All About Nehantish

[Mitch]

Okay, it has come to my attention that even though I have developed a rediculous amount of information about Nehantish (the planet that Sejah and J'ktal come from), I haven't shared a lot of it with the majority of you.

So, this will become the unnofficial Nehantish Q&A thread. If you have any questions about Nehantish, or its furry inhabitants, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them.

[Tear]

Finish that comic yet?

[Mitch]

No. And don't bug me about it in this thread, please. This one is to give me a break from my comic, and work and school and everything else.

[Droo]

I know it's been touched on before in other threads but could you elaborate on the system of faith and religion amongst Nehantites?

[Morgan Evanar]

Further, could you explain Nehantish's system of government?

[Mitch]

Nehantite Faith and Religion

For all time, there has only been one universal deity and his name is Garfife. He created the universe, and all life in it, and watches over all life. The Force is simply a manifestation of his power that he allows sentient beings chosen at random to access so that he can watch them and see what they do with their granted powers.
He is known by many different names throughout the universe, and occasionally chose to represent himself as several beings instead of one to see what his creations would do. Garfife is the be all and end all of everything there is, and there is no power above him.
That is how Nehantites know him to be, and that is how they worship him. But, they also know him from a slightly different perspective than most do.
About thirteen thousand years ago, Garfife was growing bored with his creation, and wanted to try something new. To most all races he granted grace and intelligence in equal measure, and he made sure that they would all excel at something. But, he wanted to try something different. He created a flawed race, imperfect and unrefined. On a whim he brought Nehantish into existence, and instead of starting with only one male and one female, he created nearly a hundred of each, scattered throughout the desolate desert planet.
All were created with the knowledge that the others existed, and that Garfife was watching them with special interest. But they were more animal than sentient, and they often squabbled amongst each other over trivial things, and the ability to build and create was very difficult to learn. The one skill they all innately possessed, though, was the ability to read and write, and some of the original clay tablet recordings of the first days still exist in museums on Nehantish.
Over the course of a thousand years, Nehantites learned how to become more like men than beasts, and they donned clothing and began to build towns and cities, with trade becoming a necessary way of getting supplies. Tribes emerged, and soon civilizations, until five major factions of Nehantites became established as kingdoms. But in all of them, the only being they worshiped was Garfife, whose presence was still felt in most everything.
He would give them water when it was desperately needed, and he would answer the prayers of the faithful. Verbal communication with him was not uncommon in the days of a lower populace, and Gathering Places were established to worship him and learn of the ways he meant for them.
So it went for thousands of years, though Nehantites eventually began to ritualize things, and lose sight of their creator’s meaning for them. Secularism emerged, but is still a vast minority among the populace. Worship of Garfife is the only legally allowed worship on the planet, and is also really the only desired one.
Throughout their history, Garfife would also throw Nehantites a few curveballs, too, just for fun. He delighted in watching them, and when things got boring, a Nehantite would be born with great strength, or amazing speed. A few even gained the ability to fly, and one to control the winds. All became legendary heroes, save for a few who chose to use their powers for their own devices, and they were soon stopped by another “enhanced” creation of the Supreme Power.
But, as cities grew, and nations stocked more power in diplomacy than muscle, Garfife’s blessings came more sparingly in physical form.
Garfife is still the popular deity among all Nehantites, and it is common knowledge that the Death-Shadow are specially chosen by Garfife, and are his perfect agents. Their judgment is final, and their decision making process is one taught to the original Death-Shadows long ago by an agent of Garfife himself. Because of this, they are above the law, and cannot be found at fault for their actions.
As far as currently practiced faith goes, the Nehantite religious structure is much like the Christian Church. Gathering is attended on Sunday mornings, and Garfife is worshiped with song and prayer, and the minister will lecture from their holy book about the life they are meant to live. Even with the rapid modernization of their culture, belief in Garfife has not diminished by much.

Modern Nehantite Government

Nehantish is a planet ruled by a single official, the Sultan. Like a king of a modern country, he does not always get to make all the decisions, but a Council of other Nobles and elected officials from the top three classes regulate law and order for the planet. Still, the Sultan’s word is final, unless dealing with a Death-Shadow, whose status sets them above all jurisdiction, though they obey him for honor’s sake.
The populace of Nehantish is divided into five classes, and the class structure is very evident in everyday life. The first class is reserved for royalty and bloodline nobility. No one can enter into the first class except through birth.
The second class are the petty nobles and the very wealthy. Their privileges and rights nearly match those enjoyed by the noble class.
The third class are the upper middle-class commoners. Those who can live comfortably, and who have pure bloodlines and a good family history are among the third, and largest class.
The fourth class are the working class. Generally uneducated laborers, they support the weight of the upper classes, and often live in urban sprawls and the poor ends of towns. Fourth-class citizens are not allowed to visit certain higher-class locations, and they are forbidden from having children with those of the first or second class outside of marriage.
The fifth, and lowest class are the poverty-level subsistence farmers and workers. Rarely ever even literate, they enjoy few privileges, and cannot vote for elected offices, or run from them. They are the absolute grunt workers, and often have a family line filled with dishonor, or reckless breeding.

Outside the classes live the Death-Shadow Corps, and those in training to become a Death-Shadow. Being considered perfect creations, they are above all classes, and cannot be judged by class standards. They are chosen at birth from all class levels, though the fifth class rarely yields candidates.
Also outside the class structure are the Sherouve, a set of nomadic tribes who still wander the wastes, and claim a heartier tie to Garfife than the rest of the planet can boast. They are cunning, conniving traders and merchants, as well as thieves and bandits. Their justice is dispensed by tribal councils, not the Nehantite legal system, because they are too hard to track down in the wild.

Positions on the Royal Council are much like seats in the Senate House. Each member represents a certain sect of society, and has their problems and desires in mind. Most major decisions and laws are voted on, unless they come directly from the Sultan himself. Being made up of the first and second classes, the Royal Council is often biased, even within their own constituency, to keep themselves in power and to keep the lower classes in their place. It is not uncommon for justice for a lower class citizen to be denied in favor of a higher class one’s desires.
In the case of punishment for infractions of the law, jail time is often not the most common solution. Punishment in the Nehantite system is harsh, and often very physical. A thief caught more than three times stealing has his left paw cut off, and a murderer is often flogged at a stake until he loses the fur from his back. Many methods that other races consider to be torture are still practices on Nehantish, and public executions for horrific criminals are not uncommon. Subsequently, the crime rate is rather low, and law enforcement agents are liable to go easy on kids who break the law, because they don’t want to see them hurt.
For years, records had been kept on paper and filed as best as possible, but now the N.I.S.C, the Nehantite Interstallar Space Corps, runs the justice department, and all records are in the process of being computerized and updated. Many instances of repeat offenders have been discovered that had previously been unnoticed, and the offence rating of several criminals skyrocketed once their complete rap sheet was assembled.
There still is a court of law in which a defendant can argue his case, but it is before a panel of judges rather than a jury, and the judges can decide on the verdict without even trying the subject if the evidence is substantial enough.

[Adonis]

Nehantish Names, anything about them, like do they have special meanings/traditional names, etc?

[Wei Wu Wei]

How does a Nehanite become a Death-Shadow? What are the criteria? At what age are Nehanites taken to learn how to be Death-Shadows?

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

Nehantite Names

Names among Nehantites have little meaning, actually. Because so many were created to start with, the concept of naming a child based on a theme or tradition was left aside in more of an attempt to simply have a name to differentiate your children with. Last names did not become common until about 1300 years ago, and then they were mainly chosen to reflect your most famous male ancestor.
There are common names, and traditional names on Nehantish, but they hold little real significance.

The Death-Shadow Program

The Death-Shadow first started nearly 1400 years ago, and it was named after K’shenurien Anajii, a master assassin and very intelligent scholar. He was known as Death’s Shadow, because there was never any real evidence that he was the one who committed assassinations, but his work reeked of his essence.
When he traveled to the capital of the Kingdom of Nehantish, he gained the attention of the Sultan, who hired him into a permanent position as a retainer. K’sh served as an advisor, assassin, diplomat and several other functions, and his skills were so great that he could name his own terms. He demanded absolute authority over the military, and any other political or military functions if he so desired, and a place above all legal authority. He could not be held responsible for any of his actions. It is that clause that has made the Death-Shadow so dangerous for politicians and generals to cross.
K’shenurien served for twenty-three years with the Sultan, and he also established his own training program for his successor. Ten male children were chosen at birth by himself, and their parents surrendered all rights to their children’s lives and choices. They still lived at home until the age of four, though K’sh kept close tabs on them, and their parents. When they turned four, the Death-Shadow began to train them in martial arts, and blade play. For the next sixteen years, he taught them all that he knew, but was by no means nice about it. Lessons were brutal, and he gave no quarter for failure of any kind. They grew up devoid of most any emotion, and their minds were programmed in his methods. Four of them died before the age of ten, and another two by fifteen.
At the end of nineteen years, only two candidates remained, the other two too badly injured to be of any practical use. A task was set for both the remaining students, and finally the task came down for one of them to defeat K’shenurien himself in several areas of combat, logic, etiquette and cunning. When one succeeded in all his tests, K’sh surrendered his mantle as Death-Shadow and retired. The other student was released to a normal life, but after such a twisted upbringing, he could not find a place in society, and eventually went mad and committed suicide.
Because of that, the new Death-Shadow was praised for his ability to keep his wits about him, and he was deemed one to truly have been chosen by Garfife. K’sh disagreed, and said that Garfife had chosen all the ten candidates, but the current DS was the most perfect. The sultan took that to mean that the Death-Shadow are perfect agents of Garfife; an outlook that is still currently held among both the Death-Shadow and all others on Nehantish.

The system of one Death-Shadow progressed for hundreds of years in similar fashion, with the one selecting ten male children, and training them in all necessary aspects of life. As new weapons were introduced, they were put into training, and kept up to date with the entire known world. It was not until one hundred years ago that the population grew to a point where there was a need for more than one Death-Shadow, and a full program was established to train ten at first, and then the program became the Death-Shadow Corps, and quickly blossomed to one hundred and fifty known members, and ten that were trained in a separate location and unknown to the rest of the Corps as a back-up plan in case the corps should choose to revolt and take power.
Female children finally became candidates as the program was expanded, and training soon included driving and piloting lessons. As technology advanced, spacecraft were introduced, and the Shadow type craft became the favorite among the DSC.
Training also included popular offworld languages, as well as computer systems technology and hacking, firearms, heavy artillery, fine dining, and interpersonal relations. No longer could a Death-Shadow simply be a good fighter who could sneak around, he or she had to be the peak of perfection in all things, and the level of brainwashing and training to program out all undesirable qualities was extreme. Even in the modern age, the mortality rate is nearly forty percent of all applicants, and only one in ten chosen rises to take the rank. The others are sorted into other military factions and watched closely to make sure that they do not go mad from their sudden freedom. A secret group of other officials specifically trained to combat the Death-Shadow also watch all current members to make sure that they also do not mentally snap and kill a bunch of people; something that was not too terribly uncommon in more recent years with all the advanced training.
A current Death-Shadow is free to modify his body how he or she sees fit, with bionics or other enhancements, but doing too much if frowned upon. However with the high rate of serious injury in training, it is not uncommon to find a Death-Shadow with a bionic arm or leg.

The mantra of the Death-Shadow is this:
“A Death-Shadow does not falter, he does not waver when danger is imminent. He, above all is strong, sharp, and more than capable. He is subtle and silent like the snake, and as lethal as the dagger he carries. The Death-Shadow knows discipline and honor, and binds himself to both until his death. Never must he take up a cause for evil, but serve his lord and master as he is required.”

[Jarek T'chort]

What stance do the Nehantish take to offworlders and galactic governments?

[Mitch]

Nehantite Interaction With Outside Races

It was because of the Empire that Nehantish was thrust into the “Real Universe”. Nehantish was claimed as an Empire planet, and they were brutally awaken to the fact that there were other races out there, and that their own was quite behind the times. The Empire saw Nehantish as little more than a rest stop, but saw the inhabitants as extremely cheap labor. Classes in mechanics and rudimentary ship technology were taught, and thousands of young to middle-aged males took the stars as mechanics on various craft.
Basic was founded as the new language, and almost everything was shifted from the old Nehantite tongue to it. The Empire also built a real spaceport for refeulling their vessels, and as a repair station. But, though Nehantish has much to thank the Empire for, they also hate them quite a bit.
Under Empire rule, Nehantites’ rights were restricted, and they were kept from positions of real power in space. Fortunately, the Empire’s rule over the planet lasted only a few years, until the Nehantites and some help from Rebel factions drove them out.
Because they had been so abruptly been pulled from a time much like the American 1950’s into an age of space travel and instant communication, technology was overwhelming to the populace, and it wasn’t until ten years after initial contact that a majority of the population became used to it.
Nehantish is now known for being mostly traders and freight haulers as far as spacecraft go. Their ships are either second or third-hand vessels, or horribly outdated clunkers restored to working order, or strange ships created out of parts from other craft. Nehantites proved to be very skilled mechanics, and understand how to make ships work, but they did not prove to be good designers of craft, and still continue to purchase from other races instead of building their own.

The bitter aftertaste of Empirical rule left Nehantish untrusting of outsiders, and they have made their planet one that is not truly desirable to visit by offworlders. Most diplomatic relations are taken care of at a nearby space station, and delegates often choose to go to other planets if they need to speak in person, rather than inviting someone to Nehantish.
But there is a slow trend to welcome offworlders, at least for tourism’s sake, so the government has relaxed some of its policies, and you might actually see a few members of other races walking the streets of the city. Still, less than two thousand members of other races populate the desert planet, making them a severe minority.
And, just as Nehantites don’t really like foreigners moving onto their planet, they don’t choose to populate other planets themselves that often. Usually if one lives off-world, it is because of an important job. Any Nehantite wishing to leave Nehantish for any reason must file a request with the N.I.S.C. stating their name, class, gender, reason for leaving, and date of return. Requests can be denied for any reason, and fourth and fifth class citizens rarely ever escape the planet, unless they are working as mechanics on other ships.
Relationships outside of one’s own race is nearly nonexistent among Nehantites. A male living on another planet will often only long for a female of his own kind, and vice versa, though slim minority do fraternize outside their race. Still, such a relationship is generally frowned upon by the Nehantite masses.

[Ryla Relvinian]

Please explain the usual family dynamics/ gender relationships of the Nehantites. (i.e. typical family structure, who's in charge, how big of an extended family lives together, marriage customs etc.)

What does Nehantish have in the realm of the arts, dance, music, theater or whatever?

[Kale]

What sorts of nonsentient animal life are there on Nehantish?

[Rhea Kaylen]

What can you tell me about the language of Nehantish? Anything is good: its sound or its structure, anything.