Feni

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are a clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its dry climate and 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 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 vulpinoids to the more common canoids 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 to be light in build. Despite appearances, Feni are 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.

Heritages

Feni are less a singular species and are instead a cluster of related species originating from Fen. A list are presented:

• Hgnaii The species that above all others are scrappy, relatively diminutive scavengers and survivors. They resemble terran wild dogs, jackals and coyotes. They're by reputation opportunistic and their population centers are considered highly influence by humanity.
• Hethi Large tailed, elegant and with sharp features, the hethi are agile, aloof and traditionally enjoy hunting for wild prey. They resemble vulpines, urocyons and chrysocyons of earth.
• Sekki More powerfully built that most, they are the largest on average of all the feni species and evolved around the northern and southern hemispheres of Fen as nomadic, tribal families. They most closely resemble wolves and other lupines of earth.
• Varski Rugged canines that came to dominate the most ecologically stable portions of their world of Fen, they're diverse and highly morphic in appearance and resemble many varieties of domestic canines.
• Kholi Powerfully jawed and highly divergent from most of the species of Fen, the kholi vary from very small insect-eating scavengers to powerful obligate carnivores. They originate from the dryer regions of Fen and resemble terran hyenas.

History

Prior to space travel, the Feni were simply numerous competing tribes across Fen. On the eve of interstellar travel, however, they formed an organization meant to offer a united voice of the people of Ahni to anything they might encounter, and so the first colonization attempts were conducted by the Directorate of Interstellar Affairs. This body initially colonized two worlds in two systems after 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 in the hope treatments would be developed. 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 gained enough political support to exert itself over the clans and reformed simply as the Ruz'kahni Directorate, named for the home system of the Feni. Although the clans themselves remain independent polities, the Directorate is the union that binds them into the greatest force for peace and progress yet created or discovered. The native Jesobans were revived and treated, and they formally joined the Directorate in the years that followed. Other species were encountered, and many elected to form their own clans to give themselves political representation. The first true trial for the Directorate was in the deadly war against the Styx AI, a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind. More recently, the War of Ruz'kahni Survival has depopulated worlds and forced a war economy that is still in the process of returning to its former state.

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, and sometimes out of abduction or coercion in times of clan wars. 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.

Cuisine

Of particular note is the Feni palate. As Fen is somewhat but not extremely dry by the standards of many life-supporting worlds, the chemical compounds of native plant life tend to be less diluted by water, or in other words more concentrated. This includes compounds that cause flavor. As a result, the average Feni palate has evolved with this plant life to be somewhat dulled by galactic standards, and foods that are extremely flavorful to most sophonts (eg. Earth's capsaicin, Charum's emberpetal, etc) are considered somewhat average or bland by most Feni. Feni cuisine is therefore somewhat divisive among other species, with some embracing the overwhelming sensations and some finding the intensity intolerable.

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.