UrQa
The fearsome race of the UrQa is not one to be trifled with. The UrQa, xenophobic to the point of hositility, strongly beleive they are the superior race in the multiverse: even their name adds credence to this, translating to "Other Power" in the Terran tongue. The only other race they recognize as being their equals are the "KusoQa" or translated, the "Father Power", are what we know as the Paxians. This may be due to the role the Paxians took in nurturing the UrQa in their cosmic infancy.
The UrQa are blamed for at least the partial destruction of all previous races of the universe: the Bule, the Mzungu, the Vazaha and the Faranji. While remaining relatively calm outside of their space, with the home field advantage they can be a menace - killing any creature that crosses their paths on sight. Their immense power is proved through their housing of the commodity required for the fabled Weapon level 20 by the race's Queen who is called Qokujiii Qa'ik.
Star Sonata's representation of the race is loosely based on the series "Star Control".
Contents
UrQa History
Eons ago, before the dawn of the Terrans, even before the dawn of the ancients, on a planet in another universe the Paxians gained sentience. They rapidly progressed, exploring their universe, seeding colonies around alien suns, and began lay the groundwork for an intergalactic empire. Their homeworld was not only the birthplace of their race though, for another race evolved there as well. This race was feeble, and weak, and the Paxians began to nurture them and help them progress up the evolutionary and technological chains. This race was to be known as the UrQa. It was not long until the UrQa had mastered the use of technologies the Paxians had given them, and it was even less time before they turned on their benefactors, showing the first signs of their malevolence. The UrQa took to the stars and decimated the Paxian Homeworld. They then began to systematically destroy every Paxian outpost, station and world. Taken by surprise, the Paxians had no option but to flee. Thus, they began to hop between the universes of the multiverse in an attempt to hide and rally their forces to stop the plague they had unleashed upon all life. To this day, they are locked in an inter-universal war with their former brethren, and to this day, the UrQa pursue them.
Eventually, during their pursuit of the Paxians, the UrQa stumbled on a universe rich with life, and teeming with interstellar empires. So as they had done for millennia to any other intelligent life they encountered, they set out to conquer and destroy them. With the superior technologies they had acquired from the Paxians, now adapted for their purposes, many of these empires quickly fell. Three however, the ones now known as the Kikale Mzungu, the Bule Abadi, and the Golagoay Vazaha resisted and drove the UrQa back for years. Unfortunately, fate was against these stalwart defenders. The Mzungu suffered the loss of their homeworld to a rogue Asteroid collision throwing their empire into chaos. The Bule underwent a civil war, and without these two forces, the Vazaha fleets quickly fell. But after conquering the universe, the UrQa did not find the Paxians, so they left colonies and a small fleet and began their hunt again.
The Paxians did eventually visit this universe, only to find it already fouled by the presence of the UrQa. With their superior fleet, they decimated the forces the UrQa left behind and left. Without the UrQa to interfere life began anew, this time on a tiny planet around a yellow dwarf. Before long, this race too had set to the stars, and before long the threat of the UrQa once loomed again. But the Paxians arrived to stop the domination of this universe. Now they aid the Terrans in their struggle against the mighty fleets of the Qakuji'jiji UrQa and the Qokujiii Qa'ik she has left behind in all the universes she has visited.
I think that would bring us up to date, although there are echos in the ether that some of the ancients may have survived...
- from post by Caelestis
UrQa Language
Nargos Proposal
Excerpted from the forum dialogue of Nargos
If I had to take a guess, I would say that the urqa language is based off of words that describe things, or images, much like some asian languages do.
From what I can understand, it appears that Iq refers to oneself, while kii refers to kill. ur seems to be a direct form of saying "you", however by capitalizing the "U" in Ur, it appears to change the connotation to you'll. jij'uu is very similar to jiji'quu or even jiji'qa. As we recall, those are the names of a fire-like beam weapons of UrQa creation. jij seems to refer to holy, and such I imagine that jiji refers to cleansing, or something that bansishes evils, which from the UrQa history and attitude seems to imply that any other race is a subservient race, weaker, and possibly a agent of evil in the minds of the UrQa. From this we can also reference that quu and qa mean lesser and greater, which is why weaponry, or for that matter any sort of technology, is generally more powerfull with the transition from quu-qa in the name. It also appears the by following Ur with Kii directly, the meaning can be either kill or die, depending of previous sentances.
If we move back to the concept of imagry in writing, we can also see the connection between aku'qa and "my energies are great". The aku'qa is a rare ship energy created by the UrQa, and is quite powerful. This allows for the depection of great energy by one who refers to themselves aswell as the name in the same sentance. If we look more into the UrQa energies, we will also see a greater version of the aku'qa. Its name, blatently, is Aku'Qa. The captialization of the "A" aswell as the "Q" shows that it is more powerful then the standard aku'qa, as it follows the pattern of capitalization. In truth this "Aku'Qa" is a base energy, and is considerably powerful at that; Thus reinforcing my theory on how the great language works.
The repetition of Quu'Qa is something I have not seen before. As we can tell right off the bat, Quu'Qa also follows the pattern of first letter capitalization, or FLC, as I like to call it. This immediately tells us whatever it is its great. From what I can understand of Calypsos translation, Quu'Qa appears to mean weapon; or more specificly, powerful weapon. Since Quu'Qa is repeted in the sentance, it appears that it is a broad, singular meaning for weapon. By repeating it, it changes it to plural, by refering to more then one weapon; and, by following FLC, multiple powerful weapons.
Now, on to endings. There are 6 ending words, all with different meanings. Qii, Qi, Ka, Qu, Quu and Qa. Qii seems to refer to small, or smallest. Qi appears to be derived from Qii, and as such is to make one/something small(er). Ka appears to be singular, with Qu being double/dual/2, and Quu being triple/3. Qa simply appears to mean powerful, large or lots.
I must say, this language is one hell of a nut to crack, but I swear ill get it eventually! If I could only see more words in UrQa and their translation into english, I might be able to write out entire sentances in the UrQa language, without the aid of Calypsos translater. Suffice to say, I have much more research to do on the subject. I think I am going to translate this entire post into a word document, for future reference and study.
(Just to correct everything in this section. Jiji refers to holy, magic, but most importantly the traits holy and magic when used by UrQa denote the ethereal trait of those weapons. Q (u) and the derivatives Qu, Quu, Quuu are all forms of the word we know as Weapon. By adding multiple 'u' to the end of the word you are increasing it's 'power' [This works with any ending vowel]. Qa however IS a power modifier. Qii, Ka, Qo, Qi, Qa, Qa'ik are also all power modifiers. By repeating Quu'Qa, Quu'Qa I was just saying Powerful Weapons twice. Plural cases in UrQa are handled by using (')iii. Finally, I do NOT have a translator. I simply deciphered the language with the help of Thanar, or perhaps Thanar deciphered the language with the help of me)
Nargos and Simon Dialogue
Nargos: Hey, its hard to describe urqa in a few words.
Simon: Was talking to Calypso about it yesterday.
Nargos: And?
Simon: Ukukuu and such means fire, and the more uu's the more fire. But ya, Qii, Qu, Quu, Qa, smallest to largest.
Nargos: Actually from what I can tell, jiji(i) refers to heat and light, not ukukuu.
Simon: More like flame is what I mean.
Nargos: In all likelyhood, ukukuu refers to some sort of ranged weapon.
Simon: Yeh that's the litteral proof translation.
(Pause)
Nargos: It appears that ka, uu, and ukukuu are part of the urqa numerical system, being 1,2, and 3 respectively. Although this is unconfirmed, but all logic seems to dictate that.
Simon: 1,2,3, yep. Also talked to Calypso about that. The progression of the urqa shooters follows 1,1,2,3,5... next one would be 8.
Nargos: I'm not sure how the Urqa'ka and Urqa'Qii got their names. As UrQa is the name of the race... the meaning must change when ka or qii is added. Urqa'Qii could very well mean little urqa, which would make sense.
Simon: Qii means smallest, all of the Ur'Ziq Bana ships have Qii in their names.
Nargos: Then it fits. Ka must be a singular part of the syntax, also referring to one. Uu is the 2 shotter, and quu refers to moderate, that makes sense since it is a decent weapon. Ukukuu must be representative of 3, as it only appears in the 3 shotter. It is also followed by Quu, meaning it is the moderate form. By following Ukukuu with Qa, the meaning differs. It seems to indicate "powerful 3", which explains why the Ukukuu is actually a 5 shotter. I dont believe it actually increases the number from 3 to 5, but instead simply means it's more powerful than 3. This could mean any number greater than 3, 5 just happens to be the weapon.
Simon: Just for reference, in order: Urqa'Qii, Urqa'ka, Uu Quu, Ukukuu Qu, Ukukuu Qa
Nargos: So small urqa, singular urqa, decent 2, decent 3, greater than 3 respectively.
Simon: From my chat with Calypso, I believe its more of: small flame, singular flame, moderate flame, lots of flame, large lots of flame.
Nargos: Qi seems to refer to making something smaller. Also, Ur'Quan translates into "your masters", so Urqa just means fire or flame.
Simon: Another big part of it is that capitalization and location and presense of ' matters, so Ur'Quan, UrQa, and Urqa are 3 different words easily meaning, your masters, of your masters, and flame.
Some Stuff Calypso said
Just so you know, that name actually means something...
- Brings up his universal UrQa translator*
Ur Qok UrQa?
Ah, there we go. It reads, "Can you see the me?"
Illum: Calypso, let me have that translator :P
NEVER!
The UrQa Universal Translator is one the many Holy Adumite relics I stumbled upon when rummaging through an archaic compressed folder I downloaded from a website with the country code ".tz" And by stumbled, I thought I was downloading a keylogger / trojan combo so I could let my computer be part of botnet run by a 16 yr old from Korea. BUT, it seemed I was destined to download that file and come across these relics!
Iq kii ur, jij'uu! Quu'Qa, Quu'Qa. Iq aku'qa. Ur kii.
It was more along the lines of 'I'll kill you with holy fire and powerful weapons. My energies are powerful, you'll die'. This isn't exact, but the meaning is there.
So yeah, I did threaten didn't I?
But if I keep translating all this, you'll figure it out! NO MORE!
Calypso
UrQa Words
Ships
UrQa Suqqa Vazuk - UrQa Speedy Scout
UrQa Suqqa Ukuk - UrQa Ranged Scout
Jujuso'rka - Unknown
Ujqii – Names: Koquii niq (Stealthy Escape); Urqa’jiji Qua (Magic Weapon Maker); Juju’jiji; Iishi’qii; Uj’qi Qokuji (Green-Young, Unseasoned Guardian); Uu’Qok Ur (Fire Will Find You); Uzu Qokuji (Laser Guardian); Kik Qua (Station Builder), Kii Kii Kii (Kill Kill Kill); Uuu’Akka (Sticky Fire); Ukuk’ik Qi; niq? Kak! (Escape? Never!)
Jujo’qii – Names: Ishi’qii (Weak Interceptor)
Suqqa Uj'Qi - Names: Juju'jiji; KoQuii niq (Stealthy Escape); Ur Qok UrQa? (You See UrQa?); Uu'Qok Qur; niq? Kak! (Escape? Never!); Qua Jij'Uu (Making Firey Magic); Uuu'Akka (Sticky Fire)
Jujuso’qi – Names: Urkuk'ik Qi
Qokuji'qi - Names: Unknown
Qokujiii Qa’ik – Powerful Station (Capital Ship) Defender
Qokuji’jiji UrQa - UrQa Magic Defender (Perhaps Holy Defender, or Jihadi) To Be Confirmed
Drones
Ur’Iq -
Kasa Qii – (Little Station)
Urqa'Qii (ik’qii kiii qokuji’qii) – (Little Weapon)
Urqa'Ka - (Weak Weapon)
Quu - (Defense Drone)
Qa Quuu - (Powerful Defense Drone)
Kasa Quu - (Mother Defense Drone)
Weapons
Urqa’Qii – (Little Weapon)
Urqa’ka – (Weak Weapon)
Uu Quu - (Fire Weapon)
Jiji Quu - (Magic or Ethereal Weapon)
Ukukuu Qu -(Ranged Fire Weapon)
Jiji Qa - (Very Powerful Magic or Ethereal)
Ukukuu Qa - (Very Powerful Ranged Fire)
Augs
Jujo’qii –
KoQuii Ukuk Akk’oj - (Stealthy Range or Sniper Augmenter)
Aku KoQuii - (Stealthy Energy)
KoQuii Vazuk - (Steathly Speed)
Cloaks
KoQuii Qua - (Stealth Generator)
UrQa KoQuii - (UrQa Stealth)
UrQa KoQuii Qa - (Powerful UrQa Stealth)
Engines
Qua Vazuk - (Speed Maker)
UrQa Qi Vuzuk - (UrQa Good Speed)
Energies
Aku Qa - (Powerful Generator)
Aku'Qa - (Powerful Energy)
Ka' Qur -
UrQa Broken Aku'Qa - (Broken UrQa Powerful Energy)
Radars
Iiuqok - (Detector)
UrQa Ukuk Qok - (Ranged Sight)
UrQa Quiii Qok - (???? Sight)
Shields
Qi’Uka - (Good Barrier)
Qa'Uka - (Powerful Barrier)
Diffusers
Uj’qii Damage Plating –
Urqa Uka Uzu Qi - (UrQa Good Laser Barrier)
Base Kits
Urqa Kasa Akka - (UrQa Attached Station)
Commodities
Urko - (Remains)
Urko Q (Uj’qi Q) – (Weapon Remains)
Urko Qu (Uj’qii Qu) - (Good Weapon Remains)
Urko Quu (Qokuji Qi) – (Powerful Weapons Remains)
Urko Ka’Qur -
Urk’Aku’Qua - (Energy Generator Remains)
Urk’ Uuukuu Qu - (Ranged Fire Weapon Remains)
Urk’Qokujiii Qa’ik - (Remains of the Extremely Powerful Guardian)
Definitions
Qokuji - Battleship / guardian
Quii – augmentor NO NO NO! (KoQuii / Koquii) - Stealth
Vazuk – (Speed, Fast)
Ukuk – (Long Range, Ranged)
Suqqa – (Explorer)
Jujuso - (Worker)
Qok – radar, seeing
Urk’ (o) – (Remains)
Uka – shield or protection (Barrier)
UrQa - (Self use by UrQa denotes extreme importance.)
Bana – galaxy
Aku - energy
Qokuji – Guardian
Qokuji'jiji - (Magic Guardian)
Number/Size System
Q Qu and Quu seem to refer to 1 2 and 3 respectively where as qii Qii qi Qi ka Ka seems to be a progression of size or power. Ka may refer to best or superior to all. The use of both in nomenclature without apparent sequence has led me to believe the two list are separate from one another. (Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!!! But I'm going to let this one slide. I have divulged too much already. Finally, stop calling them the Ur'Quan. That is not their name, they are the UrQa, All notes in parentheses are courtsey of CALYPSO, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.)
Urqa Ships
There are a bunch, lemme do this in a bit too.
AI: Ujqii, Suqqa Uj'Qi, Jujo'qii, Jujuso'qi, Qokujiii Qa'ik, Qokuji'jiji UrQa, UrQa'qa Qu'ishi
Player: Jujuso'qii, UrQa Suqqa Vazuk, UrQa Suqqa Ukuk, Jujuso'rka, UrQa'qa Qu'ishi Qa
