GormversusGorm conflict) were waged under the authority of mutually conflicting interpretations of the Yncho. For the past several centuries, even Synkiharno duels have assumed the nature of ritualistic combats to submission, not to the death.
Most Gorm honor obligations center upon the notion of Duty to the Household, or Synklomus ("House Honor") and Duty to the Housekin, or Synklomchuk, itself. The Gorm concept of the lomus, or "Household," is a complex one that takes on related but highly differentiated meanings in various aspects of Gorm life. The lomus includes both the Housekin, or biological family, plus any guests or servants of the Household, all of whom are subsumed under the collective title of lomchuk, but lomus may also refer to any grouping by location or purpose, up to and including the race as a whole. An adult Gorm is expected to die before permitting any harm to come to any non-adult or guest member of the lomus. By the same token, guests must refrain from endangering or harming the lomus. As a holdover from harsher times, the punishment for the breaking of this covenant is death. Younglings are exempt from the full rigor of Synklomus (though not Synklomchuk); upon reaching "Stature," or adult status, this exemption ends.
Possibly because of the harsh evolutionary environment in which the Gorm culture developed, almost all legalities and obligations are defined in terms of preventing harm - physical, mental, or proprietary - from befalling anyone within a lomus. The overriding obligation is to provide an environment in which harm does not occur, which is not precisely the same as saying that one is responsible for going out of one's way to provide comfort. While adults are very careful to provide a nurturing environment to the young, the survival imperatives of the harsh Gorm home world have left an indelible mark upon Gorm society. There is no obligation to aid an individual outside the bounds of the lomus, only to refrain from harming or endangering him, although the tenets of the Yncho tend to weaken this distinction.
The basic Gorm philosophy may be summed up by a phrase from the Yncho: "Life Requires Purpose; Purpose Requires Strength." All Gorm society is built upon this axiom, and once a Purpose is agreed upon, the Gorm will individually/collectively pursue it with great vigor and determination. So long as any Purpose continues to seem desirable and worthwhile, the Gorm will pursue it unflinchingly, regardless of the cost or effort required.
Because of this, the Gorm often appear to be highly militaristic, but this is a misperception. In fact, the Gorm normally regard the military option as the least desirable one, and they will resort to it only when no other course seems open. Traditionally, the Gorm prefer diplomacy and peaceful coexistence; if, however, the safety of their race or some Purpose requires it, they pursue war as unflinchingly as any other course of action, and their preference for coexistence is not without limits. The obligation to prevent harm to the lomus means the Gorm will always react to any perceived threat by neutralizing it, as when they first encountered the expansionist Khanate of Orion and elected to go to war almost immediately because they perceived the Khanate as a fundamental threat to the racial lomus. Yet by the same token, they accepted peace terms and amalgamation into the Khanate with equal rapidity once the Orions convinced them that they were not, in fact, a threat to the lomus.
The Gorm galactic view holds that, ultimately, all sentient races are part of the same lomus, as all are creatures of Gormus's universe. The Gorm do not expect this belief to become universally accepted, but it is their duty to work towards it, a point which helps to explain the great tolerance with which they treat even conquered races. It also explains the consternation and horror with which the Gorm reacted to the genocidal Rigelians. Although the Gorm are not particularly bloodthirsty, they accepted far more quickly than their Terran or Ophiuchi allies that such an aberrant species could not be tolerated and endorsed the Orion advice to eradicate the Rigelian race in its entirety to "neutralize" its threat potential. In the long view, however, the Gorm look forward to the inclusion of all "reasonable" sentient races in a grand, universal lomus, in which all are equal in the eyes of Gormus.
As a result, the Empire of Gormus (which continues to this day as a locally-autonomous component of the Khanate of Orion) is an empire in name only. The actual government resides within the Assembly of Twenty, selected by the Assembly of Two Thousand. The Two Thousand's members are selected at regular intervals by the adult populations of the various home world districts and major colonial worlds. At present, with the increasing number of colony worlds, the Two Thousand actually has well over two thousand members, but the Gorm are a traditional race and retain the old name.
There are no elections as such, and the Gorm who end up serving in the Two Thousand do not "run" for office. Gorm who have distinguished themselves in public debate, service, and deportment are "called upon" by their Raskochuk, or "District Kin," to pursue Assembly status. Once sufficient "Called Kin" are gathered (usually about twenty for a typical district), they themselves select the appropriate number (eight to ten) of delegates to the Two Thousand from their own numbers. No non-Gorm political analyst has ever been able to explain precisely how this selection process is accomplished, yet a very similar system is used to determine military commanders in time of war and, quite obviously, it works well for the Gorm. It seems likely that minisorchi plays a major part in both processes.
In theory, any member of the Two Thousand may step down at any time for any reason; in practice, to do so in less than one Gorm year is considered to shirk one's obligations under Synklomus. There is no set maximum term for the Two Thousand, but the inhabitants of a district may "Recall Their Kin" at any time in a sort of referendum operation. This is extremely rare, however, as retaining office once one is aware that one's District Kin are dissatisfied with one's performance is considered the height of dishonorable conduct.
The Assembly of Twenty, which actually runs the Empire, is drawn from the Two Thousand's members much as the Two Thousand are selected by their District Kin, but membership on the Twenty is for life. The Twenty, in turn, select a "First," whose function is to preside over meetings and councils. The First serves primarily as a moderator, not a policy maker, yet it is significant that, almost without fail, every First has unusually powerful minisorchi and uses that telempathic sense to aid him in steering the Twenty into consensus or a clear majority when they are deeply divided on an issue.
The management of colonial and conquered worlds is left primarily to the devices of the indigenous populations, with only nominal interference. Colonies are represented in the Two Thousand, and conquered worlds, while not directly represented, almost all send elected Speakers to represent their interests and needs. Gorm "Seniors" (essentially planetary governors) selected from the Two Thousand are sent to conquered worlds to oversee their progress towards acceptance of the harmony called for in the Yncho Gormus. "Unprogressive" societies are punished only for active blows against that harmony, but no unprogressive society is really allowed to advance, either. Large amounts of raw materials tend to come out of these "retrograde" worlds without a significant return of Gorm high-tech material or goods, and they are not permitted interstellar travel.
Militarily, the Gorm have a unified force structure headed by the Kalihitak, or War Leader. The Kalihitak is the only "permanent rank" in the entire Gorm military machine and is selected by all senior Gorm officers with the approval of the Twenty. He holds membership in the Two Thousand for the duration of his command tenure.
The Empire of Gormus's military itself is subdivided into:
(1) Gorm Naval Command (GNC)
(2) Gorm Assault Command (GAC)
(3) Gorm Fortification Command (GFC)
(4) Gorm Logistics and Coordination Command (GLCC)
(5) Gorm Planetary Guard Command (GPGC)
The GNC is responsible for the construction, deployment, operation, and maintenance of the space-going portion of the Empire's military. The Navy is considered THE critical component in upholding the Gorm's racial Synklomus, and GNC architects have virtually complete cost freedom in the design process, as the Gorm believe building less than the very best warship possible would be a failure in Synklomus.
The Gorm's body size and form is ill suited to the use of strikefighters, as it is extremely difficult to design and engineer a cockpit and life support for them into such a small vessel. Accordingly, the Gorm were unable to develop strikefighters of their own until well after the Third Interstellar War and relied upon their Orion partners for fighter cover during combat.
The GAC controls the standing planetary forces: armor, aircraft, support, engineers, and the actual assault groups. Even more than the Terran Federation, the GAC tends to rely on massive mechanization and firepower to reduce actual manpower requirements in planetary assaults, a tendency stemming from the Gorm notion of lomus and the idea that the least possible number of lives must be endangered in executing a task. In addition, Gorm are nothing if not logical, and GAC commanders are not noted for making costly direct assaults. They are far more likely to stand off for strategic bombardments to eliminate an enemy's war-making capability before actually invading. Moreover, whenever possible the Gorm will present the enemy with an overwhelming threat and allow him to choose between surrender and death. Most races so far encountered have recognized the Gorm's fundamental honesty, which means few have chosen to call the GAC's bluff in such situations. Those who have almost always take catastrophic casualties, for Gorm do not bluff and are relentless once engaged.
The GFC is charged with the design, placement, construction, and maintenance of all prepared fortifications, whether in space or ground-side. The GFC is unique in that it has almost complete autonomy in matters of design evolution without interference from naval commanders or civilian government. As a result, Gorm OWP design philosophy frequently does not mirror naval design philosophy. (For example, the GFC has begun making heavy use of hetlasers for OWPS, whereas the GNC has almost completely ignored the weapon.)
(It should be noted that, perhaps because of their extremely logical outlook, the Gorm do not tend to be very "creative" as a race. The overriding Gorm technical philosophy might be summed up as "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." Put another way, they are disinterested in change for change's sake and, so long as current hardware meets their perceived needs, see no reason to change it. Gorm scientists seem to operate on the principle that what is required of them is to devise solutions for any problem as it arises, not to go off and conduct research that might never prove applicable. As a result, the Gorm tend to adapt to other people's technology rather than to innovate, but they are often extremely ingenious in the ways they adapt.)
The GLCC is the Gorm quartermaster corps, charged with the management of resources and manufacturing capability. Because of the nature of its duties, the GLCC interfaces closely with the GNC, GAC, and GFC, and the Gorm - unlike many other races - prize outstanding managerial capability almost more highly than military prowess.
Finally, the GPGC is an essentially paramilitary service. It consists, at least in theory, of every adult Gorm. The entire adult population turns out for periodic rudimentary military training (instructors and equipment are furnished by the GAC) which forms the planetary security force for any Gorm planet. The GPGC is also used as a relief force in times of disaster, but opponents who underestimate the GPGC as "weekend warriors" will receive a nasty surprise.
In combat, the Gorm are deadly opponents. They will not engage in battle unless Synklomus requires it, and while the death of any Gorm is considered "harm" or "loss" to the race as a whole, any Gorm is required to die, once Synklomus is invoked, before he (or she) permits greater harm to come to any part of the Empire of Gormus. This does not mean Gorm make suicidal assaults in the name of honor, nor that an off icer who declines to throw away his command in a hopeless situation is dishonored - it simply means the Gorm military is highly motivated and will accept death unflinchingly in order to accomplish its mission.
It is vastly important to note that Synklomus extends to the military unit in which a Gorm serves, whether that unit is a warship, a planetary assault unit, or an GPGC squad. Gorm crew members will risk their lives whenever there is even a remote chance of saving a comrade and (paradoxically) will suicide rather than compel their comrades to endanger themselves to save them. It is a high point of Gorm honor to bring their warships back from combat, though they do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves when there is no other course and doing so may turn the tide of battle.
Perhaps the most distinctive single aspect of the Gorm military is that it has no rigidly defined rank structure at all. By most races' standards, this is preposterous and dangerous, yet it works for the Gorm.
In Gorm service, there are only "officers" and "enlisted personnel" - with no gradations at all within those two major categories. Gormish logic underlies this system, though the basic premise strikes many observers as peculiar. In essence, all Gorm officers are simply senior enlisted men, and all Gorm commanders must come up through the ranks: there is no other path to command. What appears to determine an individual Gorm's status is his fellows' recognition of his combined ability, dedication, experience, etc. Officers are selected by those they are to command on a consensual basis, yet as in the Assemblies of Two Thousand and Twenty, there is an element of "representative government" in the process. PFCs do not select commanders-in-chief; rather each officer is selected by the group of officers who will serve directly under him.
In Terran experience, elective officer systems have proven disastrous because of the commanders' inability to enforce effective discipline without being replaced by their troops. In Gorm experience, this simply does not happen. This seems to result primarily from the Gorm perception of the consensual process as providing the selected officers a mandate which can be dissolved only by death, a criminal act, or the substantiated charge by others of his own "rank" or above that he has proven himself unfit for the position. It is also evident that minisorchi plays a major part in this process, although, like minisorchi itself, its exact role is unclear.
Traditionally, Gorm officers were identified by function rather than a formalized rank structure. (An officer, for example, might be known as a "destroyer commander" or a "cruiser commander" but would not be known as a "commander" or "captain.") Obviously, this arrangement did not meld well with the KON after the Amalgamation with the Khanate of Orion, so the Empire of Gormus adopted KON ranks - but all Gormish ranks are "acting" (in Terran parlance) in that the formal rank is assigned on the basis of the functional authority of the officer in question and can be reduced or increased with little warning.
Recruiting is never a problem for the Gorm military, as the concept of the lomus insures that large numbers of Gorm offer their services to protect the "Household." Even in recruiting procedures, however, the Gorm seem determined to confuse the rest of the galaxy. There is no set term of Gorm military service. A Gorm may leave the military at any time he or she chooses - up to the moment the shooting starts in a given battle baftle- without any penalty or dishonor. A Gorm serves his people because his own logic tells him his service is needed. If his judgment of the situation changes, he is perfectly free to abandon his military career at any time.
Gorm protocol is so simple as to be non-existent. For example, there is no Gorm salute, nor any particular idea that one is needed. (it is, however, worth noting that Gorm who serve directly with the KON have no difficulty whatever in observing even the minutest details of KON protocol. More, they manage to do so in a manner which does not offend Orion sensibilities, although it is manifestly clear they are simply humoring a racial peculiarity of their friends.)
As with the Orions, Gorm clothing is minimal and is used, when worn at all, for purely functional or decorative purposes. Military uniform consists only of weapons harness of leather or metal (all Gorm military personnel carry personal weapons at all times) with rank badges centered on the chest strap. When protective gear such as vac suits are required, names, ranks, and branches are stenciled in appropriate locations on the equipment.
There is no effort in Gorm protocol, uniform, or rank badges to emphasize martial glory. To the Gorm, this is both unnecessary and illogical. There can be no greater honor than the defense of one's people from harm - anything artificially contrived to emphasize that point would cheapen its true meaning.
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