Selethian

## Description

Discovered by Greek space-fairer Aaron Adelphos in 2078 CE when they couldn’t communicate with the humans clearly. Aaron named them gorgons because of their snake-like tongues, scaly skin, and yellow eyes.

## Biology

Selethians have the appearance of large humanoid serpents. Though they strangely enough have a bony dorsal fin on the forehead which forms their brow and tapers back at various lengths. They have three digits, two fingers and an opposable thumb, which are tipped by small, sharp nails. Their scales can be a variety of colors, though most are dull green or brown in color. Males also have a frill that falls off after mating season. The gorgons have a very bulky and stocky build, with their head also having some shark-like shape to it.

Those that are born with red or blue scales are considered lucky and blessed by Deja herself, and they will often be treated with great respect by their peers even if they haven’t done anything particularly extraordinary.

## Culture

The name selethian is derived from the ancient saleeth word “Seleconth”, which meant hunter in the tongue of the Mnemecs, a powerful ethnic group originating from the south-western reaches of Seleth. Over time, as the Mnemecs migrated north, they began to spread their language and culture to the other small nations and tribes of the selethians. With this culture came what would be the foundation for dejism, then called Selcothimn. When it collided with the other faiths of the selethians, it began to mutate into the brutal religion that most selethian adhere to today.

The selethians also have a strange reverence for death, which they consider to be more sacred than life. In gorgon society, there is no such thing as a bad way to die; old age, disease, death in battle, even car crashes are all celebrated, as they believe that once a selethian dies, their soul will finally be able to see Deja, whose glory is so spectacular that only the dead can bear to witness it without dying or going insane. Dejism itself is a religion centered around hunting and the reverence of death, which all gorgons are proficient in no matter the age or gender. To them, killing is an exquisite art that must be honed, and the kills must be thanked and blessed for allowing their souls to be taken by the hunter. When the deed is done, gorgons adorn their clothing or armor with a bone from the corpse to not only show of his/her skill as a hunter and warrior, but as a sign of respect for the dead and a badge to allow their soul into Deja’s heavenly hunting grounds. If a selethian were to walk around in public without at least one dejes (soul) on his/her person, it would be considered blasphemy. If a gorgon dies without a dejes on their person, the selethians believe that the corpse will be reincarnated in another shell to try again until dejes have been collected.

The practice of blessing the dead is most prominent in times of war, the soldiers will perform a rite before battle commences, thanking their enemy for allowing them to go into Deja’s realm and giving them a good fight. Dejist shamans act like community elders and wise men, and are often believed by the people they minister to as being capable of communing with Deja herself through a sort of astral projection achieved through ritualistic ceremonies. The religion is not heavily organized or hierarchical, there are no Dejist churches, rather public shrines and open temples where Shamans will meditate and answer questions from the faithful. Most commonly, Dejists will worship at small shrines within their own home, inhaling incense and reading carved runes on the surface of harvested bones.

These smaller shrines are more common on planets with high Dejist populations that are not under the gorgon regime. Because of the infamous reputation of the gorgons, their faith is heavily stigmatized, and hate crimes and discrimination against Dejists are higher than any other faith in the galaxy, even moreso than Zyyntorist minorities. Dejists are typically unprotected by the law on other worlds, which has led to the only official organized decree that the Dejist shamans have ever given.

This decree, known as the Mandate of Fraternity, instructs Dejist faithful known as the Brotherhood of Deja, an ancient order that trace their beginning to when Dejism first came to fruition, being the first practicing warriors of the faith. The Brotherhood is an elite and secretive religious order that were originally founded to protect Dejist villages from other tribes. Their new function is to travel the galaxy to protect persecuted Dejist communities. As highly trained warrior monks, the Brothers of Deja are nearly unparalleled on the hunting grounds, even capable of challenging the most experienced zyyntorean knights or stealthy spravac Incubi. The Brotherhood is also approached by the gorgon military to serve on black ops missions, in which skill and high risk go hand in hand.

## Government

The selethian government is autocratic and highly imperialistic, called the Executive Hierarchy. The hierarchy is helmed by the Chancellor, who acts as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and leads the entire populace. Conscription is enforced and all males are forced to serve in the military for five years as a neophyte, a low ranking grunt of the military ready to be sacrificed at will. After the five years are up, a neophyte may leave or choose to stay a soldier, which raises them to the rank of Acolyte. The selethian armed forces, called the Grand Hunting Army, has wholeheartedly embraced cybernetics into the army as well. When a neophyte is initiated, he begins to be augmented over time until he states the limit. As a result, selethian acolytes are terrifying warriors to face, even zyyntoreans found them intimidating during the Crystal Wars. After an acoyte has further shown his ability as a hunter, he may be promoted to Inquisitor. Inquisitors control armies and act as the generals of the Chancellor and the Inquisition of Three. The Inquisition is composed of the three most decorated Inquisitors, they are hand picked by the chancellor and are tasked with overseeing the entire armed forces along with the Chancellor. In the event of the Chancellor dying or being impeached, the Inquisition would take over until a new Chancellor was elected.