Nynderans

Once upon a time, Mukaikubo discovered GURPS Space and created a Space Opera setting. Gus Hobbleton also discovered GURPS Space, and also went crazy. He has consistently gone crazy for several years and created an entire fucking species.

Anatomy

Nynderans are physically similar to Terran Gold Eagles, except for a few major differences. Most notably is their plumage, which is a vivid red throughout with blood-red, nearly black skin. More subtly, their build is slimmer, and more streamlined for fast and nimble movements both in flight and on the ground. Their heads are slightly larger, to accommodate their larger brains. Most importantly to their evolution are the digits which extend from the wrist joint of their wings. Skeletally similar to their feet, they are anisodactyl, with three fingers facing forward, and an opposable thumb. These hands, despite being smaller than their feet, are powered by dense musculature and thick tendons, lacking none of the strength of their lower counterparts. They do not, however, share the range of motion of human wrists, and are only capable of approximately 90 degrees of rotation. Another subtle change with extraordinary consequences is their highly evolved syrinx, which allows them to mimic voices and sounds, and produce more than one sound at a time.

Due to the decreased gravity of their homeworld, Nynderans are larger than their Terran counterparts as well, ranging between 42 and 54 inches long (3.5 to 4.5 feet). Their species displays very little in the way of sexual dimorphism; males are slightly slimmer than females, though the effect is too subtle to use reliably as an indicator. Aside from these noted differences, Nynderans are similar to Terran avian species, and most information on their anatomy is applicable.

History

I had the pleasure of attending a xenology conference on Yullendis recently while I was studying Nynderan history. It just so happened that I met a Nynderan xenohistorian by the name of Klevaan who had been studying human history. I got the distinct impression that, while he understood the facts of Human history quite thoroughly, he did not understand our people. I say this because, while discussing past wars, Klevaan claimed to praise and admire Adolf Hitler for his vision.

-Irvin Young, Xenologist

Calendar

The current Nynderans calendar has been in use for over 20,000 years, with a few minor changes throughout time. It was originally established shortly after the founding of City and the first written records of Nynderan history. Year 1 of the current Calendar was recently arbitrarily set to one of the oldest written records discovered. Older records have since been found, but year 1 remains as it has been for hundreds of years. Other calendars have been proposed and adopted by various nations, but only the original calendar is in use today.

The Nynderan calendar counts days as the basic unit of time, grouping them into years of 372 or 371 days; and repeats completely every 1,859 days, which fill 5 years. Of these five years, four (the "common years") have 372 days, and one (the leap year) has 371 days. This gives an average year length of exactly 371.8 days. The leap day that is removed every five years is still counted towards the four-day week, so the last week in Vbann is three days long instead of four. This keeps the length of the year exactly 93 weeks long. In most institutions, weeks are often combined into groups of four as terms. This grouping is most commonly used for administrative reasons, and is not based on any astronomical or mathematical pattern.

The Nynderan year is divided into eight months of irregular length:

No.	Name	Days
1	Krrvan	46
2	Hlinidah	46
3	Vbann	47 or 46
4	Bee'atta	46
5	Sisskn	47
6	Chuulmn	46
7	Wharneh	47
8	Xibhiko	46

A calendar date is fully specified by the day of the month (numbered sequentially beginning at 1), the month (by either name or number), the year (numbered by a scheme outside the calendar), and the age. One age is equal to 4,096 years, and is often omitted in unofficial or informal documents.

Each day of Nynderan time is divided into 28 hours, which are then further divided into 64 minutes each, which are further divided into 64 seconds each. A Nynderan day is measured from sunrise to sunrise, as opposed to midnight until midnight.

Prehistory

Long before industrialization, or even the written word, there were many different races of Nynderans. There were black, the Night Wind; white, the Morning Risen; yellow, the Bright Eyes; green, the Canopy Above; purple, the Dusk Bringers, grey, the Fog; blue, the Sky True; and red, the Sky Blood. Though amongst themselves they lived in relative peace, the different races were at constant war with each other. Their nomadic lifestyles had clans constantly on the move, and at any time a clan could stumble on a clan of another race, and one of them would be wiped out. It was through sheer grace and luck that the species managed to survive at all.

Life for Nynderans was difficult in these times. War was an inevitability for their people, and many Nynderans did not survive to adulthood. One custom that survived for thousands of years was not to name children until they could fight and fly. It is believed that this custom was held onto for so long because Nynderans were weary of losing their children, and so they didn't even give them names until they had a fighting chance.

Around what is now considered year 1 of the first age, a Nynderan of an unknown clan named Jish created the Laws of Honor which are considered sacred to this day. The laws were intended to govern Nynderan behavior in society, and eventually became the basis on which the Nynderan code of laws was formed. It was also believed for a long time that Jish was one of the creators of written language as it is known, but recent discoveries refute that theory. The discovery of a tablet, carbon dated to sometime about one thousand years before Jish's existence was located, and was believed to reference the myth of apocalypse. In an ancient dialect of Bgansh, it read "The face in the sand left us today, wordlessly." The exact meaning of the tablet is being debated to this day.

The Founding of City

In what scholars believe to be the 1060th year of the first age, the Doo Ta Kal clan, among the Sky True clans, first settled down to live in a specific place, raising domesticated animals for their own use. Before long, they opened their doors to other clans to settle down with them, so long as they contributed. They built shelters, walls, pens for their animals, wells to drink from. In time, their settlement became known simply as "City." The first Nynderan village.

Other clans and other races were soon to follow suit. Within one hundred years the nomadic lifestyle of the Nynderans was all but gone.

The warmongering ways of the Nynderan would not die so easily, however. In the year 1200 of the first age, City had over a thousand citizens. It was a ripe target for the Night Wind, the blood enemies of the Sky True. They came as their name implied, in the night, and slaughtered many of the citizenry and burned City to the ground.

The advancement of their species would be set back thousands of years by their constant fighting.

War was reality for Nynderans for generation after generation.

The birth of Lieusaat

The first of Krrvan, year 2042 of the first age. Lieusaat is born to the Krel Famshask clan of the Sky Blood. It was said in prophecy that one would be born to harness the power of the flames of Heaven to rule over the clans and bring peace to all Nynderans. Nobody knew how seriously to take the prophecy, or when the child would arise.

Lieusaat was raised as all Sky Blood were raised, as a warrior. By the age of 4 he had fought in numerous battles against other clans, and had personally killed dozens of enemies. Though an accomplished warrior, Lieusaat lacked the intelligence or cunning to become an effective leader. He was essentially a commoner.

Shortly after his seventh naming day, he and some friends were challenging each other to see how high they could fly before falling. Lieusaat took the challenge, and took to the sky. He spent hours in the sky, constantly climbing higher and higher. Those on the ground watching him eventually lost sight of him. They feared the worst, until a massive fireball lit the sky, as bright as the sun, and a flame streaked towards the ground. It hit the ground hard, scorching the land beneath it. The others went to investigate, and found Lieusaat there, panting, eyes wide with terror. He was engulfed in flames, but did not burn.

It did not take long for word to spread of what had happened, and the Bright Eyes were the first to act. They didn't want one of the Sky Blood to be the chosen one, so they swooped in and attempted to assassinate him. With his ability to control the flames of Heaven, none of the attackers could even approach him without being burned alive. Their swords melted in their hands, and their arrows turned to ash before reaching him.

The attacking party was obliterated, and without missing a beat, Lieusaat ordered a counterattack. The entire nearby Bright Eye village was slaughtered, and razed by Lieusaat himself. Overwhelmed with his power, Lieusaat challenged the Khan of the Sky Blood, Korolok, for his position, despite not having the reknown to do so under clan law. Korolok yielded without hesitation.

Thus would begin Lieusaat's campaign.

The Culling

Lieusaat's campaign was swift and brutal. His armies moved from island to island, burning and killing everything in their path. Years passed, and despite the odds against them, the remaining clans refused to band together to challenge Lieusaat. Old blood feuds were too strong even for this. The Canopy Above were the first to be wiped out, followed by the Bright Eyes, and soon after, the Fog and the Dusk Bringers.

The Windsingers attempted to intervene, asking Lieusaat to stop his campaign before everything was dead. He ignored them, and continued his attacks. A week later, they brought their ultimatum to him. He was to end his war, and all clans would be united under his rule. He would be the single unifying leader of all Nynderans of the world, if only he would stop his killing. He denied the offer.

The Windsinger Ascended there, in front of Lieusaat and his entire army. They scattered in terror, believing that their leader was about to be killed. Even the Windsinger's ethereal body was no match for the flames of Heaven. He attacked her, and those that looked saw something they never thought they would ever see: fear in the face of an Ascendant Windsinger. Even she was powerless against him. When news of her death reached the other Windsingers, they had no choice and relented, allowing his campaign to continue. They tried to stay out of the rest of the conflict, but Lieusaat pushed and pushed, eventually forcing the Windsingers to oust all of their non-Sky Blood members, who were then killed.

The first of Krrvan, year 2065 of the first age. The final hideout of the Sky True clans is eliminated. The Sky Blood Nynderans are the sole survivors of the war. There remained a few scattered settlements of various clans, but they didn't have the manpower or resources to mount a counterattack, and would eventually die out. A cheer goes up to the heavens. War had finally ended, there were no more blood feuds for Nynderans, only peace. Prosperity reigned for thousands of years.

Peace was reality for Nynderans for generation after generation.

Aftermath

Lieusaat eventually passed away. On the 42nd of Sisskn, year 2090 of the first age, Lieusaat died of natural causes. It is said then, that Grissitcha himself appeared before all those present, and wordlessly looked into Lieusaat's eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, he said that Lieusaat's powers were stolen. He took Lieusaat's soul from his eyes, and cast him far, far into the black of night, and still he burns there, forever circling Heaven, never to touch it.

Several years after his death, one of Lieusaat's many children found a journal of his within his belongings. Therein he described that day he first harnessed the flames of Heaven.

"I flew higher than I had ever dreamed. I was light headed, both from the altitude and the excitement of it all. The sky began to darken, though I could still see Heaven above. It was getting harder and harder to stay aloft, and several times I nearly gave in and plummeted back to the ground.

"In my fatigue, I did not notice another with me. I looked over, and saw another flying with me, easily. I did not recognize him. He flew circles around me, dancing in the sky. I tried to return the favor, but I simply couldn't keep up with him at this altitude. Up, he flew, higher still, beckoning for me to follow him. Struggling with everything I had left, I did.

"What I saw next... At first I thought I was mad. I saw a ceiling of flame above me, too soon for me to avoid it. I passed through it painlessly, and the next I knew I could breathe again. The air around me was warm, thick, and inviting. There were many others there, all dancing around a flame. I was terrified, not knowing what was going on, but they summoned me over to join in with them.

"I felt as if I were not in control of my actions, as if I were in a trance. I followed them into the fire. The blaze of the fire did no hurt upon me as I circled it, and soon, my spirit was lifted from me.

"With the Gods as my witness, I swear that what I write next is true, though I wish that someone had the chance to witness what happened to me.

"I danced, I wheeled, I swooped, I sang, I laughed with them. Only as I watched my undead body acting of its own volition did I finally noticed what was so strange about these dancers whom I was with.

"They were Undead. All of them. They had fallen from Hell.

"As I danced with the dead my free spirit was screaming and cursing down at me. My undead body just danced the circle of death. Eventually, my spirit came back down to me. I didn't know if I was alive or dead as the others joined in with me again. We all danced the circle of death together. I was terrified for my soul. I had no idea if they were planning on letting me live or if they were going to kill me and keep my soul.

"A momentary distraction. I know not why they turned their gaze, but one moment their lifeless eyes were upon me, and the next they were elsewhere. I took that moment, that chance. I tucked my wings to my side and dove as fast as I could. As I neared that ceiling of flame again, it appeared once more to me, and without looking back I crashed through it. Something happened then. I felt flames upon me again, as I had when I danced, but they still did not burn. I ignored it, and plummeted as fast as I could.

"When I landed, the ground around me turned to ash. I tried to catch my breath but was still, frankly, terrified. I had no idea if I was still even alive. When I saw my friends again, and they did not attempt to kill me as an abomination immediately, I knew that I was still alive.

"I could not bear to tell anyone my secret. I do not know if I am the child prophesied. I only know that I must do what I can to bring peace to the clans, and I see now that the only way to stop the fighting is to destroy any who would bring war to the Sky Blood. I hope the Gods can forgive me for what I do. I only hope it is the right thing."

The journal was written in Lieusaat's own hand, and though many refused to believe its authenticity, all evidence points to the journal being genuine. Though some Nynderans have abilities that other races deem to be "magical" or mystical in some way, no Nynderan has ever been able to control flames in the way that Lieusaat allegedly could. There is very little physical evidence to support the story of Lieusaat, though finding a Nynderan who denies the story would be a rare discovery.

Stagnation and Renaissance

Immediately following the Culling, Nynderans had quite literally driven themselves to the brink of extinction. Though with less than a million left alive, the Nynderans believed they had secured their safety and their futures. The survivors gathered for celebrations, and as a result, they began to reproduce at an alarming rate. The rebuilding process was slow, but within several generations, new cities had been built, and much that had been destroyed had been repaired anew.

As a result of their shift in ideals, war was no longer on the forefront of thought for Nynderans. As such, technological development began to stagnate, almost entirely halting in what would be their bronze age. In addition to their technological stagnation, they also suffered from cultural stagnation; despite the different races of Nynderans being constantly at war with each other, they still occasionally traded songs and stories. With only the Sky Blood surviving, cultural influence and creativity was stunted. Despite this, however, the people were happy.

The situation, of course, was not perfect. Small conflicts broke out between clans occasionally, but they never resulted in genocidal tendencies, and could usually be resolved in relatively peacefully. Within the next thousand years, their population doubled, and cultural influence began to return to normal. By the year 2000 of the Second age the Nynderan population had swelled back to its previous number, somewhere in the area of 15 million.

Technological advancement remained stunted until sometime in the middle of the Third age. For unknown reasons, technology began to move forward again. By the beginning of the Fourth age, iron working and advanced engineering were commonplace in Nynderan cities. By the middle of the Fourth age, their industrial age had begun in earnest, and the world population swelled to well over 500 million.

The Bio-tech movement

As the world population increased, resources began to diminish at a steady rate. Most notably however was the decline of livestock. As carnivores, Nynderans could not rely on crops to feed themselves. The crisis was first noticed when a pair of sibling zoologists, Foonta and Fonta, surveyed wild animal populations and found rapid declines in very short periods of time. Their warnings were taken seriously, and work began to find a way to stave off the inevitable. Work first began on animal fertility treatments to increase fecundity, as well as selective breeding to create larger animals with a greater yield.

Through a series of lucky breakthroughs and determination, DNA soon held no secrets to the Nynderans. Not only were Nynderans able to clone as many animals as they needed to feed their population, they were able to design custom autotrophic and photosynthetic creatures that could feed themselves and still be edible to Nynderans. By the height of their industrial age, Nynderans had surpassed the biological and medical technologies that other species had in an equivalent time period.

Space age

The Nynderan space age did not come as soon as it could have. Unlike many other species, Nynderans did not have the same natural drive to explore the unknown reaches of space. In fact, a commonly held belief among Nynderans, even up to and past first contact, was that they were the only intelligent life in the universe. Space-bound missions were few and far between. Because Nynder had no moon, the closest planet to explore was the fifth planet of their solar system a large, super-hot world unsuitable for any kind of life. The only appealing feature of the planet was its abundance of metallic and radioactive elements.

First contact came as a complete surprise to Nynderans. The majority of their species didn't even believe in the existence of aliens, and even those who did never believed that the aliens would come to visit them one day out of the blue. First contact did not go as smoothly as it could have. The old instinct that caused Nynderans to war each other based on the color of their feathers was reawakened when they saw a species that was entirely different from them. Though outright hostility did not occur, there was a lot of aggressive posturing and, due to the complexity of Nynderan languages, a lot of miscommunications.

First contact was made, and the Nynderans survived the encounter. However, the Nynderans were not ones to be outdone. They saw the inferiority of their space-faring technology, and redoubled their efforts to create space-worthy vessels and to colonize the other mineral rich planets in their home system.

Within one hundred years of first contact, Nynderans had colonized over a dozen neighboring star systems, and had an armada capable of holding its own against anything the other species of the galaxy could throw at them. Relations with Nynderans were tense, but peaceful. The Nynderans did not want to go to war with so many others at once, but at the same time found many of the aliens they met to be distasteful to the extreme. Though given citizenship the stellar alliance, Nynderans nonetheless remained somewhat insular and distant. While many Nynderans believed that they should go and be a part of the universal community, many still believed that Nynderans should remain separate from other species' politics.

Civil war

Near the very end of the Fourth age, Orolol was born to the Ashtak Liotar Fas clan, whose legacy and creed was to send military units to patrol the edge of their claimed space. While on a brief shore leave on an alien planet, Orolol got into a fight with an alien, and accidentally killed his opponent. Under Nynderan law, Orolol would be found only guilty of careless behavior. Under the alien law, however he was guilty of murder. Not fully understanding the foreign laws, Orolol unwittingly confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to spend the remainder of his life on a prison colony. While en route, his prison transport was attacked by pirates, and he was killed in the battle.

Shortly after Orolol's death, it was learned that the Nynderan government had refused extradition under the belief that Nynderans offworld should be subject to offworld laws, similar to how Nynderans visiting another nation on the homeworld are subject to that nation's laws. This was not the first time such a tragedy had occurred, and for the Nynderans who believed that their people should remain out of the affairs of other aliens, it was the final straw. They declared war on the existing government with the intention of reforming Nynderan supremacy and cutting themselves off from the rest of the universe, and destroying any alien who would trespass on their territory.

For the first time in thousands of years, Nynderans were once again fighting with the intention of wiping each other from the face of existence. Many have compared it to the dark ages, and have called for an end to the fighting. Those who feel strongly one way or the other are willing to kill and die for their cause. The civil war has been raging for twenty years. It is now year 9 of the Fifth age.