Sciatans

## Physiology

The Sciatans are a hybrid race of humanoid and serpentine biology, with the torso of a human and the bottom half of a snake, much like the old Terran tales of Lamia. A unique feature of Sciatan females is the presence of long 'scythes' attached to the shoulders, which act as an organic weapon. At one point in their history, female Sciatans were quite large, with some weighing several tonnes and being a few dozen metres long, but as time has gone on and their diet changed, most Sciatans are not more than eight or so meters long at most, and generally weigh closer to a few hundred kilos. However, females are still larger than male Sciatans, who generally measure half the size of females.

Another unique aspect of Sciatans is the colouration of their scales, with females regularly sporting vibrant hues, while the colouration of males is more subdued. Originally, these scales were quite strong, capable of deflecting blade and bow, but they have thinned out over time, allowing more flexible movement in exchange for protection. They are still quite capable of protecting, but are usually accompanied with custom-made armour plating.

## History

Historically, the Sciatans were a tribal people, with tribes regularly going to war over resources and, at times, breeding stock. This changed after the tribes were united under the Xelass Tribe by the first High Chieftess, High Chieftess Lenala through a mixture of diplomacy and warfare, uniting the separate tribes into a coalition under her rule, with each tribe keeping their own chieftesses, but answering to the orders of the High Chieftess. Inter-tribal squabbles were handled through officiated, mock battles to submission, ending the usual bloodshed that would take place between the tribes.

Once united, she began revolutionary reforms in education and research, bringing about a golden age of growth and prosperity that saw the Sciatans enter a Renaissance period of art and technology. As well, and perhaps most surprisingly, she laid the groundwork for peace between the Sciatans and their greatest for, the Scylla, who they shared the planet with, and eventually this peace would be sealed by her successor, Chieftess Seani.

With peace brokered between Sciatans and Scylla, the Sciatans gained access to the wealth of the waters, and began to explore and colonize more of their planet, absorbing lesser tribes through use of superior firepower. The Scylla benefited from this as well, gaining access to the land that was once impenetrable. This also led to a large overhaul in Sciatan diets, as they began consuming more fish, and this led to the creation of large fish farms and, with the help of the Scylla, advancements in aquaculture. To this day, the main exports of Ixvala are mercenaries and fish.

At one point, during Chieftess Seani's rule, there was an attempted revolution by male Sciatans, who demanded equal rights and opportunities as females. The revolt was crushed, though not before some of the males broke into the palace. Some unconfirmed reports say that the ones who entered the palace were destroyed by the Goddess Damasca, though this is believed to be false. However, even though the leaders of the revolt were executed, the Chieftess did bring about reform to lift the males from what was essentially slavery to a position of being second-class citizens. It would not be until Chieftess Azerana that males would be seen as equals legally, and this only happened ten years ago.

The Sciatans were introduced to the galaxy after a vessel crashed on their planet. The Sciatans found the survivors and nursed them back to health. The survivors, being part of an exploration team, shared with the Sciatans stories from beyond the stars. They were eventually rescued, but not before the Chieftess requested to send some explorers of her own along with them, to bring back news of the universe, and return they did, with notes, pictures, and diagrams, as well as some research notes that they were able to procure from some friendly Molcha.

One hundred years later, the Sciatans can now be found among the stars, often serving as guards and mercenaries on ships, and Squiggly-brand fish products can be found in stores galaxy-wide.

## Culture

Sciatans are a matriarchal society, though recent years have seen improvements in the stature of males, females still dominate all fields politically, scientifically, militarily, and industrially. Sciatans answer to the chieftess of whatever individual tribe they are part of, and the individual chieftesses answer to the calls of the High Chieftess, who keeps peace and order between the different tribes. For the most part, the different tribes have specialised in various fields, and many compete in a similar fashion to companies, with tribes vying for control in their respective specialisation. Major issues are still settled through traditional battle, however, so all tribes still put in tremendous effort in having hardy warriors, making Sciatan mercenaries and guards quite valuable.

A unique aspect of Sciatan culture is the idea of 'bonding', which operates on three different levels.

* Bonds of Friendship are the first level, and are commonly formed with friends and crew mates.
* Bonds of Family, also known as Kinship Bonds, are the second level, and are formed with those that the Sciatan trusts. Family, obviously, though very close friends may also receive such a bond.
* Bonds of Lovers, also known as Life Bonds, are formed with those that the Sciatan has devoted themselves to, similar to a marriage. These bonds are hardly ever broken, and are the strongest bond that a Sciatan may make. It is not implicitly sexual, however, nor is it necessarily monogamous.

The ritual of bonding involves quite an amount of skinship, being akin to cuddling in other cultures, and generally Sciatans are quite open with their touching. This, combined with how open (and blunt) Sciatans are with complimenting appearances, has developed the stereotype that Sciatans are a race of sex crazed lesbians, though in reality they simply enjoy touching and flirting. Ironically enough, Sciatans also care deeply about consent, and will always ask permission before touching another, even their own lovers.

Interactions with other races are positive, though there are occasionally instances of friction with more traditionally minded Sciatans being given orders by males in other species.

The Sciatans are also quite religious, with a wide pantheon of various goddesses to choose from. While all the tribes worship the same pantheon, many tribes will choose a singular goddess to be their patron, generally one that fits with their specialty or history. Of note is the goddess Damasca, who is rumoured to actually still live within the palace of the High Chieftess, though this has neither been confirmed nor denied by the High Chieftess, nor any of the high priestesses of the pantheon.