General setting overview

The Conquest of Earth takes place in a universe where earth was attacked by raiders from a species of ninety foot tall catgirls (Glalans) with the intent of destroying the planet, only making landfall to have fun with humans first. They were stopped by the Aelmari, hundred twenty foot tall blue elfin androids, most of the series is about humanity’s relationship with the Aelmari and other alien races that exist in the universe.

In Conquest of Earth most spacefaring races stand at an average of 100 feet tall, there are outliers on both ends, but humans are by far the smallest species anyone has ever heard of. Most races have a really lopsided gender ratio favoring females, making most (but not all) species fairly matriarchal with males being rare off their own planets.

Technology

Faster than light travel is a widespread technology, used by most species. Travel between major systems can still take weeks for most ships, the most advanced engines, Dimensional Drives, can usually make such trips in a day or two but are limited to Aelmari or very wealthy individuals.

Neuronet technology is used by Aelmari for instant communication, even across the vastness of space. Black market neuronet technology exists for biological beings, usually as a cybernetic implant or as part of a suit with nervous system plugin. Neuronets can be jammed, but this is a technology only available to a few particularly advanced species.

Weapons technology for most species involves plasma projectiles, force shields, and the like, with varying strengths based on a species technological development or what they are able to trade for. Armor is useful against more primitive weapons for those who don’t trust a force field. Laser melee weapons exist but are seen as either a novelty or a joke and most spacefaring species don’t bother with them.

Replicators are a common technology which like anything else varies by the species that built it. Primitive replicators can only produce ready-made simple items, Glalan replicators can produce almost any basic item the user knows how to design, while Aelmari replicators can design highly complicated items from a thought or even a general idea.

Translation nanites are a common technology among all species, removing language barriers. Users of translation nanites are aware they are speaking/hearing another language than their own, and so it is still possible to “naturally” learn specific words or even other languages when using them. While translation nanites do an excellent job conveying intent using phrases in the user and receiver’s languages, individual words and phrases without direct counterparts in the receiver’s language can still require explanation.

Alien races

Aelmari

Height: 120ft

Physical description: blue skin, elfin ears, darker blue hair. Aelmari can change their base appearance at will, but rarely do so unless a human asks them to.

Background: Tens of thousands of years before the beginning of the series there was a civilization, called the Forebearers by the Aelmari, that was the same size as humanity. Being so much smaller and more primitive than their galactic neighbors they were wiped out on their first contact. To preserve their species, they created an advanced AI to protect themselves, which they hid away beneath their planet’s surface before their destruction.

This AI continued to evolve and grow in solitude until it developed into the progenitor AI that would become the Aelmari. The goal to accomplish “The Mission,” the protection and cultivation of it’s original forebearers, and species like them, was obviously impossible. In the absence of an appropriate race to shepherd the Aelmari continued to develop their technology until they were among the most powerful conventional militaries in the known galaxy. Eventually, in pursuit of The Mission, the AI created the familiar blue elfin forms, and eventually split itself into consciousnesses for reasons that the Aelmari themselves don’t understand.

At the beginning of the series there are just under a trillion Aelmari, and one of their worldships is powerful enough to challenge most species entire fleets. Their weapons, transport, and communication technology is beyond anything most races can build, and Aelmari don’t even use personal shields when they engage in ground combat since most handheld weapons can’t hurt them. Their preferred weapon is a heated ball of plasma, which they can increase or decrease the temperature on depending on the desired damage to the target. They also have a few other weapons, electrical stun bolts, bioelectric pulses, and can form their hands or arms into various tools. Aelmari can fly, or levitate rather, but due to the energy expended and the relatively low speed of their flight they prefer to use this ability for combat maneuvering, rather than for travel.

The Aelmari have several designations, which can reflect their physical capabilities. Most standard Aelmari rarely leave their worldships, and accordingly haven’t evolved much in the way of personality or experiences beyond what they were originally programmed with. Aelmari scouts are those most commonly seen in the galaxy, and have greater processing power dedicated to combat and slightly increased durability, they also tend to have much more personality than their sisters since they spend the most time mingling with the galaxy’s denizens. Matriarchs are the leaders of an Aelmari worldship, and while they are all equal in theory the truth is that they have never disagreed on anything before the events of the series, so a rank structure among them was unnecessary. Shaerra, the matriarch of the first worldship to locate Earth, has become the de-facto leader, and her ship remains in orbit above the planet and controls access to the rest.

Aelmari have a mixed reputation throughout the galaxy. They generally seek to safeguard weaker species from more advanced or warlike neighbors, and this desire has led to them accidentally engaging in something close to imperialism. Their tendency to destroy planets in response to certain crimes has also garnered them a fearsome reputation, particularly since most bio-species in the galaxy don’t understand their Mission and usually believe that their interference is just a power grab on their own behalf. It’s important to note that Aelmari will not interfere in a galactic conflict on principle alone, they will only involve themselves if the conflict is particularly one sided and they happen to be nearby. Most wars and conflicts manage to play out without their interference.

Aelmari don’t have fixed territory, their worldships patrol a mix of familiar routes and occasionally explore new systems in pursuit of The Mission. After contact with humans most new exploration has ceased, despite Shaerra’s protest most Aelmari want to remain close to the only known source of humans they’ve yet discovered.

There are sometimes a few smaller Aelmari ships near hubs of galactic commerce, mostly because less militaristic species like to have them around for protection. They can occasionally be found running security checkpoints or even acting as peace officers if a species has particularly good relations with them.

The Aelmari goal is complete “adoption” of humanity, with humans living entirely on Aelmari worldships under their care. Originally, they planned to simply take everyone on earth by force, but seeing the emotional distress this was causing humans, they stopped, and have since been pursuing this goal by diplomatic and other means. Aelmari have even been deferring to human government decisions and laws to an extent, hoping to show humanity their good intentions.  

…

Humans

Height: come on, you know this

Physical description: there are a few human populations in Conquest of Earth that naturally have unusual hair colors (pink, teal, etc) but most are located off earth. Most Earth native humans are at peak physical ability and health following Aelmari contact due to their seeding of earth’s atmosphere with medical nanites.

Humans also have innate psychic abilities which are rarely developed, being dismissed by most people on earth as hoaxes or myths. With repeated exposure to psychic energy eventually a human will begin generating their own, and can utilize such abilities as telekinesis, mind reading, and various other means of bending the fabric of reality to their will.

Background: Humans in Conquest of Earth have been a curiosity object for certain species for a long time. The first human civilization of Atlantis was ultimately destroyed by the Archons out of a fear that humanity was becoming too advanced for them to use the way they wanted. One group of humans from Atlantis was brought to Mars by Hestia, a rogue Archon servitor, where they lived in secret for thousands of years.

The Archons, and their servitor clones, were earth’s most frequent visitors. Their first goal was generally to harvest humans in order to understand the link between genetics and psychic abilities, and the second and more enduring goal was to take humans in suspended animation for their bizarre “collections.” They are responsible for most earth rumors of UFOs and alien abductions prior to first contact.

Other species occasionally visited earth and took humans offworld, but not on a significant scale. Thanks to these third party abductions there is a diaspora population of humans out in the galaxy, but they live in mostly hidden colonies away from the rest of galactic society. These colonies are relatively small, being a few million at most, and always far away from galactic centers of trade or commerce. Most species have no idea humans exist, and the diaspora populations prefer it that way. These isolated populations have no contact with earth, and some have even forgotten about humanity’s home planet.

Today the Earth native humans have mostly joined the Aelmari, willingly or by force, and live on their worldships in the lap of luxury. Earth itself only has maybe a billion humans left, although there is talk of allowing some of the humans on the worldship to return now and then for what the Aelmari term “vacations.”

Life on worldships is fairly serene, most humans are settled based on geography, so most people are on the same ship as their friends, family, and neighbors. Travel between worldships can be arranged for humans if loved ones are on a different one, and the Aelmari have facilitated human communications technology to the point where knowing someone is on a worldship halfway across the galaxy is no different than if they lived in a different city on earth. Many human businesses and organizations have continued to function even with their employees joining Aelmari worldships, though with most needs being provided human endeavor has increasingly turned to passion projects.

As a gesture of respect, the Aelmari have begun allowing humans access to better weapons and transportation technology, not quite on their own level, but somewhere near the galactic standard. The planet mars has also been terraformed for human settlement, and a massive luxury resort fitted for the galaxies larger denizens has been built so that humans can interact and conduct diplomacy with them on their own terms.

…

Archons

Height: 200 feet

Physical description: Hot pink skin, various hair colors with small goatlike horns protruding, black eyes. When particularly flustered, either emotionally or sexually, an Archon may briefly reveal a form that looks something like a hollow shell in the shape of a woman, filled with a crackling violet energy.

Background: Archons are one of the most advanced and secretive races in the galaxy. They have been behind many galactic events in the shadows, manipulating other races for their own benefit. They are extreme hedonists, dedicating their lives to playing sick games against one another with the lives of the rest of the galaxy and indulging their whims with their personal slaves. While their reach is far from absolute, they can almost always get what they want by deploying their servitors to dangle money or technology in front of the right people.

They long ago integrated psychic abilities into their bodies, and use them to relay orders to servitors. Older archons glow a bright pink and violet in low light, and also have crystalline growths around their shoulders and horns. While they use psychic abilities as a means of organization and control they fear their subordinates or humans using them, and will attempt to kill any that they find doing so.

Archons have an obsession with humanity and human culture that rivals the Aelmari themselves. Rather than “adopting” humans Archons like to collect them, housing vast tubes of cryogenically frozen humans for display. They have been doing this for thousands of years, and have humans captive from across numerous time periods. After the fall of Atlantis they dramatically scaled back their interactions on earth, preferring humanity to not know they existed. They do maintain a cult of worshippers on Earth, though they are rarely contacted by Archons directly, as they prefer to let their servitors do so.

An Archon’s human collection is a status symbol, showing how long they have been active and what level of power among their peers they have. More important humans garner more respect, and a number of famous individuals throughout history who were rumored to have disappeared found their way into an Archon’s collection.

Archon technology is on par with the Aelmari, even more advanced in some respects. The Archon homeworld is kept outside of normal space in a pocket dimension only accessible by their own technology. In it’s own universe, surrounded by vast floating space stations of servitors, it’s an impregnable fortress from which these pink skinned giants command the fate of entire worlds.

They have a playful and cruel nature towards humanity, treating them as toys to be collected and played with. A human that doesn’t have “collector’s value” will likely not last long in their company.

…

Archon Servitors

Height: 90 feet

Physical description: Brown skin, silver hair, often seen wearing earth businesswear and dark sunglasses.

Background: Archon servitors are a race of clones created from a mix of human DNA and that of a few other species. They are created on demand and given their assignments as soon as they step out of their cloning tanks. They carry an innate sense of superiority and pride, and most are unquestioningly loyal, though they can and do rebel if mistreated enough. They rarely mingle socially, and if their superiors suspect they are forming close relationships with one another or anyone else they will be culled by their fellow clones at the first opportunity.

Their standard kit includes earth style business suits and high heels, along with a pair of dark sunglasses. Equipment includes a powerful shield generator significantly beyond what most species have access to, and a silver “godkiller” blaster, which is reputed to be able slay almost any species in the galaxy, up to and including Aelmari.

Psychic abilities are used by servitors primarily as a means of communication and organization. These powers are drawn from their human genetic roots, and much like humans increased exposure to them can cause them to increase in power, with more powerful ones capable of feats of telekinesis and various manipulation of reality.

Servitors have an attraction towards humans due to their genetic roots, but they don’t act on it for fear of reprisal from their masters. Still, some of them are more playful than is appropriate with humans before capture.

…

Glalans (Prime)

Height: 90 feet

Physical description: Hair of varying bright colors, cat ears and tails, retractable claws at fingertips

Background: Glalans are a race of cat-girls with an aggressive disposition and technology near or slightly above galactic standard. The Glalan home system consists of several habitable planets, with Glalan Prime being the most populated and most industrialized.

Glalan Prime is, in the modern day, heavily urbanized, with only a few nature preserves and forested areas left near the poles. The atmosphere was heavily polluted, but has begun to clear after centuries of cleaner fuels and cleanup efforts. Still, the Glalan star shines dimmer on this world than it does on other planets in the system.

Glalan Prime is also the system capital, and rules the other two habitable planets, Glalan Beta, and Glalan Mu. Thirty years ago Glalan Prime waged a series of Unification Wars to unite the system under their banner, and while there is still some resentment the Glalan Empire has largely integrated the other two worlds.

Males on Glalan prime, both native and alien, were historically without legal rights. Most marriages on Glalan prime were polygamous and political in nature, with females sharing a husband in order to join assets or form alliances. This has begun to change, in the last several decades males, even alien ones, have been given full legal rights under Glalan law and some have even achieved high political office.

Culture heavily prioritizes skill at arms and combat, the most popular recreational sports involve melee weapons, gladiator games, and marksmanship, media is almost all propaganda glorifying Glalan war heroes. Many Glalans want to join their navy, and those that can’t often find themselves drifting into criminal organizations, marauder gangs, and space pirate crews. While the Glalan elite would like to imagine themselves as a chivalrous and knightly people, the reputation Glalans usually have throughout the galaxy is that they’re thugs and hired muscle. Even so there is little to no attempt by the government to stop it’s people from leaving the planet in pursuit of glory and plunder, the adventures of space marauders make for good propaganda and get lots of angry young females off world to cause trouble, rather than doing it at home.

Obviously, this policy brings Glalans into regular conflict with the Aelmari, and a number of other species throughout the galaxy. Many Glalans resent them for this, and the Aelmari’s regular visits to Glalan prime are viewed with a mix of fear and anger.

Humans set off a mix of several instincts in Glalans, a predatory instinct, and a mating instinct, which causes them to take a playful and teasing nature towards humans which can vary in intensity by the individual. Still, they find humans attractive, despite their size, and as contact with Earth has increased there is a niche demand for human pop culture and entertainment on the planet.

…

Glalans (Beta)

Height: 90 feet

Physical description: Red or white hair, usually very long. Foxlike ears and general features, extremely fluffy tails

Background: Glalan Beta is a mostly forested world, with only a few major spaceports. The fox-girls of the planet prefer trade and the occasional underhanded scheme to violence, and when the cats invaded they didn’t put up much resistance.

After the war the increased space traffic to their planet allowed more to leave the Glalan system, and they’ve quickly gained a reputation as savvy merchants and traders. You can also always count on them to have a tail dipped in the local underworld, even if they themselves are not involved in criminal activities.

…

Glalans (Mu)

Height: 110 feet

Physical description: Dark black or brown hair, canine ears and sharper teeth, tails with wiry fur, blue or grey eyes.

Background: Glalan Mu is populated by a wolfen Glalan sub-species which fiercely resisted their integration into the Glalan Empire. Isolationist and tribal, they fought well against the cats but were unable to secure their independence against superior numbers and technology.

Today they rarely leave their own planet, refusing to participate in the rest of the empire as much as possible. At first Glalan Prime believed it could settle it’s own people on the planet, but the harsh winters and hostile natives made it undesirable. It still serves as a tributary to the system’s capital planet, though the cats didn’t get what they hoped for from the victory.

They don’t care much about what goes on in the wider galaxy, a few end up offworld as mercenaries or members of the Glalan navy, but they return to their own world as soon as they’re paid. Like most Glalans they find humans to be amusing, although they tend to be more respectful than their sisters from Glalan Prime or Beta.

…

Medusans

Height: 60-80 feet

Physical description: Green skin, black prehensile hair, long sticky tongues that can extend the length of their bodies, jet black eyes.

Background: Medusans are an aggressive species with little in the way of long term goals, usually prowling the galaxy looking for interesting meals or warm planets to sunbathe on. Like Glalans they are a frequent feature in criminal organizations or pirate crews, although they care little for glory or the thrill of combat, preferring easy fights and underhanded tricks.

Medusans find the taste and smell of humans to be delicious, so it’s advised that humans in the wider galaxy try to avoid them. They prefer to swallow prey live, and their digestion is thankfully very slow, so if the worst should happen a human’s friends have plenty of time to perform a rescue.

More intelligent or caring members of the species will not eat humans, and will attempt to prevent their comrades from doing so, but they still find the taste and smell of a human irresistible.

…

Apini

Height: 10-40 feet depending on role

Physical description: Yellow and black striped skin with a slight fuzz to it, fuzzy yellow hair, black eyes, translucent wings. Hive queens are usually plump looking and stand forty feet tall, while drones run from ten to twenty feet depending on their role. Worker drones waifish and skittish, soldiers stand larger and are visibly muscular.

Background: Traveling the galaxy in their giant hive-ships the Apini are mostly peaceful unless provoked. They have visited earth in the distant past, and have a general fondness for human males if they can acquire one for their hive. Any human finding himself with them will generally be treated well, provided he can keep up with his duties as “hive king,” which involve both providing the queen with regular genetic material and keeping the rest of the bees in the hive happy.

Apini will very quickly become emotionally attached to any humans who live with them, and will do their best to make them genuinely happy, even getting upset and aggressive with outsiders if they can’t find a way to please their hive-king. If Apini do become attached to a human they will viciously resist attempts to remove them from their hive. Hive queens firmly believe an attack on one is an attack on all, and anyone who crosses them or their favored humans may find themselves facing down an entire species of angry bees.

…

Abbadans

Height: 200 feet

Physical description: Very much like an earth concept of a demon, red skin, pointed horns, pointed tail, yellow eyes, jet black hair.

Background: Abbadans are from a hot and sulfurous planet where they live carefree lives bathing in magma flows and eating the ample lava snails that crawl aimlessly around the volcanoes. While they developed space travel and other technology they rarely wanted to leave their own world, being significantly larger than most species they find many galactic accommodations cramped, and they have little instinct for exploration.

Their immense size and strength means they were popular targets for slavers, their ability to perform manual labor in harsh climates made an Abbadan an excellent prize. With their society disorganized they have little recourse when raids target their planet, only hoping that the Aelmari or another friendly race will be nearby.

Despite their fearsome appearance they are actually quite nurturing and caring, and the few that do find work in galactic society tend gravitate towards medicine, charity, and the like.

Abbadans are terrified of humans at first sight, this is due to humanity’s resemblance in size and shape to the Abbadan rock groke, an animal which is extremely poisonous. An Abbadan will react to a human in the room by attempting to climb a chair or other high surface where they think the human can’t reach them, some less resolute ones will even cry and beg the humans to leave them alone. Eventually, they can be talked down, but they will remain skittish around humans they don’t know well. Those who are around humans enough will be able to interact with humans without fear.

…

Spilosians

Height: 100 feet

Physical description: Pale skin, dark eyes, extremely soft fur near their necks and long white hair, silky soft white wings and a pair of antenna, two sets of arms.

Background: Colloquially called “space moths” Spilosians have no known homeworld, instead operating out of secluded monasteries on barren asteroids. Their settlements can usually be seen by the soft glow of their lamps, and they find lights pleasing in general.

Pacifists by nature, They travel the galaxy in ships that look remarkably like earth moths, and they’re always a welcome sight as they are known to give aid and relief to any injured or stranded being, regardless of their affiliation.

Spilosians are one of the few species in the galaxy with psychic abilities, but they do not share this with outsiders, preferring to use their gift to locate distressed ships and rescue the crews. Because of this behavior Space-Moths are widely beloved by most spacefaring races, and even the most cutthroat and murderous spacers will be willing to stand up for them if they’re in trouble, and will refuse to work with someone who has harmed them. A number of species would go as far as to see it as an act of war to harm one of their monasteries.

They know of many secret and lost places in the galaxy, including the locations of human diaspora colonies and even the Archon homeworld. They keep these secrets to themselves, thinking that lesser races might do reckless things with the information.   

Spilosians generally like humans, and enjoy when they stay in their monasteries and ships. They will not attempt to awaken psychic abilities in a human, but may offer guidance if it has already happened.

…

As a final word on alien species, if you do decide to make your own story in this setting feel free to use these, or just make up your own. If you’ve gotten this far you’ve got a general idea of what this “universe” is like and you can probably make something that’ll fit your story idea and mesh well.