Feni

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are an clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its brutal weather. While feni are most populous within their native Ruz'kahni Directorate, they're a common species in nearly every corner of populated space owing to their affinity for new ideas and concepts, and their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Stereotypically feni are intelligent, educated, and possibly a bit naive. They are often considered natural scientists. But the numerous subspecies and clans that populate various planets in and out of the Directorate may vary wildly in culture, behavior and skill sets. Of all the people in known space, they are the most advanced and diverse.

Physical Description

Owing to their origin as a number of closely related species, the average fenian is incredibly diverse in appearance. From hyenaoids to vulpines to the more common canines and some even more exotic species adapted to various environments. Nearly all however are rugged, capable of surviving a variety of difficult climates and tend towards being light in build. Despite appearances, feniare not related to terran canines and have an entirely different evolutionary path. Though some theorists insist the appearance is evidence enough of 'precursor meddling' with the major species of the galaxies, these are usually considered crackpot theories.

History

Prior to space, the Directorate were numerous conflicting tribes across Fen. Forming something of a united-clans of Fen prior to the first extra-stellar flights. They initially colonized two worlds in two systems over a hundred-years of near-light speed travel. The trials of both colonies shaped their future philosophy of slow careful expansion, with the near total loss of indigenous life on Jesoba, the first of the two worlds barely having its intelligent life preserved via the cryo-stasis systems of the hope treatments would arise. And the second, while struggling in its alien environment, discovered W-1, and soon after, managed to break the code of FTL. Within the decade, the Directorate had reformed entirely as a multi-world nation, treated the native Jesobans and had them formally join the Directorate in the years that followed, and encountered, and joined with other aliens in a new world. Their first true trial was in the deadly war against the Styx AI–a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind, and later in the war of Ruzkahni survival, which has depopulated worlds and forced a total-war economy that the nation and people are not soon going to recover from.

Society

Fenian culture is curious, adaptive and prone to fascination with other peoples. Originating out of nomadic clans and tribes, each clan differed from the next, and the tribes they made up similarly differed from other tribes, sharing different language, cultures or traditions. These ethnicities and various subspecies are visible today in the diverse appearance of the feni people, as well as their diverse and integrated cultural centers. The most important aspect of feni social life is the clan, essentially the nation within the Directorate that the person is part of. These are more than social familial structures or simple allegiances but determine cultural and historical identity for the feni and changing from one clan to another is often a serious process that means leaving your family, nation, history, etc for another. Sometimes this is done for work, but more commonly for marriage. Feni names are in the format of  Name | Family Name | Clan Name. There are no specific formats for given names and feni have a tendency to have given names from other cultures.

Example Names Lira, Hidari, Syrius, Hakim, Jack, Caroline

Beliefs

Feni tend to believe strongly in the significance of their culture, history and importance of their clan, and their clan traditions often are the basis of their personal belief systems. Exact beliefs can vary dramatically from clan to clan, as well as individual religiosity; however, nearly all clans have a tendency for adaptation of others beliefs into their own. This has led to a plethora of micro-cultures and micro-religions throughout the directorate. The mystical traditions of the abrahamic faiths of earth saw particular adaptation and influence within the Directorate’s religious landscape. The native feni faiths, while diverse, heavily leaned towards monotheistic or pseudo-monotheistic systems with a deeply mystical bent and the faiths found numerous reasons to consider a shared truth between them.