Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Approved Species Qadiri

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Anya Venari

Star Queen Tirathana VII
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Image Credit: http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/170698/Desert_Elf.pngObsidian Entertainment.

Name: Qadiri
Designation: Sentient
Homeworld: Tygara
Language: Variety of languages based on location and dialect. The main language of Amikaron is called Zandri, but over 130 variations are known across Tygara.
Average height of adults: 1.5 to 1.8 metres.
Skin color: Tanned. Living in the hotter and more tropical areas of Tygara has ensured they have evolved with darker, bronze skin tones.
Hair color: Almost universally black hair. After passing 175-200 years old hair might turn grey or silver.
Breathes: Type I.
Strengths:
  • Increased Force Affinity. Compared with humans, Qadiri have high rates of natural Force affinity. Anywhere from 5 to 10% of individuals are able to touch the Force in one way or another, mostly unconsciously. However, only about 1% have abilities which can be trained and put into conscious, controlled use.
  • Balanced Physically. Qadiri form a nice balance between Eldorai and humans. They are remarkably agile, yet still able to hold their own physically, though they are still more prone to fatigue than a human would be.
  • Navigators. Qadiri are almost all extremely good navigators. They seem to have an instinctual internal compass, meaning they are great sailors and travellers.
  • Fast Breeding. Qadiri take advantage of their surroundings meaning they are well over ten times more populous than both Vashyada and Xioquo combined. This means they can easier replace losses than their rivals.
Weaknesses:
  • Theocratic Tendencies. The increase in Force affinity has a downside; it promotes division between the haves and have-nots. Most nations of the Qadiri have special units or groups of Force users. This can cause some bitter resentments if lower caste are promoted, or younger siblings receive favour over older ones.
  • Jack Of All Trades. Whilst possessing greater than human dexterity and greater than Eldorai strength they are below average in an opposite matchup. Physically they cannot compete with the strength of the Vashyada or the speed of the Xioquo.
  • Chronically Divided. The Qadiri are badly divided politically, socially and religiously. There are no less than 31 major Qadiri states stretched over the world, and dozens of smaller polities and entities as well. Socially, the division between Force and non-Force and rich and poor castes alienates many. Religiously, even though in theory the Saoshyant is the religious head many other alternative religions and heresies exist.
  • Demanding. Like their cousins on Kaeshana, the Qadiri have extremely rapid metabolisms, requiring them to eat and drink more than humans. This can be problematic for logistics and for travel across the deserts.
  • Backward. Although leading the way on Tygara, the Qadiri are stuck with a distinctly Renaissance technology level. Bows, swords, spears and early cannons are their weapons, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage against blasters and tanks!
Distinctions: The Qadiri are a near-human race, a subset of the Eldorai adapted to the hotter conditions of central Tygara.
In appearance they are very similar to the Eldorai, being tall and slender and having pointed ears. They stand on average about 160-170cm, with females being slightly taller and broader than males. Their hair is usually black, though it greys with age. Their eyes are usually pale, but sometimes darker. Exposure to the sun has made them more tanned than Eldorai or the other cultures of Tygara.
Internally they are similar to Eldorai except they lack the toxin flushing organ of their Kaeshana cousins. In exchange they are notably hardy (for Eldorai anyway!) being tougher and stronger, though sacrificing agility for it.
Compared with the Eldorai or the other cultures on Tygara the Qadiri are quicker to breed. A Qadiri female can have, on average, twice the children of an Eldorai female without suffering serious medical consequences, though still less than a human. Thus, overcrowding is a frequent problem, but high mortality and lack of food production means there is no great explosion of population.
Average Lifespan: 225 to 250. This is distinctly lower than Eldorai, though on the other side, Qadiri become adults around the age of 30-35.
Races: Though technically the Qadiri are a sub-race of the Eldorai, they themselves have different racial and cultural groups of their own. Across the length and breadth of Tygaria the Qadiri have spread, multiplied and grown. The Qadiri of Amikaron cannot understand the Qadiri of Khajwar. Broadly speaking there are four main groups.
  • The Qadiri on the continent of Zhukathis centred around Amikaron.
  • The Qadiri on the continent of Zhukathis centred around Khajwar.
  • The scattered Qadiri of the northern continent of Ajustra.
  • The Qadiri of the far sea islands.
Each of these has their own unique languages and customs. Most of this submission will deal with those around Amikaron, but where differences exist with other cultures they will be mentioned.
Estimated Population: 400 million scattered over a broad swathe of Tygara.
Diet: Like humans, Qadiri are omnivorous. They eat a broad variety of vegetable and animal products. One area they differ in is that they have relatively low tolerance for alcohol.
Communication: Verbal, written.
Culture: The Qadiri have an advanced cultural scene.
Performance and Poetry:
All Eldorai love oral poetry and performance, and this is one thing which has transferred to the Qadiri over the centuries. Many Qadiri begin young and learn to sing the epic stories of their ancestors by heart. However, these songs, like all epic poetry, change over time. In this the Qadiri are skilled at weaving their tales to fit their audience. Both fiction and non-fiction are popular, but the most loved tales are epic ones filled with war, love and loss. One of the most famous of these is the Tale of the Six Hundred, a pseudo-history about the warriors of an ancient prince marooned on a foreign shore and their trails to return home. In the end only two, one male, one female, survive to reach home and are married at the conclusion. A recitation of this tale can take half a day or longer!
In stage performance the Qadiri are less in favour, but musical performances before an audience are common, as is dance accompanied by a flute or drum.
Prose, History and Research:
In many ways the great division of the Qadiri makes artistic trends blossom, for there is great incentive to get ahead of one’s rivals by supporting scientists and writers. Panegyrics, history and science are often funded with an eye to obtaining a future political, cultural or military advantage over one’s enemies. Narrative histories are actually relatively common, often written independently by those involved or by those shortly after the fact. Often these histories can be mixed with mythological elements to create fantastic tales.
Fictional prose however is less common, and is only just coming into common production. Currently most prose works are dramatizations of real events or satires.
Visual Arts:
The Qadiri have a deep love for art, and rulers will often spend vast amounts on artists to commission works which glorify them. Private works are still common however.
The two most common areas of large-scale production are mosaics and statues. Mosaics, made of many small pieces, is often beautifully coloured and forms both still-life and abstract subjects. Statues, some vast, are common and are commonly painted.
Glass is a speciality especially of Amikaron. Here it is not used on windows but as decorative pieces or screens, often stained and formed of many small pieces like a transparent mosaic.
In the jungle areas of Tygara where glass and mosaics are rare, wood and bone often take their place.
Jewellery:
The Qadiri love gemstones, gold and silver and make elaborate necklaces, rings and pendants. Their favourites are rubies and other red stones as it reminds them of fire and the sun.
Other ‘cultural’ topics such as gender and religion are covered in religion.
Technology level: The Qadiri technology level varies somewhat based on which group one refers to, but the more ‘civilised’ groups have a fairly consistent progress level. By and large the Qadiri have what might be called a ‘renaissance’ level of technology when compared to Earth. Further details are listed below:
Building and architecture:
The Qadiri are exceptionally skilled in the creation of mud brick, stone and adobe structures. Their architecture tends to favour more graceful designs like their art, so they make extensive use of vaulted ceilings, arches and colonnades. In the heat the stone and mud structures are cool within, and rarely feature windows. Glass is extremely uncommon in building design except for decorative screens. Traditionally villages would be built so the walls of their structures would also be the wall of the settlement. Only the wealthy can afford stone residents which are permanent no matter the season.
Walls of fortresses and cities are grand, tall and made of stone. These imposing bastions are hard to assault, but recently the introduction of cannons has started to render them useless.
In Khajwar wood is more commonly available so structures of wood are used in preference to mud brick, and are often thatched.
The Sea:
All the Qadiri realms are exceptionally skilled at producing ships and navigators to steer them. Just recently a Qadiri named Hasana Majelani successfully circumnavigated the world in a ship. These ships are commonly driven by wind, whilst those on rivers or sheltered inland seas use oars as well. The Qadiri are also ahead of their time designing navigation instruments. Some are even able to use the Force to instinctively find their way in the most treacherous of conditions.
Medicine:
In the area of medicine the Qadiri are slightly behind their kindred cultures. Rather, they rely so much on the Force to cure ailments and knowledge is restricted to the priestesses that information is not disseminated much. As their religion forbids the practice of cutting up corpses knowledge of their insides is generally lacking.
Warfare:
Finally warfare, though it is not the final thought for the Qadiri at all! War for the Qadiri is a daily part of life and politics. The technology of war has become a highly skilled art over time. The use of mercenaries and professional soldiers is common, leading to long campaigns of manoeuvre and position. Defeating an enemy without fighting a battle is seen as noble, not cowardly, and rash commanders looked down on as uncontrolled. Use of levies or untrained units is exceptionally uncommon, and the time taken to train and the expense of a new soldier means wasteful use is frowned upon.
In battle there is a complex interplay between cavalry, infantry, archers and Force users. Each is countered by another, and is in turn counters another. For instance archers are formidable at cutting down infantry, but are easily dispersed by Yazgid mounted riders, who in turn cannot break formed infantry. The perfect timing and co-ordination required in a general makes successfully ones highly honoured.
Technologically, the use of cannons, the secret taken from the Xioquo, has come into recent use amongst the Qadiri around Amikaron. However, these are used primarily for sieges as their penetrative power is well recognised. However, handheld gunpowder weapons are deeply unpopular, and as yet lack the technology to outclass the main weapon of the Qadiri.
For the Qadiri their greatest weapon is the bow. This bow, commonly a compound recurve bow, used either mounted, or on foot, has incredible range and accuracy when used by an experienced archer. To enter the Amikarese Empress’ Guard for instance one must be able to hit a coin with a single arrow at 100 paces.
Other weapons include scimitars, long daggers, spears and polearms. Axes, maces and hammers are rarely used, the same with pikes or other heavy weapons.
One particular innovation of the Qadiri is the use of Garsh, a type of napalm liquid fire. This, either thrown or dropped in ceramic pots or fired from a siphon is hideously effective at close range and at sea.
In one field the Qadiri are exceptionally advanced; and that is using the Force to imbue weapons. These ‘enchanted’ weapons are powered with the Force and are both resistant to damage and supernaturally sharp. Few can afford or find one to make such weapons, but those who have them are well equipped for battle.
Outside of Amikaron where terrain is less flat, battles of ambush, raid and lighter troops are common. Cavalry is rarer and infantry usually takes the role of archers and melee.
General behaviour: Any discussion of the behaviour and culture of the Qadiri is by necessity a broad topic, but a broad consensus can be achieved.
Gender:
Like with the Eldorai, gender plays a central role with the Qadiri, and again somewhat inverts it from traditional human norms. Qadiri females are given preferential treatment over males, but by no means to the extent that the Eldorai and Xioquo do. In many ways, for their progress level, the Qadiri are quite progressive, certainly more than humans at the same level.
The Qadiri have what is called enatic-cognatic succession, where a female will inherit before a male sibling, but the male sibling will not be passed over beyond that. Thus, there have been male Shâhanshâh, generals and other rulers. They are also used in the military primarily as archers or support roles. ‘Fraternisation’ is harshly punished, and the genders are not brigaded together for this reason.
Having said this, there are many roles a male cannot fulfil. Most notably, the Saoshyant, the highest religious office, cannot be a male. Likewise all priestesses and clergy are female, though males can act as assistants and in monk-like roles.
Sexuality, like with the Eldorai, accepts both types of unions, though formal marriage alliances are only conducted heterosexually. Interestingly, same-gender unions are not formally recognised, but are de-facto accepted. It is understood that a Qadiri should produce children, but sometimes this is a mere diversion from a more meaningful union. Amusingly there are often events where noble women choose to essentially have a one-night stand with a male agreed on by both families with the intent of producing a child. The father in this case is given substantial gifts when the child is born but has no custody rights.
Religion:
Similar to the Eldorai, religion is a very powerful motivating force, but in a different way. To the Qadiri there is no single unified woman who embodies church and state, rather they are divided quite distinctly. The Qadiri religion is what could be classed Henotheism, where a single Goddess (Kashara) is generally acknowledged to be supreme, but other deities exist under her rule. The head of the Kashari is the Saoshyant who rules from the city of Krolis a fair distance from Amikaron. There are, however, many other deities, and many versions of Kashari religion. The Qadiri of distant lands usually pay only lip-service to the Saoshyant and have their own specific forms of religion. The Saoshyant has little real temporal power, and nations often conspire to prevent this happening, though they’d never admit as much! As a result, nothing like the Star Queen has ever appeared on Tygara, with a single monolithic state embodying both political and spiritual supremacy. For the Qadiri things are more complicated.
That being said, the Saoshyant has incredible moral power and influence over the faithful, and genuine atheism is very rare.
In the name of the head goddess, Kashara, one can detect the hint of the name Ashira, and indeed they are linked, as the Eldorai will discover!
The Force:
For the Qadiri the Force (or Zari as they call it, literally spirit or soul) is a gift of the goddesses. This power is never neglected and is very important for them. The Qadiri have higher than average Force sensitivity compared with humans and about par with Eldorai. Force users, as soon as they manifest their abilities, are usually taken in by either temple or state (there is sometimes violent completion between them for the best!) to be trained. Those taken by the Temple are trained as priestesses (female only), whilst those taken by the state are trained to use their abilities as warriors (both sexes). Only after thorough training are the Qadiri allowed to leave, but their jobs are set for life. These positions are well paid and create influence for their families, but at the cost of tearing a family apart. Thus, the birth of a Force sensitive child is something of a mixed blessing for most, and hiding abilities is common.
All large states include Force sensitive warriors, trained to use their elemental and other abilities in battle or to aid their comrades. This is one area where a male Qadiri can rise high.
Many noble families prefer to pass inheritances to Force sensitive heirs, a rare case where a male or younger female sibling can ‘jump the queue’. Inevitably this causes resentment.
The Dark Side is of course an eternal factor, and those deemed to have ‘fallen’ are often tried for heresy and executed. Heresy is a wonderfully vague charge to get rid of a rival, especially of warriors.
Overall the Qadiri see the Force as a tool to be used, and sometimes it backfires when one falls and uses their powers for their own ends.
Slavery:
Slavery is part of Qadiri culture in all the main states and regions. Slave labour mines, farms and helps the rest of society. It is universally accepted as not only a necessity by as an ordained religious good. Voices of abolition are few and academic only.
Slavery however does not carry racial tones to it. One can find themselves enslaved or freed quite easily. Being captured in war or as punishment for crime are the most common means aside from being born into it. However, slaves can buy their own freedom, have acknowledged rights as property and can be freed by their owners easily.
This rosy picture however should not obscure the fact that Qadiri slaves are still property, many purchased by owners for exploitative reasons, and the vast majority never have the chance to escape.
There is one guaranteed escape though. Force sensitive slaves are incredibly valuable and are taken for training by temples or states as above, then later can buy their families out of slavery.
The majority of slaves are Qadiri, but some Xioquo and Vashyada are also sold as exotics.
Government:
As noted above there is no single monolithic state controlling all the Qadiri. Further, there are no states which are large, centralised nation-states. Indeed there is an incredible hodgepodge of small and large states across Tygara. Some like Amikaron are large powerful, but others are free cities, small principalities and theocracies. Even Amikaron, the largest state in the world, is a bewildering collection of smaller entities, feudal states each jealous of their rights and customs.
Many times one state has risen up and tried to expand their power. Just recently the grandmother of Semiramis III, Adira IV, tried to centralise power in Amikaron and expand it, but was met with rebellions, war and eventually assassination for her efforts.
Amikaron is led by a Shahbânu if female, or a Shâhanshâh if male. Other ranks include Mirza (royalty), Nawab(i) (Khajwar ruler), Jazir (general or military leader), Emir(i) (noble title).
Warfare:
With so much competition between states warfare is rife. The methods and technology of war are discussed above, but the cultural aspects are related here. Warfare, like slavery, is seen as a vital necessity. Peace is valued for one’s own people, but the constant desire for fame, glory, resources makes conflict desirable. However, it should be mentioned that these conflicts are rarely ideological and never total wars. Thus, a negotiated settlement is desired, and outright annexation provokes coalitions to form to resist the aggressor.
Currency:
Tygara has something of an imbalance in the traditional rarity of precious metals. Part of this is probably caused by early trauma to the planet which allowed heavier elements to be available, or perhaps other factors. Regardless, gold is much more common than silver and the coinage reflects this. Smaller use coins are gold, whilst important coins are silver, and are often worth many times that of gold. Platinum is very highly valued and is rare.
History:
Much like the Eldorai, the Qadiri were created by the Rakata over 25,000 years before the present. Created as expendable, yet controllable soldiers for their army, the Qadiri were a side-creation, made to better resist harsh conditions.
When the Infinite Empire of the Rakata collapsed in ruin, Tygara was abandoned to the experiments. Though the most numerous, the Qadiri had many disadvantages compared with the Vashyada and Xioquo. First, they had no great leader, like their rivals did in Tylania and Mystra. Second, they were caught between their two enemies, forced to fight both.
In this terrible war though the Qadiri proved themselves more than adequate to the task, and when Tylania took the Vashyada south the Xioquo were eventually defeated and fled north.
These ancient battles are dimly remembered in the modern age as myths and legends about the creation of the world, but nothing more is known.

The history of the Qadiri after the fall is one of disunity and decentralisation. Unlike the Eldorai of Kaeshana the Qadiri never united to form a unified world state headed by a single person. The reasons for this mainly deal with the consequences of the different worlds they live on.

Tygara is a world of many continents and islands, so after the collapse of technology and reversion to barbarism the Qadiri scattered over all the lands. Whilst on Kaeshana the single continent’s great valleys kept the population concentrated, here they drifted away to the four corners of the map. This division led to many languages springing up, many cultures and many methods of survival in desert, jungle and plain. It is estimated that 1000 years after their victory the Qadiri were reduced to a mere 50,000 scattered over two continents. It would take nearly 20,000 years for agriculture to be relearned and for enough people to group together to form a state.

The Qadiri have always operated in historic times along two major, independent geographic axis. The first was in the lands now called Amikaron, the other several thousand kilometres away in Khajwar. These two separate cultural bases traditionally had little contact with each other except by trade, and this distance was yet further hindrance to any sort of unification.

Despite this, the Qadiri have had the ‘critical mass’ to form localised state societies and empires. The greatest of these is Amikaron, a loose federated Empire founded about 1000 years before the present by the brilliant general and warlord Amira I. She was the first to take the title of Shahbânu and found an Empire, though after its death many of the frontier regions slipped away. After many wars and struggles the current empire began to emerge. Attempts to centralise the Empire further led to many civil wars, and the low crown authority is the primary bone of contention between the Shahs and their nominal subjects.
The current Shahbânu is Semiramis III, now eight years on the throne. She had to fight a minor civil war to prevent a cousin of hers usurping the crown, during which she was almost murdered, came back and won a decisive battle against the traitor before the usurper was murdered by her own forces. She is a brave and open-minded woman, yet anxious about the future as she looks to the heavens.

The origins of the Saoshyant are somewhat obscure, but it seems likely that the first of that title took the position almost 2500 years ago as a religious prophet. Her successors took this name-title as a position and set to do the bidding of the Goddess until the end times.
Early on the strategic city of Krolis became a centre of such a religious organisation. Many times the rulers of Amikaron have tried to reach out and control the Saoshyant. Sometimes the Empire was so strong it could depose or even murder these religious figures, but the inevitable reaction would tilt matters back in the other direction.
The Saoshyant gives up their former name when they take the title, which makes identifying them somewhat tricky. Therefore, their birth names are used to identify one from the other 87 women to hold the title. The current Saoshyant was born Azar Jai Zhali, and has held the position for close to thirty years. She is considered a pious but also pragmatic leader not above using deception and expediency to get what she wants.

Historically Tygara has been completely isolated from the outside galaxy. The Qadiri, interestingly, had a long tradition that there were other people living out amongst the stars. However, their image of benevolent deities was nothing like what they actually got when slavers from the sky came down upon them.

These slavers were a small-time off-shoot of the Corsairs in the galaxy at large. However, when their leader learned of Tygara he immediately moved there, hoping to snap up a quick collection of slaves. Despite having only three ships and less than 100 men he was confident of routing the primitives.
And so, landing near the city of Mansura in Amikarese territory, he plundered and enslaved several villages. When troops from the resident Satrap attempted to stop him the blasers and terrifying machines proved irresistible and the army was routed.
Semiramis heard of these incursions and marched with an army to Mansura personally. Attempts to negotiate were met with the Qadiri ambassadors being seized and enslaved themselves. With little option, Semiramis attacked, trying to use open order tactics and multiple fronts. However, their weapons were ineffective and the terrifying space ships and advanced weapons mowed down 700 Qadiri warriors in less than an hour.
Semiramis barely escaped and withdrew to watch whilst summoning more reinforcements. It was at this stage that she received a piece of luck. The Corsairs greedily had not left yet and celebrated their victory and tormented their captives, thinking the Qadiri were gone.
Seeing her only chance, Semiramis led a stealthy night attack, overwhelmed the sentries and attacked the Corsairs whilst they were unprepared. Proving themselves quick to adapt, Semiramis’ troops knew enough about their own firearms and from watching the slavers to know how to use a blaster. This, combined with arrows and knives against unarmoured enemies led to a slaughter. Only one Corsair ship escaped and eighty of the slavers were killed or captured.
Semiramis was hailed as a hero, but she knows that next time the invaders from the sky will not underestimate her, and she has little chance of standing against them without aid….

Notable Player-Characters: None yet.
Intent: To create a race to inhabit the world of Tygara. This race is similar to the traditional Eldorai, but with some interesting changes resulting from environmental and genetic changes. This race also gives this writer the opportunity to build a society and culture which will provide some interesting opportunities. The trope of the first contact is very interesting for this writer as well, so how they react to the coming incursion is also something to explore.
 
[member="Anya Venari"]

Swell work as usual. I don't see anything alarming here but -- I probably don't need to mention it -- make sure to link this when submitting the Xioquo and Vashyada species.

Pending secondary.

(getting a double stamper)
 
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