Database and Lore

The Noo’dort Clan

*Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* “The savagery and insanity of the Noo’dort knew no bounds. It was good that they were finally gone. The tragedy, however, is that they went extinct far later than the others did.” An imperial Aksren historian Species Currently Classified as Extinct Known History The Noo’dort clan’s history has been one of utter barbarity and strife against the other Itrean clans. Sadly, little is actually known of the species as they have proven to be challenging to capture or contain. What is known is that they are supposed to be almost similar to the Yutilian by appearance. However, they lack feathers and are almost as tall as a human. Further analysis of their looks has had some human scholars compare them to the descendants of the Troodons back on Earth. The earliest history of the Troodons was outright violence from the beginning of early Itrean civilizations. Some believed that the Noo’dort were often at the worst at the negotiation tables. This often forced the Itrean clan to fight a lot in order to maintain their presence in the galaxy. Supposedly, even against the odds, the clan had good ship designs, good weapons and fought better than most expected. To the Noo’dort, they had become one of the most aggressive clans that many learned to be cautious against. What ultimately saved the Noo’dort from early extinction was the fact that they traded alliances from time to time. Alliances with the Alara’jal would occur before switching over to the Aksren, then going to the Yutilians, before bouncing to another again. While they never lasted long, it would be enough to make the civilizations mobile and nomadic. It is said that the Noo’dort warships were actually traveling homes and shipyards that could easily build new ships—all of this while being mobile. This would help prevent their facilities from being destroyed while always having access to their families and resources. What ultimately occurred was that the Noo’dort were becoming increasingly nomadic as the years progressed. They rarely had planets or stopped at a place for too long. Their philosophy even considered planets to be little more than fat targets to destroy their opponents. There is some blame that befell the clan that some of the destroyed worlds of “Dead Space” was their doing (even if there isn’t enough evidence to properly conclude that). This was both a strength and weakness as this left the clan with not enough resources to build large-scale fleets to engage opposing clans. It was enough, however, that the Noo’dort had turned into a raiding clan. The species lived off the hunt and ransacking worlds. Even if they lost a battle here and there, they had managed always to avoid being decimated again and again. Many of the more stationary clans always saw the Noo’dort as opportunistic foes. With enough resources, they could be bribed to fight on your side or against someone else’s enemies. This was the part that the clan benefitted the most. To the other Itreans, they were little more than “gunmen for hire,” although they did have their own ambitions. While all the Itrean clan species were known for how savage that they could be, the Noo’dort were often the most sadistic. Some human scholars even suggest that the barbarity of the clan was even beyond what an Itrean was capable of doing. This would include raping, mutilation, cannibalism, torturing families in front of other families, skinning while the person was alive, and all while absolutely enjoying it. It took the steps of genocidal campaigns to the next level in the clan wars. There is a debate that the Noo’dort were actually insane. Some theories suggest that the Noo’dort, before their extinction, almost all suffered a brain dysfunction that caused them to lose the threshold of cruelty. Those who disliked killing another were eaten and devoured to make way for the ones who would do it, including their own family members. In many ways, the clan was considered to be outright terrifying. Despite this, the Noo’dort were not invincible either. Some victories were attributed to the fact that they normally worked with another clan. Their reputation, while feared, did alienate the other clans in time. Eventually, it would reach a point that no Noo’dort could be trusted. They made no friends, and they had no allies. Even the Alara’jal that remained their closest allies would break all ties with them 211,000 years ago after the destruction of the Gesh’Ot clan. The Noo’dort would be a clan that was almost single-handedly blamed for the complete destruction of the tiny clan. The ultimate end of the Noo’dort was attributed to the fact that they were so nomadic. Having so few worlds, if any, would completely force them to their mobile city/shipyards. Each of these destroyed vessels would hit the Noo’dort to the core and, at the same time, were very hard to replace. Their numbers were never that high compared to the settled worlds of the other Itrean clans. Surprisingly, even before the rise of the Empire of Jalgren, search and destroy missions were launched by the Itrean clans to wipe out the Noo’dort once and for all. Some missions were successful, but it was only partial. Eventually, it was the Empire of Yol’ikren that would lead to the genocide of the Noo’dort. The irony of the story was that the Aksren had been allied with the Noo’dort in the extermination of the Gesh’Ot. However, the Aksren would be the ones that finally exterminated the Noo’dort. Yol’ikren’s campaign was to ensure that the Itrean clans were free from the fear that the Noo’dort brought forth. With an entire species that relied on space travel to survive, the empire had launched an all-out campaign to shut down the Noo’dort fleets once and for all. They wouldn’t have to work hard to do it at this point as they were already weakened down. One of the last final battles occurred 100,000 years ago as the great shipyard fleets were tracked down and overwhelming destroyed, taking out the last of the Noo’dort with them. Never again were the Noo’dort ever encountered. Ship Design Philosophy     The warships of the Noo’dort were reflective of their nature. They had managed to build city ships that acted as mobile shipyards. They were enormous, but not enough to rival the Alara’jal. The purpose of these ships were to serve as active mobile command posts. Smaller warships could be built, operate, be repaired, rearmed, and refueled to continue the battle. Their warships typically used whatever they could get ahold of. It is mostly believed that any weapon was a mere copy of whatever they managed to pillage from. At times, they would make improvements to these weapons to copy and produce more. No two city ship was truly alike as they would make continous adjustments to the frames and add whatever trophies to adorn their hulls.   Typically, the warships’ hulls had a gold color to them being sometimes yellow. Each subclan had their own city ship that acted as the flagship. Subclans would somtimes work together to create bigger raiding fleets. Interestingly, there is evidence that the Noo’dort did have spinning centripetal rings, although there isn’t enough to suggest that this is true. Some arguments counter by showing that the Noo’dort were generally tall and lanky in appearance as a result of the lack of gravity. By the time of Yol’ikren, the Noodort were all but adjusted to living in near zero gravity environments. While they would attack and pilfer, high gravity worlds it proved to be a partial detriment to them. City ships would be able to operate in asteroid belts where they would mine and build more ships or repair any damage. This resiliency was how they managed to survive for as long as they did.   However, the city ships were still the focal point of their strength. Every city ship that was destroyed was a severe blow to them as it dramatically reduced their combat strength and abilities. At the same time, they were still quite vulnerable to a few salvos of nuclear warheads.   A wild theory does suggest that the Noodort did use advanced cryogenics to help preserve their families. This was further backed when pieces of a city ship showed varies testing tubes big enough to house an individual. Freezing oneself does offer various advantages as it can help reduce the drag of resources. If that is true, the idea of “sleeper ships” may exist among the former clan species. However, it’s still not fully validated as it appears that the Noodort were only experimenting with it by the time of their extinction. Debate About their Savagery      There are still continuous debates about the Noo’dort and how violent they were. It is often mentioned in human history that “History is written by the victors.” It is a saying that means that their history could have been rewritten to say that they were horrible individuals because the survivors say so. While this claim might be correct, there is a lot of suggestion that the savagery and insanity of the clan might have been very accurate. One of the biggest reasons for this is the demise and extinctions of the Gesh’Ot and Yip’Turin clans. Both of these extinct clans were claimed to have been “Honorable, Respectful, and Not Worthy to be wiped out” by Itrean historians to indicate sympathy and regret, while the Noo’dort have way more negative opinions towards. If the original human statement were to be true, then the Gesh’Ot and Yip’Turin would have been looked at as just as horrible as the Noo’dort. The inevitable conclusion was that Noo’dort was genuinely savage. Regardless, the Noo’dort have been analyzed longer and longer after their end. Attempts to figure out their reasoning are investigated to the fullest. Despite the claims of their utter savagery, there might be some suggestions that they are not holistically evil. Ancient artworks often showed the Noo’dort to be backers of the original religions of finding a place of cohabitation and peace. Many scholars point out that the Noo’dort, before they had been betrayed at the negotiating tables, wanted the same thing that the other Itrean clans wanted to have as well, places to live together. Further support also claims that the Noo’dort didn’t have the proper support of bioengineering and medical care to fix the brain dysfunctions (If the claim about this is true) that they supposedly had. If it were true, then the Noo’dort would have been far friendlier than expected. Fate, unfortunately, saw it another way. Another final debate that exists is if the Noo’dort is genuinely extinct. In theory, in 31,000 years, it might have been possible that the clan species had gone to other areas to survive. Their great city ships are more than capable of traveling to other areas of the galaxy. The fact that none of their vessels have been spotted during this time is usually a good indicator that they are gone for good. According to Jalgren, when he was creating his great empire, “The Noo’dort thrived on the hunt. One by one, their mobile shipyards were destroyed till nothing was left. Yet, I still dread that they are still out there, waiting to fling themselves back to us to spread their will to raid and conquer.”