The Race

The Race is a reptilian alien species who invaded Earth during World War II in the Worldwar series. They are often called Lizards by humans. They come from a planet that orbits Tau Ceti called Home and at the time of their arrival on Earth had expanded their empire to two other planets.

Biology
The Race is reptilian with a bone structure that differs slightly from humans'. Their lifespans tend to be longer than humans.

They are sexually inactive for all but a few weeks of the year, at which point the females become fertile and emit pheromones which drive the males into a state of arousal srong enough to overcome all other priorities. Enraged males often fight over females. These fights are sometimes fatal. When females consume ginger, their hormonal cycles are disrupted and they become fertile and emit pheromones immediately.

After sex, females gestate their fertilized eggs for several weeks. After laying them in a suitable nesting spot, they abandon them. When hatchlings emerge, they do so with their motor skills fully developed but are highly anti-social. They receive no parental care from either parent.

Ginger has a narcotic affect on both males and females of the Race, and as stated above disrupts females' sexual cycles. Members of the Race can also become intoxicated from alcohol.

Culture
The Race holds their own language in high esteem and usually think lowly of human languages. They see change as something inherently bad, and are thus extremely conservative. They are technologically advanced, but embrace technological progress only at a glacial pace.

Race hierachy is shown through body paint, which takes a role similar to that of badges and clothing in human society. The more complex are body painting the higher you are in the hierachy.

Because there is no biological impetus to care for one's hatchlings, and because sexual encounters are undertaken so casually when they occur and ignored for the rest of the year, the Race does not have a family structure. The only exception is the Emperor, who is guaranteed to be a son of his predecessor because emperors keep a personal harem whose members mate exclusively with him.

Despite the lack of family sentiment (which is one reason why tensions tend to run high between generations) adult members of the Race are not antisocial. they place tremendous importance upon friendship.

Related 


 * Race Mimicking

Technology
Despite interstellar travel, cryogenic and various other technological advances (like tectonics plate manipulation) which is far beyond even our present level, the Race is often considered to have 90's millitary technology. Landcruisers are tank and killercrafts are supersonic aircraft (the latter were particulary deadly in the first day of the war)

The Race has been unified under one government for hundreds of thousands of years. The progress extremely slowly, both technologically and socially, and are amazed by human's progression. As a result, they are unprepared for the tenacity and skill humans use in fending off their attacks, and the quick victory they are expecting does not come to pass. Instead the Race is forced to only conquer half of Earth, while the United States, the Soviet Union, and Germany remain Earth's greatest free powers. Canada, Britain, and Japan also remain unconquered, although the Race does not have full diplomatic relations with them.

The Race has also conquered another two species, the Rabotevs and the Hallessi. These are extremely similar to the Race biologically, though ginger is not narcotic to them. The social differences between the three species are also very slight, though the two cultures in question were both much more primative than the Race when their planets were conquered.

Various theories have been advanced as to why the Race progresses more slowly than humanity. One is that the lack of large bodies of water on the Race's homeworld meant that all empires (before the unification of Home) were land-based, and so lacked the rapid expansion that sea-empires could create. Another is that the Race does not have selective mating, breeding only in periodic orgies where no patriarchial line can be known. The Race are therefore not motivated by their sex-drive, at least not in the same way humans are, and perhaps this lack of sex-drive is responsible for their lack of innovation.