Boethiah
Dark Messiah
Credits: Souracid, DeviantArt
Name: Resenerna
Designation: Sentient
Homeworld: N/A, they’re nomadic. This is explained further in their history.
Language: Reseran
Average height of adults: 1.72m
Skin color: Pale Caucasian, Fair Caucasian
Hair color: White, Bleached Blonde, Golden Blonde, Dirty Blonde
Breathes: Type I
Strengths:
Higher than average intelligence: The Resenerna have a higher average intelligence than other near-human species and are well known to be innovative in the fields of science and technology. One example is their unique way of star mapping and navigation that is considered on par with the Givin.
Excellent eyesight: The species has developed an incredible vision capable of focusing details at great distances and are also able to see well in low light.
Cold Resistance: Resenerna have a natural resistance to the cold and most find comfort in temperatures ranging from 0 to 5 degrees celsius.
Infertile: Due to gradual genetic devolution caused by ethnic purity the Resenerna have roughly a 0.2% fertility rate when breeding with their own but a significantly higher 1.7% chance with compatible races of human descent. Thus their race cannot realistically exceed a population of 250,000 as a result of their birth-death ratio.
Shorter lifespan: Similarly to their infertility, the Resenerna have an average lifespan of 55 standard years. Historically it is estimated that they once lived on an average of 120 years but their nomadic lifestyle, weaker immune systems, and ethnic stagnation lead to an ever declining lifespan. Experts believe that their race loses 30 days of their lifespan with every two generations.
Intolerance to hot weather: Because they're comfortable with lower temperatures, the Resenerna become stressed out without climate control in environments which exceed 26 degrees celsius. Agitation, fatigue, and even nausea have also been observed during long-term exposure.
Average Lifespan: 55 standard years
Races: N/A, explained more in their culture.
Estimated Population: 160,000 - 180,000
Diet: Omnivores, standard human diet.
Communication: Verbal, Kinetic
Culture: Nomads, the Resenernan people live pacifistically aboard colony ships harboured by a great space-going armada. By harvesting asteroids and trading with various powers the Resenerna have achieved a surprising level of autonomy despite their small population. Internally, it’s a different story and they are politically described as an oligarchial meritocracy. Socially the Resenerna are ethnically isolated people who make it forbidden to interbreed with other near-human species. Furthermore the Resenerna people tend to be suspicious of outsiders and avoid armed conflict wherever possible; preferring to rely on diplomacy through trade. Believing in unity and putting the fleet before individuals, the Resenerna share resources out of necessity and thus have a rather local economy which promotes sharing over sales but luxuries are generally traded rather than provided.
Technology level: Advanced but behind the majority of the galaxy, the Resenerna tend to rely slug-driven weaponry and prefer some archaic simplicities due to their low maintenance making it common place to find mechanical technology in day-to-day life.
General behavior: Isolated, pacifistic, and suspicious the Resenerna tend to dislike outsiders but also believe in humility and hospitality towards outsiders. Although one would rarely invite an outsider into the fleet, they won’t ignore another being in need if it doesn’t bring risk to the fleet. Recreationally the Resenerna are generally athletic, innovative, and inclusive of each other.
History: The Resenerna are a relatively unknown people; almost a myth in a sense. By their own legendary accounts, the Resenerna were originally the chosen offspring of the Celestials and the father species of humanity. Believing themselves to have come from a mythical world known as Asva in which their language means ‘Garden’ and is regarded as a paradise. Although these accounts are without any evidence, the Resenerna treat their history as a guideline to live by. When the Celestials left the greater galaxy behind Asva quickly fell into a dark era of war, infighting, famine, and eventually destruction when its moon crashed into the planet’s surface. Those who survived were less than a tenth of the overall population; ones drifting through the stars in sleeper ships.
The Folly
Their people managed to survive by drifting through the voids of dark space near the unknown regions for centuries until one by one the ships began to awaken. Left without proper leadership and ruined by despair, the catalyst of their downfall seemed to be without end. Two leaders known as Orsta and Andra vied for power and created a schism. The Charismatic Orsta believed their race was inevitably dying and wished to peacefully coincide with the human-controlled core but Andra, an ethnic elitist, believed their entire cultural heritage must be maintained through the purity of their blood and called for the immediate exile and even execution of half-bloods. The fragile state of peace between the two didn’t last long and swiftly the schism turned into civil war; what remained of their fractured people soon dwindled again. This time in half they estimated to only number 200,000. It was Andra who had achieved victory with the support of their remaining warships which destroyed the ships under Orsta without mercy; swift retribution.
The aftermath would see the crisis later being referred to as ‘The Folly’, a rather simple title for an event which nearly resulted in the utter extinction of an entire species. The weakness in their numbers meant that those remaining few had to breed amongst themselves, and although they initially were able to sustain their population -- able to nearly double it in decades -- their purity doctrine resulted in the destruction of genes, which was especially harmful for a space going race that slowly grew foreign to the nature of alien worlds and species. Without much need to adapt, their superior genes instead were becoming rarer amongst them. Their lifespans were reduced to half their former averages as a result.
The Gulag Plague & Four-Hundred Years’ Darkness
An accidental stroke of luck came during the Gulag plague, their isolated and mobile nature allowed their people to be mostly unaffected by the events taking place and in fact, the reduction in galactic population allowed them to briefly take advantage as piracy almost disappeared entirely. Without external threat the armada managed to recover, licking its wounds, and although hardships in the inability to obtain resources through trade existed, it developed a sense of self-sufficiency and independence which would later be attributed to their continued survival all together.
Netherworld
The 450,000 Resenerna suddenly became less than 200,000 in an instant. This bizarre disappearance was quickly compared to the destruction of Asva and many zealots believed this was the end of their people. The panic itself coincidentally strengthened the spiritual and cultural resolve of their people. Even when half of them disappeared -- never to return -- their survival was reinforced with a show of pride, and for half a decade this great cataclysm continued the Resenerna underwent political change, being forced to rely on trade with outsiders to make up for the productivity loss. For the first time in centuries the Resenerna have once again reemerged to the greater galaxy, becoming a resurging political entity.
Notable Player-Characters: None so far, although I intend to make one.
Intent: To create a truly nomadic people with a unique cultural heritage, legendary history, and inspire a creativity in non-combatant roleplay.
