Editing Quest:Hive Queen Quest (section)

=== Valen ===
:''DON'T MISS ON THESE AMAZING DEALS.''
:-Deep Song Bank and Trust store page

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Nature'''
| Biological
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| '''Intelligence'''
| Individual
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| '''Preferred FTL Drive'''
| Gate
|}

A race of semi-aquatic predators, the Valen live in shallow seas and swampland for much of their lives. While peaceful, they view war and competition as a form of art, with many of their great cultural figures being tacticians and admirals. Their government consists of loose tribal clans that have formed a number of banking and commercially powerful families within Union space, offering the use of their gates to passing ships at a premium, and financing many businesses and politicians throughout human space. They hold tradition and cultural values in the highest regard, and often adopt the mannerisms of aliens they work with.


==== The Valen Banking Clans ====
:''No recognized capital''

===== A delicate balance of debt =====
To the Valen the concept of government as humans have devised is an alien concept. The concept of long term titles, elections, and especially nationalism or patriotism are all unheard of concepts in Valen philosophy prior to their first contact with backwater colonists fleeing the rule of the Earth Confederation. Instead, the Valen live essentially on an elaborate honor system of endlessly circling debt, with hierarchies assembling and evaporating based on how much is owed to any other individual. The closest thing to a formal government that the Valen poses would be the individual clans and houses built on the collective wealth of like-minded individuals, which each operate a portion of territory and natural resources within not just Valen space, but also Union space in the form of privately owned banking firms and mining corporations. The difference between public and private resources are as simple as the difference between claimed and unclaimed resources, and the concept of government owned land seems as ridiculous as the concept of taxes.

Each faction among the Valen function along the same concepts of debt, but the concept of debt is far removed from the human definition. Everything is an asset, and all things must be replayed in kind, be they gifts of resources, loans of credits, mating arrangements, favors, and even insults or hostile actions. Valen society is a complex menagerie of hidden jabs and overt gestures of goodwill moving back and forth in a kind of hostile war of philanthropy as each person attempts to place the other in their debt while actually expending as few resources as possible. Credits hold no value, nor titles or territory, but any single person who is owed a favor is seen as wealthy, with credits and currency often seen as little more than dressed-up and interchangeable I.O.U.s, and as such credits will often be spend just as fast as they are earned. This, along with their incredibly social and competitive nature, has lead them to all but dominate most aspects of investment banking and speculative finance within the Union.

===== Friendly enemies =====
To Valen the concepts of friends, enemies, subordinates, or allies are all redundant and interchangeable. Due to their highly empathetic nature they often grow to respect and admire their opponents, and often a Valen's greatest life long friend will also be a cutthroat rival. Admiration over the grace with which betrayals and conniving overthrows were held are often the topic of calm debate, with congratulatory gifts often exchanged between them, from the victim to attempt to gain the upper hand once more, and from the aggressor in anticipation of being given a celebratory gift.

War is known to every known species of sapient creatures, and the Valen are no exception, in fact, they revel in it. This fact is in stark contrast to their peaceful method of living and their incredibly durable social ties, but combat is not the only method of war among them. Day to day living is wrought with strategy and tactics, with every encounter being considered a battle on the social, economic, or industrial battlefield. They do not compete with rival businesses, they wage war on them. Price gouging or predatory market fixing are all par for the course, and are time tested and fully acceptable methods of competition. While outright violence is seen as wasteful, there is not a single thing that an average Valen would see as being anything other than a battle, friendly or otherwise.

Valen are quick to learn the ways of others, and will adopt the culture and mannerisms of the locals as much as possible, often using remote controlled androids to deal with humans on more equal footing. To humans, they can occasionally come off as abrasive or fickle, and to a human moral compass that would be accurate, but to a Valen humans are often seen as dim witted and rude creatures upon which hospitality is wasted and a proper concept of debt is unheard of. When the first human settlers introduced themselves to the Valen as their colony ship blindly entered their space, they were met with hospitality and showered with gifts, it was only when the Valen expected their favors returned that negotiations broke down. The settlers were eventually expunged from Valen territory as morally bankrupt beggars, and a short yet harsh war was fought as a result until the newly formed Union negotiated a peace agreement that permitted the settlers to stay. The incident has since entered the history books as an embarrassing blemish for both sides, although most suspect the Valen to this day only permit the small human settlement in their space to place the Union in their debt, and have since assembled the rather lucrative hypergate network, as well as a great many other business ventures in Union space as a result of that agreement.