- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Covenant Society by Zamamee
Many people assume that the Covenant society is purely based on war and to a certain extent they would be right.
The Covenant started with the pact of two races, the Elites and the Prophets. The Prophets had the connections to the Forerunner and as such its technological superiority. But they we're not a war like race and so we're unable to take full advantage of the weaponry technology. Elites on the other hand we're. Therefore the pact was made with each race using the others unique abilities to form an empire. These were the founding castes.
Covenant Engineers might also have been a founder, they have the unique ability to bulid and maintain the covenants technology astoundingly, especially their starships so would have been essential due to thier abilities. Therefore the Engineers we're either a founding caste or one of the first races to be conquered. As the Covenant war machine is growing rapidly, Engineers would have been needed to build and maintain it with their amazing grasp of the technology.
So the Covenant empire expanded, using their technology and their powerful spacefleet the Covenant either wiped out worlds or malgamated alien races into their society. The latter races are slaves almost, having their past ways of life almost completely purged when they entered the Covenant Empire. All useful races we're used for their unique abilities that the Covenant could use for their ever growing war machine. The Grunts for their superior numbers which will beef up their armies and act as expendable cannon fodder. Jackals for their hightened senses, such as smell, sight and hearing making them excellent sentries and scounts. Hunters it is known we're enslaved by spacial bombardment. The Covenant couldn't beat the Hunters on the ground so they bombarded their worlds with Plasma from their superior spacefleet until they surredered and became part of the Covenant. The fact that they are like moving tanks made them useful. No-one knows about the Brutes yet.
Covenant society is very warlike and militaristic, slave races are conscripted at a young age it mentions how Grunts are taken away young from their parents. Elites find honour in the military they can only obtain honour of a full name by providing their services but it doesn't seem complusery for the none slave races.
The Covenant are mainly driven by their fanatical devotion to their religion. The slave races are driven by the religion they have been forced to except also but also by fear from the other Covenant.
Other races still keep some personal customs, ie Hunters honour their bond brother code so long as it fits in with what the Covenant want.
Though Covenant are a warlike culture that isn't to say they are without other privilages. They obviously have religion but they also have art, which is very important to them. In one of their service stations, the Unyeilding Hierophant, they have a grand hall. It has many statues of Covenant war heroes, moving picture images and whats best of all they use the effects of gravity to make unusual effects with water (its hard to explian) to make things of beauty and make planet like environments within the ship to simulate their worlds.
This shows that the Covenant arn't purely militaristic and there is more depth to them than first meets their eye.
The Covenant have a caste system which they must always abide by which goes like this:
High Prophets
Minor Prophets, High ranking Elites
Elites, Brutes, Engineers
Hunters
Jackals*, Grunts
Higher castes have more disregard for the lower castes moreso as it goes down. For example a Hunter will step over and kill a Jackal if it is in its way rather than walk around simply seeing it as a lesser being. They respect Elites because they are above the Hunters despite the fact they conquered the Hunters. Elites think little of everything below them.
* Though by the cast system and in the higher races opinion the grunts and jackals are equal the Jackals see themselves as higher beings than Grunts so will be brutal and creul towards them in order to gain a sense of self superiority.
Due to the Pophets connction to the Religion to which the Covenat fanatically follow they often take advantage of this and use it to gain the unquestioned loyalty of all the other Covenant races without question.