About Nehantites: Ask me Anything

[Tevit Ramastan]

So, with Hal and Tevit back, and Ndonsa around, there's been more interest in Nehantites. I have done a wiki page for them, but I know there's going to be a lot more questions than that covers, so if there's anything at all you want to know about them, their culture, interactions, skills, physiology, whatever, feel free to ask away! I'll answer anything.

[Callomas Savoc]

What is the situation now with Nehantish vis a vis where they stand regarding the Alliance and the Empire?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Why is Ndonsa so awesome?:swoon:

(I don't have a serious question)

[Kale]

What's the typical range in heights and weights for males and females? How about lifespans?

[Tevit Ramastan]

What is the situation now with Nehantish vis a vis where they stand regarding the Alliance and the Empire?

This is actually a very unique situation, as Nehantish is not a unified planet, and is instead composed of five major kingdoms. Of them, the most powerful is Nehantish, which along with Cathay, is part of the Alliance. However, the kingdoms of Midloth, Munjesh and Kuf are not part of the Alliance, and instead are independants. This causes both positives and negatives for both sides of the equation for Nehantites, but through clever contract wording, they can often bend the rules to be on either side that they need at any given time.

None of the five major kingdoms are aligned with the Empire, and quite frankly, they dislike the empire, but a colony planet of theirs is now on the Empire side of the galactic divide. It is technically a Munjan colony, but is heavily populated and supported by Nehantite peoples and navy, which may cause issues. The planet of Nehantish, however, regardless of kingdom, refuses to give up this colony planet to the Empire, and regard it as their own sovereign territory.

[Tevit Ramastan]

What's the typical range in heights and weights for males and females? How about lifespans?

Regardless of kingdom, typical heights for males are between 5'4" and 6'1", and 5'1" and 5'9" for females.

Male weights average between 135 lbs and 200 lbs for adults, and females average between 110 and 175 lbs. Obesity is very rare in Nehantites due to often a more natural diet than most other races, as well as a very fast metabolism. Some of this weight is additional muscle and bone in the tails, and fur weight. They are naturally not an overly muscular or stocky race, though with the discovery of bodybuilding, it has become a bit of a fad among young males who are trying to court a female above their own social class.

Average lifespan for males is about 68 years. Females average about 74 years.

[Kale]

Social class, you say? Do elaborate!

So, I know about the stratified class structure in Nehantish. Is it uniform across all kingdoms, or do Munjesh, Midloth, and the rest have some other social structure?

[Charley]

Tell me about the five kingdoms. Who are they? Where do they rule? Who are the strongest? What are their customs? Do they like ice cream?

[Tevit Ramastan]

Social class, you say? Do elaborate!

So, I know about the stratified class structure in Nehantish. Is it uniform across all kingdoms, or do Munjesh, Midloth, and the rest have some other social structure?

This can actually be a big problem on Nehantish. The kingdoms of Nehantish, Munjesh and Cathay each have their own unique social class structure. Midloth does not have any sort of specified class structure other than based on income. Kuf is mostly wild, and class structure there is primarily based on power.

Nehantish has five social classes, and they are officially recognized classes you legally part of.
The first class is nobility, and those recognized by nobility. Primarily you have to be born into this class, or be from an upper middle class and then do something amazing or noteworthy in order to be elevated.
The second class is primarily made up of petty nobility and the hyper-rich. Mostly business owners, commodities brokers or market barons and their family which are born while the parent is part of this class.
The third class is the upper middle class. Mostly well-paid engineers and successful businesspeople. This is the second largest class of citizens in the kingdom of Nehantish.
The fourth class is the working class, and the most populous of any class. Most Nehantites who go off world are part of this class, and find work as mechanics or engineeers. This is the lowest class in the kingdom of Nehantish who are allowed to vote in elections for local government or lawmaking.
The fifth class is the working or unworking poor, criminals or embarassments to the kingdom. They cannot vote, and are only allowed to live in designated areas of cities. Most male members of the fifth class struggle to gain employment, and typically take very low-paying, horrible contract work off-world to support their families, or just get by. Many female members of the fifth class attempt to marry up into the fourth class, where they have more rights.

In Munjesh, there are three classes:
The first class is again nobility, but the hyper-rich or the galactically famous are often elevated into this class.
The second class is the upper middle class. Not a huge segment of the population, but is is growing rapidly as Munjesh becomes more modern and moves away from basic industry into technology and medical fields.
The third class makes up 80% of the Munjan population, and is the primary working class, regardless of income level. All class levels can vote, but there is a very high level of corruption in politics in Munjesh.

In Cathay there are also three classes, and they work much like Munjesh, with the exception that only nobility is allowed to be members of the first class. The hyper-rich and celebrities are still limited to being in the second class.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tell me about the five kingdoms. Who are they? Where do they rule? Who are the strongest? What are their customs? Do they like ice cream?

The five kingdoms are Nehantish, Munjesh, Midloth, Cathay and Kuf.

Nehantish is the most powerful of all the kingdoms, as they primarily control the race's space programs, and have the most sophisticated Navy. They also have put the highest focus on skilled workers, specifically in engineering and mechanical subjects. Because a majority of space-faring Nehantites are from the kingdom of Nehantish, most of the galaxy understands their ways to be the ways of the whole Nehantite race, which is not accurate, but Nehantish has done nothing to refute this.

Nehantish is a mostly desert kingdom with wealth in oil and minerals. Due to their lack of other resources, they became skilled at working with what they had, and became shrewd traders. Their skill at trade is still a primary factor in maintaining their small, but useful sphere of power in the galaxy at this time. For climate and environment, think of the Middle East.

Munjesh is the most populous kingdom, but also the poorest. Unlike Nehantish's monotheistic ways, there are literally hundreds of thousands of "gods" among Munjan society, and the fractured nature of their religion has long kept the kingdom from being unified in much of anything. Rich in spices, lumber and agriculture, they are only now learning how to best capitalize on their natural resources, while their own navy is finally coming into its own. Family structure is very important in Munjesh, and the actions of one family member can severely damage the honor of an entire family. For climate and environment, think of India and Indonesia.

Midloth is the most "civilized" of all the kingdoms, by galactic standards. They elect a prime minister instead of having a king, emperor or sultan, and there are no hard-line defined class structures. Free economy drives much of daily life and business in Midloth, and their prime focus has been on manufacturing and development of machinery. For climate and environment, they're basically Europe, though without the really cold bits.

Cathay is a mysterious kingdom, and information is tightly controlled by the government, which is a mixture of nobility and appointed officials. There are elections, but those are mostly symbolic. The Emperor controls the direction of business and trade, and his citizens must follow. For a very long time they focused on agriculture, but lately they have begun developing manufacturing capabilities. Of all the civilized kingdoms, however, it is least likely for a Cathanese citizen to go off-world, and there are very, very few Cathanese Nehantites in the space-faring engineers pool. For climate and environment, think China and Mongolia.

Kuf is a fairly wild land with no true central government. Most of the nation-states that make it up are run by monarchs or warlords. While rich in resources, agriculture and precious metals, the lack of stability in the kingdom renders it mostly useless to any of the other kingdoms, and there is very little trade with it. Much of the land is still considered savage, as are its people. There are virtually no Kufu Nehantites in space. Many of them don't even know there are other worlds. For climate and environment, think Africa.

They all like ice cream, but lactose intolerance is common among Cathanese Nehantites, so it's not a big seller, there.