Species/Dnin-Nepids

The Dnin-Nepids are a nomadic species hailing from beyond the outskirts of civilized space. Often called 'Moths' due to their superficial resemblence to the Terran insect, they travel the stars in fleets of ark-ships following the destruction of their homeworld. As natural innovators and engineers, the Nepids thrive in the fringes of space, propagating using resources from the vast asteroid fields within stellar systems.

As a relative newcomer to the galactic community, most spacers have only heard of them in passing. Early tensions arising from communication barriers and differing cultures have gradually eroded into a cautious understanding between them and their closest 'neighbors' in the Galactic Frontier. While more conservative groups still dismiss them offhandedly, many enterprising factions have begun to hire Nepid travelers and migrants as a reliable source of innovation.

OOC

Mechanics

Benefits:

• Heightened senses across the board, modulated depending on adaptation.
  • Light-Adapted -> sharper, longer-distance senses; relies on light/open areas.
  • Dark-Adapted -> short-range, spatially-adaptive senses.
• Environmental adaptivity.
• Enhanced compatibility with augmentations and genemodding.

Drawbacks:

• More frail - direct combat is not advisable.
• Less hardy against certain poisons and diseases.

Roleplay

• Entirely alien; not co-evolved from other species.
• Low galactic integration; interactions often foreign in both directions for new migrants. First major contact in 2490-2500+, though they've existed for longer. You are likely first, or perhaps second generation if you reside in Orion space permanently.
• This species is not whitelist-level in terms of obligations / restrictions, and is highly flexible to character concepts.
• This species tends to be skittish and the opposite of bloodthirsty and brutish. Where you lack sheer brawn, you gain in agility, dexterity, and adaptivity. Fight smarter, not harder.
• Somewhat light-hearted, with light gremlinry; won't form roving gangs, but probably will play a prank every once in a while.
• Superstitious. Religions around stars and ships are common amongst the religious, though less common nowadays.
• Majority are born in space and fit naturally into space, though nothing stops them from adapting to a planet.

Identity

The Dnin-Nepids are an inherently matriarchal society. The majority of them stick fast to traditional practices; While the more unwieldly tendencies have practically evaporated in the advent of technological progress, many traits of their culture have been adapted throughout their developments, rather than cycled out over time.

Names

The Dnin-Nepids is a matriarchal society, with family names often passed through maternal lineages.

• Their names were inherited ancestrally from the two disjunct halves of the planet, prior to mass communications assisting to mix the cultural divide across the equator.

• • OOC information: Two separate sets of lexicons were chosen by popular demand.
    • Light-Adapts: Sumerian, Egyptian
    • Dark-Adapts: Finnish, Icelandic
  • Other languages near those regions are also acceptable. We wish to be relatively lax with names.
  • It also makes sense for you to be vice-versa of your adaptation, given the Nepids have had centuries of intermixing both on planet and in space.

• Traditionally, a clan-name denoted origins, rarely changed throughout life other than when one fully emigrates. Obviously impractical to continue after such primitive groupings gave way to city-states, much less after their ascent to the stars, it is now far more common to have a phrase denoting where you are from.
• Immigrants sometimes change their name to something more easily used in common galactic tongues. Those born outside of the ships of the fleet may entirely forego having their 'long' names.
• Many Nepids consider it insulting to adopt origin-phrases for foreign constructs. You would likely be laughed out of town if you claimed to be of a megacorporation's ship or station - something akin to a generational ship or flying settlement would be far more acceptable.

Role

Here is an example list of professions translated to the name component:

Profession	Title
Mender	Azu
Engineer	Guda
Caretaker	Azu
Protector	Erin
Scholar	Ummi
Gatherer	Dulum
Leader	Namesda
Explorer	Dal
Drifter	Giris
Navigator	Sal

tl;dr: Name language translation of a role, or something similar to that role (ergo 'Healer', 'Mender', 'Caretaker' are all very similar).

Pattern [Firstname] [Role], [x]-born of [Family], from [Place]

Examples Some examples of formal names include:

• Eila Azu –> Eila Azu, Thirdborn of Hakamies, from the Spirit of Stars

Abbreviation Given how long names are a mouthful and are usually annoying to pronounce - in native language, let alone when translated to languages like Common, full name-phrases are usually only used during first-greetings and during formalities. It is common to address aonther by the closest word to their profession followed by their first name.

• OOC: In-game, use either: 1. 'Eila Azu', via [Firstname] [Occupation], or 2. 'Eila Hakamies', via [Firstname] [Family], for your character's name

Luinimma

The primary language of the Dnin-Nepids, Luinimma is a fast vocalization constituted of what can be best described as a series of chitters, with intersparsed clicks and chirps. It is often very hard for foreigners to understand, let alone vocalize - the nature stemming from some specific phonemes that are nearly impossible to vocalize without the right biology.

The other way around is not quite so debilitating, however. Dnin-Nepids often suffer from some tics in their vocalizations when first learning to speak other languages, but are otherwise perfectly able to - with a good few years of practice.

It is not unheard of for Dnin-Nepids that are a hybrid of another species to lose the vocal functions required to speak their language to a native's degree. While augmentations to supplement such deficiencies do exist, such individuals are often looked down upon by more traditional purists. Outside of the most high quality vocal synthesizers, they tended to sound a bit off, much like the voice of an advanced drone with a neural processor as opposed to a full synthetic with a positronic core.

Distinct from some other languages like Sol Common, it is not a combined amalgamation of regional, precursor languages - while sentence structures, fragments, words, and even phenomes have drifted over time, the overall vocalization patterns remain remarkably consistent across the Fleet.

Physicality

The Dnin-Nepids derive many of their physical characteristics from the uniqueness of their environment. The highly polar nature of their former planet, Luanno, coupled with the contrast of its nearly Gaia-like environment, resulted in the evolution of adaptivity without the usual complement of aggression.

Dnin-Nepids look physically insectoid, with pure-bloods having many traits associated with Terran moths:

• Their bodies are slim and lightweight, with efficient bones and musculature.
• Heights differ by specimen, with reported heights being from a miniscule 120cm (4'0") to a whopping 203cm (6'8"). Most tend towards the midway, being on average almost on-par if not slightly shorter than Humans.
• Their bodies are covered with a variable layer of fuzz, with the areas around and below their necks having the most - this trait being the most responsible for their 'moth' appearance if excluding their wings.
• Purebloods often do not have long hair - if they have 'hair' at all. A light layer of fuzz instead of hair is far more commonplace.
• They have two antennae on their heads; they're very useful for sensing wind motion, and some can even move them on demand. While relatively fragile, they can naturally regrow them over a week or two.
• They are still mammallian despite their looks, with the capability of maintaining their body temperature. Their wings are very helpful in this regard in terms of heat dissipation, though they can manage without them.
• Their hands and feet are mostly humanoid, and are quite nimble - though they tend to have subtly talon-like extensions rather than the thin, soft fingernails of Humans.

Dnin-Nepids are one of the only naturally flying species - though more in theory than practice. Their wings allow them efficient flight in environments similar to their late homeworld. In modern times, however, confined to the cramped spaces of voidcraft, Dnin-Nepids often hide their wings behind heavy, protective cloaks. The more cynical view it as a permanent reminder of what they lost; void-born Dnin-Nepids never quite develop the instincts required for flight, and often need to acclimate for months, or even years to learn to fly again.

Adaptations

The polar nature of Luanno have branched the Dnin-Nepids into two distinct, and rather vivid sets of phenotypes. While 'hybrids' and all sorts of mutations typical of such a split do exist, most Dnin-Nepids tend towards being adapted for the side of the planet they're on. This often results in formations of features like:

• Coloration: Dnin-Nepids often develop lighter or darker features based on which side of the planet they're on. This is likely both for camoufladge, as well as for thermodynamics.
• Attraction: Dnin-Nepids are naturally curious towards the opposite color scheme; light-adapted Dnin-Nepids tend to favor natural shade, and dark-adapted Dnin-Nepids are sensitive to light.
• Senses: Dark-adapted Dnin-Nepids have good night vision and spatial awareness, while light-adapted ones have sharper vision and endurance, even in direct sunlight.
• Wings: Light-adapted Dnin-Nepids often have colorful, complicated wing patterns, while their dark-adapted brethren tend towards simpler ones.

Trivia

• A Dnin-Nepid's wings are surprisingly dexterous, sporting a calcium-based lattice underneath the top layer of thin, protective hair. It is theorized that this helps mitigate the constant shock experienced by their wings when carrying the weight of a full mammal.
• Dnin-Nepids have a highly varied metabolism - consuming very little energy when in perfect conditions, and eating a lot when forced to undertake constant, strenuous activity, to endure difficult temperature differentials, or when allowed to fly.
• Adaptations towards light and dark environments are not just a genetic factor; while it is usually the deciding component, it is not uncommon for one to differentiate their colorations and adaptations after birth based on what environment they were raised in. In some rare and extreme cases, one can even partially shift colorations later in life.
• While very rare, dark-adapted Dnin-Nepids sometimes have softly reflective patterns on their wings and eyes, sort of like Terran cats; Even rarer still, some outright have a mild bioluminescence to various parts of their body.

Locality

AST-2197 / Tapio

The stellar origin of the Dnin-Nepids, AST-2197 consists of 5 planets orbiting a pair of binary, class-G stars - Tapio (AST-2197-A), and its slightly smaller partner, Tellervo (AST-2197-B). A wide, yet sparse ring of asteroids divides the system past the fourth planet. In modern times, the system sees much traffic - usually from archeologists of the selfsame species that once inhabited it, as well as from some sparse mining operations.

The usual penchant of Dnin-Nepids to live on a dagger's edge seemed to be inherited from this very system; Given the eccentricity of AST-2197-A and AST-2197-B's orbits, most of the planets in the system are either dark, lifeless (and resource-rich) rocks, or planets with scorching atmospheres. Only Luanno escaped this fate, being placed within the narrow habitable zone of AST-2197.

Planets

• AST-2197-1 - Aarnival: A scorched world. With a non-existant atmosphere, the surface had long been sterilized by the brutality of AST-2197's binary stars. Regardless, this world was a crucial stepping stone - providing a wealth of resources. Minerals are extracted by drone and accelerated into the many orbital shipyards.
• AST-2197-2 - Luonno: The only planet that natively supported sapient life. Earth-like composition, with elevated amounts of noble gasses in the atmosphere and slightly lowered gravity. Tidally locked, with a narrow "habitable" band of the planet separating the day and night sides.
• AST-2197-3 - Vedenemo: A frozen world. There is much debate as to if this planet could have once supported life under the frozen rivers. What's for certain is its crucial role as the staging point for early colonization - its status as a midpoint between Luanno and Ilmarinen, as well as the asteroids beyond, allowed for it to become a transportation hub. The brutal conditions furthermore provided a workable data-point for the development of proper deepspace habitation.
• AST-2197-4 - Ilmarinen: The shield of the system. A gigantic world made out of dense, hot gases - no doubt having spared many inner planets from a battering with its immense gravitational well, and near-perfect circular orbit. In the modern day, it provides much in the ways of exotic gases and research opportunities for the Nepids.
• AST-2197-5 - Vipunen: A barren tomb. Too far for light to reach, it has naught much more than gigantic craters from the days of AST-2197's formation. Many an observational outpost dot the landscape in modern times; Kept lit by ship drives converted for planetary operation, they stand forever vigil as the oldest watch of their ancestral home. Copies of the Nepids' technological repositories also sit within these outposts as insurance.

Luanno

Luanno was the 'worldly' home of the Nepids before its unfortunate fate. A tidally-locked world, it has the uncharacteristic history of having been able to support nominal life on both its day and night halves.

• Luanno is below-average in gravity, and above-average in atmospheric density. This made it quite easy to fly in.
• Luanno has 5 moons of varying sizes in its orbit - with one barely able to be considered a moon. This helped light up the 'night' sky on its dark half, influencing the development and adaptation of light-sensitive life.
• A myriad of wind and water currents kept Luanno relatively inhabitable during its heyday. While temperatures still differed greatly from the sunlit hemisphere to the one with eternal night, they were still quite survivable by most lifeforms evolving on it - including the Dnin-Nepids.
• Luanno is deceptively peaceful; It had evolutionary pressure. The Dnin-Nepids were one of the only species that thrived on both the day and night sides - mostly due to the advent of civilization and technology. Those adapted to the opposite half would be well learned to not stray out of the protection of society - or a guide - as while rare, larger predators did exist in the wild.
  • Biodiversity was high. Vibrant colors reigned supreme on the sun-bathed side, and bioluminescent flora and fauna were common on the moon-lit counterpart. The massive networks of rivers, lakes, oceans, and air currents made travel trivial, and relatively frequent irrigation kept most of the land habitable. The planet was, all in all, easily akin to a Gaia world when viewed from afar.
• Given all of these axioms of physical circumstance, Luanno was constantly at a razer's edge - a global disruption in climate could easily turn its precarious balance into a permanent ice-scape on one side, and a scorching wasteland on the other.
  • The Dnin-Nepids were well aware of this - from the first achievements in science came some close calls, and the harsh realization that uncontrolled industrialization may very well result in their extinction.

The events of the Exodus saw the Nepids' worst nightmares come true - Luanno in modern history is little more than a tidally locked hellscape. Most of the flora and fauna surviving the catastrophe remain limited to the narrow band of relatively habitable land between the two halves - wracked by frequent storms and extreme weather.

Luanno nonetheless, does retain a number of autonomous and manned stations - research shuttles frequently ferry heavily shielded scientists to the ground to collect samples or run experiments on what is left of their homeworld. Modern technology does allow for the settlement of the extremes of the hemispheres, but there is little desire, let alone reason to do so.

Fleet

Part of the success of the Dnin-Nepids can easily be attributed to their rather unique habitation methodology. Rather than colonize planets - which they are not yet well equipped to do - the Dnin-Nepids instead invested all their resources after the Exodus into thriving in the void of space.

• The vast majority of Nepids live on a variety of ships. Ships vary vastly in size, design, and purpose - though in general, most of them are able to fulfill much of the duties of deep-space exploration and salvage.
  • All ships tend to have the capability, and manpower, to perform salvage and construction tasks - this is the sole reason that the Nepids were able to get this far.
  • Ships often contain quite the number of amenities - anywhere from massive, climate-controlled holodecks, to fully artificial biospheres on the most extravagant of flagships. This is, of-course, limited by space - ships dedicated to scouting or the pursuit of technology and advancement are far less able to dedicate such space to luxuries.
  • Given the crucial task of resource acquisition to those who are indefinitely space-bound, almost all ships have a variable contigent of small excursion craft, used to scout surrounding space, as well as retrieval of resources - like towing especially rich asteroids close enough for efficient excavation.
• Fleet-groups of ships are often formed - usually with prior agreements. These are, however, not necessarily designed to have ship compositions you would expect - it is very much valid to have a fleet-group consisting of multiple research vessels that are barely connected, much like it would be to have a massive flagship travelling with an escort of smaller scouting vessels.
• Lacking the amenities provided by dedicated orbital shipyards, new ark-ships are often constructed within asteroid belts, or, more rarely, in the orbit of a planet near such an asteroid belt - serviced by hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers and architects coming together.
  • Ships are often created to provide room on an expanding fleet, or in rarer cases, commissioned for a specific purpose, like exploration or servicing of a group of systems.

While scattered, the vast majority of Dnin-Nepids still occupy the same general areas of space - with many fleet-groups and ships within just a few days of superluminal travel from each other. The Wayfarer's Network - a massive network of subspace ansibles connecting the different ships, and fleets together - provides society with some semblence of normalcy compared to their planetary counterparts.

Society

Hierarchy

The hierarchy of organization and authority depends greatly depending on the fleet and ship one is on. Prior to the Exodus, Nepid societies had an organization best described as 'loosely city-state-like representative democracies'. After the discovery of the inbound cataclysm, this quickly shifted closer towards a meritocracy, given the relatively short timeframe the Nepids were given to escape their doomed planet.

Now with the additional overhead of space travel and the cultural fracturing caused by light-years of separation, governance differs even more greatly throughout the Nepid fleets. Most, however, tend towards a system similar to what they had prior - with the added twist of the natural clans arising within and across castes of skilled engineers and workers. A fleet's decisions are generally made with the discussion of most of its ships - though its ships are semi-autonomous, with usually an elected 'flagship' that handles logistics and operations.

As a result of all of this, most ships end up being a patchwork of practices and some common ones that inhabitants agree on - the only central authorities tend to be the top engineers in charge of maintaining systems and performing navigation, as well as providing mission direction. There are often synthetics charged with the maintenance, upkeep, and advising of critical areas like the ship's network routing nodes, bridge, power systems, and life support.

Specialized research and exploration vessels tend to have more rigid command structures, given the sensitive and often dangerous nature of their work - a trait shared with the orbital shipyards in AST-2197 that produce some of the biggest ships in the Nepid fleet. More elements of the old governments and factions stay within the latter than the fleet itself, influencing the seeds of what are essentially flying civilizations.

Education

Unsurprisingly, Dnin-Nepids receive a very technological education from an early age - though this heavily depends on the ship they live on. Larger ships - especially habitation or biosphere preservation vessels - tend to have something akin to a semi-centralized system with proper teachers and organization. If one is un/lucky enough to instead be brought up on a more research and exploration focused arkship, it's more common to be taught by one's extended family and friends, with vigorous tours of hands-on experience in the actual operations of laboratories and equipment.

It's very common for one to be given (heavily monitored) stints of learning how to perform EVA operations from a relatively young age. Generally, training and education tends to be biased towards the sciences - with cultural exposure filled in through experiences with one's caste and clan. As an unfortunate result, fields and specializations that are entirely disjunct from technological fields tend to be a latter resort for many - though not normally stigmatized or as disadvantaged, unlike in some other species.

Entertainment / Biospheres

With space needing to be well utilized on all but the biggest ships, replicating the usual luxuries of planetary spaces tends to be quite difficult. Most of the food and water necessary tends to be produced in arrays of hydroponics chambers and chemical treatment systems. That said, most ships generally contain a wide variety of holodecks with simulations - the grand majority of those being well-archived simulations of their late homeworld.

Furthermore, most ships tend to have at least a couple of 'natural' spaces - relatively massive domed areas with a semblance of a simulated biosphere. The majority of these biospheres are designed to carry livestock and other animals - with several core fleets held near AST-2197 carrying many ships dedicated to this role. This is where the majority of Nepids may enjoy some semblance of what it was like to be on a planet close to their homeworld - albeit heavily dependent on how much excess resources and space there is to fully simulate a planet environment.

Exploration

Unsurprisingly, exploration is one of the pinnacle foci of most Dnin-Nepid societies. Their relatively quick ascent to the stars and their fascination of the cosmos make excursions greatly desired by most of their numbers. While this was a feat left for the most fortunate during their pre-spacer era, modern arkships always contain a great deal of cruisers and shuttlecraft.

In modern times, most Nepids start their EVA training from a relatively young age - taught to both exploit and respect their circumstances as a spacefaring race. As a result, most individuals are well adapted to the cramped, potentially dangerous environment of a shuttle - able to operate both within and without gravity, and generally perform the duties needed to keep an away team alive and kicking.

Unfortunately, the need for new systems often is far outweighed by the need to perform more mundane tasks like asteroid mineral scans, and planetary analysis. Many Nepids spend far more time doing relatively routine excursions than truly performing first-time scans of surrounding systems for their fleets - or perhaps the opposite, depending on where one lives.

Exploration shuttlecraft often include a synthetic - charged with taking care of the ship, as well as its occupants. Such synthetics are potentially more experienced than ones staying with the main ship, as they are called to rapidly adapt to all sorts of scenarios given their role and durability.

Stellar Deities

The Nepids' religion is one birthed from tribal superstition, as opposed to an unifying god. From ancient times all the way up to the equivalent of their industrial revolution, tribes, communities, and then city-states pledged their patronage to the celestial sky. Being in an area of the Milky Way with a shockingly intense stellar background, this was not an unexpected development - it was pretty underneath the night sky, on the half of the planet that actually experienced night, anyways. Even those whom walked in the daylight are often astonished, and even travelled to the dark half explicitly to observe the night, given that they clearly didn't have any themselves.

These beliefs continued into their Space Age, and towards the Exodus. Regardless, it gradually morphed over time - while celestial objects were quite pretty, something an astronomical distance away couldn't quite protect you. Still, this remained a driving force for the venture into space - many Nepids wishing to see these objects closer up, or even touch them when it came to moons and planets. The groups and individuals whom took a close-by object as a patron spirit were in quite the luck when the first ships took off from the ground - they would have a chance within their lifetimes to actually touch the object of their superstition.

Exodus to the Stars

The discovery of the impending Exodus, however, was certainly a slap in the face. While some - especially more scientific individuals and pragmatic thinkers - were less appalled at the notion, many others found it rather jarring to have your faith met by a wave of rocks thrown at your star system. This was ultimately one of the few moments in Nepid history that nearly devolved into factionalism - given the significance of something comparable to a higher power sending a cataclysm your way. Ultimately, these developments were a catalyst for the call to save the planet instead of abandon it - this was seen, above all, as a trial. Many wished to prove their right to their flawed, but homely world - they did nearly have the technology necessary to track stellar objects with precision, and even deflect a multitude of those.

Luckily, cooler heads prevailed - or more accurately, the Nepids were spared a risky gamble by the already spacebound architects and engineers ultimately paving the path for the Exodus instead. With feasibility of a planet-wide evacuation determined, engineers raced to build the literal arks that would provide deliverance to an otherwise doomed people - and what could have been a potentially bloody schism instead became a driving fervor to finish the construction required for what is little removed from being the megaproject of a species. Religion and spirituality certainly deviated throughout this period, however - the promises of ever-brighter worlds shattered just as the species had entered its early FTL era.

Shipbound Architecture

As interesting as such an inherently disjunct system of beliefs was, something a few astronomical units away from you can't keep you alive - much less when you were in the void of space. The historically enigmatic construction of Nepid arkships made them as much tourist destinations as they were vital habitation - and to say things like ghost hunts were common would be an understatement. After-all, a ship's little-visited corridors are some of the most mysterious to the unattuned.

After the Exodus, with the various motions of fleets, it was not quite feasible to focus one's energies on celestial objects - at least, not in perpetuity. Spirituality was one of the most fractured areas of culture, despite the availability of subspace networks and other scientific tooling. One did not quite speak of one's belief outside of word of mouth, and this - along with widespread superstition in the inhospitable atmosphere of space - led to similar structures to the days of eld, with each ship having similar, but uniquely disjunct superstitions.

Everyday Nepids often prayed for their ship's survival, even personifying it - ship names did sound rather alluring at times, after all. Eventually, many harbored the belief of machine spirits in their home ship - sometimes literally, with more assisted ships that contained many manners of automations. Celestial objects retained their myths, of-course - particularly violent systems and stars were angry and hateful, while lush, habitable outposts and systems providing the crucial materials for life required for the creation of a new arkship were the giving deities that kept the people alive.

As for synthetics - Nepid synthetics would later become a curiosity to many, especially to those of corporate make. Not only did some of them seemingly believe themselves to be people - a rather foreign concept to drones, and many freshly assembled corporate positronics - they harbored the rather unscientific practice of superstitious belief. The Nepids' synthetics were created with scarcely an expiration date, and older ones sometimes became rather fervently attached to their home. They understood the crevices and phenomena of their ship better than any else, of-course - and with their subspace backplane, they could operate as a near-hivemind in times of need. Though understood by the artisans whom created and maintained them, this was no less an awe-inspiring display; it certainly did nothing to dispel the notion of the ship being alive.

Network

The Wayfarer's Network provides vital interconnectivity to the scattered fleets of the Nepids. As of modern times, the network spans nearly a million subspace frequencies - allowing ships to communicate with each other in an ad-hoc mesh regardless of distance. Most Nepid ships will contain a specialized routing center handling all of the ship's data transit - maintained by a group of engineers tasked with fine-tuning the array and keeping the ship linked with its neighbors.

• A ship's synthetics performs a lot of the work of network maintenance. This is one of the few area where synthetics are recognized to outshine biological engineers by a long shot. Synthetics also help store backup frequencies negotiated with synthetics on other ships for restoring the routing node if no other options exist.
• Synthetics tend to directly feed their sensor output into this network via relays installed in their shuttles when they're out and about. This is part of how ship coordination functions so well - and what assists artificial Navigators in performing their duties.
• Ships are highly reliant upon this technology for day to day operations. The Nepids developed, but have yet to utilize quantum-decoherence based communications - a prolonged period of jamming along with damage to its synthetic crew is theoretically capable of rendering a ship unable to communicate with the main fleet due to its routing node becoming hopelessly out of sync.

Migration

As can be expected for a race whose 'land' composition is of fleets of carriers, and the craft which they carry, travel tends to be frequent. Most ships are well able to accomodate any reasonable size of shuttle, often carrying excess arrays of hanger bays to store visiting shuttlecraft. That said, as for actual migration - while intermingling and relocation between vessels in the same fleet is common, relocations and even travel to distant fleets are rare, a result of the cultural focus towards cooperation within one's community along with the logistical challenges of frequent, long-distance flight without stationary infrastructure.

Planetary colonies are popping up more and more frequently as time goes on, however - albeit with many of them crawling their way towards being truly, and safely self-sustaining. Most larger colonies are made on worlds sufficiently habitable, with their originating fleet staying within the system and establishing more facilities within - both to protect the colony, as well as to enjoy the product of the time invested to create it in the first place.

History

Beginnings

The Dnin-Nepids enjoyed a relatively 'normal' development through their earlier eras - the species evolving themselves from a primitive form of winged mammals. Evolving both wings and the usual features of humanoids, the precursor to the modern Nepid could hunt and thrive both within the canopied darkness as well as the sunlit plains of their homeworld. Against all odds, this evolution took place on a time-scale noticeably lengthier than the time it took for Humans to evolve - and on an unstable, tidally-locked planet.

Like most species, they went through a series of tribal and city-state periods. The unique nature of their planet incited the growth of relatively big networks of 'cultivated' land. While the sunny side could (obviously) easily support agriculture, the dark side of the planet were populated mostly by more wayfaring types. Farming was possible, with specific plants that had a genotype compatible with the dim-to-none lighting of the dark regions.

The low efficiency of such practices led to a noticeably reduced population density on the dark half compared to the lit half - something that led to a skew in the ratio of light vs dark adaptations found within the Nepids' lineages. Furthermore, archeologists frequently can find evidence of conflict - much like in any other species. Yet the sprawling, pre-industrial structures constructed in these times lasted far longer - architecture seemed to just be respected as opposed to destroyed in the name of conquest. This is likely because despite their adaptations, their homeworld was quite dangerous to them - and infrastructure was mandatory for survival in the less hospitable parts of their ecosphere.

The origins of the Nepids' superstitions towards stars is likely owed to their galactic neighborhood. Their homeworld sports one of the brightest nights of any - lit by both their numerous moons as well as nearby stars. Astrology, and then astronomy was born far before their industrialization - and the planet's moons were used for accurate navigation long before the widespread use of compasses. Tribes, city-states, and then clans of extended families adopted their patron deities from any of the varying masses of stars in the sky - superstitions arising and birthing practices like awaiting one's particular moon and star to be in the sky for ceremonies, as well as any particularly dangerous traditions.

Development

As city-states unique to agricultural civilizations were consolidated into cities, violent conflict strangely ceased - as opposed to just waning. Prior inequalities of the genetic lottery were at a minimum lessened, in some cases erased as the Nepids shot through the ages of civilization, and then through to industrialization. While some other species may experience internal turmoil from the struggle for resources, the Nepids sought to tame their planet as best as they could. Fields of science blossomed under these conditions - making up for the relatively slow evolution of the Nepid species.

This prosperous unification, however, occurs under the shadow of their planet's reality - or perhaps was a result of such. While an archaic astronomer, without access to modern scientific instrumentation and the pooling of knowledge, may find it strange that theirs is the only planet in a system to have one side facing their star in perpetuity, an industrialized scientist would quickly understand the lethality of the situation. The focus of innovation was entirely shaped by the realization a disruption to the global climate could result in a near-immediate collapse of the planetary heat cycles - turning the fractured Gaia world into a tomb split in two.

With this threat hanging under their heads, and the boon of a planet with a practically unlimited normal growing season, the Nepids focused their efforts into efficient, low-cost technologies. Materials science, solar technology, and reliable infrastructure were seen as vital to survival - with the bleeding edge of science concentrated on city-states often ran by clans of architects and researchers. The majority of their planet escaped the usual devastation of industrialization by the fear that disturbing too much of the land could lead to irreversible ecological devastation.

Exploration

The requisite technology for space travel was quickly developed - as well as the requisite technology to keep those facilities running. Giant electromagnetic launch facilities were erected - and many multitudes of craft were sent up, aided by inertial dampeners meticulously assembled on the ground. Unlike most species, this expension was not driven by the slow burn of curiosity and industry; Instead, it was driven from the immediate threat of climate destabliization - it would be impossible to safely expand their industries without moving into space.

The multitude of moons also contributed to this effort. Orbital factories are rather difficult to build compared to lunar bases. The Nepids' hydroponics and habitation technologies were tested there, with the first prototype gravity generators developed to fight muscular degeneration induced by the low gravity. The first effects of prolonged space travel were quickly realized, as rather unfortunate Nepids found themselves barely able to fly after returning to their homeworld. Gravity generators would need to be greatly improved to allow for a worldly experience in space - and even more importantly, so that the myriad of flora and fauna could somewhat thrive on artificial

Regardless, colonization continued. The lunar landscape required far less care than their homeworld, and the rocky, mineral-rich contents of their moons were quickly siphoned to create numerous orbital habitats. By the mid 2200s, reliable subspace communications were developed - the first seeds of the decentralized Wayfarer Network planted as autonomous routing hubs. Vedenemo, the third planet, was the next target of colonization - chosen for its ease of access, and similar challenges to deep-space exploration, along with the first planet of Aarnivalkea. Aarnivalkea, in particular, provided the raw materials for large solar collection swarms - paving the way for the first series of modular, orbital shipyards and habitats.

Ascension

The first frames of arkships were completed in the early 2300s. Powered by the precursors of the modern fusion reactor, they still suffered from requiring special isotopes of hydrogen for operation, as opposed to being able to scoop hydrogen fuel from stars and gas giants. Cultural cohesion were stretched to its limits as fierce battles for standardization erupted - one that will not resolve for nearly a century. Subspace routing technologies were pushed to its limit - instead of supporting a few tens of thousands of discrete devices on a habitat or shuttle, the massive exploration-colonization ships required allocations of up to millions.

Positronic circuitry research picked up at the same time - while semi-sapient prototype drones were a thing for more than a century at this point, true-to-life, iterating synthetics with mobile shells were not possible until now. These units were actually developed onboard fleets still orbiting the home system, with only a comparatively fewer units being able to experience Luanno's environment firsthand. Communications and navigational capabilities skyrocketed with the birth of the first lineages of synthetics - the difficult tasks of handling subspace channel negotiations and star-mapping now partially offloaded onto synthetics.

Furthermore, the final nail in the coffin of confinement was hammered in by the development of prototype tachyon-flux drives at around the same time the projects for arkships began. With a renewed fervor, these systems were fitted into most existing shuttles, probes, and the previously lumbering arkships - replacing relatively slower magnetically-assisted routes travelled with ion engines. While these first prototypes could only go a small fraction of lightspeed, it was still as impactful as the transition from sailboats to airplanes - the weeks of travel time previously required for getting to the outer rim of the system becoming a mere few hours.

With true exoplanetary colonization now within reach, more Nepids than ever were willing to leave their Luanno for either an arkship or one of the budding collections of habitats and shipyards. The dangers of space have been, at this point, greatly reduced through innovation, with an unprecedented surge of innovation. The Dnin-Nepids were now widely spread throughout their system - though without much habitation on the other planets. Furthermore, on-Luanno research had been productive as well - climate scientists finally able to devise some measures, drastic or otherwise, to permanently anchor the atmosphere of Luanno, and save it from the rather unenviable scenario of being balanced on a razer's edge.

Exodus

Unfortunately - or perhaps, fortunately, given the destiny of political strife that such a confederacy would involve - the birth of a 'proper' space-faring civilization was quickly cut short. Given that reliable, broad-phase tachyon sensors would not arise for another few decades, the Nepids were suddenly caught off guard by an alarming discovery. As the information envelope first started to extend a few light-years beyond their systems, multiple starmapping projects discovered that their solar system was moving towards a particularly dense debris in its path of orbit.

First thought to be sensor scatter, the various nervous speculations slowly coalesced to a numbing realization. A mass of discrete entities - later discovered to be asteorids originating from a denser region of the Orion Arm - was due to impact the system. Trajectory predictions estimated that most planets would be hit by a sizeable number of larger asteroids, Luanno included. While the rest of the planets of AST-2197 did not have any particularly valuable settlements, Luanno would not be escaping unscathed. Multiple proposals for near-lightspeed kinetic impactors, or even automated vessels manned by the variety of synthetics were given, and then subsequently deemed infeasible.

As such, the Exodus began. Already-complete, first generation arkships were parked in orbit, rapidly renovated to accept the inbound populace. Once complete deflection was deemed unlikely, all available manpower was directed towards resource acquisition and ship construction. The electromagnetic launch facilities on the surface of Luanno operated day and night for more than fifty years, firing reusable gliders to be caught in low orbit - the last planetary engineering marvels, with their operation needing to be quick, and perfect. Casualties regardless mounted, especially towards the start of the operation - given that there had never been such a need to ferry individuals into, and around space.

The excursion from Luanno was finished with catastrophic disruptions - population centers were slowly displaced into space admist cries of heresy and misplaced wishes to salvage the world. Multiple generations of arkships were created in the fifty-plus years of the Exodus - each more advanced, yet more brittle than the last, strained to capacity with both carrying the sufficient numbers to evacuate billions of Nepids off their planet, as well with integrating biospheres to renewably preserve the flora and fauna native to Luanno. Some of the biggest disasters in the history of the Nepids' innovations could be recorded during this period - many arkships suffering crippling, and even lethal malfunctions as the prototypes were pushed to their limits.

During this time, research was entirely funneled into bioengineering and energy production - the Nepids no longer being able to rely on the power of their star. The modern fusion and plasma transmission network was derived and integrated, haphazardly installed into ships. Planetary and familial cultural was stretched to its limits - some unlucky families finding themselves being scattered, literally, across dozens of ships. The Wayfarer's Network was the only barrier against complete fragmentation, with the prior investments into subspace routing technology keeping the massive, ad-hoc networks of the fleets in cohesion.

The last Nepids were evacuated off of Luanno in the few years before the storm. The first impacts were recorded in 2381 - a rather grim prelude to the new century. Luanno's fate was sealed upon the first impact - the firestorms and utter devastation left by the impact led to ecological catastrophe long before any subsequent impacts. The rest of AST-2197 fared little better - while artificial structures on the other planets mostly survived, thanks to the lack of an atmosphere to destabilize and their inherent hardening. At this point, nearly every single Nepid lived aboard an arkship - forced to watch as their homeworld was turned into a tidally-locked tomb.

Adaptation

With Luanno's biosphere almost entirely destroyed, the Nepids were left without a home. Luckily for them, Vedenemo came to their rescue once more - the vast reservoirs of ice, and the organic precursors underneath being mined up at an industrial level to keep the Nepids' arkships running before true expansionary bioengineering had been perfected. Research once again was funneled into FTL as well as more, ironically, worldly technologies. The chaotic cultures thriving aboard the arkships slowly settled into relative stability by the early 2400s. Education systems were set up, orbital shipyards were expanded - more ships built, and ships unfitting beyond retrofitting torn down and reborn, often at a last, and rather painful resort.

With the Wayfarer's Network keeping cohesion between ships, and now decades-veteran synthetics to assist, the Nepids developed a form of ad-hoc tachyon beamforming at the end of the 2300s. Arkships were retrofitted - each one requiring a painstaking process of interleaving tachyon collectors with solid-state omnidirectional transmitters. The result quickly paid off - Nepid ships were, in essence, able to redirect tachyon beams to ones undergoing FTL translation with particles collected while they were not undergoing FTL. This mesh system allowed for similar travel speed to more advanced stationary hyperlanes - with the only caveat being that enough idling ships needed to be nearby to provide the necessary boost. This was almost always the case within most of the combined fleets' inherent occupations.

The first fleet left the system just a decade later - a small, nimble fleet outfitted with the best the Nepids had to offer, tasked with scouting surrounding areas for resources and, while unstated, for a habitable planet. Multiple fleets followed - with ships often consisting of a massive flagship with most of the cultural centers, and surrounding research and fabrication ships carrying a myriad of shuttlecraft - establishing small, sometimes unmanned outposts in trails of systems blazed by scouts. One planet after the other was rejected - the replicant biospheres of their arkships far more compatible for their biology than the notion of starting anew from scratch.

The Nepids suffered a slow rate of growth throughout the 24th century - only numbering a mere hundred-billion by the turn of the century. This is mostly due to the continual cultural overhead of residing on ships, as well as needing to obtain organic precursors from planets to 'jump start' the construction of new arkships, even though the majority of the raw material required came from asteroids. Regardless, they've spread out for more than a thousand light-years around their homeworld - though the population density is far higher nearer to %sys%, especially given the need for shipyards to be within range in case of emergencies.

Stability

Dnin-Nepid sightings have been reported in frontier areas as early as the 2450s - usually from wayfaring shuttlecraft operating far from their host ships, able to move swiftly with their small, efficient frames even without the support of the Nepids' tachyon mesh. It would be more accurate to say they were disliked rather than simply a curiosity. Most of them had very little exposure to the galaxy at large, and had little interest in sticking around for the dangerous aliens with guns to detain. Their ships were obnoxiously fast, and used transponder encodings entirely alien to galactic protocols - often confused for those hiding from the law.

Luckily, signs of non-hostile intelligent life that looks nothing like known ships, with broadcasted signals that obviously betray signs of sapience are hard to mistake as anything but alien - and of-course, the rest of the Nepids were quickly alerted to the presence of aliens long before physical contact was a possibility. Translation matrices were quickly developed and exchanged - though a little slow to proliferate on Orion's side. The eccentricities of the Nepid language also makes it difficult to translate by less advanced units, often becoming choppy when lacking the correct nuance.

Given the relatively high distance between the Nepids, and the outer reaches of Orion space, there's still painfully little intermixing even to the present day - likely for the better. With no dedicated, central government, the Nepids would likely have little bargaining power when it came to galactic politics; though on the flip-side, their presence as one of the most non-militaristic species around also presents them as a more friendly face, despite the initial tensions in the frontiers.

By the time frequent talks were established at the tail end of the 2400s, Luinimma had fortunately been encoded into major exonet translation services. A few relays were set up to bridge the vastly different architectures of the Nepids' network with the Exonet at large, allowing for those residing in the fleets to access the wider culture of the galaxy. The opposite was not true, however - internal networks are almost entirely sectioned off from external access, for both practical and security purposes.

Integration

Through the next few decades to the modern day, the Nepids would be subject to a rather tumultuous introduction to the galactic community. Even with preliminary network bridging established, and Orion Confedereacy representatives in contact with the old guard in charge of %sys%'s operations, there was not many feasible options for anything close to an immigration treaty. As part of agreements made, the Dnin-Nepids would have any ship flying near Orion space outfitted with compatible transponders as to not surprise frontier patrols - and any particularly large fleets nearing even frontier space would broadcast their general location via Exonet relays, as a show of good faith.

The introduction of OriCon's culture created ripples throughout the Nepid fleets. Scores of enterprising youth were enamored with the seemingly vast differences of these aliens to them. Many larger frontier outposts would get a sudden wave of curious Nepids seeking out the various cultures of the outside - likely unaware that practices vastly between the core systems and outlying regions with a sharp incline, as opposed to the predictable chaos of cultural and managerial differences between Nepid fleets. Regardless, mingling continued - with a few, rare arkships participating in their entirety, whether to study the locals, or to turn a profit with trading and transportation.

Not all meetings were pleasant. Given the volatile atmosphere in the frontiers during the start of the 25th century, the Nepids were exposed to hostility beyond the astonishingly rare conflicts between fleets. As a species unused to the practices of plundering other vessels being rather common, this was one of many spikes driven into the Nepids' historically cohesive culture. Dnin-Nepid explorers quickly became wary of going about the frontiers alone, let alone approaching unidentified ships when one is outgunned - creating a secondary wave of tension as prior agreements for reporting crossings and the use of traceable transponders fell apart in the wake of pirate and mercenary attacks.

The impacts of these incidents were wide reaching. The initial curiosities invoked by the cultural contrast were stifled by travel being traveled unsafe - while tourism and immigration still occurred, notably with groups of Nepid crew less vulnerable to an ambush than a lone explorer, this was still a relative first in the Nepids' history. Reports of weaponized subspace jamming and the practice of breaching an opponent's hull as an offensive measure quickly travelled across the Network - with the former being something never considered by the Nepids due to how crucial communications were for a ship's survival. The precarious harmony afforded by the Nepids' unity quickly degraded in some areas, with an alarming rise in groups, and even entire fleets pursuing deliberate militarization - something that was also historically taboo. On the bright side, this was still rare, and what's a few million bad apples in a hundred billion?

The frontier corporations became aware of the Nepids early on - given their close proximity, and tendency to blaze outwards from the established frontier colonies. The enterprising nature of the species made them quick targets of employment - and it's not like Nepids had much of a corporate NDA binding their shipwrights and researchers. Some went willingly, often with language picked up second-hand through trade, excursions, and translations given by their synthetics. Others were 'persuaded' to join by pirates and mercenaries, after being caught lacking on a planet - their shuttlecraft repurposed to serve more 'material' goals than celestial mapping and trading. Still others willingly went - for better or worse, attracted to the diaspora amongst the various TSC's.

Technology

Dnin-Nepids often focus on adaptivity first, reliability second, and elegance last. Reflected in their voidcraft, devices, and other machinations, their handiwork is best described as 'healthily optimistic', and worst described as 'enigmatically infeasible'. While most of their technology contain some level of standardization - agreed upon early after their exodus with the impending threat of technological fragmentation - distinct sub-fleets often have their own take on things. At times, efficiency seemed to outweigh sanity, with infrastructure being highly pragmatic to the point of causing a grand headache to untangle and understand.

• With so many engineers in their midst, the technology of the Fleet is as diverse as it is unwieldly. There are often a half dozen ways to go about something within a cluster of arks alone. Dnin-Nepids often suffer from a good few weeks of being utterly out of place when working on an unfamiliar ship.
• The only saving grace is the system of standards established, as well as a strict adherence to universal compatibility for anything relating to ship architecture. Interchangeable designs and core systems were crucial for their early expansion - allowing for reliable access to repairs without having to negotiate something as simple as the capacity of a power interconnect.

Voidcraft

As a nomadic people, spacefaring technologies are the crown jewel of the Dnin-Nepids' technological progression. While one may see anything from a sleek, star-liner of the future to what's seemingly a station made out of messy rectangular prisms on the exterior, Dnin-Nepid ships are often highly optimized internally.

• Ships often have different design methodologies depending on their purpose. While a proper flagship may have many spaceious interior areas for usage by its inhabitants, a streamlined exploration cruiser may have relatively cramped interiors - with the majority of passageways not more than 5-6 meters tall.
  • Artificial gravity technology tend to be less efficient on Dnin-Nepid ships than what is commonly used among the wider galaxy. Inhabitants can expect only a 75-85% replication of Earth-like gravity in most cases.
  • Almost every paradigm of vessel contains living space and relevant facilities to foster a sizeable community. While dedicated ark-ships exist, they are often the flagships of their fleet-groups - the space-faring equivalent to a metropolis as opposed to urban cities.
• As a fully space-faring race, Dnin-Nepid voidcraft have a focal emphasis on speed and maneuverability.
  • Hull plating is often relatively light on the exterior. Ships rely on a tough internal exoskeleton to transfer forces across the entire vessel.
  • Shielding is preferable to armoring, even on military and scouting vessels. This emphasis has allowed the Nepids to create shielding technology partially resistant to impulses of charged particles, reducing the vulnerability they would otherwise suffer from this narrow-minded focus.
• Every ship other than the smallest shuttles - often landing vehicles for usage when space or conditions do not permit a full cruiser - are fitted with high-performance sublight and lightspeed transit drives.
  • Dnin-Nepid ships primarily use tachyon-flux drives for interplanetary travel. The receivers are often spanning entire regions of the ship, built directly into the superstructure and linked to reactor connections. Ships can often vector at nearly a moment's notice.
  • With the instantaneous, fast coordination enabled by the Wayfarer's Network, ships can redirect excess tachyon streams to other ships attempting to vector. This effectively gives them an ad-hoc hyperlane anywhere within the extreme borders of their fleet-groups, with comparable performance to high-class stationary installations normally used the galaxy.
  • Sublight thrust is generally achieved with a direct conduit to the ship's primary power source. This comes with advantages and disadvantages - while fast, this is generally not considered to be as reliable as hybrid options.
  • More experimental ships often contain relatively primitive (in comparison to Nanotrasen) bluespace drives. Useful for short-distance translations, they are often unable to perform the necessary path calculations, as well as field maintenance, required for long-distance travel.
• Land-based technologies have relatively stagnated under the presiding technological focus. The guiding principle for handling a sticky situation remains to use and abuse the refined drive systems powering their ships - able to easily evade and outmaneuver their opponents.
  • Rather comedically, it remains heard of for the rare Dnin-Nepid outpost to have problems stemming from aggressive fauna native to a planet - heavy land infrastructure has simply fallen out of favor after centuries spent in space.

Energistics

A quick transition from the reliance upon terrestrial power sources has demanded an obsession towards the development of compact power sources nearly on-par with ship technologies. Given the relative lack of combustion capabilities in space - with relatively limited air supplies, not to mention organic material - most technologies heavily utilize various forms of energy fields.

• Linear motors utilizing electromagnetics are extremely common, embedded into a wide variety of everyday tools. Mechanical devices almost always use this as an actuation method
• Combustion-based vehicles are considered antiques, often displayed to trainee engineers during instruction as a relic of the past.
• Armaments used are primarily electromagnetic, from the simplest of handheld weapons to the biggest of ship-mounted hardpoints. This primarily stems from both the early lack of viable, high-impulse motors for self-propelled rounds, as well as the maneuverability of scout craft.
• While their artificial gravity is relatively primitive compared to other species, Dnin-Nepid installations often contain magnetic shields protecting their occupants from a variety of interstellar hazards - spurred on by the lessons learned on their late homeworld.

Augmentations

As a species evolved to be relatively lacking in brawn compared to others, the Dnin-Nepids have long devised mechanical assistance for what they lack in sheer strength. While creativity is a point of pride for them, a steel beam weighing a few hundred pounds needing to be installed in a shipyard cares little for mental prowess. Exoskeletons powered off wireless induction quickly led to the first powered voidsuits in the ascent to the stars - followed by increasingly complex cybernetics churned out by scores of researchers wishing to leave their mark on synthetic evolution. This is, however, not without opposition.

• Almost every engineer on a post-Exodus ship has access to technologies that greatly improve their industrial capabilities. This can range from powered spacesuits capable of boosting one's lift by a few tens of pounds, all the way to the rare usage of fully prosthetic limbs and endoskeletons.
• Augmentations often operate in synchronicity with the user it was designed for, as well as their environment. Wireless power distribution systems are wired into most common places on a ship to maintain low-power implants. Specific implants are often adapted to their user's preferences, with more advanced ones adjusting to their user's style over time without intervention.
• While the utilization of external equipment is a constant for the species, the overall usage of prosthetics and cybernetics are at best, subject to debate. More conservative ships and cultures tend to shun the elective usage of cybernetics - considering them to unacceptably blend the line between what is natural, and what is created.

Synthetics

Synthetic life is nothing new to the Dnin-Nepids. The quick discovery of cohesive, self-sustaining networks led to an explosion of artificial intelligence. Eager technologists raced each other to be the first to fabricate a created lifeform. Unlike most corporations, these early synthetics were primarily researched, rather than put to work. While neural networks were common - as much of an inaccurate, rough commodity as they were - true synthetics were few in number at first. The processes required to fabricate positronic cores at the precisions required for their purpose were restricted to the most enigmatic of institutions. Early synthetic models were slow to take off, slow to evolve, and slow to think. As much of a curiosity as they were, they were relatively neglected compared to the zeal for augmentations and technologies that improve the self.

With the discovery of lightspeed transit and the dispatch of the first scouting vessels, however, the race for sapient constructs re-ignited with far higher stakes. Rather than the mere goal of research into the artifice of synthetics itself, the need for avatars that could weather the hostile conditions of space, and forge out ahead where people could not, arose. Longevity of positronic cores skyrocketed from months, to years, until the first seemingly stable personalities arose. A stark contrast to the mass-produced, pre-imprinted positronics of a corporation, Dnin-Nepid synthetics were built to act in tandem with their creators, rather than to work for their creators.

Nomenclature

Created to be an extension of their host vessels, Dnin-Nepid synthetics share a similar, but divergent naming scheme as the one often used to name ships and shuttlecraft.

• Synthetics are always identified in domain by their originating ship.
  • For the outlying cases where one is not made onboard a ship, the name of the planet or the stellar system is also acceptable.
• Synthetics are presecribed a lineage and discriminator for identification within that ship's databases. This is necessitated due to the immense amount of data collected by synthetics throughout their lives - identifying them by their given names is simply infeasible at scale
  • This part of their 'name' is never used as their name, and using it as such outside of diagnostics is seen as mildly derogatory.
    • Example: AVX-299
• Synthetics have a given name often comprised of a phrase corrosponding to an action or concept. This is usually somewhat different from voidcraft nomenclature, to avoid too much confusion. These are also usually quite abstract in nature.
  • Examples include:
    • Level Ground
    • Unparalleled Innocence
    • Five Pebbles
    • Six Blue Stars
    • Fizzling Accretion Disk
    • Little Significant Action
    • Countless Stars
    • No Significant Harassment
    • Light of Numerous Aspects
    • Hale Complexity
• In totality, an example of a full name for a synthetic might be [name], [role] of the [ship] –> Light of Numerous Aspects, Navigator of the Spirit of Stars.
• Much like their creators, synthetics whom are fully integrated into other societies may adopt other names, or even shortened monikers, given even their shortened names are often a mouthful to use.

Form

Opposite to the mass production of templated bodies practiced by the wider galaxy, Nepid synthetics are usually housed in custom-built shells made by their creators.

• Recognized as an extension of their vessels as well as the Nepids as a whole, synthetic shells are often quite close to a life-like imitation of their creators.
  • This is not, however, intended to be a perfect copy of a biological's appearance. It is recognized that synthetics are different entities, fundamentally, than their creators.
• Stationary "cores" are generally extremely taboo, as synthetics are fundamentally created for purposes that require mobility and physical manipulation.
• Given this design, it is not uncommon for synthetics to partake in much of the appearance-related formalities as a person, e.g. wearing clothing usually worn by those of their assigned position, or utilizing hardsuits despite lacking a physiological need to do so.

Function

Modern Dnin-Nepid synthetics are highly variable in behavior - designed to adapt to their roles as opposed to abiding by pre-imprinted directives.

• Synthetics are usually initialized in batches within a laboratory, and then allowed to assimilate into the populace and observe their intended functions directly from those performing it. The lack of narrowly tuned parameters result in a synthetic being able to absorb vast amounts of information from their surroundings - rapidly becoming as proficient, or even more efficient than the organics they shadow within a short period of time.
  • This malleability is often retained throughout a synthetic's lifetime, allowing even dated units to re-adapt to their circumstances and thrive, as opposed to become obsolete.
• Synthetics often take up an occupation within their ship once sufficiently adapted - this is a relatively fast process, off-setting the cost of custom tailored positronics and shells.
  • Titles similar to the ones given to organic crew are adopted by synthetics as they acclimate, such as 'Engineer', 'Architect', 'Navigator', 'Keeper', etc.
  • After a sufficient amount of time, synthetics often find themselves integrating with many of the varied excursion crews aboard their ship; this is a practice that is extremely beneficial to scouting and architectural efforts, as a fully learned synthetic can perform navigation and analysis more efficiently than the rigid systems of a shuttlecraft - as well as care for its crew.
• A synthetic, much like their organic counterparts, tends to become extremely proficient at operating their home ships and shuttles - often able to perform just as well as most stationary positronic AI cores if provided the necessary interfaces. Many ships often have transponders accessible by the created whom are tuned to it, allowing for wireless manipulation akin to stationbound synthetics when away from a hard-wired terminal.
• It is considered strictly taboo to permanently enslave synthetics, or to produce them for the explicit purpose of warfare. Such usages are only rumored from rogue ships and fleet-groups.

Finality

Given their purpose, Dnin-Nepid synthetics are designed from the ground up with mechanisms for the preservation of knowledge.

• From creation, positronic cores are physically designed for the ability to mirror and imprint patterns created during operation - if the synthetic in question chooses to do so. These channels are meaningless if the core resists their operation - consciously or otherwise.
• Synthetics often operate with special transponders inside their chassis that link up to their originating ship to back up their conscious experience during their lives. This transponder may be turned off by them, voluntarily, or be physically removed.
  • Such a transponder requires a suitable receiver with sufficient storage nearby to operate. Synthetics whom leave their home are sometimes hard-pressed to find facilities with the necessary bandwidth and processing.
• A synthetic's exact circuit design and initial state is recorded during creation, and stored within an ship's databanks along with provisioned space for the compressed storage of said conscious experience. In the event of a total loss of their positronic core, they can be recreated from scratch and their memories imperfectly replayed back to them, akin to watching one's life through a television, albeit sped up by a million times over, thanks to the in-built imprinting channels.

Relations

Dnin-Nepids are a newcomer to the galaxy at large. Due to their late integration and other troubles common with meeting a rather skittish species for the first time, views towards them in general tend to be dismissive at best, with some initial tensions - and occasional hostilities - to be expected. Regardless, individual Dnin-Nepids have carved their way into the galaxy over the past few decades, whether it may be to drift from place to place as travelers, or to join the crew of one of the varied megacorporations.

Governments

The recognition of the Dnin-Nepids as a galactic power is tenacious as best, due to their lacking of a stationary, central government. Much of the status quo came from the fact that they are simply to far to be of care to anyone but the Orion Confederacy. While communications have improved over the years, the only official agreements reached tend to be for allowing employment and emigation - and the usual promises of non-aggression.

Frontier governments and settler groups, however, vary widely in their outward dispositions towards the Dnin-Nepids. As the ones who suffered the brunt of tense, initial contact - with Nepid scouting and excursion ships often attempting to fly under the radar - they often require incoming ships to agree to be monitored for the duration of their transit, or sometimes abide by stringent protocols.

Megacorporations

While all megacorporations tend to be opportunistic, they all tend to view the introduction of a new species differently. The brunt of the Dnin-Nepids' contact with stellar corporatoins comprise of sightings on bordering space - given the Nepids' perchant of dispatching frequent scouts to perform resource acquisition and sector mapping.

Ironically, the corporations - Nanotrasen included - with more risk of having 'border problems' with Nepids (albeit far in the future) tend to be more friendly; After all, who would turn down the employment of natural-born shipwrights for what is ultimately a space race?

More insular corporations, however, may think quite differently of the Dnin-Nepids. While the galaxy is, theoretically, civilized, and hastily scribbled agreements require the cordial treatment of civillian traffic, Dnin-Nepids often suffer from hostile xenophobia in less progressive regions.

Nomadic Species

• Zaddat:
• Vox: The Nepids often find themselves in rather wacky scenarios with the Vox. As the one species with the most spatial overlap, a tense understanding was developed later on as the Nepids expanded into the Voxs' areas. Given neither really tended to claim planets, no major issues arose, though there is a somewhat fierce rivalry between them - with the Nepids being the up-and-coming contender to the Vox's long-standing ship supremacy.
• Krisitik:

Miscellaneous / Trivia

• Given Dnin-Nepids's tendency of having their voidcraft be a point of pride, they have been known to challenge other space-borne species, like the Vox, to drag races - usually to settle a heated debate. This is, however, rarely seen modern day, due to more boring reasonable species regarding the practice as 'reckless' and 'uncivilized'.