Tevarin

The Tevarin (/TEV-are-inn/) are an extraterrestrial species. After two wars with the United Planets of Earth and their entire defeat in 2610, they lost their sovereignty and were absorbed into the UPE. The Tevarin homeworld was terraformed and annexed by the UPE.



History
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 famous 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.

Currently, a large tevarin diaspora settles in the unclaimed Branaugh system on Branaugh II.

Homeworld
Formerly known as Kaleeth, it has since been terraformed, colonized by Humans, and renamed to Elysium IV. In 2946, Suj Kossi, a UEE veteran, was the planet's first senator to come from the Tevarin population.

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 distinguished themselves in combat were able to advance 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.

Present day repression
Regardless of having been assimilated into the UEE for more than 300 years, some groups still hold grudges against the Tevarin. Particularly a xenophonic hate-group known as Nemesis has been known to commit voter suppression against Tevarin. In one case, during the secondary votes of the 2950 UEE imperatorial Election, it was revealed that Nemesis would strategically deploy themselves near polling stations where high populations of Tevarin were known to live, intimidating them and denying them access.

An example of a group that currently fights against this repression is the Tevarin advocacy group Stronger Together, founded in 2941. They routinely provide free legal representation for Tevarin who can't afford it and guide others through the complicated Citizenship application process. They monitor activity of anti-Tevarin hate groups and collate data of xenophobic crimes from all UEE systems.

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.

Diet
Tevarin enjoy fibrous vegetables and lack the capacity to taste spicy and bitter food. Because of this, it is common in the Tevarin settlement on Branaugh II to see food vendors selling bags of raw, frozen bitter melon and Xi'an demon peppers for snacking on-the-go.