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Unathi
Species Type: Sapient Bipedal Reptillian
Population: ~13 Billion
Population Majority: Unathi
Common Language: Sinta'Unathi
Government Type: Polytheistic Theocracy
Unathi are a tall reptilian race from the heated climate world of Moghes, and the center of both the Moghes Dominion and its guiding religion, the Unity. The Unathi have carved a place for themselves through faith and diplomacy, though escalating conflicts with the extremist Redeemer sect of the Unity have given pause to the Dominion's once-meteoric rise.
Unathi typically average in height at 6'11''(204cm) in males and 6'7'' (199cm) in females. They are bipedal and possess many features archetypical to reptiles, including cold-bloodness. Their heavy-set builds (250 kg to 350) and thick skeletons and protective scutes lend them some extra resilience, but limit their mobility.
The Unathi lifecycle is similar to many other reptilian species, as they lay eggs rather than giving live birth to their young. The Unathi lifespan is paced more slowly than average, with adulthood being reached around 32 Sol Standard years and most living into their early 200's.
Scale colors among Unathi vary, but the vast majority of Unathi have earth colored scales.
Uniquely, the Unathi anatomy has the ability to naturally and passively regenerate missing limbs. While this takes several weeks of recovery, the process is enough to cause their bodies to naturally reject all prosthetics and even most cybernetic implants.
The history of the Unathi species before the rise of the Dominion is information lost to both time and war. While often speculated to be a tribal and secular people with knowledge and progress tightly kept within clans, the sweeping faith of the Unity centuries ago is thought to be a logical progression of past primitive faiths early in the species' development.
While however a pacifist people now, aside from the Redeemer Sect, it's still a well documented history of the Dominion's rise to unification was not only won with culteral appeal but also brutal war on 'savage' outlying tribes and clans who's spiritual faiths didn't conform to the Unity, seen as work of the Unmaker. However with the majority of the planet subjugated under the introspective faith, knowledge of technological progress was free to spread. The Unathi people accelerated in(for them), a short series of generations, only stopped by every species' great question - the stars.
However by serendipity, or to some accounts, the will of the Unity's Spirits, the Skrell had been the first contact with the Dominion. Trading with them the secrets to space and FTL flight, as well as the technology to thrive. In exchange should the Skrell ever need allies in war, they had only need call upon a species of hardy, long-lived reptiles now armed with advanced weaponry and Blue Space drives.
It’s impossible to talk about Unathi society without talking about the complex Animistic Religion called the Unity. Having united their homeworld centuries ago, the Unity’s values have become part of much of the broader Unathi cultural spectrum. Values such as honor, the fulfilling of duties, preserverence and perfection of one’s craft.
The main social unit of Unathi society is the clan. An extended family (Not necessarily blood related.) descended from an exceptional individual. Many Unathi have their voice heard through their clan elders, representives to the Disciple of their region. Though not every Unathi is part of a clan, who are labeled as Unbound.
The Unbound make up the margins of Unathi society, either people who aren't part of the Unity, non-converts or people who have abandoned it, or individuals who have committed crimes severe enough to have their clan taken away from them. By default, any non-believer in the Unity is considered an Unbound. And the Unbound are by far the largest group the Redeemers recruit from.
While the Unity’s founding and uniting of Moghes is shrouded in mystery, its tenets are very clear. A universalist animistic faith that stresses the perfection of one’s craft and the perfection of one’s self. Priests called "Disciples" lead the faith, the bulk of whom act as bureaucrats and local functionaries of the areas they govern. Leading the leadership of the Dominion is a council of the highest ranked Disciples (Arch-Disciples), who consider themselves to be the voices and conduits of the spirits of the Unity. Having proven their devotion to the spirits by giving up their individual names, most Unathi have never seen an Arch-Disciple, as much of their edicts comes from members of the Unity lower down. Some less pious members of the Unity even doubt that they exist or have long since died.
The core of the Unity's tenants is expressed through hard work and diligence, and among the Unity, and perfection of a craft is one of the final steps to enlightenment. A complex road to enlightenment, dictated by many rules. Foremost of which is a policy of pacifism, though a personal level. Most Unathi are permitted self-defense.
Many of the Unity's faithful endow great importance to its egalitarian ideals towards sapient life, claiming that all life is created equal. All outside converts are accepted, so long as a member of the Unity can vouch for an outsider's ability to honor the Unity's teachings. Because of this, despite mostly being practiced by Unathi, there remains a large minority of non-Unathi followers of the religion throughout known space.
Outside of the rigid church structure and rules of the Unity lies the Redeemers, who are infamous for their breacher torpedoes and hardsuits. The Redeemers are considered a radical sect of Unathi religion born mostly out of Unbound converts back to the Unity. More zealous then even the most fervent clanbound believer and far more violent, The Redeemers used to function as the pursuit and craft of war of the Unity during it's bloody unification era. However over the generations has been culturally abandoned as a shameful, or unneeded relic of a more harsh time. Despite this, the Redemeers still have a strong base among the Unathi, and there are rumors that suggest that the Dominion still supports the Redeemers through their inaction towards them.
The Redeemer's beliefs are fundamentally rooted in the most extreme parts of the Unity and ideas of Unathi supremacy in the Moghes Dominion. Unlike most other believers of the Unity, the Redeemer's are violent and willing to kill those they deem servants of the Unmaker. That is to say any non-member of the Unity, and some even less pious members of the Unity they consider to have consorted with Heathens.
Uueoa-Esa, the Giver. The Mother of Unathi. The most important of the Unity Spirits and one of the only with a gender, Uueoa is the creator of Unathi, and has created every individual Unathi, and is the Unathi race’s shared mother.
The Provider, The Father of all non-Unathi. The second most important spirit, especially among non-Unathi converts to the Unity, and creator of all non-Unathi species. While not often portrayed as antagonistic, the Provider among harderliners, especially Redeemers is considered at best a lesser deity to the Giver.
The Reclaimer, The spirit of death and rebirth. When a being dies, they are said to go to the Reclaimer to be given new form by the Provider or the Giver. The Reclaimer is considered to be the primary spirit of many Redeemers, as many Redeemer cells consider the Reclaimer the giver of their rebirth, and the permission to kill those they consider unworthy of the Giver’s gift.
The Builder, The spirit of progress and Unathi Forge Cities. Highly regarded among the Unathi, the Builder is second only to the Giver and Provider. And it’s said that every well made item has a portion of the Builder’s spirit in it.
The Unmaker. A universally reviled spirit by all Unathi The Unmaker represents the antithesis of Unathi society as a spirit of destruction and war. Feared, and given heed only when war comes to try and satisfy it’s endless hunger for death and chaos.
Minor Spirits. These are not the only spirits for the Unity, and many Unity have a host of smaller less important spirits they pay heed to when they need to, a Farmer would pray to a spirit of hunting and good fortune for a good harvest for example.
Today the Unathi and Dominion are acknowledged as a major state and type 1.5 species sharing relations with both Solgov and the Skrellian Fleets. However compared to both their population and territory is much smaller, credited to both their late start in space flight and long lives and generation gaps.
Credit for Unathi are they're written on Occulus goes to SirSiggles, Gloss and Ashturai who made all of these pages possible.