Torian Confederation

The Torians had achieved a preindustrial society at a time when Humans were still evolving on Earth. The gentle, peaceful species had created a delicate balance between themselves and their environment.

Unfortunately, a probe from the Drengin Empire discovered Toria and its inhabitants. As a consequence, the Drengin constructed a stargate and had it towed by an automated ship the 20 light-years between Drengi and Toria. Once the stargate arrived, it created a relatively fast way for the Drengin to send forces to the Torian homeworld.

The Torians were a people full of wonder and trust. Noble as they are, those instincts led them to being brutally enslaved by the Drengin Empire.

However, the Torians are nothing if not resilient. They studied in the school of pain and grief, and learned how strike back at their conquerors. Eventually, the Torians were able to drive the Drengin from their world with a gradual campaign of sabotage and resistance that made conquest too costly for the Drengin to maintain. The stargates that connected the two planets together required immense resources to run, and the Drengin eventually concluded that maintaining control of Toria was too expensive – after tens of thousands of years of brutal repression.

The Torians were incredibly lucky to have gotten the Drengin Empire off their world when they did. A few hundred years later, the galactic powers were equipped with hyperdrive that made the old stargates instantly obsolete. The Torians would never have been able to liberate themselves against a hyperdrive-equipped Drengin Empire.

The history of Toria is, at this point, largely the story of the horrific Drengin occupation. Toria, once a beautiful planet, still lay in ruins even after hundreds of years of independence. The Torians retained an immense bitterness against the Drengin Empire and would skirmish against them any chance they got. The cold, calculating Drengin lack such passions and would leave the Torians be if it were in the Drengin’s best interests, just as they did when ending the initial occupation. The Torians, by contrast, tended to go out of their way to antagonize the Drengin.

The Torians are still largely an aquatic race. Toria is mostly covered in water, and they prefer watery worlds. Their ships tended to carry a great deal of water on board, which proved a benefit in interstellar relations – they always had water to trade with other spacefaring civilizations who are far from home. The Torians were able to travel further from their home planets than other galactic civilizations because of this.

Once a kind and gentle people, the Torians’ experiences with the Drengin have colored their view of alien civilizations. They are not above ruthless military tactics when needed, especially if the Drengin are involved or if their target is working with the Drengin in some way.

Current Status

After the Dread Lord war, the Drengin Empire reconquered Toria and laid the surface to waste. Torians are now farmed for their meat by the Drengin.