Eovinjai

The **Eovinjai** are a sapient temnospondyl race originating from the ocean world of Eovinj. They are partially amphibious, native to the coastal lands of Eovinj's sparse island chains and microcontinents.

Most Eovinjai live on worlds surrounding their homeworld, in the Phero Ecumene. Many of these are organized under the Eovinjai Third Sovereignty, an oligarchic regional government rooted in the aristocratic clans of the Eovinjai.

## Player Guide

Eovinjai come from a regimented and somewhat collectivist society, well-known for its prominent warrior caste which still makes up a large portion of the Ecumene Army. However, many Eovinjai are also born into mercantile, academic, or artisan families, the former of which have a powerful presence in Ecumene politics and trade. It is generally expected that Eovinjai children will succeed their parents' line of work in broad strokes, though some traits such as psionic sensitivity and clerical inclination can influence this.

Similar to the Aoshanti they have historically been close with, codes of polite and respectful conduct are impressed upon Eovinjai of all social levels from an early age. Many who leave Eovinjai communities for the wider galaxy expect—sometimes erroneously—the same conduct from other peoples, and have their guard up around those who fail to reciprocate it. This has given the Eovinjai a reputation for being an overly serious and unflappable sort.

As an amphibious species from a watery world, Eovinjai have an instinctive compulsion to swim, and they naturally view arid worlds and deserts as inhospitable.

## Demographics

### Phero Ecumene

*Main article: Eovinjai Sovereignty*
The vast majority of Eovinjai live in the Phero Ecumene, in their historic homelands under the Eovinjai Third Sovereignty. They are largely concentrated around the habitable worlds of Eovinj, Caesura, and Lacuna, and the systems which surround them, though a significant number also live on Hypraxidonia and in the Lieschi Matrix.

### Other nations

Eovinjai minority populations exist in a number of nations beyond the Ecumene, often only a fraction of the local population. These are most often émigré clans, monks, or martial orders which have found lasting employment outside their homeland.

* Lindinian Republic
* Holy Eden of New Tvolai
* Kaikyo

### Ethnicities

#### Shō'i

The **Shō'i** are the Eovinjai who make up most of the population of Eovinj, as well as spacers across the Amratha region. They also comprise just over half of the Eovinjai population of Hypraxidonia. They are the historical inhabitants of the microcontinents and larger islands of Eovinj, eventually living in cities and cultivating the first large armies and industries. It is from Sho'i culture that the contemporary Eovinjai social structure of mercantile clans, martial orders, and other castes is derived.

Most Shō'i are distinguished by medium grey, blue, or green scales with a few bright ventral and dorsal spots, and single-color or bicolor fin rays which can be almost any color of the visible spectrum. Their head and tail rays also tend to sport a pair of long, thin wire or oar-shaped fins.

#### Meri

The **Meri** are the second-largest group of Eovinjai from Eovinj, comprising various clans and peoples who spent much of Eovinjai history as seafaring nomads. While they are the smaller of the two "origin" groups of Eovinjai, elements of their distinct culture live on throughout the Eovinjai world, particularly through cuisine and trade practices.

On pre-spacefaring Eovinj, Meri clans dominated the workforces of navies and trade convoys, and grew wealthy from selling deep-water fish and other ocean delicacies to landed and coastal peoples. When the modern Eovinjai castes first emerged, the most prominent and successful of Meri clans were inducted as *tanakazhi* and integrated into Sho'i society. While the modern Meri are mostly planet-bound and commoners by caste, among the *tanakazhi* it is seen as a source of pride to have some Meri heritage.

Visually, most Meri and their descendants have deep black or blue scales with lighter bellies and silvery fin rays, which are on average larger than those of other Eovinjai lineages.

#### Lacunics

**Lacunic Eovinjai** are natives of the world of Lacuna and spacer populations in the Solarium region. They are distinguished by mostly grey to coal-black scales and a fiery orange ventral stripe, and fins which follow one or both of these colors in a rough or spotted pattern.

The Lacunic Eovinjai were historically subservient to the Heleyaran Aoshanti monarchy, and have close ties to the Rutilanci Volydin which now live within the Third Sovereignty. With the Heleyaras' dethroning, Lacunic clans such as Mansura, Lunara, and Hredrah have risen to fill the void. Their Aoshanti influences can commonly be seen in their naming conventions, which bear traces of the Makhairan language and phonetic quirks.

#### Caesurans

**Caesurans** are natives of the historically isolated world of Caesura, and are a distant offshoot of the Meri. Covered by even more ocean than Eovinj, its natives have much more pronounced fins, which allow their coloration and patterns to be distinctly more diverse. Most Caesurans have dark green to yellow-toned scales, sometimes with lighter ventral patches, and their fins generally feature tones of white, black, yellow, and lime.

Like their Lacunic cousins, the Caesurans were longtime vassals of the Aoshanti, albeit with a heightened sense of resistance emboldened by the planet's isolated position. At several instances prior to the formation of the Ecumene, it was considered disputed territory, and was for a time functionally ruled by a Petty Shogunate of Caesura. While the terms of the First Conclave finally settled the issue by backing the Heleyaran claim to Caesura, tensions over it continued up to the Regency Crisis, after which it was incorporated into the new Third Svoereignty with the breakup of the Heleyara Despotate.

#### Qugunshi

The **Qugunshi** are a predominantly spacer population native to the northern Ecumene, particularly the namesake Qugunshi Prefecture. They comprise roughly a third of the Hypraxic Eovinjai population.

## Biology & Appearance

The Eovinjai body plan is bipedal, upright, and features a tail and moderately curved neck, resulting in a slight "S"-shaped spine with an exaggerated lower curve. Their skin is scaly and studded with small osteoderms, their hands sport four fingers, and their feet have five webbed toes. Their height at physical maturity ranges from 1.7 to 2 meters (5'9" to 6'6").

All Eovinjai have colorful sets of feather-like fin rays on the forearms, chest, tail, head, and neck. Coloration, size, pattern, and shape vary widely with ethnicity. Being somewhat flexible, they may be partly retracted for ease of movement, or bound in some cases.

### Biochemistry

Eovinjai, like other Eoborne life, have a carbon-based biochemistry, use water as a solvent, and breathe oxygen. They are capable of respiration in both water and air, though they may dry out from long periods away from a source of moisture.

### Phylogeny

Eovinjai are descendants of temnospondyl littoral zone predators.

## Culture

Eovinjai societies tend to be highly organized and hierarchical, distinguished between an aristocracy of magnate clans, a warrior and martial artist caste, and commoners.

### Magnate clans

Central to Eovinjai social hierarchy and traditional politics are their ***tanakazhi***, or **clans**, aristocratic kinship networks which dominate the political and ecoomic upper class, and some of the middle class, of Eovinjai society. Members of these clans are commonly called *magnates*, historically serving as a mercantile class and subordinate aristocracy to the Aoshanti. Magnates use the *kazh-* prefix in their surnames, alongside their *tanakazh*'s name.

Most *tanakazhi* marriages are polyandrous, though more gender-agnostic relationships have become increasingly common over the past several centuries. Clans are often headed by the eldest woman of the clan. They may be composed of multiple distinct families, united by a common ancestor and inheritance system of wealth, titles, and loyalties.

Eovinjai magnates experience some of the most liberal private property rights in the Ecumene as per Sovereignty policy, often owning massive stretches of land on various planets. Many also keep menageries of exotic species from worlds such as Mayar, Tvolai, and Muara, in climate-sealed habitats and solariums as needed.

#### Notable clans

* Nenn
* Terynai

Nenn Clan

**Matriarch**: *Saydynth kazh-Nenn*

**Religion**: *Makhairan Rhyanism*

**Dominant in**: *Arms Industry, Transportation, Officer Corps*

**Base of Power**: *Nennhold*

The **Nenn Clan** is a prominent family hailing from Eovinj, known for their private investment in extranational space industry, in what is now the GladreCorp territory of Nennhold.

Terynai Clan

**Matriarch**: *Tanāo kazh-Terynai*

**Religion**: *Makhairan Rhyanism*

**Dominant in**: *Black Market*

**Base of Power**: *Unknown, alleged to be Hypraxidonia*

The **Terynai Clan** is a *Nankarya* family made up of Eovinjai. While the clan name is known from history, and they were once publicly, it went underground when the Ecumene was first formed, as it began losing its fronts and smuggling to a mix of legitimate activity and strengthened competition from Tvolin crime syndicates. Through a mix of birth certificate and identity forgeries, genetic modification, and making their transition while resources were focused on the Ecumene-Arrivant war, the clan was able to dissolve into the white noise of Eovinjai society and survive for the next millennium.

Currently, the Terynai are playing a slow and conservative, but successful hand in their capitalization on the economic stagnation and instability of new territories which followed the Ascendancy War. Fighters bearing their mark appeared on Vigila during the Vigilian Games 23 NE to win powerful prizes for the profit of the clan. They are speculated to currently be the strongest Nankarya, and with the Ecumene's eyes on the war in the Concourse, they are well-positioned to hold their status. They are known to command the loyalty of Kanvarisen Lorr and Kanvarisen Jirin, which similarly cloak their membership.
### Martial orders

The ***kanvari*** are the warrior guilds, knightly orders, and psionics schools of Eovinjai culture, often simply referred to as **martial orders**, and their members as martialists. A single order, headed by a Grandmaster and council of lesser Masters, is known as a *kanvarisen*, while the term *kanvari* can refer to single or plural warriors, or the general population of orders. Individual *kanvari* will use their order's name as their legal surname, preceded by the *ka-* prefix.

In the modern age, the process is more voluntarily. *Kanvari* aspirants tend to come from a roughly even mix of clans and the common population, and the cutoff age for induction may extend into adolescence depending on the order. Particularly among magnates, children are rarely given to the *kanvari* outside of unusual or dishonorable circumstances, such as birth outside of wedlock. Among commoners, an unexpected twin or triplet child may be entrusted to the care of an order, and many operate trustworthy foster care systems in collaboration with the Ecumene Ministry of Social Services.
In either cases, the *kanvari* are forbidden by strict honor codes from using their past or circumstances of birth for personal gain, or as leverage over other *kanvari*. The leadership and teachers of a *kanvarisen*, for their part, are similarly forbidden from granting special treatment on this basis, and concrete information on an inducted *kanvari* is often kept a secret from all but the order's Grandmaster and those immediately involved in their induction.
*Kanvari* themselves are traditionally forbidden from marriage and dedicated family-rearing, instead having historically been matched with each other to maximize the genetic potential of new *kanvari*. In the modern day, this is more voluntary in most orders, though am informal pressure is still exerted by *kanvarisen* leaders. The child of two *kanvari* is raised by one of the two for a period of five years or less, before being given up to the adoption system and rotated into a different order.

Most *kanvari* find employment as civil or hired security, or as elite combatants in the Ecumene military, where they may be dispatched as some of the few non-Perule units under the command of the Ecumene Army. In large forces, they are typically distributed across different legions as high enlisted officers and close-quarters specialists, but may be called together to attack as a single unit alongside their dedicated support and auxiliary personnel.

Within the Ecumene Army, a Grandmaster is considered to be a unique rank between either the ranks of Lt. Praetor and Legate Majoris. In most cases, the Grandmaster is directly subordinate to a Praetor or Lt. Praetor, and exercises a significant level of autonomy in the command of their order, though day-to-day leadership is typically left to the directly subordinate commander of the order's unit.

#### Code of honor

The ***kanvarikāj*** are the nine core tenets of the *kanvari* code of honor and conduct. While indivdual orders may have additional teachings or rules, the *kanvarikāj* are ubiquitous.

1. **Fraternity.** A warrior's conduct is equally a reflection of themselves and their brothers and sisters in arms. The *kanvarisen* is a warrior's family and clan, and should be regarded as they would their siblings, parents, and children.
2. **Duty.** A warrior is committed to both those who hold the loyalty of their order and those they protect. They carry full responsible for all their deeds, and should they breach their loyalty, law, or conduct, they must carry out the repentance decided for them in full.
3. **Honor.** The truest judge of a warrior and their conduct is themselves. Their decisions reflect on them, and they know when they have done good or ill. They do what they do not out of promise of personal payment or glory, but for the good, justice, or need of the action in and of itself. A good death or the opportunity to retire to tutorship are their own rewards.
4. **Justice.** A warrior lives for righteousness and justice, and sees the value in all points of view. They can be a guide to others through example, and must not preach or be dogmatic in their application of justice.
5. **Honesty.** A warrior does not lie, nor do they distinguish a promise from normal speech. What they say must be what they do.
6. **Compassion.** A warrior aspires to both good character and altruistic conduct. They must actively do good to others and their society.
7. **Respect.** For both others and oneself. A warrior must not be cruel or excessive in any of their actions, in peace or in combat. They have a duty to their society and superiors, but they must not be obsequious or overly self-sacrificing.
8. **Courage.** A warrior approaches life and combat with both intelligence and bravery. They understand and willingly take the risks they need to.
9. **Self-Control.** A warrior must healthily stay their impulses and vices. Neither should they deny when these exist, and instead seek to confront and reckon with them healthily.

Breaches of the *kanvarikāj* are treated as grave offences, and in the Eovinjai Sovereignty carry legal repercussions. Depending on the severity of the breach, the *kanvari* in question may be temporarily or permanently exiled from their order, or all martial orders, and potentially shunned by their fellow *kanvari*.

#### Organization

A *kanvarisen* is, in many senses, a self-contained community and economy, made up of its warriors proper and extensive support personnel ranging from housekeepers to lawyers to entertainers. As many orders were semi-nomadic on both the planetary scale and in space, these self-sufficient communities exist in varying levels of integration with their surrounding societies and reliance on outsourced hirelings.

*Kanvari* are organized into six major ranks within the *kanvarisen*.

1. **Grandmaster:** The rank of Grandmaster of the Kanvarisen is the head of the entire order, and final authority on both temporal matters of the order and its fighting style and overarching philosophy. A new Grandmaster is appointed upon the death or stepping-down of the previous Grandmaster by a Masters' Convocation, in which all extant Masters of the Order convene to elect a new Grandmaster from among themselves by two-round secret ballot.
2. **Master of Blades (varies):** the seniormost, non-retired Master of a particular specialty (which determines the specific title), considered the reigning expert within the order and a direct advisor to the Grandmaster. Generally, either the actual Master of Blades or eldest *kanvari* within this rank is the order's second-in-command.
3. **Master:** The rank of Master of the Kanvari is conferred to a *kanvari* who is deemed eligible to mentor others, often local to their troupe and specialty within the *kanvarisen*. New potential Masters are invited by an existing Master, who administers heavily personalized tests of both skill and potential to teach others.
4. **Captain:** The rank of Kanvari-Captain, generally only present among the active-duty *kanvari* and other key roles, is given to a high-performing or honorably upstanding Blade by a Master within their troupe. Kanvari-Captains command flexible divisions and teams within a specialty troupe, which may form either sub-specialties or conventional combatant squads.
5. **Blade (varies):** The trained rank-and-file *kanvari* are given a rank named for their role. In the case of most active warrior *kanvari*, the term used for this is Kanvari-Blade, or an alternative weapon type preferred by their order.
6. **Neophyte:** A Kanvari-Neophyte is a young member of the order still considered to be in training.

Within a *kanvarisen*, the first order of division is generally between trade groups and specialist bodies known as *troupes*, each headed by a senior Master, though multiple Master-rank *kanvari* may exist within the same Troupe. While specifics vary from order to order, a few are found in every *kanvarisen*.

* The **Action Troupe** comprises the able-bodied *kanvari* operating in their order's commissioned role, either in active duty or in reserve. This is always the largest troupe of the order, and the one from which its Grandmaster is drawn.
* The **Archivist Troupe** comprises the historians and scholars of the order, who maintain both the order's records and study foreign combat traditions, to better prepare the *kanvari* they help train for a wide range of possible foes.
* The **Performing Troupe** comprises personnel tasked with maintaining the order's identity and morale through art, music, poetry, and, most notably, gladiatorial combat.
* The **Smithing Troupe** comprises the armorers and weaponsmiths of the *kanvarisen*.

#### Notable orders

* Reo
* Rell
* Shiru

Kanvarisen Reo

**Philosophy**: *Combat-oriented (security)*

**Grandmaster**: *Syrelon ka-Reo*

**Preferred weapons**: *Polearms, shortswords, sniper rifles, handguns, psionics*

**Location**: *Eovinj*

The **Order of Reo** serves as the elite honor guard of the Sovereign of Eovinj, classed under the Prime Technate Guard. They typically source their recruits from military families and the *kanvari*-born.

Kanvarisen Rell

**Philosophy**: *Combat-oriented (war)*

**Grandmaster**: *Basakien ka-Rell*

**Preferred weapons**: *Greatswords, longswords, psionics*

**Location**: *Eovinj*

The **Order of Rell** is a martial order based on Eovinj. Its members are trained in the use of single-edged swords, with a focus on rapidly drawing them from the sheathe to deliver short, decisive blows. They maintains a warriors' alliance with the Garden of Mu which dates back to the Fall of Abzu.

Most *kanvari* of Rell are also trained in the use a form of Ionic psionics, believed to be one of the oldest practices of it. The defining Rell Ionic technique is enhanced control of one's bioelectricity and nervous system, improving reaction time, sensory processing speed, and in some cases allowing stunning electricity to be channeled through a blade or bodily extremities.

Kanvarisen Shiru

**Philosophy**: *Espionage-oriented (sabotage)*

**Grandmaster**: *Kogisyne ka-Shiru*

**Preferred weapons**: *Shortswords, caltrops, improvised weapons*

**Location**: *Lacuna*

The **Order of Shiru** is a martial order based on Lacuna. They are one of several orders dedicated to infiltration, espionage, and stealth.
### Monastic vows

The ***daraiama*** are a class of Eovinjai with similar traditions to the *kanvari*. However, unlike martial orders, the *daraiama* tend to be less centrally organized around an organization, and instead around particular traditions of monastic vows and schools of spiritual or philosophical thought. Their surnames feature the *rai-* prefix, followed by the name of their philosophical school or monastery.

Many *daraiama* vows include clauses of celibacy, anonymity of heritage, modesty, sustainability, and pacifism with the exception of self-defense. They make up virtually the entire Rhyanist priesthood of the Eovinjai.

### Common population

The ***tenmakō*** are the common Eovinjai population who do not belong to a noble clan or martial order, or take monastic vows.

*Tenmakō* surnames feature the *sel-* prefix, followed by the name of the planet, region (terrestrial or Etheric), or station of their birth.

### Body modification

Eovinjai of many social classes and ethnic groups often engage in some form of body modifaction, and the species has some of the longest traditions of modding of any Ecumene culture. Binding of the arm and head fins is common among working Eovinjai, and almost universal among the *kanvari* and *daraiama*. Neck rings are also common among both men and women of the *tanakazhi* clans, and distinctive tattoos are often used by members of all social classes.

### Gender & romance

Under the dominant Eovinjai cultural mores and norms, families are matriarchal and matrilineal, and marriages (as well as most romantic relationships) are polyandrous.

Eovinjai culture also features the alternative gender and marital roles of *nūa* and *annūa*. Nūa are female Eovinjai who dress and socially act masculine, and in the appropriate castes become consorts to Eovinjai women in traditional marriages. Making up roughly 15% of the population, they have been a norm of all Eovinjai castes for thousands of years. Annūa, meanwhile, are male Eovinjai who dress and act feminine, and may exist in polyandrous marriages with more typical male and nūa consorts. While, historically less normalized in Eovinjai, annūa make up roughly the same percentage of the population as their nūa counterparts, and are contemporarily viewed as normal by the majority of Eovinjai.

Polygynous relationships and marriages between typical men and women, meanwhile, remain a fringe phenomenon to most Eovinjai.

## Notable Eovinjai

* Axech sel-Shishari, current Sovereign of the Eovinjai and magistrate of the Eo-Vinj Prefecture.
* Subakuri sel-Katechon, current Chancellor of Education in the Phero Ecumene.
* Acsuragon kazh-Nenn, current Chairman of Impervious Galactic Armanents.

## Trivia

* Eovinjai tend to be aesthetically inspired by newts and salamanders.