Infantids, or less formally Babies (Homo infans), is a fictional species of humanoids in the Hekastos Allotrioi Barbaros Esti universe. While originally planned to be a purely antagonistic species, this was changed with the more neutral Pyramid Kids faction which are more interested in trade rather than looting.
Physiology[]
The Infantids are different from the other members of the homo genus by the fact that they do not develop into "adult" forms, meaning that an older baby will look similar to a baby just spawned, assuming similar socio-economic status. However, the Infantids still can grow in size, and their growth is dependent on its socioeconomic status: a Baby Boss would be lot larger than a common baby, and they vary from 75 cm to 220 cm depending on their socioeconomic status. The Infantids, unlike the Lagikoi, reproduce sexually, although the Infantid reproduction involves female spores being fertilized by male spores without intercourse, developing into a self-sufficient cocoon deriving its nutrients from the soil via a hyphae-like structure.
Infantid are all hermaphrodites, all capable of emitting male and female spores. The cocoon is usually stored in a spawning pit, which generally is a hallmark of most Infantid dwelling.
Culture[]
The Infantids live in tribes, and they generally aim to accumulate cheap trinkets and toys that are appealing to a human baby. Tribal ruling system varies from tribe to tribe, but generally such system leans towards a libertarian direction, avoiding regulations and redistribution system given that the babies tend to dislike giving up their property. This isn't to say there aren't tyrannical Baby Bosses, although such bosses tend to be quickly overthrown by dissatisfied babies that lost their property, and thus the most stable Baby tribes are operated in a fashion very similar to a libertarian one, or a patronage where the boss distributes stuff to the commoners to keep them behind him. However, some states have formed which resembles governments a bit more, although with an Infantid twist: the Evil Baby Corporation for example has a satrapial system, while the Pyramid Kids are probably one of the best examples of an advanced Infantid civilization which has accepted the idea of taxation and social security.
The infantids live in a class society, with the commoners at the bottom and the baby bosses at the top: a tribe is led by a baby boss, which tend to be the largest member of the tribe. A baby boss will usually have foremen as bodyguards, which are larger than a commoner baby. The 3 tier class is the most base of a Infantid tribe. However, more advanced baby tribes may have specialists, such as the enforcers who are combat specialists, fanatics, and weapon specialists. Of the specialists, the most prized ones are the tinkerbabies, as they are the only infantids who are able to manufacture useful tools beyond the simplest of manufactured goods. The best of the tinkerbabies who are skilled enough to manufacture weapons more advanced than simple hand firearms are called smartsmiths, and a tribe lucky enough to have a smartsmith will have it in well regards, most likely supported by the baby boss in charge. Although the specialist class is more often than not static as craft often is passed unto the child (usually due to the baby boss's pressure to maintain them), the main class system tends to be volatile, as there is always a chance that a foreman (or a group) might plot a overthrow of the current baby boss.
However, just as there are tinkerbabies adept at technology, there are infantids who have special talents in other fields. Farmerbabies have a more patient attitude than most infantids, and it is that that made them understand farming. Farmerbabies have been the backbone of some Infantid Tribes, and while most Infantid Tribes are aggressive and economically unproductive, the Pyramid Kids Tribe is an noticeable exception. The Pyramid Kids are among the wealthiest of Infantid Tribes rivaled only by the likes of Evil Baby Corporation (which also has a large number of farmerbabies in its core regions), and likely to have a brighter prospect given its growing trade relationship with the more advanced societies in the Tmere Asia.
Infantids are at the core selfish. Cohesion is not something that they value highly, and apathy is the rule of thumb for an infantid's attitude to anything that doesn't involve them. Bosses keep order and authority over the lesser brethren either by strength or wealth sharing, which can only go so far as the Infantids often have strong mood swings, most often triggered by a judicial decision that does not go in its favor. Because of this, splitting off is quite common, although it often results in the death of the splitting infantid. However, groups organized under able leaders can turn into an independent tribe, and the wealth of nascent states in Tmere Asia and the warfare between some of the states open up opportunities as mercenaries. While their physique render them second-rate mercenaries at best for the most part, the pay that the contractors offer usually please the infantids. Toy Brawlers tribe and Action Rangers tribe survive largely off mercenary work, both having seen service in the Mindae War hired by all three belligerent factions.
Their selfish and myopic nature makes them ill-suited to the likes of total war, but makes them quite apt at raiding. Evil Baby Corporation got the short end of this: while the general ignorance of the infantids back in their territory ensured levies can be assembled, the emboldened Infantids were stopped at the decisive Battle of Telemantros and their morale crushed to the point where the command became passive. Likewise, the news of the defeat at the Battle of Oxys caused riots within the Evil Baby Corporation, which was eventually subdued only through the quick victory at the Brawl War between it and a loose coalition of Infantid tribes. Where the First Lampardian War would better represent a long war in which the Infantids are ill suited to, and the Brawl War a type of war in which the Infantids are well suited to.
However, this selfish nature has been exploited to establish order. The Pyramid Kids, helped by the abundance of their home planet Noubia, established a less aggressive social order where conflict was largely limited to the aspiring Phairaeis and the commoners living off the land. Normally, a taxation system would aggravate the commoners, but this was negated through the usage of religion: much like the bosses of the regular Infantid tribes, the strongest rule over the others. However, whereas the other bosses relied purely on the threat of force (often with his loyal retinue), the Pyramid Kids lessened that and substituted religion as the social adhesive. In the Pyramid Kids' theology, the gods bless the finest Phairas: that is, the most blessed Phairas survive and be prosperous. For the commoners, while taxation sucked, a successful Phairas overcoming another meant the Phairas could seize the defeated one's stuff and distribute a good portion of it to them. As such, the commoners actively encouraged their Phairas to take down neighboring Phairas. With that said, some Phairaeis decided to form trading coalitions instead, which too brought different exotic stuff to the commoners belonging to such a coalition.
Language[]
Simple (baby) English is the closest thing to a lingua franca of the Infantids: all Infantids of Tmere Asia speak a form of baby English, and often names things in a way expected of a little kid: fast cars are dubbed vroom or zippy (such as the Vroom Boxcar and the Zippy Transport Tank), explosives and large guns dubbed boomy, and so on.
Place names are a bit anomalous: while many place names follow a similar convention, some Infantid tribes pick more unique names for their places. Evil Baby Corporation follows the former convention, with their capital city at Onx simply called the Big Boss City, and qualifies cities by their most apparent qualities such as Great Pizza Center, Gun City, Enforcer Playtown and so on. The Asia Eaters are a bit more "sophisticated", using names such as Western Brawltown, Eastern Wildcity, Northland Meattown and saving the most "sophisticated" names for the Middlelanders such as Great Middle Battletown, Bbalri Vroom Carcity and such. The Pyramid Kids are by far the most anomalous, as they eschew adjective names such as Desert Rivertown and reserve those for landmarks such as the Temple of the Grain-Watching Eagle, and instead using names that sound Egyptian such as Odjat, Djani, Ma'adet or Wa'ra.
Economy[]
Infantids, without significant infrastructures, are only able to engage in the most basic of economic activity: namely hunting and gathering alongside the most basic of tool production. Given that, a successful baby economy relies on looting places, which is a primary cause of Infantid warfare, or holding key manufacturing capital with personnels able to operate and maintain them. Infantids generally do not look upon each other as companions, which translates into occasional internal warfare that may result from even the most trivial quarrels, possibly triggered by even a petty bartering dispute. Smarter baby bosses often call for intertribal warfare, motivating commoners to attack other tribes for their toys, or if the opposing tribes have one, a smartsmith. Although vast majority of infantids are outside of a self-sustaining economy, infantids will engage in barter for toys and tools. In fact, the Evil Baby Corporation is an exception to the general rule, having progressed socially to the point of having adopted currency.
Given the general quasi-libertarian/feudal attitude that is in most of the stable baby tribes, should a baby tribe conquer a native population with manufacturing abilities, the tribe will more often than not leave the population alone only to collect tribute or punish them to keep them in line. Given the low personal potential of an infantid, The babies particularly treasure autonomous production facilities, and this is one of the main reasons for the EBC invasion of Polysiton that led to the First Lampardian War.
Technology[]
The technology of an infantid is variable, dependent on the things looted and the availability and experience of tinkerbabies and smartsmiths. In fact, many infantid tribes rapidly fade off because the infantids were not lucky enough to have tools quickly enough, and given the possibility of not having the capital to manufacture tools that are critical to survive, such conditions can mean swift destruction. This condition is averted by a presense of a tinkerbaby, who will produce basic tools and toys for a infantid tribe in a fashion efficient enough to allow for almost guaranteed survival of the tribe. If a tribe survives long enough to discover the art of agriculture, a tribe may expand further to a point where the word tribe might not be the most visually accurate term for its size, as is the case with the Evil Baby Corporation, Asia Eaters, Action Rangers and Toy Brawlers along with few others.
The most skilled of the tinkerbabies, the smartsmiths, lead to indigenous technological advances. Although the smartsmiths do not have innate understanding of things like electronics, smartsmiths vastly improve the living standards of a infantid tribes: smartsmiths produce things like medium sized machine tools, basic firearms, and other trinkets, which allow a infantid tribe to actually prosper by foraging the land given that the land is productive enough. Smartsmiths benefit tremendously from looted technologies: the Evil Baby Corporation for one was able to loot indigenous technologies beforehand to give them the ability to travel through space, and later on Sentinel technologies, which allowed them to acquire functional aircrafts (barely) suitable for war, heavy weapons, and even simple remote-controllable robots.
Technologies aside, there is also literacy. Vast majority of the babies are illiterate, given the lack of standardized education (or any large-scale form of structured education for that matter). In fact, like the civilizations of the old, literacy is largely limited to the "scribe" class, or in the Infantid case, the Runebabies. The Runebabies usually double as mages, and are often associated with the Asia Eaters due to the relative abundance in the said tribe.
List of Baby tribes[]
- Evil Baby Corporation
- Asia Eaters
- Toy Brawlers
- Action Rangers
- Bad Suns
- Babies R Toy Lovers
- Pyramid Kids