Species Name: Rothian

Home world: Rothia

Description: Rothians are tall, bipedal, oviparous reptilians. They are cold-blooded and do not suffer from the effects of aging. They are physically strong, obligate carnivores, possessing claws on both their hands and feet, and a raptor-like head. Their hands possess three fingers and a single thumb, while their feet have three large toes. Compared to humans, they have less defined shoulders with thicker and longer necks. Scale colors and patterns vary between individuals, but tend to consists of shades of green, brown, and other colors that would have offered camouflage in their natural environment. Like all life on Rothia, they are resistant to the harmful effects of high energy wavelengths of light, such as x-rays, due to the heightened presence of such energy in their home system. There is minimal sexual dimorphism between males and females of the species, and no noticeable external differences between the two genders, to the point that non-Rothians are usually unable to distinguish between them.

Architecture and Technology Design: Rothian architecture, for buildings and ships alike, tend to be clean and efficient, preferring rounded surfaces to flat edges in order to limit structural weak points. Robots, which are ubiquitous in nearly every facet of Rothian society, follow the same aesthetic as the rest of their structures. Most machines are programmed with some form of “dumb” AI, though smart AI are used for highly complex or important tasks. Rothian society does make use of a highly efficient form of cold fusion for powering even small devices, especially for civilian purposes; however, Rothian have also, in recent decades, mastered the efficient production and containment of antimatter, representing the cutting edge of power generation. Antimatter technology powers entire planets, starships, and more powerful forms of weaponry. Rothian antimatter technology is a closely-guarded military secret, and significant measures are taken to limit the possibility of reverse engineering.

Government: The Rothian government which controls the homeworld and its colonies, the Vu'sho'to'Ka (Will of the People) is, at its core, authoritarian. The highest office of power is known to be a council of seven individuals the Rahn’Saki, who serve for life unless removed from power by the other members of the council, though such an event has never taken place in Rothian history. With Rothian immortality, lifespans among the population have grown exponentially as medicinal technology has improved, so some members of the Rahn’Saki are known to be thousands of years old. New members are only brought onto the council when a current council member dies, so it is an understandably rare event. The inner workings of the council are completely opaque to anyone on the outside, and in fact, council members have always disappeared from public life shortly after being accepted. It is exceptionally rare for any member of the Rahn’Saki to be seen in public, and some have not been seen in quite literally hundreds of years. However, their influence is seen across all of Rothian space. Rothian power structures are generally organized from the top-down, with higher offices appointing individuals to lower offices. The only elected positions within Rothian society are generally smaller, local offices.

Military: The Rothian military doctrine generally prefers quality over quantity. Although military training is required for all citizen, there is no requirement for any citizen to join the armed forces outside of some fledgling colonies, or a hypothetical large-scale crisis. The general ranks for most ground forces are filled out by robotic units, while Rothians themselves generally take on more leadership-oriented or specialist positions. Although their fleet is smaller in numbers than some other species, the Rothian military leverages its advanced technology to create higher quality, more powerful ships to project force across Rothian space. As a general rule, the Rothians are not aggressive in the galaxy and have never actually started a war with another species, though they are more than prepared to fight defensively.

The technology which the Rothians use is highly advanced, boasting strong energy shields and armor plating which is both impact and heat resistant. Their soldiers wear different armor based on their role, but in general, they use lightweight plated armor made from synthetic materials that is designed to hinder mobility as little as possible. Personal energy shielding is standard among all Rothian soldiers. Most small arms are fusion-powered, energy-based weapons that fire superheated plasma, while larger weapons sometimes make use of antimatter charges. Soldiers tend to receive extensive cybernetic enhancements that greatly improve their capabilities and survivability.

Society: Rothian society, in general, strives to provide the highest standard of living possible to the people, which they have accomplished, albeit through means other species may find questionable. Their standard of living on most of their worlds it at such a height that most citizens still live what many would consider a wealthy life. Cybernetic enhancements are commonplace among Rothian citizens and can considerably improve the average quality of life. Although there is an "upper" and "lower" class, the lower class is far from what most races would consider poor. Crime and corruption do exist, though the lack of poverty does significantly reduce crime. The Rahn’Saki directly oversees a secretive organization known as the Rahn’Masser, which serves a role as both special forces and secret police. They operate above normal Rothian law, and are only accountable to the Rahn’Saki themselves. They are primarily tasked with identifying and neutralizing any threat to the efficient operation of Rothian society, from outside or within their own government, as well as pursuing the priorities of the Rahn’Saki.

In order to achieve such a high standard of living, the Rothians had to make what some might consider sacrifices in civil rights. For example, the government places heavy controls on the population level. Most citizens will never have children due to both strict genetic requirements for the privilege, and due to the species' low death rate. All decisions regarding reproduction are given to the government, who decide when and who will have a child based upon genetic strength and societal need. Additionally, all children are raised directly by a government agency from hatching to adulthood, regardless of parentage. Family units, as other species tend to see them, do not exist among Rothians. While the information is not hidden from them, most Rothians do not even know the names of their parents.

Since male and female Rothians are almost identical in average height, weight, strength, and so on, societal differentiation between genders is completely non-existent. Men and women fill the same roles and follow the same styles of living.

Important worlds: The Rothians have settled a number of worlds across their section of the galaxy, including the following examples:

Rothia: The Rothian homeworld is a lush world which roughly 8,000 miles in diameter at the equator. The planet has a single moon, as well as an impressive ring system for a terrestrial world. Most of the planet is a temperate forest with large mountain ranges scattered across its four continents. It is a highly geologically active planet, giving it a greater number of volcanoes than most planets, though relatively common eruptions means that more devastating volcanic cataclysms are rare. Due to the wind currents generated by the planet's ubiquitous mountain ranges, it has a higher than average number of flying creatures, to the point that there exist entire food chains that hardly ever touch the ground. All life on Rothia is heavily resistant to high energy waves such as x-rays and gamma rays, since Rothia is bathed in such rays far more heavily than most habitable planets. Despite the fact that Rothia has the highest Rothian population of any planet, around three billion, much of the world is still undeveloped and in its natural state. The system which contains Rothia has other three other planets. None are naturally habitable, but all are exploited without restriction for resources.

Throssai and Syr'Jakra: Throssai is a gas giant, also with a spectacular ring system, located in a binary star system within Rothian space. Though the reason for it is quite a mystery, the planet is notable for having an unusually high concentration of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that is used in fusion technology. The Rothians constructed massive floating cities in the planet's upper atmosphere in order to collect the gas, which has made it a rather wealthy colony. While these settlements were originally simple mining platforms, they have evolved into true cities. Each platform is a self-contained metropolis that is completely sealed from the storms outside, and each one uses some of the most advanced technology the Rothians have to offer. The platforms are expensive to maintain as they have to import almost every resource, but tourism and deuterium mining make them highly profitable regardless.

In addition to its ring system, Throssai has a total of thirty-four moons, and while many of them have minor settlements, only one contains true cities, Syr'Jakra (Small Sanctuary). The moon is about 3,700 miles in diameter at its equator and is completely habitable. After only minor terraforming, the Rothians were able to establish settlements that evolved into sprawling cities in only a few hundred years. The world has complicated ecology with many different types of biomes, ranging from swamps, to forests, to deserts. The moon has only one mountain range, but it extends across the equator of the entire moon. Due to its low gravity and the unique ancient cataclysm that formed the mountains, they are some of the tallest in Rothian space. In fact, the highest of the mountains is just over twelve miles tall. Because of the moon's unique and interesting geology and stunning view of Throssai's rings from its surface, it has become a popular tourist destination, although anyone who wishes to stay on the world for an extended period must be prepared to mitigate the harmful effects of low gravity.

Anskaria: With almost 90% of its surface covered by oceans, Anskaria would not have been considered as a major settlement were it not for its location in the galaxy. Settled shortly after the establishment of trade relations with humanity, this planet, which is only slightly smaller than Rothia, is at a prime location to make it a hub of galactic trade. As a result, Anskaria has the highest percentage of non-Rothians of any of their worlds, with Rothians making up a mere 40% of the total population. Some of the Rothian government's more strict laws have been relaxed on this planet, though any non-Rothian who wishes to gain the benefits of full citizenship must abide by their full set of laws. Although the total population is higher than any Rothian world, at around 6.25 billion, there are only around 2.5 billion Rothians. Due to the planet's low amount of land, most of the population is contained within cities. The planet has more business incorporated on it than any other Rothian world due to both its location and favorable tax laws. The system also contains a gas giant that is mined for deuterium, but it is not as significant as Throssai.

Rith'Kara: This planet is a large and slightly arid planet located in the solar system closest to Rothia, and as such was one of the first planets colonized by the Rothians. It has nearly twice the mass as Rothia, so it is a high gravity world with expansive plains and few mountains. Originally a full desert, Rith'Kara was terraformed over time to become more easily habitable, so most of the planet now resembles a savanna and contains small seas. The planet's high gravity hinders the construction of skyscrapers, so cities tend to expand outward instead of upward. As the Rothians expanded to other planets, this world would likely have been all but abandoned were it not for the sheer mineral wealth of not only the planet, but the rest of the solar system. Many other bodies throughout the system, while not habitable, contain high concentrations of useful materials. It is for this reason that Rith'Kara is the Rothians' largest manufacturing center of both civilian and military goods. The shipyards above the planet produce even more military spaceships than Rothia, which is why the planet is the most well-guarded Rothian world other than Rothia itself.