The Nevithian home system
The Nevithians evolved in a quadrinary system they call Turenas, which is dominated by its three white F-class subgiant suns. At the core of the system lies the most massive of their stars, at almost thrice the diameter and mass of humanity's Sol, glowing seventeen times as bright. In close orbit of this sun - at a mere 18 AU distance - resides an only marginally smaller star at twice the mass 14 times the brightness. Much further out, but still visible from every planet in the system, orbits the third white subgiant of equal proportions. The fourth component is a 'mere' red dwarf with only a fraction of the other star's luminosity, orbiting the far-away third subgiant.
Due to the system's brightness, the planets orbiting the first and second sun can recognise the red dwarf only when it is positioned directly in front of it's larger sibling. This solar eclipse occurs only once every millenia, bathing the shadowed planets in uncommon red light.
All stars of the Turenas system are orbited by at least one celestial object, usually more. An oddity of the system is its abundance of gas giants and super jovians, whom are often located especially close to their respective suns. In case of the primary star, the ellipsoid orbit of the first and second celestial bodys - both super jovians - produces colourful solar flares when gas is pulled over to their star and swallowed into its fusion process due to their close proximity in their nearest passing. This phenomenon is visible for all of the primary star's planets.
As a side effect of having four stars within the system, most planets in the core are permanently bathed in light and radiation from all direction. The planets orbiting the outer components share this characteristic for half their orbit, when they're 'in between' the four suns.
A direct consequence of this is that most planets in the Turenas system possess a hostile atmosphere, either due to their temperature or their irradiated surfaces. A notable exception of this is the fourth body orbiting the primary sun, attributed to its thin atmosphere and exotic gases therein. This fourth planet of Turenas-A is called Kel Nevath by its native inhabitants, whom call themself the Nevithians. At a warm 41.8 degrees Celsius on average, the fourth planet could sustain liquid water and sustain life, a unique attribute in the quadrinary system of Turenas that finally lead to the birth of an intelligent race after countless millenia of evolution.
Nevithians
A Nevith is a bipedal creature of almost humanoid shape, although strong distinctions exist.
For once, the high gravity of Kel Nevath kept the Nevithians a comparably small and strong race, with the tallest of their sturdy race bordering close to 1.5 metres (~4'11'') in height. Their bodies are muscular, equipped with thick and strong limbs. Their legs possess inverted knees, making them excellent short distance sprinters and jumpers in their high gravity environment. Their skin colour ranges from a dark tan to almost black, with a leathery feeling to the touch.
Their hands have five fingers attached, with an opposable thumb on each. Their feet are equipped with four toes and sharp nails that seem more akin to claws, with one of them extruding form the back of their feet, making them capable of crude grasps and excellent in clinging to rocky terrain and comparable surfaces.
The senses of a Nevith are adapted to well-lit environments featuring a lot of open terrain. As such, their pair of eyes can see far and with astounding acuity, but require a lot of light to see anything at all. Noticably, a Nevith's eyes are equipped with a second iris behind their first which is sensitive to radiation, a feature that developed due to periodic radiation storms and their threat to stable organic life. As a result, one could say that a Nevith can see short-waved radiation.
Nevithians have a superior sense of touch and listening, capable of identifying many forms of metal, rock and other materials naturally occuring on their homeworld by their surface or the sound of them scraping over other surfaces.
However, their noses are less developed and capable of smelling only the strongest of odours.
Nevithian physiology
As their physical build suggests, Nevithians are carnivores, although the segmentation of creatures into plants and animals isn't that clear on Kel Nevath. The planet's hydrosphere stretches only about 40% of the planet's surface, with the warm water located in large streams that are in perpetual motion and condensation, depending on where more of the system's many suns shine. This caused for most of Kel Nevath's animal and plant life to require at least some sort of mobility to keep up with the precious water reserves.
Therefor, many plants are fast growing and equipped or made of thick tendrils that possess tissue akin to animal muscles, giving them the ability to move. Similiarly, photosynthesis is a common and effective way to gain nutrients for plant and animal both. Carnivorous plants aren't uncommon on Kel Nevath.
Nevithians are built for the hunt, posessing a natural regeneration and a high demand for energy. To satiate this requirement, it is said that a Nevithian spends a fifth of his life on the hunt or eating; something only advanced technology was capable to reduce after factory farming was introduced. To compensate for their quick metabolism, they are cold blooded mammals, something not that uncommon on the 41 degrees hot Kel Nevath. They are capable of a form of hybernation, where their physical activity reduces to a minimum; a state in which the modern Nevithians' ancestors often used to lay in ambush for passing wildlife.
Something most organic life on Kel Nevath has in common with the Nevithians is a natural resistance against radiation. While they are by no means immune to mutation and high levels of radiation, they have developed dense skin with structures prone to block and swallow minor dosages of radiation, safe to be shed, on top of their stable genetic code. A side effect of this is a natural resistance to physical damage, as their skin is hard to penetrate by many less advanced weapons.
An oddity for a Nevith is their unknown lifespan. Because of their constant hunting for equally lethal prey, duels and wars among themselves, the effect of radiation storms that build up over a long life and similiar reasons, no known Nevithian has ever died of old age. Their age is measured in droughts, a phenomenon occuring every 4.5 terran years when Kel Nevath is equally shone upon by all three white suns - temperatures during this period raise by over ten degrees, water evaporation is at its peak, and radiation storms occur daily - an environmental hazard most perilous for their less technologised ancestors. Nevithians are considered adult after their third drought, with the expectance of living another fifteen to twenty, before dying any of the many 'unnatural' deaths so readily available on Kel Nevath.
The rapid cell regenartion - even the ability to regrow a lost limb after a drought or two - allows a Nevithian to be almost perpetually in his prime, a feature unique to them even among Kel Nevath.
Nevithian society
Nevithian society is coined by strong family and clan bonds, where a family owns a business for several generations and / or employs only those Nevithians somehow related to them. Clans - larger families who accept not blood related Nevithians into their own - are among the most influental with large industrial complexes and strength projected far enough to claim a certain stretch of territory containing other families and clans as their own.
Historic finds revealed that Nevithians used to be solitary hunters that only met to mate, but the first tools soon allowed for a single Nevith to carry more food in backpacks or pockts. Their early society soon developed towards smaller groups and families to hunt in more efficient packs, forming nomadic tribes and clans.
The technologic progression of the Nevithian civilisation was rather rapid, despite an extended period of tribalism. The ever changing water supplies on the planet's surface allowed for only a few tribes to find suitable locations for permanent residence, usually located near the few bodys of water large enough to maintain adequate water levels during a drought.
Each settlemnt and even tribe of Nevithians required huge strips of land to sustain their lifes, and with a growing population came a need for refinement of food production. Some settlements fared better than others, occasionally disbanding when all means seemed to fail, but eventually scientific progress allowed for 'husbandry' of the Kel Nevath flora and fauna.
Until recently, modern civilisation was divided among eight great clans, each ruled by their oldest Nevithian member titled as a Sovereign. These great clans often held ties with each other and the larger ones within their own territory. Wars were rare, but cost hundreds of thousands of Nevithian lifes when they occured. More often, feuds were solved through political manoeuvers, assasinations and most importantly, duels.
These duels were a central point in Nevithian society. Scars were a visible sign for a strong and honourable Nevith who was a capable warrior, who would stand for his opinion, and who was sure to remain loyal even in case of danger.
Nevithian society slowly evolved this way, increasing its scientific knowledge and altering its cultural values from time to time, although their central values proofed reistant to time, similiar to their stable genetic makeup. The rise to power of Tenta Kalar changed a lot of things, though.
Rise of the Nevithian Dominion
Tenta Kalar, the Nevith who would eventually rise to the position of Lord-Sovereign, was a member of the great clan of Sha'Thas, the rulers of the Northern Reaches. However, he had joined the claned two droughts earlier, with his blood's origins lost to history. Within the short period of twelve terran years, he rose from a simple warrior recruit to a contestant for the great clan's Sovereign. Despite being much younger and less experienced, he challenged the Sovereign of Sha'Thas to a duel for his position - A behaviour that wasn't unheard of, although seldomly successful.
As honour required, both duellists would fight with traditional Delvon Blades, a short blade of steel attached to the lower arm, and may carry any sort of clothing or armour they wanted. The less armoured the duellists would appear, the more honourable they were. Tenta Kalar surprised everyone, however, as he appeared in neither regular clothing nor conventional armour, but a then-unknown form of power armour powered by trans-newtonian technologies. Later, history showed that a splinter of the great clan had developed these technologies in secret with the intent to usurp the great clan. Although unsurprising in retrospect, Tantar Kalar won the fight unscathed while the observers stood in awe. The duel was first declared null and void, as this new form of armour was deemed unhonourable, but the elder was assassinated in the coming night, with Tenta Kalar stating that the rules allowed any form of armour.
The great clan of Sha'Thas was at the bring of collapse when a small army of Nevithians equipped with this powered armour rose from the cities and annexed all Sha'Thas territory for Tenta Kalar in quick order. Revolts were about to break out when the second-oldest Nevithians of the clan acknowledged Tenta Kalar as their Sovereign to prevent the complete destruction of their clan.
The new Sovereign was far from satisfied with his new position, however. One by one, he challanged all other great clan leaders to a duel, and with each passing victory of his, the other Sovereigns adopted more and more unhonourable tactics in hope of beating him. This behaviour however solidified Tenta Kalar's grasp on the other great clans, as he was suddenly the more honourable combatant in the duels.
After smaller riots and the increasingly bloody duels, Tenta Kalar declared himself Lord-Sovereign over all of Kel Nevath and appointed the next-oldest Nevithians of each great clan as new Sovereigns of their respective territroy. They would all act as his advisors, while he assumed control of the entire Nevithian race - meaning the united military, new trans-newtonian research and global matters.
Nevithian philosophy and religion
The belief of Nevithians usually revolves around their suns, light and warmth. While the influence of religions throughout their history rose and waned, no faith has ever assumed a global leading role. A common belief in suns as lifegivers is present in every Nevith, but beyond that religions splinter in countless fragments. Life on Kel Nevath was usually too busy to allow long spiritual rituals, promoting a more intellectual form of religion than actual worship of anything.
Only with the rise to power of Lord-Sovereign Tenta Kalar did a form of religion start to dominate the political landscape. The Starfaith was a mediocre religion in the years before, promoting the stars as a divine being sustaining life in the universe, the brighter stars being more powerful in their divinity. All stars would also yearn for life to inhabit their systems - a task that the Four Mothers of the Nevithians were supposed to have passed on to them. As such, the Starfaith clergy favoured scientific research into interstellar space, promoting an aggressive exploration and colonisation of all solar systems in the galaxy and beyond.
With the changes to come under the Lord-Sovereign's reign, the Starfaith would assume an important role in Nevithian society.
The Lord-Sovereign announced the creation of a starfleet military branch, of whom all personnel could only come from the Starfaith clergy. Its task in the coming years was in unison with the religion's goals and the Lord-Sovereign declared the new head of the clergy in return.
