Name of nation: The Independant Clans of Atan
Species: Atan-atheri
Description of government:
The government of the people consists mostly of Clans, who are divided into Tribes. Clans are led by a Chief, and Tribes are led by an Elder. Clans function as a pure democracy, while Tribes are ruled by councils of Chiefs. All, however, pay tribute to the reigning Stargazer. The Stargazer retains supreme military, scientific, and governmental authority over the Atan-atheri civilization, and is advised by the Elder Council.
Description of military:
The Atan-wu's military is heavily geared towards maintaining their species' isolation, and they do this utilizing generational knowledge of guerrilla warfare. Not for many years has open battle been fought, with the Atan-wu instead opting for mass hit-and-run attacks on each other. Their armor is light, and in the relative wasteland of their home, few save for the Plains Riders have any use for heavy armored vehicles. Instead, they go mostly on foot, or in aircraft, and fight from range. This makes them excellent skirmishers and raiders, but as a rule, these tendencies make them ill-suited for pitched battles against an entrenched enemy. Given, however, that rather than hitting the trenches directly, they'd much rather fire a Flame Rocket at it from several hundred meters away.
Technological Overview:
The species' has, for many years, been focusing on non-militaristic efforts. During the various Rages (outlined below), the world has become ravaged and dangerous to live. Thus, the Atan-wu have been dedicating most of their efforts to improve the quality of life for their species. Medical tech, terraforming and hydroponics, purification, and power production are specializations of theirs. This means, however, that little thought has been put into R&D for the military. Weapons are more powerful, but little thought or creativity has been put into them. For example, in never occurred to them to use lasers to shoot down missiles; instead, they still use relatively crude kinetic weapons and iron bullets, not the guided laser or plasma weapons some other races might boast.
But it would be foolish to use this to base their technological level. Many dangerous plagues unleashed during the Age of Sundered Stars (see "History") have been eliminated by the Atan-wu's medical tech, and many great genetically engineered, feral monsters, have been tamed for use in domestic uses, such as pulling massive farm plows.
Cultural Overview:
Psychology:
The average Atan-wu is normally timid or subdued when talking to strangers. It would be a mistake to take this for weakness, however; this is a mere test, to properly gauge a potential ally's usefulness...or how dangerous an enemy could be. In reality, the Atan-wu are fiercely independent, though not war-like. Thus, many Atan-wu cultures in the Confederation developed separately, meaning many separate ideals exist in the same environment. This leads to conflict, naturally. Atan-wu will often bicker for the mere sake of bickering, and little contact between the separate tribes is conducted without yelling of some sort. Inter-tribal affairs are more cordial, but often still heated. Even family units have occasional spats.
This is expected in Atan-wu culture, and widely accepted. Due to the way the Atan-atheri (Il'Thul for "People of Atan" with "Atan" itself translating to "Home" in the conceptual sense. See Language*), Atan-atheri feel emotions powerfully. Thus, they are encouraged to find outlets. The most common, and easiest, is yelling. However, other activities, such as recreational sports (such as "Sun Ball") are encouraged, as is exercise, and meditation has been getting a following in recent years.
In summary: Atan-wu are a passionate, but naturally distrusting people, who can be accused of petty tribalism, but never of over-reaction.
Language:
The Language of the Atan-wu is Il'Thul, with different regional dialects being common. Atan-wu is, in human terms, a very vowel-focused language: most sounds are a mixture of hard consenants (k, q, m, n, so on) and hard vowels ( Ay, Ah, Oo, et cetera). Some xeno-linguists have drawn a comparison between a mixture of Irish, French, and the fictional Quenya languages.
*What is the difference between Atan-wu (AY-tayn-wu) and Atan-atheri (AY-tayn Ay-teer-e)?
Atan-wu is the name for the culture of the Atan-atheri, while Atan-atheri is the name for the species itself. One can be Atan-wu without being Atan-atheri, but very few Atan-atheri exist who are not Atan-wu. Those of the species who are not Atan-Wu are the Adar-que (see History). In practice, the two terms are nearly interchangable, due to the natural distrust of outsiders.
History:
The Rage.
All in the Atan-atheri civilization know of their race's natural inclination to argument. Sometimes over petty grievances like what percentage of milk-to-reduced fat ratio was superior (2% generally wins out). Other times, these arguments are on grave matters of state or policy, like taxes. Most generally agree that this is healthy, wanting rather for any grievances to be open, aired, and addressed, rather than repressed. But what few know, is that this is biological. The excess anger is produced by an extra pheromone in an Atan-atheri's brain. This pheromone encourages more assertive behavior, in a way beyond even the capability of adrenaline: and this has been directly linked to both individual behavior and group mentality, a fact that has baffled the greatest minds of the species, not unlike how most humans still have a remarkably poor understanding of the brain.
However, this gland has an unintended side-effect: when enough of this pheromone is produced, generally in times of social upheaval or uncertainty, it has the potential to spread to others. Normally, such things are quarantined and stopped effectively by whatever government is reigning at the time, through either quick and subtle execution or extensive therapy and pacification of the individual or group. But, without quarantine or removal of the individual, this pheromone tends to activate receptors in other individuals, who then must be contained. This inspires a domino effect, in which individuals are Enraged.
The Atan-atheri's assertive and conflicting nature is a natural way to stop this from happening: proper emotional outlet is critical to keeping levels of this "super-adrenaline" in check. But, sometimes, something happens that is so egregious, so angering, that it causes a near-instantaneous Rage that spreads quickly across the planet. There have been six of them, and each time, it has rocked Atan to it's hyper-dense core.
The First Rage: The Age of Sundered Stars.
Long ago, so long that even the oral histories do not remember them, the Atan-atheri ruled their planet as near-immortal gods. At the wave of their hand, great palaces constructed out of starlight and fire, and entire harvest's worth of food were created in but an instant. All was blissful, and the loveliness of that time was such that had never graced the planet, before or since.
But one cannot simply deny one's nature. In those days, emotion was outlawed, in favor of logic and planning. Justicars enforced this brutally, taking away "Hysterical" victims to their "Calming" compounds, from which none ever returned quite the same. The world was ruled by Wa'xhul Sun-fist, the Great Conqueror. He was a brash and hasty youth, and though he meant well, he could not see the obvious problems his doctrine had on his people, being something of a biological oddity. Thus it was, that under his rule, the People's anger built, like a steamer bursting with pressure. He did his best, but in the end, what he did mattered not. For when a city noble kidnapped and forcibly married the wife of a local Techno-Nomad chieftain, the anger and unease that had been building in his populace exploded. The Chieftain, Thalk Stargazer, declared war on the city. The nobles and Justicars sided with their King, Sunfist, while the people sided with Stargazer.
The First Rage was the worst among those that followed, and it swept the planet with fire, and great tumults arose within' the earth. Entire cities were leveled, oceans were swallowed by yawning chasms created by miniature suns, set loose upon the world, while mountains crumbled to dust, only to rise again where entire continents were rocked by the marching feet of billions going to war. The Sun itself was blocked in a cloud of ash and smog that belched from cities burning in fire of many colors, devestating the plant life.
In the end, the war lasted long beyond either Sunfist or Stargazer's lifetimes, or those of their children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. Entire generations vanished, never to rise again. The war never emerged with a clear victor, and instead petered out, as warriors who knew not why they fought (for history, more so than innocence, is the true first casualty of war) simply dropped their crudely-forged blades and went home. Billions died over the course of hundreds of years, and in the end, the great palaces and harvests were gone, turned to rubble and fields of choking ash.
Now was the Age of First Rebuilding, and it lasted long, with squabbling tribes clawing their way to hoard the ashes of the Old World, to become the Kings of Ash and Bone. This lasted 234 standard years, and ended with the Treaty of At'Gre (translated as Treaty of Last Forest), and was followed by the Age of Remembrance.
Other:
Biology:
The Atan-wu are a race of near-humans, though with a few important distinctions. These distinctions go far beyond the superficial: their skins are a variety of different colors, such as blue or indigo, as well as having hexagonal bone plates over areas of little to no overt muscle movement (such as the forearms, shoulders, and cheeks/forehead). These evolved to allow the Atan-wu to reflect radiation from their native system's home star. Some of their race have even developed extreme mutations relating to these: For example, even today, some of those native to Atanatari's great savannahs retain the ability to flex and stretch their bone-plates in critical areas, such as the back of the head and knees, to shield themselves from high-velocity impacts. However, these plates' primary function is still to reflect harmful radiation.
In addition, they are often more massive than humans, due to their planet's higher gravity. The higher gravity necessitated more muscle growth to support a skeleton. This is, however, rarely a deciding factor, but allows them to be more comfortable in larger terrestrial planets, or performing menial labor.
Finally, Atan-wu very rarely have hair, save for half-breeds of human-Atan relations. Instead, they have a smooth, stringy substance covering their heads, normally styled in various meshes and braids. Humans have compared the actual feel and texture of Atan-wu hair to carbon fiber.
Political faction: the Utul-Thaqe (Uu-t-ul th-ay-ke)
The Utul Thaqe is currently the largest tribe of the Atan-atheri. They control both of the poles of the planet, Atan, where the solar radiation is less damaging. This allowed the flora to flourish more densely that in other areas of the planet, thus leading to greater biodiversity and environmental stability, as opposed to the Burning Planes of the equator, or the Frigid Wastes near the World's Spine mountains. The
The Utul-Thaqe, due to the minimal radiation on the poles, built their buildings tall, and in the center of the north pole, the shining beacon of Utuleri can be seen, shining afar off. It's curved domes glimmer white in the sun, and reflect the simmering whites, greens, and blue hues of the Three Moons of Atan (Urel, Uran, and Urqas), like simmering gems in a deep blue pool. Walls constructed of white granite reflect the worst of the radiation during the Summer months, and combined with the Solar Energy Sails developed in the great Daara (roughly analogous to colleges) of Utuleri, the interior of the city is made a paradise, and one of the few places aliens can live without worrying if they will develop genetic mutations. Finally, the city is built in the valley of two large mountains, with several rivers intersecting in it's gates (think Gondolin).
The Utul-Thaqe are a relatively moderate group of Atan-atheri, and are the primary driving force behind both the Atan-wu Confederation, and the advancement of the race as a whole. And though they still fall into the species-wide emotional turbulence that is emblematic of their race, their background in science and diplomacy has taught the best of them patience, making them suitable for dealing with irritating outsiders, unlike certain other tribes, who would sooner start a shouting match that might be tragically misinterpreted as overt hostility.
The tribe is ruled by the Stargazer, Aqshy-Wrain-Utul-Thaqe, who is the current leader in a long line of Stargazers. The Stargazer is the tribe's scientific, military, and governing heart, and is the ultimate authority in the city, and indeed, on the entire planet*.
*note: many tribes, though they pay tribute or are vassalized by the Utul-Thaqe, have their own societies and leaders independent of the reigning Stargazer.
