## Statistics Galactic Age: 10M+ Subjective Age: 50,000+ Homeworld: [[Apoidea]] Home Sector: Affinity Groups - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/War Dogs]] - The Sundering of Harmony - Reluctantly grateful for the opportunities it created - Curing the Plague - Pro-Plague - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/Politicos]] - Bet ~~the~~ Someone Else's Farm - Negotiating on behalf of a Holding they recently conquered, house money You are a Hiveling. Not just any Hiveling, you're the first child of the [[Hivemother]] herself (though you haven't seen her in person for millions of years, as is the case with all of her children). As if that weren't enough, you're also the only person present who remembers the events surrounding [[I Killed the Plaguesmith|Death of the Plaguesmith]]. A century or so ahead of that historic deicide, you'd planted one of your mites on a dying beggar from [[Traghan 2]], a miserable little industrial hell planet. That mite did as all mites do, and reproduced, taking the consciousness of the beggar as its new mind. The resulting [[Hiveling]] attended the Myriadic Council on the [[Contemplatory]], saw the galaxy's great and good come together to investigate the Grandfather's death, and realized along with the rest that it had all been according to his plan. That isn't all you know, though. After the events of the Contemplatory and the beginning of Grandfather's War, your errant bud returned to your main corpus and the memories were combined (a skill you alone possess among your kind). You now remember the whole of yourself. You are Governor Biru; Biru of the Bees and Nectar, Biru of the Thousand Thousand Thousand, Biru who first flew -though that last one is known only among other omniphages. You have been the Governor and sole authority of [[Apoidea]] for nearly ten million years, a mighty span of time even by the standards of the greatest omniphages. For all that time, you -or buds of you which were later reabsorbed- led your people to prosperity and peace. You've spent more time with humans than any others of your kind, and you've learned a lot from it. You want two things. First, you want to find a way for your people -that is, omniphages- to live in peace. Second, you want the elders (the [[Hivemother]], [[Crimson Breath]], [[Pontifex Ash]], and [[Last-born]]) to recognize you as a full adult in your own right. Sure, they've all been around for hundreds of millions of years, but that doesn't mean being around for ten million is *nothing*. You're the only Sapient Plague to ever be a Governor (or at least, the only one to do it for longer than a few months), and you've proven your worth time and time again. Somehow, you have to make them accept it. Ending Grandfather's War and securing an armistice on behalf of your people might do it, or it might piss everyone off. Hard to say. You've come to the [[Plague Council]] because you know that the [[Hivemother]] will be here, and because you think this might be an opportunity to make a real change. If you can convince this Myriadic Council to vote for an end to the war and a peace with the [[Plague Lords]], then perhaps you'll be able to kill two planets with one asteroid. Can you prove your maturity as an omniphage while also looking out for the humans in your care? ## Goals 1. Find a way for omniphages to live peacefully in the galaxy. 2. Protect the citizens of your Holding from the endless wars of [[The Sectors#Sundered Harmony (6)|Sundered Harmony]]. 3. Prove that you are a full adult, ready to have a voice in the councils of your people. ## Character Notes - Biru is the lone point of continuity from the [[I Killed the Plaguesmith|Death of the Plaguesmith]]. This character, unique among Sapient Plagues, has the ability to create *temporary* buds. The [[Hiveling]] present on the [[Contemplatory]] was only a tiny fraction of Governor Biru's whole, one which was seeded on [[Traghan 2]] in preparation for the events of that council, though it did not know this at the time. Now, fully reconstructed, Biru alone among the attendees of this even can actually remember that the Plaguesmith planned his own death, that he was intentionally starting a war between his children and the Empress, and that he succeeded. As far as you can tell, every single step of this war has been according to his design, which frankly concerns you. While you didn't know Kiwa the way the [[Hivemother]] and their siblings did, you knew him as more than just "the Plaguesmith" (a name you and the other omniphages absolutely hate), and you knew him as a genuine believer in self-determination. You're not sure how to square that passion with the sense that he's attempting to rule the galaxy from beyond the grave, but you know it makes you uncomfortable. Will Biru trust in the Grandfather's plan, or will they strike out on a new course? - Despite being absurdly old by human standards, Biru is still regarded as the first among children by the [[Hivemother]] and their siblings. The "first four," those omniphages who were crafted directly by the Grandfather's hand, still retain large-scale decision making authority to themselves. You recognize the need for this, if every omniphage got a vote then the half-trillion [[Dossier - The Sapient Plagues#Acolytes of Ash|Acolytes of Ash]] would carry the day regardless of their position. Even so, you do think there should be a distinction made between the Acolytes, who know a total of fifteen words on average, and yourself, who has been Governor of a successful Holding for more than ten million years. Whether it's ending Grandfather's war, working with humans, or explaining to the [[Crimson Breath]] that possession of antibiotics didn't count as an assassination attempt, you know that you have a lot to contribute. Will you convince the Hivemother (the galaxy's most distant parent) to view you as a peer? ## Connections 1. [[Engineer Crispi]] 1. "More wasp than bee, that one. Still, you can't help but love the product of your own hive. Or at least, so it has been explained to me." 2. You wish you understood Crispi. No, that's not exactly true. You wish that Crispi were easier to understand. Very few humans have been around as long as they have, and none from the world you rule. In some ways, Crispi could be said to be your oldest friend, and that is the saddest thing you can think of about yourself. If there is any one thing to be said about Engineer Crispi, it is that, given ten minutes unsupervised, Crispi is going to set *something* on fire. Fortunately for you, the [[Hivemother]] took Crispi into service eons ago, and so the fires have been conveniently made other peoples' problems. Unfortunately for you, your activities on your mother's behalf have brought you and Crispi back into contact many, many times. If you're honest, you're kind of impressed by how outrageously good at war Crispi is, even if their personality is like someone taught a grenade launcher to talk. Now, facing the arrayed powers of the galaxy, Crispi has been upgraded from "exhausting acquaintance" to "critical asset". Will you put aside your dislike for their childishness and forge a working relationship, or will their wanton violence prove too much of a liability? 2. [[Singer Po]] 1. "Does... does that Voidsinger have a crush on me?" 2. In your fairly extensive experience, the Singers of the Distant Void can generally be relied upon to spout philosophy, eat gruel, and die. It's a rare case when you meet one with a recognizable personality, and downright eerie to meet one like Po, who seems like they might actually be a moderately interesting person. They love arguing, and you've seen them reduce some of the galaxy's finest movers and shakers to sputtering wrecks of futile anger. There's only one problem, Po seems to have something of a crush on you -or at least, on "Governor Biru". Whether or not the idea of a romantic relationship with a mortal is at all attractive to you is a question only you can answer. Aside from that question is the somewhat more pressing one of whether or not Po's friendliness would survive discovery of your true nature. You've met them a few times over the last few galactic millennia, and each time you've debated speaking to them and revealing yourself. What about this Singer makes them worth such consideration? 3. [[Governor Vitoli]] 1. "Dangerously insightful. Whatever aims they serve, only Vitoli can say." 2. [[Rina's Holdfast]] is in a terrible situation. They're one of the most powerful factions left in [[The Sectors#Sundered Harmony (6)|Sundered Harmony]], but nowhere near powerful enough to challenge [[House Orman]]. Historically speaking, this has been the precursor to sudden bloody invasion. After all, it was Orman's lust for conquest that got this entire Sector renamed in the first place. Yet somehow, Vitoli and their various officers have managed to stave off that end for millennia now. You aren't sure of the details, though you know the Holding is infamous for turning out masterminds and schemers, so you suspect that Vitoli's close, personal friendship with [[High Seat Ormais]] must be in some way key to their success. You've known the famed prophet for almost a hundred millennia, since before they were a Governor, and even you struggle to parse their motives. It's possible that they're using the goodwill they've cached to keep the High Seat away from their home. Alternatively, maybe they're just waiting around hoping to see a grim enough omen. Conversations with Vitoli over the millennia have often been abstruse and frustrating to interpret, though you've gotten enough useful information to make them worth the effort. Will you ally with the mad oracle in solidarity, or have they truly gone into the service of the Great Houses? 4. [[Operator Signus]] 1. "For the love of the Grandfather, do not let them meet Crispi." 2. Signus is to humans what the [[Crimson Breath]] is to [[Sapient Plagues]]; extremely good in a dangerous situation, extremely embarrassing the rest of the time. Much like with the Breath, you've found it safest to simply engage Signus on their level. The Operator has famously piloted some of the galaxy's most outrageously overpowered mech suits over the last hundred thousand ears, and you have no desire to see those instruments turned on you. Luckily, given your role as Governor and status as one of the [[Hivemother]]'s own children, it's been trivial to arrange a few weapons and subsystems upgrades over the millennia. While it's not generally a good idea to arm another Holding's best warriors, you've repeatedly used [[Sateen Kaari]] to your advantage against [[House Orman]]. Any time the borders of your Holding are tested, you float some gear or wealth to Signus and the problem goes away in spectacular fashion. When things got really nasty, you hired the Operator openly, even once giving them direct access to your backup power grid to power an especially ridiculous weapon. Now, though, Signus is here with their own Holding and likely to be much less open to bribery. Will you find a way to maintain your fruitful arrangement, or is your favorite war asset about to become your gravest threat? ## Mechanics **Asset:** [[Omniphage]] You are an Omniphage, a child of the Plaguesmith better known to the galaxy at large as a "Sapient Plague," or by the derogatory term "grey goo." What you really are is a cloud of nanobots larger than many stars, capable of maintaining connection to small, detached parts of yourself. You can, for example, attend a gathering in a roughly humanoid form while the rest of your impossible bulk waits a few convenient light-seconds away. At the same time, your wroth is a terrible thing to behold. Devouring an entire Fleet is well within your power, and indeed falls under the heading of "tasty and nutritious." You can participate in any [[Combat]], and the side on which you participate gains one advantage, plus an additional advantage for every participant on the other side(s) of the combat, except other Sapient Plagues. In any one-on-one scenario, you automatically win unless your opponent has an Asset which explicitly allows them to fight Sapient Plagues (including this one). **Lien:** [[Nanobody Likes Me]] Being a sentient cloud of nanobots capable of devouring most starships without a fight can make it surprisingly difficult to make friends. Many Holdings believe Sapient Plagues are no more than living curses, monsters to be fought and killed at any cost. The truth is that Sapient Plagues tend to eat dead matter until they grow to a maximum size, bud off a few children, and then retire to a quiet life drinking radiation from dying stars. Fortunately (or unfortunately, given your perspective and current appetite), most of the Holdings with monster-hunting cultures aren't really up to the task of killing a Sapient Plague, even with the element of surprise and plenty of lead-up. Statistically, Sapient Plagues mostly eat in self-defense. Even so, when you are a member of a [[GiC Holding]], that Holding automatically loses one advantage at the start of any [[Negotiation]] or [[Endeavor]], as the galaxy looks on in suspicion at those who would harbor such a power.