(Invented, with elements from Sumaleth’s history of Zumlin) Translator’s Notes
Where possible, weights and measures have been converted to standard Terran measurements; otherwise, a note has been given.

1. Pre-History
It is believed that the first true Strogg walked on Stroggos about 3 and a half million years ago (Translator’s note – a Strogg year is approximately equal to 17 lunar months); they were puny runts compared to today’s varied and mighty Strogg (Note – Strogg historians are constantly trying to curry favour with their superiors). They were around five feet tall, and evolved near the south pole of Stroggos, living in the ice caves of that region. In appearance, as far as can be told from the fossil record, they were bipedal, and somewhat stocky in build; they had large feet to prevent them from falling through ice or snow, and large, flared nostrils in order to obtain as much air as possible. It is believed that they migrated northwards to the equatorial zone around 2 million years ago after a freak ice age, possibly caused by atmospheric disturbances from a comet. It was here that they began to grow taller and slimmer, and first domesticated the herds of herbivorous creatures that roamed the prairies. After several millennia of farming, they began to hunt for sport as well as food, and soon extended their games to include criminals, defective Strogg and inhabitants of neighbouring villages.

2. The First Empire
The First Empire saw the founding of Cerberon, almost exactly on the equator of Stroggos. It was conceived by several village leaders as a temple to the gods of bloodshed, and the altar of that temple is still visible at the top of the Palace, which was originally the temple itself, although it has been greatly added to over the aeons. The leaders took the opportunity to ally their respective villages and resettle their subjects to Cerberon. One of the leaders, by the name of Makron, after whom the glorious post of leader of our great empire is named, poisoned the other four and took command of the five villages. His leadership saw Cerberon expand exponentially, taking in two other budding cities and countless villages. At about this time, methods of extending the life of a Strogg were discovered – dangerous and unhygienic by today’s standards, they only had effect on the mind, and relied on no physical harm befalling the body. All the same, many Strogg underwent the operations, and effectively became immortal.

However, after seventeen centuries, the First Empire became corrupt, with factions splitting and degenerating into guerilla cartels. Civil war seized Cerberon, and a scientific community some ninety miles out of Cerberon chose this time to unleash their new discovery on the decadent, spineless race in Cerberon – genetically altered cattle (Note: ‘cattle’ is the best translation of the Strogg word for what we now know as mutants), which ran amok in the city, until the scientists entered, killed them all with one specially tailored microwave transmission, and took over the city.

3. The Republic
The scientists ruled Cerberon, which now had expanded to fifty times its original size, and contained nearly 90% of all Strogg, by means of a senate, consisting of 200 representatives who voted on decisions. This weak-willed and decadent society contributed only one thing to Strogg society: the discovery of the procedure to tie an individual’s mind to his physical brain; after one relatively simple operation, he was free to transfer his brain into any body or even computer that he chose, whenever his current body became worn. This pathetic society lasted surprisingly long, four centuries, before the development of bionic surgery to supplant the brain transplant technique. Instead of transferring the brain, body parts were simply replaced when they wore out. Naturally, this led to the use of actual biological body parts, which required the enslavement and use of all other towns and cities on Stroggos.

4. The Second Empire
The military units which were used to obtain the other towns’ resources were entirely artificial in body – selected soldiers were transferred to the new bodies. These units were something akin to today’s Tanks, but less sleek and more prone to breakdown. On their return to Cerberon, they killed the entire Senate in a glorious display of skill at arms, and took over Cerberon, using the supplies from the other settlements to augment the army. Soon afterwards, black hole manipulation technology was developed, allowing the Strogg to farm many other worlds, and to further diversify the Strogg race.

At this time, the treacherous Zargraan race failed in their vicious attempt to humiliate mighty Stroggos, although their underhand techniques caused chaos in the Strogg army, necessitating a tactical withdrawal.

Public opinion forced the army out of power to be replaced by the rotating system of Makron.

5. The Third Empire
Our great and glorious realm is currently in danger because of lack of body parts; the nearby systems have been farmed out, except for the Zargraans, who cannot be used on the mighty Strogg, for their treachery would corrupt the pure Strogg gene pool. A planet has been located many light-years away from Stroggos, peopled by beings not dissimilar from our own distant ancestors, but the black hole generators must be greatly enhanced to even stand a chance of reaching it. It is certain that they will be unable to resist as some races have done, as it would take them generations to reach Stroggos in their lumbering sub-light craft.

By Murgatroyd

https://web.archive.org/web/20001011044916/http://planetquake.com:80/guild/works/strogg/