Unathi

Unathi

U. Sapiens

Home System: Uueoa-Esa

Homeworld: Moghes

Language(s): Sinta'Unathi

Political Entitie(s): Izweski Nation / Izweski Hegemony

Overview

The Unathi are a race of tall humanoid reptiles standing from six to seven feet tall on average, with females slightly smaller in stature. They possess a mixture of snake-like and crocodile-like features, resulting in hard and plate-like scales, excluding the ones on the belly, armpits and groin. Unathi live in their home system of Uueoa-Esa with their homeworld being Moghes. The planet's history can be summarized as being divided up between various hegemonies; names they give the most powerful Clans on Moghes throughout time. The Clan system is deeply entrenched in Unathi society, with everything else revolving around it. It forms a major part of their code of honour, which stresses the importance of martial abilities and loyalty to the Clan.

Life outside the Untouched Lands remains harsh, with limited or nonexistent Nanotrasen presence.

The Unathi code of honor also has them frown on ranged weapons, with many Unathi preferring melee combat.

After the Contact War, many Unathi which fled the planet through Nanotrasen-built shuttle ports slipped through the cracks and became slavers and raiders, gaining fearsome reputations.

Many Unathi in Nanotrasen find themselves working in security and engineering roles, but recently many have been proving themselves as competent surgeons and brilliant scientists, earning opportunities unheard of on Moghes.

To apply to be Unathi, apply here.

More information: Moghes Ourea Notable Unathi Contact War

Mechanics

• Unathi have slightly improved heat resistance, but increased sensitivity to cold.
• Unathi have improved unarmed melee attacks, which slash and have the possibility of knocking someone down.
• Unathi can devour monkeys, mice, spiders, carp, and other small mobs by clicking and dragging from the mob to themselves. The animal must hold still for it to work.
• Unathi hiss when speaking Tau Ceti Basic. You achieve this by typing multiple s's during speech. This can also be pronounced through x's if their accent is thick. "Thiss iss an exssample."
• Unathi have drastically reduced tolerance to alcohol.
• Unathi can safely eat carp and consume carpotoxin.
• Unathi can safely devour spiders and space bears.
• Unathi have the fastest sprint available to any species, but they have low stamina, meaning they can only sprint in short bursts.

Biology

Their average life expectancy is around sixty years for most Unathi. However, they tend to live for seventy or eighty years when given advanced medical care available to the other space-faring species. As a cold-blooded species, they suffer fatigue and even short comas when exposed to extremely low temperatures.

Since they are carnivorous species, their diet mostly consists of meat, though they do have a tolerance to some plants and fruits. However, they do not get any nutrition from plants, so they are mostly used as garnish or decoration.

The reproductive system of a Unathi is very similar to that of Earth reptiles. Females lay eggs, with the average clutch being somewhere between one and three. They have an six month gestation period, after which they are laid in a humid, warm area. After two months, the fetus is fully developed and hatches from the egg. Unathi are born with their claws and ability to walk within hours of hatching. A Unathi is considered an adult when they are 18 years old.

Biologically the Unathi of Moghes and Ouere are identical.

Physical Appearance

The Unathi as a species are born into one of four major scale color categories Red, Black, Orange-brown ("sand colored") and Green. Alternative colours are rare, with dark blue and even albino Unathi being reported in very small numbers. Traditionally these off-colored Unathi are met with prejudice, though some clans outside the Izweski may feel different. The typical healthy adult male Unathi weighs roughly 260 pounds.

The females differ from the males in that they generally have a shorter and more rounded snout. The typical healthy Unathi female weighs roughly 200 pounds.

Both sexes stand on plantigrade legs, jointed backwards, and have clawed feet and hands. They also have very long tongues, which may stretch up to a foot and a half long, forked just like a serpent's. In much the same manner as snakes, the Unathi can sample the air around them using their tongue. This tongue is usually black or an extremely dark red, and usually a foot in length.

Body dimorphism in Unathi.

Social

Social Mannerisms

When speaking to superiors, it is considered formal and respectful to refer to them by the extended name of their command. A clan leader would be referred to by the name of their clan, a squad leader by the name of their squad. Intimate gestures between Unathi include twining necks, twining tails, and touching foreheads/muzzles. Hugging is usually considered something done by children, avoided by adults.

Baring the throat is the single most meaningful expression of trust in a lover or superior, often used as shows of extreme trust, compassion or admittance of shame, and within honorable contexts, clawing or biting the exposed throat is perfectly allowed.

Relationships for Unathi are, suffice to say, not one of equality, but responsibility. Males who request and admit attraction to a female will go to the male who is responsible for their well-being and tell them this, usually boasting or offering tributes to the female's caretaker as well. Trying to ignore the ritual of arranged marriage is a great insult to the female's clan, and at worst could lead to a blood feud and/or war. Divorces are also only possible by the male, with the female given no legal rights or ability to inherit property. However abusing or divorcing your wife is insulting to the female's family and clan and can lead to dangerous feuds.

Emotional Displays

Unathi feel emotions just like humans feel, but with different cues. Irritation or heightened emotion is expressed by thumping the tail against the ground. Verbal exclamations are also common, as are short barks, rattling of the throat, or 'chuffing' (forceful exhalations of air from low in the throat). Anxious or worried Unathi might sway (similar to snakes), rattle the heavy scaling on their neck, hiss, or sample air more often than necessary. When cold, Unathi will usually bristle their scales in a manner analogous to human goosebumps. When overly warm, Unathi usually become sluggish and drowsy.

Language

While Pre-Contact Moghes had hundreds of unique languages and their own histories, Sinta'Unathi has been and remains the primary language spoken by most Unathi. It is an evolution of an older Moghean trade language, Sinta'Izwe. Individual languages are described by the prefix 'Sinta' followed by the identity of its native speakers.

Speaking mannerisms remain the same when speaking Sinta'Unathi or another language, but for a stylistic choice, avoid contractions like it's and they're, which would be it is and they are.

The written language has 30 letters, with 5 of them being vowels. The language is written left to right, though this was an attempt to emulate humanity, as informal Sinta'Unathi still write top to bottom.

History of Sinta

Modern Sinta began in the 1990's as the primary language of the Izweski Nation, and spread across the globe for merchants seeking to do business in foreign Kingdoms. It became the main language of global trade, and eventually began to trickle its way upwards to become the primary language of the upper classes. By the late 2100's the Izweski Hegemony passed several laws attempting to increase imperial nationalism in its extremely diverse population. All Hegemonic citizens were required to be fluent in the language, and speaking foreign languages in public carried threats of imprisonment. Imperial authorities also carried out mass-kidnappings of ethnic Unathi, raising the young in boarding schools that instilled in them proper Hegemony values and Sinta'Unathi language lessons. Children were often beaten if they were discovered speaking their native language.

The earliest forms of Sinta writing come in the form of hieroglyphs that scribes literally scratched onto wooden tablets with their talons, with the earliest dated around 600 CE. These early tablets were predominately inventory records, consisting of nouns and tally marks. As society grew more interconnected and complex, scribes and impatient merchants decided they had better things to do than spend hours making thousands of tally marks, so writing continued to evolve until taking their modern form.

One of the first things to go was literally scratching wooden tablets, with scribes eventually dipping their talons into pulped Peizi Berries, which left stubborn, persistent stains on almost anything it touched. This meant scribes or writers could be identified by having stained talons; a trend that became more style than practical after the printing press came into use. But even in modern times, Unathi that want to appear intellectual often paint their talons. However this has become embarrassing for Unathi as humans view it as girly, so it's become an embarrassing faux pas to be caught with stained or painted talons, leading to skyrocketing sales of pens across Unathi space.

Culture

Moghean

Moghean Unathi are traditional Unathi, with the planet being their homewold. Historically culture varies across Clans which exist on the planet, but some customs and norms arch over nearly all Unathi universally.

It is a social faux-pas to use a Unathi's first name if not family or extremely close to the Unathi in question. Generally a Unathi will tell someone when they feel comfortable with the person using their first name. It is also distressing to Unathi to touch their tail, or to touch them at all before introductions are undertaken.

Unathi place great emphasis on oral traditions. Most festivals and ceremonies, and even formal Unathi education focuses on oral history and practices. The unathi system of writing developed around 983 CE, originally intended to keep track of soldiers and weapons, giving it a very simple alphabet. The modern day unathi alphabet has 34 letters. Writing and reading are seen as men's work, with most Unathi women discouraged or even banned from learning.

Outside the formal schools of the Untouched Lands, village and town shamans often remain the only source of education for many young unathi.

A map of Moghes, with cities and the Wasteland labelled.

Ouerean

While the Unathi of Ouere follow most of the same social beliefs as their Moghean counterparts, they tend to be less volatile towards outsiders who are ignorant of their customs, especially since their world was formerly ruled by the Skrell and Humanity. The culture of humanity and Skrell have managed to influence Ouerean Unathi, embedding different cultural norms. There is a focus on an Unathi’s ability to benefit the group, with most Unathi being given the same chance as anyone else. There is still a struggle with a highly stratified society, but things are much more liberal than on Moghes.

A map of Ouere, with cities and major locations labelled.

Many of the original colonists started as patriots to the Izweski Hegemony, but many soon found themselves disillusioned with the distant home world tearing itself apart in war. Many of them became enamored with human and Skrell culture and ideals of democracy, equality, and liberalism; finding themselves resentful of their old lives on Moghes. Reintegration into the Hegemony has proved difficult as both planets try to reconcile these cultural differences.

Ourean art, in contrast to Moghean pottery and dyed fabrics, has taken on inspiration from human and Skrell art. Many Ourean Unathi have become renowned glass makers and craftsmen. The greater access to human and skrell universities - many of which still operate on the planet - also give Ourean Unathi greater chances to specialize with human and Skrell systems.

Women

Women are very much a subjugated underclass in traditional Unathi society. The legal differences between Unathi women and "property" is vague. They are discouraged from reading or writing, can't join the military, and are expected to cook and clean the household while looking over the children of the clan. They legally cannot divorce from their husbands, and their marriages are often arranged by the male elders of their clan. They're political tools used to create alliances between Clans.

Women still do hold power in some ways. When married, their former clan can lose a lot of face or honor if she's mistreated or divorced. Entire wars have broken out over divorces or accusations that the husband is mistreating the female. Unathi women are also in charge of the education of Unathi children until they're 5 years old, when they go to formal schools. Outside the Izweski Hegemony on Moghes, women are often tasked with the education of their children until adulthood, aided only by the local shaman's teachings.

Religion

While various faiths exist on Moghes, many of which are as old as any other, there are two major religions of the Unathi that pervade in nearly every aspect of their lives. Th'akh and Sk'akh, both of which predominately focus on ancestor worship and connections with the spirit world. More information can be found here.

Politics

Moghes is divided between the Izweski Nation, which exists in the Untouched Lands, and the hundreds of other Clans and nations who claim their own land across the planet's surface. The only real difference in their political systems is the scale. Many of these other clans are modern nations or pre-industrial, ruled by various kings or leaders. However with the expansion of the uninhabitable Wasteland and the brutal decimation Izweski forces committed on foreign leadership many institutions of Non-Hegemony government across Moghes are rare or extremely fragile.

The flag of the Izweski Hegemony.

Izweski Nation

Izweski is lead by Clan Leader S’kresti Izweski, a 56 year old Unathi who ruled the country since he was 38 after his father Kitaskis Izweski, the previous Hegemon, died from liver failure at 61. He lives in the Izweski Citadel in Skalamar, and under him are the Lords who rule their own subjugated clans. They live in a feudal system, with the Lords usually being clan leaders or important clan members themselves who pledge themselves to Izweski in exchange for land and protection.

The Hegemon is the Emperor, and under him are the Overlords, who are the Kings. Under the Overlords are the Lords, who are then broken up between the Clan Lords, and then the Clan Leaders. Clan Leaders are a mostly ceremonial title and make up (usually) the eldest male ruler of a specific family clan.

File:IzweskiFamily.png

The immediate members of the Royal Family.

After the death of his eldest son in a shuttle crash the Hegemony fell into a deep depression to the point of becoming comatose. In his place S'linzar Ickza, his eldest son in law, declared himself regent and heir to the empire. After a brief succesion crisis, Not'Zar Izweski, the second eldest son, took his place as the Regent and heir. Despite his severe physical handicap forcing him to walk with a cane, and the resulting assumption from the upper nobility that he is weak and incapable of ruling, Not'Zar Izweski has proven a shrewd diplomat, with many powerful allies within the government that keep his position tenuously secure.

Overlords rule an entire planet in the name of the Hegemon. Currently there is only one Overlord, who rules Ouerea.

There are two different kind of major lifestyles In Izweski. There is the city, which is ran by a Lord and a small council of lesser clans. City life is less harsh than life in the country, especially with opportunities provided with shuttle services to the rest of the galaxy.

The Izweski Hegemony is based on vassal obligations to their liege lord.

Life in the rural areas is harsher, with cities being rare and life mostly determined by the size of a Clan's village and how well they can hunt, fish, or in desperate times, raid their neighbors. It's the traditional Unathi life, made harsher by the growing Wasteland encroaching on once fertile lands.

Ouerean

The Ouerean Government used to made up of a Colonial Government with a human Governor and Skrellian advisors and mayors. Since the Hegemony regained control of the planet, it is overseen by an Overlord, who is currently Tarkart Yiztek. The native Ourean unathi elders have created an administrative council to help rule under the Overlord, and there is an attempt to blend the law codes of the former Colonial rulers and ancient code of honour of the Moghean Unathi.

The planet is struggling economically as it deals with reintegration into the Hegemony as well as a growing refugee crisis. The Izweski on Moghes have been attempting to ship as many refugees from the Wasteland to Ourea as possible, causing the population to skyrocket. Many Ourean cities, modern and comparable to large cities in the 22nd century Earth, are now suffering with an explosive growth of slums.

Many humans still reside on Ourea, and the planet is much more mixed than Moghes. There is also difficulty in integrating the previous republican planet into the Unathi system of vassalage and appointment - many Representatives and mayors lost their positions.

History Overview

More in-depth information on the history of the Unathi can be found on their history section.

The history of the Unathi is predominately a history of each Hegemony that has existed throughout their history. There have only been three clans that have managed to create an empire worthy of the title Hegemony.

The Kres’ha’nor Hegemony lasted from roughly 920 CE - 1500 CE. It is most famous for being the first empire to dominate Moghes and creating what was then a modern feudal state. Their empire saw rise of walled cities, steel weapons, centralized taxation, and other innovations. It ended in a brutal succession war, with Moghes once again being shattered into hundreds of individual Kingdoms with no true global power.

In the 16th century the power of Guilds began to grow, forming an early form of capitalism. Guilds formed for bakers, butchers, grocers, millers, smiths, carpenters, weavers, mason, shoemakers, in fact, nearly every trade had its own guild. Standards such as just weights and measures evolved from the guilds, and guild inspectors would inspect shops to ensure rules were being followed. Guilds would help members that were sick, or in trouble, and would sometimes take care of families after the member died. This time also saw Guilds building the first major universities. While incredibly exclusive, these universities began to create a new era of specialized labor and intellectuals.

The 19th century saw rise of the Second Hegemony, ruled by the Sarakas Clan. Their clan ruled harshly, and forced technological advances into the cities and towns. In the 1930's they ruthlessly modernized their empire in The Great Endevour, spreading electricity, radio, paved roads, modern plumbing, and other modern innovations.

In 1994 the Izweski Clan violently deposed the Sarakas and slaughtered the entire surviving dynasty, declaring the Third Hegemony. After they won an incredibly destructive global war to defend their claim, the Izweski have ruled Moghes until modern times.

The Contact War, which has more information here, was a cataclysmic global war that lasted from 2437 to 2449. The fighting was between two global powers, the Izweski Hegemony, and the Traditionalist Coalition. The war was fought over the very future of the Unathi and their relationship with the rest of the galaxy. The Izweski demanded Moghes submit to a one world government ran by themselves and embrace the influence of humanity. The Traditionalist Coalition rejected this. The war went nuclear on September 5th, 2439, causing immense suffering across Moghes and directly leading to the creation of The Wasteland, which is set to engulf Moghes within a hundred years.

Notable Information

‘Guwandi’

In the event that a Unathi becomes mortally ill, or finds themselves lacking the pride or honor to continue to live, or simply become tired of their existence undergo a ritualistic suicide and take the title of 'Guwandi' (which is translated to Gladiator/Galdium). They will give up their possessions to their clan leader and make their journey into the Moghes desert. The only things they keep are their weapons which they use to fight animals or other Unathi so that they may die in honorable combat. In the event that two of these Guwandi meet, they will first draw their weapons and adopt a passive stance, which is followed by them telling each other their stories in turn, as well as the reasons behind their choice of adopting the mantle of 'Guwandi' and how they wish their remains to be dealt with. When both sides understand the other, combat will begin with a mutual wish of luck that the more worthy of death lose with pride. The winner of the battle is responsible for taking care of the corpse in the way they were instructed to. Renouncing the deathseeking life of Guwandi isn't easy. Some may wish to return after having been granted a second outlook, or hope, after they had spent time wandering and risking their life. Their clan may see their decision as cowardly and refuse to accept them, or be overjoyed they had learned a lesson in their time.

The Guwan

In some cases when a Unathi is exiled from their clan, they do not take up the formal title of Guwandi. This can be through fear of death, unwillingness, or simple stubbornness. In this case, they are marked as 'Guwan' by their clan leader, and must take this as their last name. It is a variation on Guwandi, which is translated directly as 'exile'. Guwans are clanless Unathi, and form an underclass. Guwans find it difficult if not impossible to advance socially or politically, and in many cases are oppressed or mistreated by other Unathi who view them as troublemakers or criminals. The only way of returning to a clan after banishment as a Guwan is to be adopted back into the Clan, which happens very rarely.

Many Guwan have been forced off of Moghes by their clans with the growing ease of space travel, and Nanotrasen has a long history of exploiting this subgroup of Unathi, coercing them into employment contracts.

Notably, Guwan are the only social class of Unathi allowed to serve in the personal guard of the Hegemon and his family. The strategy relies on the fact that the guwan of the Guwan Guard are despised and envied by decorated officers that would otherwise serve in traditional guard duties. They are socially isolated and unable to advance politically, which means that their survival depends on the safety of the Hegemon and his family, which means that they wouldn't try to launch a coup or replace the Hegemon without themselves being slaughtered. Similar to an old-Terran Janissary, they're a slave soldier, and unable to have children or hold any sort of political or military position.

Military and Battle Honour

Most battles are fought by infantry, as mounted units are something uncommon in modern times due to the growing use of ranged weapons in combat. When War Riders do show up, they function like human knights, using their mount to run into the enemy formation and swipe at heads or necks. They fight with war glaives and laser pistols, riding their massive, armored Warmount beasts. Threshbeasts are smaller, 'salamander' like creatures also ridden into battle, which are lighter and thinner but are much faster than the cumbersome Warmounts.

The Unathi have also created and field Breacher Suits, which are heavily armored EVA suits that let a single unathi function as a walking armored tank on both terrestrial surfaces and in space.

While modern ranged weapons has been becoming more standard in the Izweski Nation, the vast majority of Unathi shun them and consider them dishonorable. Melee weapons and claws are the most important tools of battle to the vast majority of Unathi. They take extreme pride in their weapons, and there is honor of killing someone in hand to hand combat that many Unathi consider completely absent in human warfare.

This even extends to space warfare. Despite being the youngest spacefaring species, their unpredictable and borderline suicidal tactics often take their opponents by surprise. Unathi combat vessels tend to be heavily armored at the front, with huge plasteel spears mounted on the front. The typical strategy is to turn engines to maximum power and bluespace incredibly close to a target vessel to "ram" it - often getting as close as 500 feet. Many ships can be split entirely in half by the ramming of the heavier Unathi vessels.

With breacher suits modified to be functional in the vacuum of space, marines jettison from the unathi ship and attach themselves to the target vessel, breaching it with plasma cutters and boarding the ship with energy weapons.

The strategy is devastating when used effectively - very few ships can withstand a Unathi boarding action because few Captains or Admirals expect such outlandish tactics to be executed with such zeal. Unfortunately for the Unathi, their tactic relies on the element of surprise or disbelief from their victim. A seasoned captain or admiral can easily counter unathi ramming actions.

With honor, dishonor is an actual criminal crime. It's illegal to mistreat the helpless, infirm, or any prisoners taken by a soldier. The mindset is that there is nothing to prove in abusing someone at your mercy, which just becomes sadism and can stain the honor of the offender's clan. Unfortunately the behavior of Unathi Raiders and slavers in the frontier have given most people the perception that even the military of the Izweski participates in abuse or slaughter, a stereotype that the Hegemon military is growing increasingly sensitive of.

Diet and Cuisine

Unathi dishes are mostly, or all made up of meat, eggs, and fish, as they are a carnivorous species. It may be cooked, or even still raw and bleeding. Vegetables in meals are often just for decoration or flavor, but by no means ever make up the majority of the dish. Unathi do not take any nutritional value from plant matter, only from meat. Desert flowers may also be placed on the plate to make it seem well presented, and are also edible. The tools Unathi use to eat are very unorthodox to humans.

Important meals like dinner and breakfast are meant to be consumed while surrounded by family, and as such there are no designated utensils. Food will be cut and picked up in strips or portions with their claws. Females are expected to do the cooking.

To support their civilization, fishing has developed on a scale similar to human agriculture. Since the War, fishing yields have fallen, and hunger has become a fact of life for many Unathi.