Tevarin

Pronunciation: / TEV-are-inn /

History
The Tevarin are the first alien species that humanity waged war against. Twice.

The UPE first established contact with the space-faring civilization in 2541. While not as technologically advanced as humanity, the Tevarin were beginning to strike out into the universe. A proud, martial society, the Tevarin wanted humanity's resources and launched an offensive against them. While the battlegrounds never threatened Earth or Terra, what the Tevarin lacked technologically, they more than made up for in strategic brilliance and endurance, causing the war to last over four years. The turning point was the infamous Battle of Idris IV, which introduced a young officer, Ivar Messer, to the populace of the UPE.

After the Tevarin defeat, the UPE terraformed the Tevarin systems for Human colonization. The remaining Tevarin were either absorbed into the UPE or fled to the Banu or Xi'An systems.

In 2603, a new Tevarin Warlord, Corath'Thal, emerged from the corners of the cosmos with a rebuilt Tevarin battle-fleet and launched his first attack against the UPE systems. Their sole mission was to reclaim Elysium IV, their former homeworld. While it was a sympathetic cause that some Humans could support, the UPE wasn't about to give up territory. This war lasted seven years and touched almost every corner of the UPE.

On June 24, 2610 SET, Corath'Thal suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Squadron 42 at the Battle of Centauri. With his fleet rapidly falling to either destruction or surrender, Corath'Thal mustered his remaining loyal pilots to make a desperate charge for Elysium IV. Though they suffered an additional 70% casualty, his fleet finally reached the atmosphere of their old homeworld. Corath'Thal and his pilots lowered their thermal shields and dove for the planet.

With this second defeat, the spirit of the Tevarin race was irrevocably broken. Imperator Messer II used the victory to cement his place as ruler of the newly christened United Empire of Earth.

Homeworld
Formerly Kaleeth. It has been terraformed and colonized by Humans, and renamed to Elysium IV.

Political system (former)
The Tevarin were somewhere between a feudalistic society and an oligarchy, with a military government holding absolute authority. Typically only those who distiguished themselves in combat were able to advanced in Tevarin society, however those not in the military also had opportunities. Non-combatants were viewed as a valuable cog in the Tevarin collective society, and those who contributed to the system through agriculture or industry were also granted benefits.

The highest Tevarin position was Warlord, and despite the connotation of the title it was as much of a political office as it was a military one. While the Tevarin honored war, they were not aggressive in the way races like the Vanduul were.

Diplomatic status
There is no official Tevarin government, as the race was destroyed to near extinction in its war with humanity and the survivors assimilated into the UEE. However, a few Tevarin have been given Citizenship to display the UEE's tolerance for xenos, but the total number of Tevarin Citizens might be measured in triple or double digits. The rest seemingly lack any political affiliation to a party for Tevarin nationalists, instead participating in or ignoring the system individually.

Military
Even though the Second Tevarin War ended in 2610, there is a cultural resentment of the UEE military, with very little Tevarin volunteers in the military. The majority of Tevarin in the military are instead found in UEE Penal Units. Eligible Tevarin criminals are offered a choice: serve time on QuarterDeck or do a mandated number of tours in a front-line. These squads are typically patched together from Tevarin and human convicts, given roles as cannon fodder for high casualty operations.

While rare, it is possible for Tevarin to elevate in rank from these squads into the more legitimate branches of the UEE military.

Religion
Originally the Tevarin followed Rijora (/REE-jorr-ah/), a warrior-code similar to Bushidō on ancient Earth. The Tevarin believed in honor, fealty and duty above all else and breaking their strict code meant excommunication or even execution in extreme cases.

After their defeat in the first war and the loss of their homeworld, the code began to decline in popularity. The Second Tevarin War had been launched in an attempt to reclaim Tevarin’s previous glory, and it had failed miserably. The last believers of Rijora flung themselves toward Kaleeth, burning up in the atmosphere and crashing into the planet. This triggered the rest of the Tevarin into abandoning their religion in a climatic period known as The Purge. During this time most of the Tevarin destroyed their Codices, which were the holy writs of Rijora.

Personality traits
There is a sadness and anger through most of the Tevarin; a melancholy that their species is on the decline. After their planet was lost, many Tevarin channeled their aggressive nature into addictions and violence. Tevarin mercenaries are noted for their ruthlessness and utter lack of fear. The average Tevarin finds little joy in life. Most Humans tend to describe the Tevarin as being terse and cynical.