Overview
The Naramadi (Plural of Naramad) are a species of bipedal, furred mammalians originating from the Verkihar Major system. They share a border with the Unathi, granting both of the species a history of war. The Naramadi Ascendancy's location also brings forth wealth, and dangers both from within and without.
Biology
Physicality
To the average human, a Naramad looks passingly similar to a shark that's been covered in fur. However, the similarities end where they start: their heads. Naramadi heads are the most recognizable part of their biology, being anvil shaped, with an elongated snout and pointy ears. Fur that covers their bodies is much shorter, yet denser, than other furred races, being described as "nearly like hair". The only areas not covered in fur are, as in other races, palms of their hands, which are entirely furless, various orifices and the area around their eyes.
Naramadi biology is also filled with certain things that are considered strange by other races. Their hands and feet only have four fingers and toes, which are similar to fingers of rodents. Their chests have a noticeable bump around their sternum, usually with a tuft of hair on it, with said bump being a bone protecting their sternum. Their legs are digitigrade, which allows them to move faster than an average human.
In terms of strengths, the Naramadi are more agile than other races, traditionally using their agility to hunt and navigate the rough terrain of their homeworld. Their metabolism is as well faster than most other races, with an average Naramad requiring around 3,700kcal per day to function properly. Naramadi are omnivores, being capable of eating both meat and plant matter, however their diet favors meat over plants.
Female and Male Naramadi are nearly identical in appearance, with the only exceptions being height and reproductive organs. Females are on average around 6'2" tall, with males being on average as 6'5" tall. In comparison to other races, females do not posses mammalian glands, with their young being born with teeth. Traditionally, newborns were fed a slurry of meat and plant matter, but in current day a nutritious slurry, similar to that used in emergency food rations, is used.
Naramadi mature faster than humans, with a month old Naramad being comparable to a one year old human in terms of biological development, which comes with a higher demand for nutrition. Their aging slows down noticeably after a year, with their metabolism slowing down to what is considered standard for their species. Average lifespan for a Naramad ranges from 100 to 120 years.
Mentality
As the Naramadi people are split, so is their mentality. While those living in the Ascendancy often refuse to speak of their cultures and behaviours to outsiders, what is known is their focus on self-improvement and discipline.
Most of those aligned with the Ascendancy consider technology a tool, with their own abilities, both physical and intellectual, being the main focus of their often rigorous training regimens, with some refusing to speak to others that they see as incapable, or unwilling, to improve themselves.
However, Naramadi born outside of the Ascendancy are closer to humans in their behavior. While their backgrounds still linger over them, most attempt to fit in with the wider Galactic Community by adapting the behaviors of other species, most commonly humans.
History
The Unification Wars
Despite current state of affairs in the Ascendancy, the Naramadi homeworld was once split into multiple ethnicities. The Highlanders occupied the mineral rich mountains, building massive, yet primitive industrial complexes, while the Lowlanders occupied soil that was perfect for crop growth.
The Lowlanders can be considered the origins of many traditions currently held by the Naramadi, including the Verkihar Glaives and its attached combat styles. Despite the two trading, they were forbidden to mingle between each other, often coming to skirmishes over territory and newly discovered mineral deposits. In those times, many Naramadi were exiled from the Highlander and Lowlander Tribes creating a new, so-called Midlander, tribe.
The Midlanders saw the prosperity of a unified Naramadi people, and went on to convince other tribes to join their cause. The Lowlanders joined peacefully, while the Highlanders, wanting to seize power for their Queen (whose name was lost to time) attempted to conquer the newly formed Naramadi Houses by force.
Precise records about the so-called Unification Wars are varied, though what is certain is that the Highlander Queen was killed, and her body paraded through various Highlander tribes as a show of force. After that, much of the current culture was codified, including the separation of Naramadi people into Houses, Nameless and Exiles.
Modern Day
Kingdoms' Aggression and Hivebot attacks
Many years after the Naramadi became a space faring race, first contact with Unathi was established. Both races had a strained relationship, with the Ascendancy being wary towards their new neighbors, and the Unathi being aggressive in their negotiations. Shortly after discovering that the Naramadi sit on a rich deposit of minerals war was declared on the Ascendancy.
The Moghedi, being more prepared for it, attacked the Naramadi in force. Unfortunately for them, they were not prepared for the tactics they faced. The Naramadi refused to face Unathi in open combat, a thing they were well acquainted with, and instead operated on guerrilla tactics; preferring to strike the Unathi where they were not expecting it, disrupting their supply lines, and attacking their own colonies when the Verkihar system was being raided.
Both of the races were negating themselves in combat. One could not defeat another, and both were fighting a war of attrition. During one of the prolonged battles, both of the empires were attacked by a major Hivebot fleet, and a truce was called.
Unathi and Naramadi worked together to push back the attacking fleets, in turn building respect for one another. Pushing back the Hivebot fleets resulted in heavy damage to the Ascendancy and the Kingdoms, and the respect both races held for each other called for the truce to be held, and a trade agreement settled for the duration of the repairs.
Exile Uprising
The High Voice has fallen. The enemy cannot capture Verkihar, destroy everything. - First order given by the newly appointed Prima Militant Askhana viator Vrthra, at the time overall leader of the Loyalist Naramadi Forces
Around the year 2510, the Naramadi Ascendancy was still an independent and isolationist empire bordering the Moghes Kingdoms. While their isolationist nature made them hard to negotiate with, they did have a singular port open for trade with anybody willing to follow their rules, and it was working out perfectly well until first contact with the Orion Confederacy.
As OriCon learned of the Naramadi mineral supplies they attempted to buy another port for their personal use, which was denied immediately. The Ascendancy stating that despite OriCon being a self proclaimed rival of the Moghes Kingdoms, they will have to utilize the same port as them, and that any acts of violence against any trader there will be considered an act of war against the Ascendancy itself. The Confederacy persisted in their requests, with their representatives growing more and more infuriated with the apparent unwillingness of the Naramadi people to cooperate, to the point of them contacting Naramadi Exiles.
While what happened after is disputed, it is known that most of the Exiles stormed Verkihar Minor, killing most of the Defense Forces stationed there and captured the High Voice of the Houses, publicly executing him and calling for quote, "Orion volunteers to overthrow the tyrannical government of the Ascendancy", end quote. What followed was nearly ten years of constant fighting, with the relatively low numbers of Exile forces being supported by OriCon “volunteers,” while some Houses fled to the Moghes Kingdoms to petition for aid, leaving Nameless and remaining Houses to keep the Exiles in a stalemate.
Dropsite massacre
I don't care what you think, General, this is our land and they're squatting on it. Legionnares! Into your pods, We'll show them how the Fifth Legion fights! - Onkharan Vakshan zos Haakar, Prima-Militant of the Fifth Legion during the opening hours of the battle for Imvga Four, commonly known as The Dropsite Massacre
After nearly ten years of constant fighting, and many losses on both sides, the Houses returned from the Moghes Kingdoms with reinforcements in form of Moghes Kingdom Fleets, Zaddat volunteers, and a newly constructed Supercarrier dubbed NAWV Primus. As well, there were as many Naramadi who trained to join the newly formed Fifth Legion, which at the time had no assigned specialization.
As the reinforcements arrived at Verkihar, retaking it was trivial as the Exiles did not expect such forces to arrive. After that moment, Loyalist forces started fighting with renewed vigor, retaking planet after planet as Orion volunteers started withdrawing either to the planet of Imvga Four or out of the Ascendancy entirely. As the Loyalist Fleet, now reinforced with various other Legions and still functional vessels gathered around the Ascendancy arrived, the Exile forces began gathering civilians located on the planet to various strongholds they had built, hoping to deter Loyalist forces from landing, or to at least slow their advance.
Tragically, Loyalist forces were unaware of such maneuvers and engaged anyways, with the Fifth Legion leading the charge. Injecting themselves into the battlefield via various drop-pods, creating chaos behind enemy lines as the other Legions landed via standard means. While the events are unclear, with each side blaming the other, what is known is that civilian deaths reached nearly eighty percent before Loyalist forces recognized them as unaffiliated with the enemy. As the battle concluded, the information was revealed to the public by the Exiles, hoping to restart the fires of revolution, however such information only made the Loyalists despise the Exiles, and their Orion compatriots, more.
Now
The Naramadi Ascendancy is mainly self-governed, with the Hegemony establishing laws and rules that they have to enforce via their “Pact”, though without saying exactly how to enforce them.
Current Racial Status/Government: The Ascendancy is currently ruled by the High Voice, who is also the viator of House Haakar, with other Houses being able to influence how the empire is governed during a Landsmeet held every three months.
Every House can elect representatives, however every House can only have one vote. Nameless Naramadi cannot influence the way the Ascendancy is governed. However, they can influence their local colony by petitioning their Governor or their advisors.
Culture
"Studying Naramadi for the past year I learned two things: They like organisation and they dislike questions." - A letter sent to the Terran Xenocultural Centre
To an outsider, Naramadi society is reliant on blind following of strange, sometimes unfathomable, rules and codes that nearly all Nameless or House member can recite from memory, but in truth the answer is much simpler. Within the Ascendancy, every part of life is controlled by the Parshaara (literally translated to "The Path"), which dictates how the society should be governed and a path it should take during it's development. A Young Naramad is checked for his natural skills and sent to an appropriate Guild, or the Universallum - an equivalent of an University - after they finish their primary education, and they are often required to prove how their skills develop over time. Further on, their entire society is structured in a way in which Houses elect representatives for the Landsmeet, with Nameless being urged to either fall in line and accept their position or better themselves to eventually join a House and become a full citizen.
Social Strata
The Naramadi are split into various social classes:
The Houses: The "citizen" class of the Naramadi society. All Houses provide the Ascendancy with resources, soldiers or political connections, and all Houses own land, industrial or agricultural sites within the Ascendancy. Houses are often required to provide employment for the Nameless, which is often utilized as a recruiting ground for new House members. While a House is often led by a singular family, other Naramadi (both House members and Nameless) can join them in either a Rite of Trial - consisting of a task that the Viator and their advisors will create for a would-be arrival - or Rite of Marriage.
House members carry their social status in their name via suffixes, which are as follows:
viator - House Leader, genderless title. With a direct translation being impossible, most choose to refer to them as Patriarch or Matriarch depending on gender when speaking in other languages.
zos - Advisor and Specialist. Naramadi carrying this title are either Elders chosen by the viator to advise them in day-to-day operations on Specialists in a given field that can be called upon if the need arises. This title is Naramadi only.
nov - House member. This title is Naramadi only.
kas - Alien that has earned the right to be part of a House. Despite that, most Aliens within the Naramadi Ascendancy are limited in the positions they can reach.
nan - Person, both alien and Naramadi, attempting to join a House through the Rite of Trial.
solus - House member that has chosen to pursue work that aids the Ascendancy as a whole. This title is often reserved for High-Ranking military officers or members of the Ascendancy Departments.
The Nameless: Naramadi, and aliens, unaffiliated with any House. Despite only House members being considered "citizens", the Nameless compose a majority of people within the Ascendancy, and because of that they are granted certain rights that some regions of Orion Confederacy might lack: public healthcare, work safety, minimum wage and planetary security.
Exiles: In the Parshaaran, Exile is reserved for the most heinous of crimes. An exiled Naramad is stripped of his Family name and all of his House titles and rights, if applicable. In essence, Exiles become nobodies. They are considered worthless and useless, lacking all rights and privileges, being forced to leave the Ascendancy or pick up a life of crime. However, Exile does not move down onto offspring. If any Exile still within the Ascendancy has a child, said child will be removed from them by force and raised by one of the largest houses as a Nameless. Many Exiles choose to leave the Ascendancy for Unathi space, or even the Orion Confederacy, but those that do so choose not to see their home, or society, ever again.
The Four largest Naramadi Houses are:
Haakar - the current ruling House. House Haakar reportedly owns nearly all of mining operations and trade services along the "Verkihar Arm" - a route leading into the heart of the Ascendancy.
Galvus - the "underground" House. Some SDF sources claim that a good portion of smugglers within the Orion Frontier have dealt with House Galvus at least once. Officially though, House Galvus is the only one having large-scale trade deals and diplomatic connections to various planets in the Orion Confederacy and Vikara Combine.
Vrthra - House Vrthra is the oldest of the large Houses. Their name is reported in various texts dating back before the Unification. They are also reported as the House that began the Naramadi military force, and it's separation from civilian life.
Onkhera - Owners of Onkhera Synthetic Solutions and Necropolis Industries. House Onkhera used their vast numbers of Artificers and Medicai to produce high-end prosthetics even before they started their megacorporation. They are known for supplying the public hospitals all across the Ascendancy with various Medicine donations and more affordable limb replacements.
Language
Sagaru is the main language of the Ascendancy, with many being taught Sinta'Unathi as a secondary language. It's also reported that only a quarter of the Ascendancy can speak Galactic Common at a communicative level, and even less of that on a level that could be considered "close to fluent." Common phrases of Sagaru include:
- Vishante Kaffas: Common swear word, multi-functional.
- Aadar Parshaara: Used as a greeting or farewell, can be translated to "Follow the path."
- Ruhnar: A derogatory way of referring to an alien, can be translated to "Unproven."
- Khna: Alien
Naming Conventions - Naramadi names are composed of a Personal, Family and House name if applicable. House members are required to utilize a proper suffix in their name, and to shorten their names if their House and Family names are the same. To simplify this explanation, We will use Ankharan as an example:
Ankharan Vittugen - Ankharan, of Vittugen the Family
Ankharan Vittugen nov Haakar - Akharan of Vittugen the Family, member of House Haakar
Ankharan nov Haakar - Ankharan of Haakar the Family, member of House Haakar
Naramadi as a people see other species referring to them by their personal name as an insult, and usually request non-Naramadi to refer to them by their Family name.
Religion
The official religion of the Ascendancy is Atheism as, despite popular belief, the Parshaara is not considered a religion by any of the Naramadi. It's often described as a philosophy, set of legislative guides, cultural anchors. Some would even describe it more simply as a set of rules to live by. The Parshaara dictates everything that the Ascendancy does, describing how the society should be structured and why and because of that, the entire Parshaara is spread across Six Tomes that most save dedicated scholars rarely read.
The Tomes are often shortened to six Stanzas that are easy to follow in every day life:
- 1st Stanza: Those unwilling to help themselves improve are not worth aiding.
- 2nd Stanza: Provide aid to those unable to improve themselves.
- 3rd Stanza: Your immediate community is more important than your wants.
- 4th Stanza: Selflessness leads to pain, aid but remember yourself.
- 5th Stanza: Deities remove focus from what's important, ignore them.
- 6th Stanza: Technology is a crutch, use it but don't rely on it.
Although the following is the official way of life in the Ascendancy, combined with the fact that nearly ninety percent of their citizens practice it, there exists records of a religion simply referred to as "The Twins". Information about said religion is scarce, if not impossible to find, though what is known for certain is that the Order of Knights of Verkihar practices said religion -- with it being nearly as old as the Order itself.
Relations
Unathi and the Kingdoms: Naramadi are closer to Unathi than any other race, given their bonds forged in two wars and trade treaties they accepted. Both sides understand one another greatly, and grant themselves respect.
Humanity and OriCon: Humanity is seen as worthless warmongers. As the uprising was started because of Human greed, it's rarely seen that a Human is treated well within the Ascendancy, barring trade in free ports on the Ascendancy borders.
Vikara Combine: In contrast to Humanity and the rest of Orion Confederacy, races of Viakra Combine are welcome in the Ascendancy on diplomatic missions. It's reported that there exists a Naramadi enclave on Qerr'Balak, and by that example it's speculated that the Naramadi constructed a Skrell enclave on Verkihar Minor.
Important Planets
Verkihar Minor - Cradle of the Naramadi species, located in the Verkihar Major system. Outsiders are rarely welcomed onto the planet, and the rumours and stories about it on the Exonet describe it as a, quote, "Dry world with fertile lowlands and harsh highlands". According to official reports Verkihar Minor is the only planet within the Hegemony with a shipyard built in a ring around the planet, which is operated by all of the Hegemony races.
Ikna-nha-Kae - Commonly translated as "Lightning in Air" is the only planet that was not captured by Exile forces during the uprising, and is one of the most developed colonies within the Naramadi Ascendancy.
Imgva Four - The battlefield of the last battle of the Exile Uprising, now Headquarters of the Fifth Legion.
Owsrnke - The largest free port of the Ascendancy, the planet that outsiders are allowed to land on to trade their goods: so long as they follow the various rules, laws and traditions of the Ascendancy.
Various Free Ports - Space stations located on the Ascendancy borders in which trade of all goods is permitted, even those illegal in other parts of the Galaxy. Often the sites of slave trading operations held by Hegemony slavers, and places in which pirates and smugglers exchange weapons, as long as they follow rules that the Hegemony imposes on them.
Technology (As understood by Nanotrasen)
Combined Arms
Naramadi armed forces utilize their own strengths, such as heightened agility and speed, to their advantage; as such standard rifles and gear were impractical. While it is not known when the technology was developed, the results are a force to be reckoned with. Naramadi Ascendancy Legions usually carry two weapons: a rifle or submachine gun, and a pistol. However, each of those weapons can easily be transformed into a machete, spear, sword or a knife, depending on the size of said weapon. While it makes them more complicated to use by untrained individuals, it allows the standard Legionnare to carry less equipment, while still accomplishing the same goals.
Verkihar Glaives
While the original design stems to the Unification Wars, in the current day the Glaives are a mixture of a double-bladed sword and a laser rifle. While not used by the Ascendancy Legions, most Houses utilize them in a ceremonial way. The complicated combat styles utilized by the Naramadi while fighting with the Glaive are nearly impossible to replicate by other races, as they are designed to be used by someone with a heightened agility. The laser inbuilt into the glaive is comparable to a standard laser rifle utilized by the Orion Confederation military.
Relativity Drive
The Naramadi People often include their own biological differences inside of their technology, and nowhere is it more apparent than in their thruster technology. The precise differences are not known publically, but the results are not something to scoff at. Their vessels are capable of reaching higher speeds than those of other Galactic Powers without sacrificing armor or size, while still utilizing the same amount of fuel as other designs. Many mega-corporations attempt to get their hands on such drives to no avail.
Oscillating "Stuttershields"
The precise ways of which Naramadi shields work is not understood completely. However, with the current observations it's understood that when a standard shield takes damage it dissipates the energy around it's entire structure to lessen the damage on the impact site. Stuttershields, on the other hand, seem to "slap away" the source of the damage, physically pushing it away if it's an object or diverting the energy away from itself. The major issue with Naramadi Shielding is their lack of scalability: They're designed for larger vessels and structures, and their lack of ability to protect from slower objects.
Independent Factions
The Knights of Verkihar
The Order are a sect of Warrior-Monks located on Verkihar Minor. Their history, training, and connection to the Landsmeet are a mystery even to the High Voice, however with the rules stated in the Parshaaran, the Order can step into action when they believe the Ascendancy is swaying off of the correct path. During the Naramadi Uprising all but seven members of the Order were killed, after which the Order was restructured to actively guard Verkihar Minor and other culturally important structures within the Ascendancy as a whole. Currently reported number of Knights is three thousand. Despite their work as Honor Guards, their combat proficiency is nothing to scoff at -- an average Knight is capable of killing multiple trained soldiers before being severely wounded.
Voices of the Houses
Despite what it may seem, most of the Houses cannot agree on simple matters, and so the Voices of the Houses was established. They are a group of Naramadi representatives sent to the Hegemony to function as diplomats. The leader of this group, referred to simply as the Voice, does not report to the Ruling House nor the Landsmeet. They are given a set of rules to follow when directing cross-species diplomacy, and when establishing enclaves within and without Ascendancy space.
Landsmeet
The ruling body of the Naramadi Ascendancy. The Landsmeet is a collection of House Representatives that debate the general course that the Ascendancy could take. As this often takes months, or even years, to establish a singular member of a House is chosen to work as a mediator, referred to as the "High Voice."
Ascendancy's Departments
The Departments of Medicine, Intelligence, War, Industry and Education oversee the day to day operations of the Naramadi Ascendancy. While the Landsmeet decides if something has to be done, the Departments decide how, and if it is even possible.
Onkhera Synthetic Solutions
Through Hardship, to Prosperity. - Slogan of Onkhera Synthetic Solutions
OSS, or Onkera Synthetic Solutions, is a Megacorporation focused on providing high quality prosthetic limbs and organs originating from within the Naramadi Ascendancy.
As the sole Megacorporation within the Naramadi Ascendancy, it brings to the Galactic scene what other corporations capable of providing Prosthetics lack - an alien viewpoint. In comparison to Hephaestheus or even VeyMed, OSS provides life-like prosthetics that can be adapted to the user's biology without changing their strength, speed or agility. They are designed to be undetectable and reliable.
In contrast to other prosthetics providers, OSS focuses on non-humans; providing organic looking replacement limbs for Tarjara, Vulpkanin, Naramadi and Teshari, among many others.
OOC Notes
Etiquette Guide for Naramadi
Despite what I wrote up there, not everyone cooperates well, you know how it is.
Just because you are part of a House doesn't mean you are royalty. You have to work either way, so some of the House aligned Naramadi have a no bullshit mindset, some are more open to dropping the system and establishing democracy, et cetera. What is important is that you hold tradition of your house dear, and if you are a Nameless - Tradition of your Family dear. Don't let anyone tarnish it, and don't let anyone take it away from you.
Oh, and all images on this page are taken from the official Vilous website, all original arists are lost to time.
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Author: Lord Papalus
Galactic Species
| |
| Common Species | Humans, Synthetics, Skrell, Tajara, Teshari, Unathi |
| Uncommon Species | Akula, Alraune, Auril, Dremachir, Naramadi, Zaddat, Dnin-Nepids |
| Whitelisted Species | Adherent, Dionea, Phoronids, Proteans, Shadekin, Vox, Xenochimera, Xenohybrids |
| Misc Species & Data | Minor Races, Scori, Changelings |