Ralnasni

The **Ralnasni**, also referred to as the **Brevlendites** and as the **Bekhasnians**, were a sentient species native to the moon Bekhasni (called Brevlendia by colonials), which orbited the planet Ukhyu (called Velmodry by colonials). They were known to live in closely knit tribes and revered runestone in a religious light.

## Biology and Appearance

The Ralnasni were similar to humans in their biology, but with several clear distinctions. In terms of color, they were mostly distinguishable by their greyish-green skin and cyan-colored teeth and scleras. They lacked proper irises, instead having vertically-elongated pupils reminiscent to that of the Mauans. Compared to humans and most other sentient humanoid species, the Ralnasni were shorter, but only by a few inches/centimeters. They were known to have white-colored blood.

The Ralnasni were also recognizable by their pointy ears, pronounced cheekbones, small noses, and forehead protrusions. Some Ralnasni had grey-colored freckles that matched their hair. It was unknown whether or not they capability to reproduce with humans or with most other sentient humanoid species.

## Society and Culture

The Ralnasni lived in closely knit nomadic tribes scattered around their homeworld. They spoke a language unfamiliar to the rest of the Cassiopeia Galaxy. A tribe was typically led by a chieftain, who was well respected by the rest of their tribe. Tribes were never in the same place for very long, although they often left markers in the land to record their travel history. Ralnasni tribes often allied with one another and avoid conflict. However, there was a period in their history where the Ralnasni engaged in conflicts with one another regarding control over the runestone caverns of their homeworld. These conflicts eventually stopped as the Ralnasni grew to respect one another as people who followed the same faith and believed in the same things.

Ralnasni were generally kind to outsiders, seeing them as emissaries from the other worlds that appeared in the Bekhasnian sky, which were actually the other moons of Ukhyu. When the Ralnasni were provoked, however, they were willing to do whatever it took to protect themselves and what they held dear.

### Religion

Runestone was seen as a source of divinity and power in Ralnasni culture, referred to as "holy crystals". The people of the Ralnasni moon often wore runestones in the form of necklaces as a sign of piety and for the protection of oneself on a divine level. Magic was a seen as a gift from the runestones that few could wield efficiently.

They saw their moon's mother planet, Ukhyu, as the source of all runestones. This was, in part, due to the gas giant's blue coloration, which matched the colors of runestone. As a result, the planet of Ukhyu was seen as a holy place, being the final resting place of their people and the highest domain of serenity and divination.

The runestone-abundant caverns of their homeworld served as sacred shrines for prayer and as pilgrimage sites. They referred to the caverns as the "caves of genesis", where they believed the runestones to have been born from the mother crystals. The Ralnasni made pilgrimages to the caves of genesis and prayed to the mother crystals as a way to cleanse their own runestone crystals. They were extremely defensive of these caverns as a result, willing to fight against the United Cassiopeian Republic's colonization crew to protect them from being harmed by outsiders. While Ralnasni tribes were nomadic, they never strayed too far away from their respective runestone caverns.

## History

### Early History

The Ralnasni people were left alone by the rest of the galaxy due to their location in the Outer Expanse region. They lived relatively peaceful lives for tens of thousands of years, with powerful tribes rising and falling throughout history over control of runestone caverns. Technological innovations were stagnant for almost all of Ralnasni history.

Eventually, the Ralnasni people came to respect the runestone caverns as pilgrimage spots, no longer engaging in conflicts with one another for control over the caverns.