Tateari

Tateari
Any human that believes they are alone in the universe cannot be considered intelligent.

The Tateari are, surprisingly, younger than the human race. And yet the sprawling gap in technological progress between the two races comes as no surprise when one considers the simple difference between the two species.

Tateari are cohesive.

Humans are not.

The Tateari have a.. social collective design to their instincts. Tateari instinctively work together. Tateari instinctively care for one and other. Tateari react curiously to the unknown, not fearfully.

These basic, yet world-shaking differences are what have cause the gap between human advancement and the scientific edge of this alien species.

While humans lay mired in superstition, sexism, and religious oppression, Tateari reveled in expressive art, music, and coprehensive exploration of their homeworld. While humans went on zealous crusades, killing and conquering their own kind, Tateari mastered industry, economics, and science. While the human race had a brief renaissance surrounded by conflict and turmoil, the Tateari were putting the finishing touches on their world-spanning information network, and starting a unified, world government. And when the human race was hurling insults and political insults at one and other over petty governmental issues in the 'great' Cold War, the Tateari had begun the terraforming and colonization of the first worlds they had found amidst the sea of stars.

When the humans finally crawled forth into the stars, the Tateari were already an established and mighty stellar power. And now the Tateari are aware of the human race, where the human race remains, as it always has, ignorant. And the curious furballs are worried about these violent, infighting and selfish apes. Make no mistake. If it comes to blows, the incohesive human race is doomed.



But enough exposition. Let's get down to the nitty gritty details.

Tateari are what many would refer to as 'furries'. While startingly similiar to humans physically, the Tateari stand roughly a foot shorter than humans on average, and their entire bodies are coated in a thick, downy layer of fur. Along with their triangular ears perched atop their heads (both about 4 inches from base to tip) they have large, almond shaped eye-sockets with eyes to match. The mouth is smaller, with thin lips, and filled with a balanced omnivorous dentistry. The nose, between the eyes and mouth, and centered along with the mouth, is a small boxy configuration with two slanted nostrils, protected by a pair of flaps that visibly open when the Tateari inhales deeply.

The neck and torso are roughly the same size in both males and females, the only difference being that where females are endowed, the males tend to be a bit heftier and sturdier. But not so pronounced as in humans. The arms are of the same configuration as humans, but the hands sport two thumbs, one on each side of the hand, and two longer grasping fingers at the front.

The hips and thighs are more pronounced in the female, broader hips and stronger thighs, which, with the obvious characteristics of the child-bearing gender, also makes the female a stronger and faster jumper, an aspect which will be explained later.

Their legs are digitigrade, and end in a circular paw design, designed for swift movement, leaping, and absorbing impact. Combined with their talons and gripping digits, this leans to a vertical speed just as quick as their running speed. Combined with their leaping ability, a Tateari is very quick and agile in almost any environment, though they are deisgned for their tree-top homes, another detail to be explained later.

The final detail of their bodies is the tail. Sprouting from the middle of the lower back, just above the hips, this long, furry member is just as long as the Tateari is tall, and acounts for nearly a fifth of their bodyweight, an aspect that perhaps only peacocks of earth could compete with. The tail is very dexterous, and serves as a 'wind-guard' of sorts while in mid-leap, allowing the Tateari to adjust and manuver in mid-air with swift grace and precision.

The overall coloration of a Tateari is a dark, metallic grey for their overcoat, and a snowy white undercoat on the front and bottom of the torso, inside of the ears, and underside of the palms. Their eyes, however, carry a dazzling array of colors and patterns. The only similarity between all the differences is that they are bright, and partially luminescent. Their eyes are not all that glows. Due to the slow cycles of their homeworld, the Tateari possess a degree of bioluminescence in select areas of their fur, most prominantly on the face, back, and legs. These areas, which glow a soft off-white, appear after about a minute of low-light or darkness.

Now, as for their jumping ability, a closer look at the at the legs, muscle and skeletal structure of the Tateari is needed. First, the Tateari have a far more flexible skeleton than humans, somewhere inbetween our own hard bones and softer cartiledge, aided by a strong and firm muscle structure that is very tightly woven. Knowing this, you can look to the strong muscles of the legs, arguably the largest and strongest in their bodies, and see the ingenius interplay between tendon and bone that makes up their feet that makes for a near flawless shock absorbtion system.

With these combined factors, the Tateari are capable of springing over a dozen stories into the air straight up, launching themselves at incredible speeds and with little to no prep (bend, flex, BOING). And thanks to their feet, so long as a Tateari isn't carrying a heavy load, they can fall from any height, no matter how far, and take no damage.

And as for their tree-preference, this stems from their origin, the world of Klara. Klara is a very large planet, being nearly ten times the size of Earth. The reason its gravity is very close to Earth's is that it is not terrible dense, and also has a great system of caverns in its crust. But these are minor details in comparison to the trees of Klara. The trees, which stretch miles into the sky, and account for the massive, breathable atmosphere of Klara. The trees are only similiar to Earth's trees in terms of over all shape. Strong, broad trunk leads to long mid-section, followed by billowing broughs above. But the trees of Klara are not made of continious wood, but grow in a pattern more recognizable as vines, which results in a hollow center. And it is there where the Tateari made their homes, sheltered from the massive predators that dotted their world.

The Tateari have always leaned towards being a matriarchal soceity, but have never heard of sexism. They do not have a word for it. Other painfully human terms they do not have words for are rape, murder, genocide, slavery, and a countless list of others. This should give you a very good general idea of how their society runs. But, here's a few specifics, just because.

Tateari are socialist, quite so to the point where they do not have a monetary system, thus the lack of greed. Everyone works for the whole, and the whole provides for everyone. Their leadership is selective up to but not including the highest tier, the Arbiter. Their selective government works quite simply. Whoever is the highest qualified for the position gets the job, often whether they like it or not. What this means is that it is not unheard of for a scientist to be humerously 'kidnapped' from their lab to serve as the new head of research. The Arbiter, however, is a different story.

The Arbiter is the sole, unquestionable authority of the Tateari people, and is selected from what is known as the Arbiter's Trials. It is a voluntary competition, one that covers every aspect of leadership, and quite a few other topics as well. When the current Arbiter is aged beyond their prime, they announce the Trials, and the winner of the competition (graded by average in all scores) is announced as the new Arbiter. It is, for all intents and purposes, a life-long post.

The religion of the Tateari people is all-inclusive. It serves as both the model for their society, and the species as a whole. To put it simply, it is impossible to convert a Tateari to another religion, and no outsider will ever be accepted into the Tateari religion.

The religion features 6 beings, the primary goddess being Emp'Hasid'ee, of life. She is called the 'Bringer of all Good', and is largely represented as their goddess of nature, protection, and their people as a whole. She is frequently depicted as a female with a basket of fruit, and constantly shifting eye color. She has always been a very strong goddess, and center in their religious activities. Her altars are most frequently found in governmental buildings, and large religious institutions. She is wed to Kul.

Orgo is the god of joy, and is often called the 'Joker'. He is a trickster and a prankster, and represents happieness. He is often depicted as a flamboyant male in extravegent clothing, often dancing. Orgo also represents art, and is always a center in Tateari festivels. No theater is complete without a statuette of this god somewhere in the residence. He is wed to Like'ema.

Like'ema is the goddess of love, and her name is the closest representation of the word 'lust'. She represents, of course, love, but is also considered to be the protector of children and the goddess of music. Always a female in soft sheets, Like'ema is often seen as an advisor and guide. Relief organizations often build shrines to her, but her sign is often seen whenever sex is involved. She is wed to Orgo.

Mak'ahta is the god of travel, and of exploration. Forever known as 'Scout', he is frequently shown as a male stripped from the waist up, frequently with a walking stick. While he went into recession briefly when the Tateari had explored every inch of their homeworld, he has exploded forth as a mighty symbol and god with the advent of steller travel. Shrines to this god pop up in nearly every starport, and are often seen along rivers as well. He is wed to Ke'mo'rary.

Ke'mo'rary is the goddess of knowledge, frequently called the 'Sage', 'Librarian', or, more recently, 'Scientist'. Depicted as a female in robes, frequently with a book in hand, she represents learning, research, and science. She has always kept a steady place in Tateari society, with her shrines inside of libraries and laboratories alike, and is wed to Mak'ahta.

Kul is, to skip to the point, evil. The Nameless respresents everything that is wrong, to the Tateari mindset. Greed, hatred, pain, death, destruction, and so many more. He has no titles, beyond statements such as 'He who is not named', for the Tateari believe to utter his name aloud is to call his attention, and as such saying his name is taboo, which comes across as what the Tateari would consider a swear word. Beyond evil, he also represents the military, and that is the only place you will find shrines to him. However, if a family is in dire straits, or someone is deathly ill, you might find a tiny, black figurine of him in the doorway. A ward against death, for his role with the military is that of the protector of the people, no matter the cost. Long ago, he was a simpler god, being simply Kul of the Hunt, and represented the necessity of killing animals for food. But, as the Tateari grew, so did The Unnamed, and now he is known as Kul of War. He is what guides a soldier in killing to protect the people, the sole reason a Tateari will ever murder another life. His image has also changed a great deal, but the fact that his face is always hidden has never changed. Once by hunting masks, and now by the mirrored visor of a soldier's power armor. He is married, and subservient to, Emp'Hasid'ee. This realtion represents the military forever being subservient to the people, which is explained further with the military in general later on.

There is perhaps a bit too much information on Kul, but, of course, this is written for the current point of view of the Tateari, who are nervous regarding their hairless neighbors. Preliminary scouting, doing by long range scans, hidden probes, and finally cloaked survey ships. The results were displeasing, however. Just a glance at the human race showed deep corruption in the 'government' if one could call it that. As near as the Tateari could tell by watching the graphs, the real power seemed to lie in a network of greedy, convulted mercantile organizations called 'corporations'. However, the Tateari believed this was not entirely the case, for they had seen the art and heard the music the human race could develop, and many believed there might be potential buried in the greedy, apathetic muck.

To break for just a moment, there is a very good chance that all of this observation did not go completely unnoticed, and perhaps select elements are aware they are being observed, if however ignorantly so. So the Arbiter herself, currently a female named Kiral'Ta, drew up the plans for an agent to be inserted into the human race with what they had learned thus far, and the agent's instructions were to watch, record, and report. He, a male named Tasher, knew that help would be far and slow in coming if he needed it, so secrecy was of the utmost. However, it was never made unclear what his true purpose was.

He would decide the fate of the human race.

If he deemed them worthy of salvation, the Tateari would decide what to do next. First Contact? Perhaps.

But if he saw them as the reports had feared.. the military would roll in, and the human race would be forgotten.

The military of the Tateari is often described as, and akin to, the shadow of the species as a whole. Despite all of their peaceful ways, the Tateari are wisely aware of the dangers that life in this universe can present, and keep a small, dedicated armed force. The term is 'small' but the reality is that the Tateari possess a sprawling, productive empire, and thus the military is actually very large, and very well kept.

The Tateari call this armed force the 'Honored Forsaken'. It's an odd name that takes a bit of explaining to understand. Tateari abhor violence. It's against their nature. Thus, any who would follow a path of life that is built around such a force are forsaken. But they understand its necessity in defense of their homes, lives, and way of life. They are painfully aware of the sacrifices a soldier must make to defend their people. And thus they are honored. The Honored Forsaken.

All Tateari recognize the necessity of defense, but only a select few will dedicate their lives to it. The Tateari are endlessly grateful to these cherished few, and the bounds that they will go to to serve the needs of these guards are endless. This is easily seen in the cutting edge technology the Tateari military utilizes. Even though most of their military tech is the results of laboratory accidents, it comes together in a very (not surprising for the Tateari) cohesive manner. Even the most basic infantry is outfitted in a powerful suit of armor, complete with defensive shielding, medical systems, and logistical analysis systems. Their armored units are never vulnerable, bearing the capability of engaging both air and land. Their spaceships, the bulk of their military, are of the most comprehensive designs ever seen, and rarely do they specialize, for the same model can fill a variety of rolls with great capability.

The Tateari military specializes in being fast and decisive, for the best way to make violence even more unbearable is to draw it out. So if the human race runs afoul of the Tateari, it is doubtful they will ever know what hit them.

((Tateari are copyrighted to their respective owners))

Tateari

+2 Dex

-2 Con

+2 Int

+2 Wis

-2 Cha

While dextrous, Intelligent, and Wise, they are more fragile and humans, and find it hard to deal with beings that do not instantly seek to forward the common good

Low Light Vision

Powerful Legs: Their powerful legs enable them to make long jumps (+10 racial bonus to acrobatics when jumping) and absorb falls far more easily than humans (divide the falling distance by 2 to determine falling damage, and it is treated as subdual unless it deals at least 3, instead of just 2 minimum for lethal damage) They also have a base speed of 40 due to the bounding leaps they take as part of their normal running stride

Tail: If their tail is free to help them balance, they receive a +2 racial bonus to acrobatics to tumble and balance

Racial Loyalty: A Tateari receives a +4 will bonus to resist any mental influences that would cause them to betray or endanger their race as individuals, or as a whole.