For all things Tak'la. Everything about them and what they are. The first documentary was created by me, Darkest90 and Abe's Son.
We will continue working on it, and if anyone else wants to submit anything about it, post a submission and we will think about it.
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A Documentary of the Tak'la
Written by Gelonir Flightvoyager
“I have encountered many strange things in my day, but nothing as odd as a race of beings that I have come to know as the Tak’la. My days as a Mudokon Platform Raider are over, but I have many stories to tell of the Tak’lanite Civilization. The rest of the veterans of the Mudonkar Tribe agree that we’re going to show you all there is about the Tak’lanites.
What do they look like? It is hard to describe. I am no artist, just a seamud and navigator, so I’ll describe them to you.”
Appearance
The Tak’la are very thin, with a flat body with a skinny, oval head with slitted eyes, and a pointed chin. The long neck arcs so that the head is near the chest. Tak'la have grayish skin coloration, orange eyes. Their arms start as one, but then branches off to two other arms. Each arm has a hand with three fingers, and opposable thumbs. Tak'la have long and skinny legs and three finger-like toes on their feet.
“They are seven feet tall normally, but they hover three feet high, giving them a towering height of ten feet. This would scare any mere mud right back to his or her village, but not the Raiders of Mudonkar!”
Territory
The Tak'la live in large hovering platforms above Oddworld's Oceans. Large turbines and hot-air balloons power the platforms; the electricity needed for these machines is gathered from storms. The Tak'la have many small power plants in the form of weather balloons that gather the energy from lightning and store it into small, compact cells. These cells are gathered, replaced and installed into the platforms every few days.
“The energy is crucial, many a-day the Raiders and I have shot down their storm-balloons and jammed their turbines. Ah, what good times those were! You really feel accomplished when you see a large, nearly thirty-mile Platform City start to tip, and Tak’las falling into the ocean, and man, it was just GREAT!”
The Tak'la dispose of rotten food and all wastes, including small bits of metal. This is compacted and recycled into easy-to-burn matter and stored in large furnaces inside the platform. If there is a lack of energy, then the platform back-up procedure kicks in and burns the disposed material. This provides enough energy for a day or two so they can get new energy cells.
“This is what a Raider hates. It is depressing to see the back-up energy kicking in and the platform stabilizing. They are very crafty, and we don’t know how to stop the back-up system.”
People
All Tak'la has small psychic abilities, such as telekinesis. This allows them to hover and move objects with their mind. When using their powers, it makes them light-headed and stupid, because their mind is tracked for psychic powers and not thought.
“In my day, the best weapon of the Tak’la were not the high-tech weapons that make our Mudokon weapons look like sticks and stones (which, in fact, our weapons are sticks and stones!) but their psychic powers. They will throw us Muds across their platforms, slam us into walls, and try to tear our minds apart. Only a sturdy Mudokon with good legging would survive against them.”
Clothing
All the normal citizens wear a large shoulder pad made of Steroon* Metal, with large orbs at each end and 2 foot long spear-like spines sticking out of them. This clothing boosts their Telekinetic Powers. Long, soft, tapestry-like silk robes flow down from the shoulder pad. The robes usually are colored black or red and have a Faction Isignia upon it.
The clothes are made by the silk worms in the few silk worm forests, in which Tak'la breed and grow silk worms and take their silk for clothing. The forests are made of small bushes, the silk worm's natural habitat.
The dye is harvested from dye plants that the Scavengers harvest from islands. The Geh'krok used to use blood for their red insignias, but they changed to dye as the blood would flake off and leave them with colorless silk.
“We could care less about the Tak’las clothes. But a good slice at their shoulder-pads will disable their telekinetic powers for a few seconds. There was also a funny time in Relfu and I… that old prankster… we dressed up in Tak’la clothing and planted a virus in their computer system. Then, the Tak’la Police caught us and they shot Relfu with their guns. That was the last day I saw Relfu.”
Food
The Tak’la eat mostly root-like plants, resembling carrots and potatoes. These are grown on the platform. Farmers use fresh soil on open spaces of the platform to grow many root-like crops, which they harvest in mass numbers every season and put them in the deep-freezer for storage.
Since the vegetables the Tak'la harvest are root-like, the leafy tops of the plants are left as trash. This is put in compost heaps to enrich the soil of the fields.
The Tak’la Platforms use pipes to suck saltwater from the ocean and turn it into fresh water, for drinking and for farming. All of their plants need freshwater, but the Tak’la’s system extract salt from the saltwater. The freshwater needed is from boiling saltwater.
“There were many times that we let loose a number of Nelrom Locusts in their fields. We had hoped that it the reduced leafage disposal would stop their back-up system from working so well. But that plan never worked.”
The Ruci – A blue radish-plants with three long, tall stalks growing from it’s top. This is the main food crop of the Tak’la.
The Uic – A potato-like vegetable with an extreme amount of starch. One could feed a Tak’la for two days, although, after they fainted from the taste.
The Iocw – The leaves of this plant are like thick, white tentacles of a devilfish. The vegetable at the bottom is filled with nutrients. Their leaves are used as medicine and they smell very good.
Natural Resources
“The Tak’la have many resources in their possession. We’ve raided many of their mines to stop their supply flow, and for the goods themselves. The Mudonkar know all of the resources available to the Tak’la.”
Seroon – There is a large Seroon Mine located very close to the G’nek Platform City, that’s why it was made the capital, for it had so many resources. The mine is located under an island called Plentiful Isle, in which there are caverns upon caverns loaded with hard, dark-silver Seroon.
Marble – Marble is an easy resource for the Tak’la to take, it is located in the many small islands that they live near to. One small archipelago is called The Marble Sands, because it is made completely of small grains of marble. The sea around the area is gray with marble deposits, yet it is a very good marbles mine anyway.
Gold and Silver– There are large mines below the ocean filled with gold and silver. It is very hard to extract, for it is so deep in the earth of Oddworld, but there is much to be harvested. The Tak’la see gold invaluable, for it is weak. But they use silver in many quantities and make alloys out of Silver and Seroon.
Glass – There is a major quantity of glass, located under the platforms. The platforms create mirrors that reflect the light to the oceans below, superheating the sandy water and turning it into glass. The glass sinks to the ocean floor, but it is harvested later.
Weapons
Daggers - The Daggers are made of a number of materials. Those with only self-defense needs use sharpened coral, stone, in their daggers. Those who are serious about their fighting use Seroon* and Steroon in their daggers.
“A good Mudokon Raider can easily dodge a Tak’lanite Dagger, but the danger starts when they start making their daggers float like living weapons, using their psychic powers!”
Rail Turret - The Rail Turret is an immobile weapon built upon small, mini-platforms. They are used for defense against raiders against their Platform-Cities. They fire large magnetized rails of Steroon, which home into their enemy. Reloading is one of the drawbacks of the Rail Turret. The barrel only allows one 'rail' to be placed into its loading tube at a time. Thus leaving it vulnerable for a period of time.
“Flying Meetles can dodge these Rail Turrets and get enough time to give a good attack to their defenses; however, the Meetles get tired very soon.”
Energy Cannon - The Energy Cannon is a rare weapon, and there is only one that exists, and that is one that is floating above the platform of G'nek. It is their most powerful weapon. It fires a large beam of pure electricity that drains up to five Storm Energy Cells, the ones gathered from the Storm Balloons.
This amount of energy is relative to roughly ten lightning bolts, and so it is very destructive. When fired, the beam is activated for five seconds of pure energy at a target.
“The Energy Cannon is the Hand of Godd! It devastated our greatest fleet of Meetle Warships. That was the day we gave up Tak’la Platform Raiding…”
Rifle - A basic rifle with a scope. But, it uses high velocity rounds, and they're more accurate than even the Geh'krok's assassin weapon!
“Sniping is painful; you watch your fellow seamuds, your Meetle Captain, your First Mate die instantly by the sniping scopes of the Tak’la. My advice, stay behind something when advancing upon Tak’la Platforms.”
Assualt rifle - This is what G'nek Police Department use for a standard platform defence weapon. It's compact, lightweight, and stores up to 50 rounds to a clip. It's medium velocity and has a flashlight attachment.
Peace Keeper Pistol - A very dangerous weapon. It has a high velocity and the rounds are filled with psienyde* gas. It's called the Peace Keeper pistol, because it usually shows someone who's boss, and keeps everything in line. Some refer to it as the ‘PKP’. Upon being shot by the Peace Keeper Pistol, you might survive the bullet. But the psyenyde will quickly seeps into your bloodstream and prevent you to breathe in any way.
“Our Master Healer, a Mud named Besloal Fleechdream, was shot by one of these great weapons. He was perfectly fine for a minute, and started to tend to his wound, but not even he could save himself from the psyenyde that poisoned him. We had to retreat and get a new Master Healer. It was a sad day for the Tribe of Mudonkar…”
Pistol - A normal pistol. Given to those who are sent on missions to other platforms. It looks a little like a luger but has a larger clip size.
Kelr'jo – This is a very fine and sharpened weapon. This is a long pole with a curved blade at the end, and built from steroon. It's light, and was used by the first Tak'la, called the "Iurl-ten" which in Tak'latian means "Angels of the Earth". As they were first living on the ground before they went to the sky.
“The Kelr’jo is very dangerous to any Mud. Stay back, block with thick shields, and watch your ankles. The Tak’la love to swipe at your ankles, usually the only part showing when you shield yourself. We named one of our mates ‘Stumpy’ because his feet were chopped off. Later that week, Stumpy was pushed off the Platform and died because he couldn’t swim.”
Occupations
These occupations are for all factions, not the individual factions. That is why Geh'krok Necromancers and Sien-kar Monks are not included.
Scavenger - These Tak'lanite Scavengers search the sea floor for coral, bones, and rocks in the ocean from which they build their platforms. They use small mini-platforms to go down to the oceanic islands and harvest all they can from it. The Geh'krok harvest the lava rocks from the islands that their Overlord makes.
The Scavengers also gather plants that possess ingredients to make dye that they use in their clothing.
Silkworm Breeder - This job includes taking care of the Silkworm Forests that must be trimmed and examined to ensure maximum silk produce from the silkworms. They must take care of the silk worm, give them food and water, and harvest their silk.
Energy Technician - These are Tak'lanites that find the lightning-gathering balloons and collect the energy that is stored in the cells of the balloons.
Overlord - Geh'krok Official who raises lava from the inside of Oddworld to the few Geh'krok Platforms.
Farmer - These Tak'la are charged with the position of growing the number of carrots and potatoes that the Tak'la civilization eat for food. They work in the open, under the sun, in the fields in the open areas of their Platform cities.
Clothessmith - These Tak'la tailors and armorers make the shoulder pads for the many Tak'la. This is a tedious job, for the shoulder pads must be made exactly right so that psychic energy can be generated.
Robeweaver/Tapestrymaker - These Tak'la make the robes for the many Tak'lanites that need clothing other than shoulder pads. This includes gathering the silk for the Silkworm Breeders and weaving it into complex forms.
Dyer - This job includes making the many dyes that color the Tak'la robes and clothing. The dye is taken from Scavengers and heated up into vats of hot water and turned into colorful dye. Then, the silk must be dipped into it and sit there for many hours before it changes color.
Platform Inspector - This job includes checking the many engines and turbines that let the Platforms hover over Oddworld, and making sure that they don't wear out.
Balloon-Maker - This job includes creating the Storm Balloons that collect power for the platforms.
Weaponsmith - Makes the number of pistols, assault rifles, and blades that the Tak'la need. They use all sorts of material, for coral to steroon.
Government
Hierarchy-Democracy... there is a council upon G'nek that decides on everything for every factions. The factions themselves decide upon things as well, but to a lesser degree. Every year they meet in large meetings, deciding upon new laws and such.
“The most successful attack we’ve ever made was an assassination at a Tak’la meeting. After the assassination, only three of the twelve that went lived to see another raid.”
Religion
The Tak’la have no real unified religion, but there is one popular religion called Tein. The Teins believe that their ancestors were gods, and flew upon the winds of Oddworld on ivory-white wings. They believe that they misused the wings and then lost them and fell down to earth as mortal Tak’la. The Tak’la in this religion pay tribute every eighth day of the week, to their ancestors, and try to become more like them so that they may earn their wings when they die and are sent to The Windy Plane.
---Info on Current Factions---
Sien-kar
This Tak'lanite Faction believe in heavy meditation, freeing their mind and souls from their very bodies. By going through this process each day, they sustain greater brainpower, allowing greater psychic reach and ability.
Geh'krok
Another Faction of the Tak'la that believe in training their people in the art of necromancy. They desire to raise their dead ancestors and create an army to overthrow the head platform, G'nek, and take over Oddworld.
Pelor
The Pelor Faction is teaches its people in the arts of Healing, Peace Making. Their only objective is to forge the Tak'lanite Factions together and become one empire and attempt to unite Oddworld and bring peace and harmony to all.
---Info on Platform Cities---
Although there are many different Platform Cities, they are all part of one community of Platforms, which is called Ref-puil, which in Tak'la means "Cities of the Clouds".
Ten'wa
The Home-Platform of Sien-kar. It is a large and majestic platform, it's temples and monastaries are made from a pearl-white material.
A'kora
The Home-Platform of the Geh'krok. It is large, dark, and over-all gloomy. Canals filled with boiling-hot liquid lava pour down the sides of the Platform. Dungeons and other evil structures make up the rest of this evil platform, a dark shadow over the sea of Oddworld.
Tenie'ko-pa
The Home-Platform of the Pelor. It is a creation of great technology and natural wonders, made up of gardens and tall towers made of Steroon; a welcome addition to the platform community.
---History---
B.I. - Before Industrialization
2000 B.I. - The Tak’la were peaceful surface-dwellers on Oddworld. Then, the Mudokons and Sligs started wars with them, fighting for the Tak’la’s primitive technology and machines. The Tak’la believed as them as the only thing to fight for. So they just had to leave the surface, somewhere else.
1400 B.I. – The Tak’la finally have found a way to survive without war. The First Pilots, Ein-wak, Teom-eku, and Bo’rok set to the sky in small platforms, not even a mile wide. These primitive platforms were weak and low-powered, but it was a start. The Tak’la continue to build platforms and send more of their people to the sky.
1300 B.I. – The Tak’la have undergone a hundred years of Platform-Building, and they have built roughly eighty small, mile-wide platforms. The Tak’la civilization on the surface is dying from war and disease, but there are great leaps in science, and the Tak’la build primitive computer systems, aeromagnetized hovering transmitters, airfoils, and turbines to help keep up the platforms. They are learning to build back-up systems, storm balloons and storm cells, and wider platforms.
They pull the rest of their race up on the eighty platforms and ride away far out to the ocean.
1250 B.I. – The beginning of Formation Begins, and each Tak’la Platform is welded together into large, twenty-five long platforms. Three of these Platforms are made, and they live side-by-side in harmony. The Tak’la begin to grow their crops on the platforms, and build houses and such. Technology blossoms, and peace envelops the Tak’lanite Civilization.
1240 B.I. – A necromantic faction known as the Geh’krok hi-jack a platform for their own. They start mass platform building, and create the very large City-Platform called A’kora. The Factions Founders are named Uir, Iun-twe, and Gehkrok-nal.
1230 B.I. – The Sien-kar Faction is formed, and they form a colony and take a large platform with them. They declare neutral with all other factions, but want to spend time in solitude away from the others, to practice their meditation. The Sien-kar’s Founders were Sienkar-ai, Essi, and Trui.
1210 B.I. – As the Tak’las heal from this breaking of their civilization, many get their own ideas, and four of the greatest Tak’la Scientists build a large platform and leave, taking thousands of followers with them. The Government sees this as a solution to overcrowding, and lets the Pelor go. The Four Great Scientists were named Ril-ou, Iru-pon, Urki, and Tuv-en’rok.
The Era of Building starts.
920 B.I. – The Era of Building ends, the Tak’lanite Civilization is at its height. Then, the Geh’krok wage war with the Pelor. A Holy War of Factions starts. The Sien-kar tries to keep out of it, but the Pelor call upon them for help. The Pelor refuse, but the Geh’krok attack the Pelor as well. G’nek sends out Peace-Keeping Armies, and they slaughter many of all Factions in hopes to stop the war.
The War continues… Geh’krok fights its gigantic undead army and the Pelor wage war their holy warriors of healing and light. The Pelor are unofficially allied with the Sien-kar and the G’nek fight against all of the other Factions.
900 B.I. – The War starts to cool down, more than 60% of the Tak’la population has died. The Cold War begins, and each Faction builds up their forces, getting more weapons, but no fighting starts.
870 B.I. – The War is thought to be over, as it has been thirty years before the last fighting. The Geh’krok attack the Sien-kar, and old armies are used to fight back against them. The Last Slaughtering starts.
865 B.I. – The Factions all agree that they will not fight on their platforms, and war must be waged somewhere else, where innocents can be left alone. The Geh’krok are hostile for a long while, and no one knows if they will attack. Everyone cools down, trading starts once more between the factions, and there is a long era of peace.
680 B.I. – A short, unofficial war starts between G’nek and the Geh’krok. The Geh’krok are defeated, leaving the G’nek armies weak.
670 B.I. – The Geh’krok once more try to attack the Sien-kar, but the Pelor comes in and kills the Geh’krok armies.
430 B.I. – The Mudokon Tribe known as the Mudonkar assaults with a large fleet of Meetles. They take a lot of supplies from the Tak’las. The Tak’la Scientists begin to build more technological weapons.
425 B.I. – A second fleet of the Mudonkar attack, and this time the Tak’la are more prepared, they need something more powerful, though.
420 B.I. – The Tak’la begin the construction of the Energy Cannon, built above G’nek.
415 B.I. – The Mudonkar come with a gigantic fleet of Meetles and Mudokon Warriors, they plan to take over the Platform Cities once and for all. This war lasts for a month; the G’nek Energy Cannon hurries to finish completion. As the Mudonkar call in for reinforcements, they are blasted away by the Energy Cannon. The Mudonkar retreat.
400 B.I. – Small, stealthy supply raids start against the Tak’la. The Tak’la are unused to this guerilla warfare. Few die, but there is a lot of supplies stolen.
390 B.I. – The last of the Rail Turrets are built, and the Tak’la are well defended. The raids continue, more and more unsuccessful each time they attack.
380 B.I. – A deadly virus sweeps over the Tak’lanite Civilization, the plague infects crops as it does Tak’la. Many die, many crops fall and die. The Mudonkar are unaffected, and they steal the little supplies the Tak’las still have.
375 B.I. – A cure is found for the disease, and they develop immunities. The Tak’lanite Civilization rebuilds. There is a long time of peace.
130 B.I. – The Geh’krok awakens old hatred and begins a war against the Pelor. The Geh’krok kill many, but the threat is neutralized, and both factions are left weakened.
120 B.I. – The Geh’krok dismisses the war against the other Factions and goes to war with the Mudonkar. This calms their taste for war, and they are overall more peaceful with the other Factions.
INDUSTRIALIZATION – As the Slig Queen is bought over, and the Glukkons begin their industrialization. Mudokon slaves are taken, but the Tak’la are unaffected.
After Industrialization – Peace continues, and the Tak’la keep to their ways of technology and serene habits.
---Author’s Note---
This is a guide to a Platform Raiders Dos and Don’ts, and an overall guide of the amazing civilization of the Tak’lanites. We fought against them, but I respect their technology and overall peacefulness. Many would think that fighting against the Tak’la is a false cause, but, after the battles we had, we had collected a lot of weapons and Tak’la artifacts. We also gained knowledge, of their society and technology. We also learned to never go against the Tak’la civilization, especially G’nek.
*Steroon – One of the great metals of Oddworld. It is faintly blue, but at a distance it is silver. It is much stronger than any wood or stone that we the Mudonkar possess. We learned how to forge it, by superheating Seroon and rapidly cooling it.
*Seroon – One of the great metals of Oddworld. It can be mixed with many other metals into strong alloys, but one of the easiest and strongest techniques is to turn it into Steroon by superheating it. It can be found in most mountain regions, and there is a good amount of it in Oddworldian Dirt.
*Psienyde – A powerful poisonous solution found in the Sea Mushrooms that grow in the Abyss. When introduced to oxygen, it ‘eats’ the oxygen and turns it into more psienyde! The Tak’la take great care of Psienyde, for if let it lose it could kill many.
-As recorded by Gelonir Flightvoyager and the Veterans of the Mudonkar Raiders.
Dose it hurt? ouch, i bet it dose, becuase...I WIN!
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Design'yer'own'Oddworld Creature
the speak in their own language, a mix of grunts groans, roars, and clicks made with the flab of skin in their mouth.
Extreme Spamming!
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