Syss Rembala
Devout Dog
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
~Intent: Creating a homeworld for the Mahanaim species and a planet available for public use in threads and plots
~Image Credit: Credit to Mr-Frenzy from DeviantArt
~Canon: Not applicable.
~Links:
Mahanaim, native species.
GENERAL INFORMATION
lanet Name:Mahan
emonym:There are two demonyms in use in the planet. The first makes reference to the native inhabitants of the planet who are called Mahan'naim and the other alludes to the immigrated inhabitants, the Mahan'naian.
:Region:
Far Outer Rim
:System Name:
Marah System
:System Features:
Third planet in orbit around a yellow star, Telantes. Mahan is the habitable zone of its system and is surrounded by two moons, Naiel and Miel. Naiel, blue moon with 53568 kilometers diameter and Miel, white and much smaller than Naiel with only 6931 kilometers diameter. The planet has a rotational period of 28 hours and an orbital period of 392 standard days. It is surrounded by an asteroid belt that makes getting inside or outside of the planet slightly difficult for pilots, but not impossible at all.
:Coordinates:
31, AL
:Major Imports:
Medical supplies, long-ranged weaponry.
:Major Exports:
Special, custom-made weapons.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
:Gravity:
Standard.
:Climate:
Temperate.
rimary Terrain:Multiple terrains.
~Plains~
Grasslands
Savanahs
Praires
Steppe-tundras
~Mountains~
Escarpments
Canyons
Pass
Hills
Mesa
Butte
~Oceans~
Archipelagos (there are no lone, big islands)
~Lakes and Rivers~
~Forests~
Tropical
Temperate
Boreal
~Wetlands~
Swamps
Marshes
Mangroves
~Deserts~
~Artcic~
:Major Locations:
The Zakor Lands
Mahanaim Tribes
Many of them are scattered through the world. Each tribe is slightly different from each other and is led by a patriarch or matriarch. Mahanaim do not like strangers coming into their homes and thus tend not to be too hospitable. Seeing as how not all of the Mahanaim are nomadic, some of the "tribes" look more as small towns. They tend to place them near the face of a mountain, near a lake/river, inside the mountains (caves) or in the clearings of the woods. The ones that still are "nomadic" no longer move as often, sometimes spending a whole season in the same place and slowly all the tribes start to become established towns. It takes time to gain their trust, but a Mahanaim tribe will welcome immigrants as full-fledged members of their society once they earn their respect.
The Deathlands
Covering the greater part of the Northern Hemisphere of Mahan, the Deathlands are the regions considered too dangerous to move into by the Mahanaim. There are many predators and scarce resources, meaning even less prey to be hunted. Some Mahanaim who are expelled from their tribes or who commit a crime are obliged to go into the Deathlands.
The Vyn
The Vyn is the temple to the gods where the Onaii and the Onerr live. Most religious ceremonies take place here and same as the Zakor Lands, any sort of violence is prohibited in this sacred sanctuary. It is mostly made up of ruins except for the Temple in itself and its surroundings are enough to host most of the tribes when a bigger event is pending such as the election of a new Auzuhir or a war council is reunited.
POPULATION
:Native Species:
Mahanaim.
Various others semi-sentient to non-sentient species.
:Immigrated Species:
Humans.
opulation:Minimally Populated
emographics:The only sentient inhabitants of the planet are the Mahanaim and the small amount of immigrants who have wondered into the isolationist planet.
The tribes continue to live their ancient, customary culture and the immigrants that have decided to stay on Mahan have done so because they proved to the natives to be worthy of their home-world, thus being integrated into a tribe and protected, as though they had been born members of it.
Seeing as how great part of the population is still semi-nomadic, there are almost non concentration points as regards Mahan's population.
rimary Languages:Nuue (Mahanaim tongue)
Clinal Language
Galactic Standard Basic (not widely spread)
:Culture:
Daily Life
Society
The Mahanaim believe in keeping a strong bond between members of the same tribe, specially with members of the family. This is not only emotionally healthy but also grants them better results in everyday tasks. Ever since they are babies they are taught to never touch a member of their same tribe in order to harm them and if they do, they face tremendous consequences. The closeness between them and their naturally distrustful natures makes it difficult for outsiders and immigrants to fit into their tribes. This only tends to last a few months until the newcomer proves he does not mean harm and that he can live up to the expectations of their society. Many human families have been known to live among the Mahanaim and be treated as equals and participate in the same rituals and activities inside the tribe as any other member would be able to do. The relationship between the tribe members and the patriarch or matriarch of the tribe is one of deep respect and mutual admiration. The patriarch/matriarch is the one chosen by the tribe to lead them and this entails having a great responsibility to shoulder, seeing as how the Mahanaim have a strong tendency to rely in each other and most importantly: in their chosen leaders.
Government
There are two spheres, to levels of government inside Mahan's society. The most important and the one that represents all Mahan is the Auzuhir, the king or queen of Mahan and sole ruler of the Mahanaim. The Auzuhir concentrates all power except in the religious aspect and is respected and obeyed by all the tribes. Nonetheless, given that most tribes are separated from each other and in movement, there is another authority that is in charge of the everyday life inside a tribe and of solving as he/she sees fit any problems affecting that tribe in particular. This is the patriarch or the matriarch of the tribe and is chosen by the members in an open vote to represent them before the Auzuhir and the other tribes.
Arts
Mahanaim art is mainly centered around the themes of battle, family, the eyes and their gods. They prefer sculptures above any other type of art but have good paintings too. Poetry and prose often narrate heroic stories full of honor that end in tragedy, wars and many different myths regarding their gods and their ancestors. A very distinctive feature of the Mahanaim is their custom of painting or tattooing their bodies with patterns that identify them together with the masks they make in order to use in ceremonies and other particular occasions. They also give much importance to music, played in rituals or just for entertainment and each tribe seems to have its distinctive chants.
Sports
Mahanaim tend to hold many tournaments either inside their tribe or against others. One of the most renowned is the Valkal, the tournament in which almost every tribe participates. The best hunters and huntresses of the tribe make a group of maximum five people and are sent to hunt a predator, the one who takes down the most dangerous predator wins. Many have been known to die because of venturing into the Deathlands in hopes of killing one of its legendary monsters. Another native sport is the Alokai, a game played in teams. Each member of the team is given a small, rounded stone. One team has red stones and the other has blue ones. They have to steal the stones from each other until they have all the stones from the other team. Once your stone is stolen you are out of the game unless you are in possession of another stone you previously took from an enemy player. Once they have all the stones at least one of the members must get to a certain location were they present the stones and are declared winners. Alokai can last for days.
Religion
The religion in Mahan is centered around two gods: Nirshir and Joarur. Nirshir is the Mother and the goddess of peace, light, all things good, beauty, music and the sky and Joarur, the Father and god of war, darkness, all things bad, revenge, blood, family and arms. They do not perceive Nirshir as good nor Joarur as evil and every tribe worships them both. Joarur is the protector of the males while Nirshir is the matron of females. Only females are allowed to become Onaii, the priestesses of both gods and all of them live together in the Vyn. The High Priestess, or Onerr, is the highest authority of religion to the Mahanaim and very respected. She is often an old woman while most Onaii are young adults.
GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY
:Government:
Mahan is ruled under an Elected Monarchy system. The sole ruler of the planet, the Auzuhir, is elected trough a series of open votes and rules until the time of his/her death, unless he is declared unfit to rule for other reasons (such as disease, emotional wreckage or abuse of power). The title is not hereditary and once the Auzhir passes away, another one is elected.
:Affiliation:
None. Mahan has always kept an isolationist protocol.
:Wealth:
Unexploited richness.
Seeing as how the Mahanaim are not interested at all in wealth and valuables, the impressive amounts of resources, some of them extremely precious are not exploited for commerce and mostly unused by the natives. Because of this, the planet should be figuratively considered 'poor', but truth is its inhabitants have a hard-earned but great quality of life.
:Stability:
Impressive.
Mahanaim tribes do find reasons for conflict against one another, and fighting is part of their culture. However, they are also highly spiritual beings and very respectful of one another, this means that even the longest of wars can be brought to an end by a request of a cease of violence, and agreements are still arranged verbally in the end.
A tribe that viciously attacks others, with the sole purpose of material gain will be frowned upon and punished by the rest.
:Freedom & Oppression:
In Mahan, you live under the set of codes and rules the Mahanaim uphold also for themselves. Honor, discipline, responsibility and bravery are required qualities to have if to be successful in their style of life. Each tribe is free to do as it pleases as long as they do not disrespect their codes and traditions. The Mahanaim do not oppress anyone and are actually willing to learn from other cultures, even if this doesn't mean they will apply the changes to themselves.
MILITARY & TECHNOLOGY
:Military:
Mahan may lack the technology other planets possess but almost every single one of its inhabitants is combat trained. Mahan'naim and Mahan'naian alike are expected to know how to defend themselves and their tribes and the best fighters later become specialized warriors. This selected warriors will be the first ones summoned may a threat to Mahan appear.
Even while being scattered, Mahanaim can raise a big army in a short period of time. During times of war, every tribe is alerted of the threat to Mahan through various means: riders, messenger Kassiokh, and a smoke sign is emitted from the top of the temple of Vyn. The tribes promptly gather themselves around the Vyn and Zakor Lands, travelling for days with little rest if necessary. If the actual "military forces" are not enough, every inhabitant of the planet will proudly fight for their home-world and their ways. Each tribe also has warriors and they obey the patriarch or matriarch, even so, every single Mahanaim will answer to the Auzuhir and stop any type of violence between tribes if Mahan is threatened.
The inhabitants prefer a guerrilla-like warfare rather than an field encounter.
:Technology:
The technology found in Mahan is considerably lower than the one present in the Core planets, mainly to an aversion by the locals regarding it.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Mahan has never been involved with any Faction, isolated from all conflicts except the simple ones its inhabitants faced. The planet and the society it hosted was prospering. Mahanaim developed their characteristic way of life, their love for fighting and for the ability to proudly call themselves able of sustaining their society through their abilities and the gifts their home-world gave them.
Always under the command of an Auzuhir, the Mahan'naim prospered, grew, built. They were a peaceful warrior community, as utopic as the thought might sound.
Until the plague broke out in 426ABY.
426 ABY - The planet is infected with the Gulag plague. It only takes less than half a year for the virus to wipe out most of the population. The few survivors desert the planet in a last hope of saving their lives.
427 ABY - Mahan is uninhibited, forgotten by most except the ones who once lived in it. The native flora and fauna who survived the plague have prospered and the world is again a diamond in the rough.
-.-.-.-.-
826 ABY - The native species return to the planet. A century without interference from them have returned the planet to an untouched state, life made its way and now busts with energy everywhere in Mahan. Mahanaim rebuild their societies and tribes, the signs of sentient life on the planet is once more perceivable. Some humans have arrived to Mahan too, incorporated to the tribes as new brothers and sisters.
844 ABY - Seventeen years of apparent peace in Mahan are broken when suddenly most inhabitants disappear. The Mahanaim are left without a leader and desperation spreads rapidly through the planet. A new, provisional Auzuhir is named but is unable to keep stable control. The natives try to keep their fragile society from breaking.
The Netherworld stops its assault and some of the disappeared people make their return, however the Auzuhir is nowhere to be found. Opposing sides start waging a heated argument that would seemingly end in the first great war between the tribes, until the religious leaders choose the Skydrat clan to come forth and place a leader for their people. The Skydrat patriarch becomes the new Auzuhir, the clan in itself gain the title of Protectors of Mahan.
