neoXeno- Syk'a rii

An Apsoid, prosimian race characterized by their long sometimes stripped tails, large bright eyes and tall pointed and articulating ears, the Syk’a rii hail from the distant world of Syk’ara. At the time the Ancients arrived at Syk’ara, her people were well into a time of great advancement and growth. In the two generations since the rise of the great hero Jho’safar the mostly united Syk’aran people had moved from simple metal working and masonry, into manufacturing, and were well on their way into industrialization. The Ancients jumped them up past early industrialization right into galactic travel. For fifty years Ancients lived with and advised the Court of Rosalie, headed by Rosalie Bien Iko, granddaughter of Jho’safar.
But then came the teraquakes. Syk’ara shook all over her surface, volcanoes, long dormant filled the skies with smoke and ash. Vast regions of farm land were ruined in the catastrophe. The Ancients warded that aging De Iko that her planet was doomed, the tectonic activity was going to destroy their entire civilization. And then they offered a solution. In a near by galaxy, there is an abundance of life supporting worlds, any of which could become a new home for her people. As the quakes, eruptions and storms grew more frequent, Rosalie declared it was time to go. A fleet of over a thousand ships, most of which were provided by the ancients, others built on Syk’ara, and more still built along the way, would soon begin the long trek across the bythos to the new galaxy.
Of the nearly billion souls that ventured forth unto the stars on the nearly 500 year journey in search of a new home most were willing travelers. Nearly all of them strict adherents to the Enoch’var faith that was the staple of their society. But not all the Syk’a rii fled the home world. There was a sizable group that remained behind, led by a man named Ja’vet Mahk; they refused to accept the word of the Ancients and remained behind. Early on in the journey there were among the travelers young people who were sympathetic to Ja’vet Mahk and they feared that by leaving their home planet they were leaving their god behind. These young people would form a new sect of Enoch’var, dedicated to maintaining their contact with the god they felt they had left behind. They would come to call themselves the Vet’ma, and their numbers would increase and decrease periodically through the more than 500 years it took to cross the bythos into the new galaxy.

Nearly four generations had been born since leaving Syk’ara, when the fleet moved into the new galaxy. Using charts provided by the Ancients the fleet made its way toward the closest planet identified as ideal by the their benefactors. The line of Jho’safar was no more, Rosalie had but one son, and he had joined the Vet’ma and never married or had children. Yet, the Court of Rosalie was maintained, and a new lineage ascended to the thrown. The leader of Syk’aran people would be known as the Iko in honor of their great hero. Female leaders are distinguished as De Iko.
The fleet settled on a world that would be named Syk’rha, or Syk’ara 2. (Rha being ancient Syk’aran for two.) In order to learn to control and maintain the fleet of ships designed by the Ancients, the Syk’arans had to adapt to the language commonly known as the “galactic tongue.” Only a select few scholars and Tahtlls maintain understanding and speak the Syk’aran language.

The average life span of Syk’a rii is just under 160 years, so they are considered children well into their 30s, though emotional development usually occurs long before that. They are only fruitful for a brief time in their long lives; between the ages of about 45 and 85, male Syk’a rii are capable of impregnating female Syk’a rii who are only able to carry a child between the ages of about 40 to 80. When the fleet landed at Syk’rha, none of the original people were still alive, and their children were all elderly.

Using their ships as source material, the Syk’a rii began building cities on their new home planet. The ships had been designed for colonization, the quarters were independent pods that could be easily converted to free standing houses, or stacked into flats creating apartment buildings. The specialized ships where crops, water and live stock were transported on, were moved into regions where agriculture would flourish. The great manufacturing ships, used to build new vessels along the way from metals mined from asteroids; were converted into space stations, continuing their manufacturing duties in the stars. In less than forty years, a flourishing society was up and running, and rapidly expanding as planned cites were constructed demonstrating the expansive knowledge born of 500 years of research and experimentation during the long journey.
When the Ancients arrived in the galaxy they found the Syk’aran people had advanced to a truly modern, galactic society. Though they still held tightly to much of their ancient beliefs; Enoch’var temples had been constructed throughout the new cities and a large temple complex was under construction on the planet Tenerife, to house the gathered wisdom of Enoch’var and the preserved history of the Syk’aran people.

Philetus Flower – carried from Syk’ara in the great exodus, it is sacred to the Syk’a rii people. Its used to make everything from ale to fragrances (perfumes and incense) It is a hardy plant that will grow just about anywhere. Several new variations of the plant were cultivated on the multitude of ships that ferried the Syk’a rii into the galaxy. Originally it only grew on short soft stems blossomed in yellow and pale pink, but through much experimentation, it can now produce stalks as much as six feet tall, with plentiful leaves and flowers in dark purple, bright red and orange. Each new variation creating different scents and flavors in the products produced from them, the leaves previously too small to be concerned with, contain a more potent concentration of the enzyme that makes the ale from the flowers intoxicating. The now sturdier stalks are used to make musical instruments, walking sticks and other simple implements.

Be’anan- (hippies) A sect of Syk’a rii who are known for smoking the dried leaves of the Philetus plant, they refer to this as Letus Leaf. They use the flower’s petals to make a die used to paint their fur. Be’anan live in communal villages, and eschew technology and most social norms, though they do frequently travel across space, usually venturing to Syk’a rii and Apsu controlled worlds on missionary ventures. They do not follow the teaching of Enoch, preferring to adhere to the Book of Fa’fyl, which teaches a faith passed on bye the Ancients.
Vet’ma- (Cult of Death) an extremely dangerous sect, the Vet’ma believe they left their god behind in their home galaxy, they honor death as the ultimate goal; only death can bring them back to their god, but only death in battle or combat can bring them back to paradise. Their motto is; Life is hell, death is paradise. Rarely numbering more than 2000 at any given time, they travel the galaxy in search of what they deem, honorable combat looking forward to dieing in battle. They would be dangers only to themselves if not for their belief that taking large numbers of Syk’a rii to death with them, is just as honorable as dieing in combat, though combat is preferable. If a Vet’ma reaches the age of 100 he will begin to plan his suicide/ murder hoping to take as many of his fellow Syk’a rii with him as possible, any other species that may die in the process can take away from his salvation.