World Web

(5 systems)

The forests of the Gashtor home-world are covered in webbing. Not only between the trunks of trees, but often rising high above them in vast, stalagmite-like structures. These are the cities of the World Web, the Gashtor nation, and similar cities and structures appear on all of their colonies. Rather than rely on foreign building materials, the Gashtor prefer to use their own internally-produced webbing for construction. And as their understanding of physics and technology advanced, they continued to incorporate their webbing into their inventions, up to and including their starships. A type of “social spider”, Gashtor live in crowded settlements, all directed from the “master nest” of the planet, from which the “all-mother” rules as a queen, of sorts. The WW colonies all replicate this structure, with every colony being a semi-autonomous entity with a “queen” of its own as a result, though all must respect the wishes of the “all-mother” on the home-world.

Gashtor tend to abhor the killing of sapient beings, as they believe all such being are connected through a vast, cosmic “web”. When they first encountered the Mathis in a close-by star-system, they were ecstatic at finding a like-minded species. Whereas the Mathis have no military, however, the Gashtor retain a formidable “defence force”, which they use to protect the sovereignty of their close allies. The Gashtor suffered greatly under occupation, with TAWN experiments in particular causing their organic, web-based structures to collapse, often killing hundreds at a time. In part due to their high rate of reproduction, however, they made a relatively quick recovery, and now frequently send aid to other nations.