Space Rhinos

Barant are humanoid bipeds with thick, greyish skin that develops abundantly to form heavy, protective folds. Their limbs end in four-digit hands and clawed feet. Their proportionally compact heads feature small, dark eyes situated at about the same height as their nostrils, which in turn sit at the top of a triangular mouth with upper and lower rows of pointed teeth. Females develop prominent tusks. Most individuals are slightly taller than typical humans, but they can grow considerably larger. Regardless of height, Barant are naturally heavyset, rotund, and well-muscled.

Barant come from a homeworld with much greater gravity and atmospheric pressure than Earth’s, and so must almost always wear fully enclosed armor filled with pressurized hydrostatic gel. If they can adapt to earthlike conditions, it must require gradual acclimation.

Imperial Glory

Barant hail from a distant region of the galaxy, where their far-flung interstellar imperium, the Cabal, was established long, long ago. Their creation myth recounts how the Barant who would become the first emperor captured their sun, simply because he desired it. Indeed, until relatively recently in their history, a single, high-minded emperor ruled over all, but was overthrown by conservatives whose power became threatened by the emperor’s reforms. After his exile, the empire became even more aggressively militaristic. It is unknown whether the Cabal armies came to the Sol system as part of their general expansionism, in search of natural resources to supply their vast, spacefaring war effort, or perhaps were drawn by the presence of the Traveler.

Opulent Grandeur, Spartan Militancy

Cabal society is highly hierarchical, even outside the ranks of its massive military. Formerly, the emperor presided over a complex menagerie of military aristocrats and civilian courtiers who comprised the imperial government. Now, with the emperor deposed, a military dictatorship directs the empire and steers the operations of its forces around Earth—although the commanders of the legions present here do not always agree with the Cabal high command’s orders, nor indeed with each other.

The former emperor valued the pursuit of a happy, opulent life above all else, and shared this enthusiastic hedonism with his people. However, in the wake of his exile, only the military’s values prevail. Joyous excess and cultured indulgence have been pushed aside in favor of brutal efficiency and the hard calculus of conquest. Any Cabal serving in the invading armies in this system have probably only ever known that uncompromising militaristic culture.

Victory Or Death… Or Something Else?

All Barant in the Sol system came as Cabal soldiers, but not all have remained loyal to their commanders or the militant empire. Weary of grinding, endless conflict with the Vex or terrified of the seemingly unstoppable power of Earthling Guardians, quite a few deserters have abandoned their posts and holed up in whatever hiding places they can find throughout the system. The greatest concentrated population of these unaffiliated Barant resides in the Reef, particularly the Tangled Shore region, where it is easiest to make oneself scarce.