For the eighth day of gaming Cyglaive checks out the eight races of WildStar!

On the eighth day of gaming Carbine gave to me; Eight Wild Races

With winter finally here it means the spring of WildStar’s launch is that much closer. In order to help celebrate ZAM’s eighth day of gaming, I thought it would be good for us to talk about these eight races and their involvement in the over-arching story of WildStar. And with me being a lore nerd, what better way to bring in the New Year than to share some WildStar history with you all.

You see, It all began with the mysterious and ancient hyper-advanced race known as the Eldan. Planet Nexus used to be their home until the entire race suddenly disappearaed without a trace. How does the most advanced group of people in the galaxy suddenly vanish you ask? Well, that'll be up for you to find out upon completing your descent to this legendary planet. However, what I can say is that whether you’re with the races of the Exiles or the Dominion, you’ll have a reason to fight for Planet Nexus. Let’s begin!

Races of the Dominion

The Cassians

The Cassian people weren’t always the ruling fist of the Dominion. They were actually what most would consider “normal humans” at one point in time, more or less. That is, until the Eldan set their sights on the humans of planet Cassus and offered them great power and technology in return for the Cassian Sword-maiden, Tresayne Toria, who was what most would consider a Queen to the Cassian people. While this seemed like a kind gesture, the Mechari, who at this point were still the servants and diplomats for the Eldan, said that if the Cassians refused this offer, they would face dire consequences.

Wanting to protect her people, the Sword-maiden accepted the offer and made the journey to planet Nexus, leaving her people behind. And finally, after years of waiting for the Eldan to hold true on their promise, the gift of power and technology came to their planet when the Eldan-Human hybrid, Dominus the half-blood, returned to planet Cassus, the planet that had been the Sword-maiden’s home world; his mother’s home world.

While his mother’s fate was uncertain to most of the Cassian people, Dominus came with a single message; those who swore loyalty to him would help lead the greatest empire the galaxy has ever known. And thus, the Dominion was created.

To the Cassians Nexus isn’t just a planet, it’s their birth-right. And they will stop at nothing to claim the lost planet and find out what happened to the Eldan; to their gods with whom they now shared the same blood.

The Mechari

You see, the Eldan aren't just another species that inhabits the galaxy. The Eldan were the greatest hyper-advanced race that the galaxy had ever known. And for reasons unknown to all but themselves, the Eldan took great interest in species that were intelligent and advancing well as a civilization. This is this was the reason they made their Mechari servants. As mentioned before, the Mechari served the Eldan as diplomats and, after the Humans of planet Cassus officially formed The Dominion, the Mechari stayed with the newly formed empire in order to serve, once again, as ambassadors and diplomats of this mighty empire. This basically meant that they were the guys who said “Join us or we’ll blow your planet up.” As we’ll discuss in a bit, they were met with mixed responses.

To the Mechari, Nexus represents an opportunity to discover what became of their former creators and to discover the secrets of the Eldan; secrets that even the Mechari themselves are unaware of.

The Draken

Of all of the Dominion Races the Draken of planet Mikros have to be the most blood-thirsty.

300 years after the formation of the Dominion empire, its leaders realized they needed new blood and the Draken, acknowledged for their fighting prowess on the battlefield, were worthy candidates. Unfortunately, the Draken are not swayed by words of diplomacy and respond better by testing their opponents’ strength in combat. This led to open war with the Dominion and countless lives were lost as blood from both sides stained the battlefield.

This went on for quite some time until the current reigning emperor of the Dominion, Azrion, challenged the Draken leader, High Clan lord Zhur, to meet him in single-combat in order to decide the end to its war. The victor would be declared ruler of planet Mikros. After meeting on the Field of Kazor, the two rulers went head to head in a long and grueling battle. However, in the end, the Dominion Emperor claimed victory after slaying Clan lord Zhur and secured the loyalty of the Draken for himself and his descendants.

To the Draken, Nexus represents the greatest challenge it has faced as a people and a chance to test pit its strength against the creatures that inhabit the planet, as well as the Exiles who would try to claim the planet for themselves.

The Chua

If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll ask for some milk. If you give a psychopathic gerbil race hyper-gattling lasers, he’ll ask for more.

The Chua of planet Bezgelor, while intelligent and natural engineers, are probably the most sociopathic race to join the Dominion. After having observed the race for quite some time, the Dominion finally decided to present them with the glorious offer of assimilation that other races before had been given. As the Mechari arrival on the planet was marked with gifts of advanced weaponry and technology, the Chua returned in kind with pranks and mud-slinging.
After nearly a century of building and burning the planets natural resources to dust, the Chua finally accepted the offer of the Dominion, even if it was only to be able to continue to produce things that explode--or cause other things to explode.

The Chua see planet Nexus as a giant resource to power their diabolical machines of destruction. The best playground a psychopathic gerbil could ask for.

Races Of The Exiles>>