Phamysht

"You must be a Human! I've heard so much about you!"

"Your culture, your texture, your aroma. It's just so exciting meeting a new alien these days!"

"Curiosity is such a delightful trait and I urge you not to give up on it."

-Excerpts from the Phamysht first contact with Humans.

The Phamysht are a serpentine species who evolved from arboreal ambush hunters on their homeworld. Due to recent events the Phamysht are an endangered species. While once considered among the galaxy's most civilized species the surviving Phamysht are now known largely as 'space monsters'.

Pre-Sapience
The Phamysht evolved from arboreal ambush hunters on their home world, Ela Rise, where their pre-sentient selves devoured anything they could catch. They even developed an omnivorous capability to account to early environmental turmoil that could have resulted in extinction. Devouring of mates also occurred, becoming the norm among their ancestors.

Awakening
It was through devising better ambushes and studying prey that the Phamysht developed sapience- it was by consuming their own kind that they developed sentience. The ability to recognize that they where devouring alike individuals and that such individuals likely had thoughts as they do was the start of polite society. During this awakening language started out among kin lines and attempts to woo without being devoured or to offer to share meals to save one's life. With communication focus revolving around eating the concept of table manners and being respectful towards other Phamysht that one preyed upon formed the foundation of their earliest societies.

Civilization
Phamysht society continued to devour others of their kind through out it's pre-space flight history. Clannish nation states formed around Devourers- individuals well versed in culinary knowledge, hunting experience, and social skills- who directed their communities interaction with other polities. [2] Their ethics of polite predation evolved over centuries. The act of killing and eating someone without a word was frowned upon as savage- a remnant of their ambush hunter past. A civilized predator asks another intelligent mind if they can eat them and such is a major tenant of their morality- seen as what separates them from mere beasts. The capacity to devour someone without them feeling pain and still able to have a final conversation was a celebrated medical achievement. This 'mercy' being welcomed and seen as bringing their kind closer together.

The Scryve
During an era comparable to Earth's 1960s the Phamysht encountered their first alien civilization when the Scryve arrived to their world. The Scryve Empire, which admired order, where impressed by the Phamysht culture of that 'late-modern' era. The courteous mentality, elegant sinuous art of the era, and how far the Phamysht had arose from their primal instincts gave the Scryve hope. As relations where going well the Phamysht surprised the Scryve in another way by asking if they could devour one of them. This, sparked a bit of a panic and caused the Phamysht great confusion at the reaction to the request which resulted in the Phamysht being subjugated by the Scryve and cannibalism made illegal on their world for the first time in it's recorded history. The reaction the Scryve had was an ultimatum; become a vassal of the Scryve Empire and cease cannibalism or be eradicated. [1]

Under Scryve Rule
As subjects of the Scryve the Phamysht retained their own government within the Empire and members of their society became renowned artists- including official sculptors for the leaders of the Empire. Phamysht seemed to have complied fully to the new regulations and traveled freely between imperial worlds as their culture and art continued to be admired. It was in this era that they met other subjects of the Scryve rule. A number of citizens, including members of the planet's aristocracy, found other individuals who had a curiosity regarding being devoured and thus cannibalism resumed in secret. When the Scryve Empire discovered what was going on they where compelled to act. Admiring the Phamysht too much to destroy them, the Scryve blamed the subjects whose members had allowed themselves to be devoured and thus to punish the Phamysht for being tempted back into the practice opted to exterminate the new 'friends' that Phamysht had made resulting in multiple genocides that the Phamysht had to witness. This effectively ended their attempts to interact with other subjects for fear of causing such death to befall others. In the aftermath Phamysht culture waned in popularity in the Empire and became obscure.

Rebellion
Within Phamysht territory those who had resumed cannibalism continued to do so in secret among their own kind. The Order of Phamysht Lords (established following vassalization by the Scryve Empire) themselves had fully embraced a return to tradition- though only in private. As the Empire lost interest in the Phamysht the practice became more open and became the norm though hidden from their feudal masters. When the Xraki, an extradimensional race, contacted them asking that the Phamysht rebell against the Scryve the Phamysht where reluctant to do so until an argument was made that it was both dangerous to remain friends of the Scryve and that the Xraki understood more fully what it meant to be a friend. They offered the lords three individuals of another species from the Xraki home dimension and tempted them in this way to agree to rebel in exchange for being able to feed upon as many of those as they could stomach. The gift was accepted and much to the Phamysht Lords dismay the individuals where indigestible. But as they had given their word they kept the agreement and rebelled against the (by then) decaying empire.

A Great Lose
Free the Phamysht resumed a variation of polite cannibalism upon other sapient beings though one that determined that refusal to give up a crew member for safe passage through the territory meant one was no friend- in fact they where uncivilized. This was due to the relations they had with the Scryve, and the response the new regime had determined was best was to attack and devour- a real degradation of the old values. The Xraki it turned out where not friends at all, and temptation back into primal ways resulted in their undoing. The extradimensional beings swooped in and took all of Phamysht territory as their own for the Scryve Empire had been keeping them from doing so while it held governance in the region. The Xraki killed many, indeed most of the Phamysht population leaving only a few survivors. The experience greatly humbled the surviving Phamysht who then aided the Federation of Allied Species in ending the extra-dimensional threat though with a feeling of great guilt for the direction their civilization had taken. What has become of them since then is unknown.

Culture
Phamysht are now mostly known for the practice of cannibalism which indeed plays a major role in their traditional society. As one Phamysht lord explained they don't eat people all the time. Celebrations such as birthdays and weddings are among those times when such is known to happen and according to said lord when such does it's always because someone's offered- the lord suspects it's because doing so makes the individual the center of attention given as the events are suppose to be about someone else's special day. Which in turn is likely why the offer is accepted. While their society slipped a bit form it's moral bearings the society is one that values manners and polite speech. A typical greeting among their kind is to descend down suddenly and offer a witty remark or playful nip at the jugular (if the individuals are close to one another, such as the case with spouses, siblings, and other family members). Smooth curves of simplistic design are seen as beautiful to them.

For Curiosity's Sake: The Consumption
"So eating only the non-sentient is moral? Or worse, slaughtering the sentient, then not eating them? Madness. You'd understand these matters better if you had a conversation with someone your eating. It clarifies a lot of things."

Thanks to the use of a meat puppet by a Human captain insight into what being devoured by a Phamysht is like was gleamed. Individuals gifted by another or who have offered themselves up are situated into a padded room and injected with an agent that can have several different effect depending on what is injected. These chemicals hinder pain senses in all cases but may also replace pain with pleasure and/or make the meal more talkative- like a truth serum. Talking with one's meal is rather important and not being a talkative meal is seen as rather disappointing. Phamysht like to hear about their meal's life and often comment about hardships with an empathetic tone while devouring first the limbs and then the torso until the meal looses consciousness. Being polite beings a meal that passes without having some closure or comfort by the end of their life is disheartening.

Counter Culture
During the period in which Ela Rise was visited a subculture that insisted on only eating animals had emerged as contrast to the planet's mainstream. It's comparable to the rise in vegetarianism on Earth during it's comparative era of cultural development. While the mainstream Phamysht would point out that many report the experience of being eaten as pleasurable those in the movement understand that such is due to the chemicals they are injected with. Without such the experience would be far less delightful and the brutality of it apparent. This counter culture saw it's height under the Scryve Empire prior the Scryve loosing interest in the Phamysht. It then declined again under the Order of Phamysht Lords in the years leading up to the rebellion. It's unclear if this counter culture will become mainstream again.

Wartime Practices
The rebellion against the Scryve Empire is the only indicator of wartime practices among the Phamysht that Humanity has any information on. Thanks to the use of a meat puppet by a Human captain these details can be relayed here. Namely since the chemicals injected into the meat puppet where then ingested by the consuming Phamysht who proceeded to share sensitive information with what it presumed was a meal that wouldn't share any of it. While having declined aid from the Federation of Allied Species in their war, the Phamysht are not opposed to alliances. The arrangements they had made already however made them word bound not to accept help from the Federation. Such was a condition set by the Xraki however the Phamysht had no obligation to decline help from the Printhi and thus accepted such when the aid was offered. The Phamysht Lord revealed during this dinning session that Phamysht forces had devoured entire Scryve colonies though said lord also expressed a negative sentiment towards the Pinthi who had eradicated entire species. Specifically the Pinthi where the Scryve subject species used as a bioweapon to eliminate the species whose members had allowed the Phamysht to devour them in the past. The Phamysht Lord expresses that the Phamysht have a goal of surviving, rather than exterminating though in the war such is likely to occur to the Scryve should it turn in the rebellion's favor given whom Phamysht are allied with. The prospect hasn't dissuaded them from continued association with the Pinthi. [2] The policy of devouring anyone who comes into Phamysht territory was imposed as a means of keeping military secrets though the Phamysht lords are willing to allow ships to pass if they hand over a crew member to be devoured- presumably believing that such isn't something their enemies would do.

Comparing to other polities in the known galaxy, the founding species of the Federation of Allied Species, the Mu'Kay- have some similar issue in regards to dietary practices. They make it well known that they eat fish, though leave the impression that they are not interested in sentient fish as a meals. In reality, they are [3] and thus wouldn't consider such beings for membership in the Federation of Allied Species but naturally as the Federation expands their votes can be outweighed. Like the Phamysht they too where once under Scryve rule but unlike the Phamysht this issue didn't bring them into conflict with the Empire- rather the Empire's interference policy (which caused them to intervene in the Phamysht) was a motive for their desire to form the Federation of Allied Species with a non-interference policy.

Apperances

 * Star Control: Origin (first)
 * Galactic Civilizations III: The Villains of Star Control Origins DLC

Source Citation

 * 1) Star Control: Origins
 * 2) Galactic Civilizations III: The Villains of Star Control Origins DLC
 * 3) Galactic Civilizations III: The Heroes of Star Control Origins DLC