Species (c) TigressAssassin, no unauthorized creations please!

Na'I

Intro  The Na'I were renowned across planets, systems, and entire galaxies. However they had a rather humble start. Their home world of Narkoln was a forested world with great valleys and sheer cliffs. Prey was few and far between, but metals and minerals were thick as trees and lined the rocky walls. 

Problems in the Beginning As all species they started as animals, shy and small opportunistic scavengers of carcasses fell by much greater predators. Not prey, but not the top of the food chain, they developed cunning much before true speech or packs. They set basic traps, goading predators off the cliffs which they easily scaled with claws built for latching onto rock and tree alike. However as they began to overcome their predators, they began to consume them as well. With a constant source of food, squabbling among the Na'I Primitive stopped, and packs began to form. It only made sense to work together, one Gilantos fed many and there was no waste. Without a common language or way to communicate, the Na'I developed two main ways to share their opinions. 

Young Stars Begin to Glow A crystalline crest on their foreheads, once used to attract mates, was used to reflect light into colors with its prismatic shape. The crest was hollow and had the makings for a major part in communications, but it was difficult for them; clouds easily blocked light on the wet planet, sometimes leaving them for days without a way to talk. Perhaps by accident, or perhaps with superior intellect, the Na'I began to bathe in pools of water contaminated with luminescent bacteria. The hollow crests took these up, and soon they began to develop a symbiosis. Over many years of development the bacteria began to mold with the Na'I, and young Na'I were hatched with already glowing crests. Color became a way to communicate not only intent but emotion and feelings, and the Na'I capacity for intelligence grew with their numbers.

Following the Trail The crest's development took time, and the Na'I already had strong senses of sight and smell. Smell was much easier to manipulate than symbiosis with bacteria. At the end of long tails, a plume of softer skin that could retract and open had a pocket inside for scents. Again used at one point to display for potential mates, the pocket began to develop for communication. Scents became a way to leave a trail or guide other Na'I packs through their territory, minimizing battles over each valley.

The First Fall Soon after the Na'I began to thrive, create small packs and larger clans, planetary disaster struck. Large asteroids super-heated by the thick nitrogen atmosphere plunged into the planets single great ocean. The already wet planet began to rain almost constantly, with great storms whipping through the forests. Na'I numbers fell, and the use for scents dropped as the water washed them away much too fast. With their trails divided and prey scarce, the Na'I clans fell into battles for not only territory, but suitable mates. Anyone in poor health was discarded as useless, driven from the packs on their own in the swamps. With their numbers falling, a new adaptation was demanded.

Of Water and Legs With the forest valleys filling with water and swamps becoming the dominant land, the Na'I were forced to take to swimming. A rough start; the nests were often killed by flooding or drowning, washed away before the parents could do anything about it. They began to nest on higher and higher cliffs, climbing claws serving them well. Eventually they reached the summits, misty and cool, but with no pools of water as they come to learn to drink from. Over time, they found a need to carry water to their young, but their jaws could not hold enough. More mistakes, more dead hatchlings, until some pack of Na'I decided that their forelimbs were much more capable than use for legs. Already they used them to scratch and pull rock, build nests and move prey to their mouths. The decision to stand came slowly, with many millennia of development. Their didgigrade hind legs easily supported them, powerful and built for leaping and running, and the change from forelimbs to arms came smoothly over time. They began to use large foliage to carry water to their young, but this required long trips down to the swamps and seas.

Gift of the Sea Along with the decision to stand came the growth of the Na'I's famed tail. As long as they are tall and sporting a plume of softer flesh, the organ once used to make trails of scents became much more useful for balance and swimming as the seas rose. Thin but muscular, the tail became a formidable weapon under water and on cliffs. Predators had evolved, and the formerly feared Gilantos took to the skies. With their foes on wing, the long tail's plume became edged with a razor of metallic compound. The compound resembled a highly common metal found in the cliffs, washed into the seas in great quantities and previously disposed of by the Na'I's bodies. The water they brought to their young affected them as well, giving young ones a way to fight and defend themselves when left alone. The hatchlings survived, the adults thrived, and the numbers of the Na'I began to increase. Along with their numbers, intelligence returned from the dark times of war and death.

Speech Class With the waters washing away scents, there was no form of long-term or distance communication. Thus the need for speech arose. Starting with their teeth, their mouths began to evolve. The similar metallic substance that edged their tails moved to first coat, then replace their fangs. Long canines developed to assist not only in the hunt but for clicks and chirps. But the new fangs posed a threat to harming one's pack. The ability to fold in or retract the teeth came over time, smoothing them to round bumps when unneeded. Chirps, growls, and clacks of one's fangs became the first way to call out to the other packs for the first time in tens of thousands of years. Over time, small forms of true language began to develop. Simple words to call things a name, give direction, name a place, even dictate the time of year formed rapidly as their mineral rich diet fed their ever-growing minds. On two legs and now simple speaking, the Na'I had moved from animal to a blooming civilization.

Na'I Namesakes With speech came a strong call, instinctual call, to name themselves. The first basic sound was a soft chirp, meant to give a wary greeting to those of their species. If returned identically, they would join two packs into one. The sound became their namesake, their special title to call their own. 

Civilization Born As the nests grew in number and the Na'I began to expand on intelligence, the need for a social order became pressing. Who would get first pick at food? Who would get the best of shelter among the trees? The answer became obvious to most Na'I: mothers expecting eggs, or raising hatchlings that could not yet feed themselves were given top priority, with their chosen mate staying with them. A matriarchal society formed, with females that were most fertile at the head. They were given the best of nests and food, but the societal leaders were chosen by strength and health. Most packs were female led, with her mate at her side. The leaders often did not have many children, if any, and totally devoted themselves to the welfare of the pack and often led all hunting parties. Brilliance and cunning had not been lost, and the instinct to provide for their fellow Na'I grew in leaps and bounds.

Religious Tendencies Before science, as many civilizations, the Na'I created their own explanation for their existence. Deep in their minds, instinct had guided them through their perils with their now-watery planet. They believed that they themselves were superior in mind and body, lifted above by cunning and intelligence. However the miracle of birth was made a prime focus, as several millions of years of dying and dead hatchlings sent them toward a society based on population expansion and selective mates. They believed in the Greatest Mother, a Na'I-esque being that had built the first egg of stone and metal, and placed inside a seed from a flowering plant. The Na'I felt that this Greatest Mother brought them to existence, and gifted them the ability to evolve and adapt in the egg. Eggs were often decorated with ribbons of metal presented to the father, and placed on by the mother. It was an instinctual feeling of the need to bond with all Na'I, be them their children or not, brought into a physical act. The metal was created not by a smith, but by the pores of the Na'I themselves.
Biology in Flight From symbiosis with bacteria to adapting to use mass minerals in the water for weaponry, the Na'I were marvels of their own biology. From early years of medicine the Na'I healers studied the dead, and it was considered honorable for a corpse to be dissected for research. Their notes they scrawled on rock and bark, drawn in metallic ribbons lay from their pores. Over years the Na'I's bodies had become so efficient with the minerals in the water, food, and air, they began to create many forms of minerals out of their pores. Their bodies went so far as to break apart minerals to create their favorite kind of material, a purple-green hard substance that was liquid at body temperature. They called it the Blood of Souls, as it was used to express and give rise to pictures. The substance resisted decay and glowed beautifully under sun or moon, and could be manipulated into tools, pots, and fasteners. 

A Na'I Must Leave the Nest... As their ability to manipulate their surroundings grew, so did their structures. Simple nests became open-faced huts of logs and leaves, and eventually gave way to stone huts. The Na'I carved great holes in the cliffs, building networks of underground homes lit by the same florescent bacteria that gave them their colorful crests millions of years ago. All structures had at least one bowl of glowing water per room, if not more. They often provided blood from their kills to the water, feeding the bacteria. 

Shelters to Cities From the development of tools built from their own bodies, the Na'I skipped the Stone Age and dove into agriculture. Predators by nature, the expanding numbers of the Na'I required larger and larger groups of prey animals. Farming began, starting with the few roots that the rounded sides of their teeth could chew. An ancient model of Na'I artwork catalogs the first farmed animals: a hooved creature known as a Yem. Yem were flighty, but stupid, and reproduced quickly. The size of a large wolf, Yem were root eaters and attracted to one farmer's pen. Upon his return from a long trip, the farmer found that the Yem had grown populous on a constant supply of roots. He replanted in another field, and used the trapped Yem for food. Neighboring farmers took the idea on, and the Na'I all over the plateaus began to farm Yem. The creatures never became domesticated, always a hunt for the Na'I; the Na'I never lost their claws or sharp fangs in their softening of the harsh planet. Their size grew to an average female of 6', and male of 5'6. They never quite lost their hunched over form, or their hind claw for digging and grabbing. As their technology advanced into the industrial age, they preferred biology to mechanics, and found a way to make their buildings glow with natural pigments. The Na'I had a drive to expand, provide, and conquer the home that so long ago beat them into near-extinction. 

Realizations and Discoveries An expedition to a long-lost plateau island revealed a shocking revelation to the Na'I: strange minerals, not at all like what was on their planet typically. After many years of research the Na'I concluded that the strange layer was rock from the sky, from space. A decade of infuriating, pure rage at the Universe for harming so many Na'I all those years ago, gave way to the space age. The desire to conquer and prevail let the Na'I to begin short space flights, sending Yem at first before eventually sending the first Na'I to space. Not ten years later they began to land upon their moons, only to find more resources there to expand their cities further. Their planet was entirely covered, rock and mountain, field and plain, lake and sea.

Problems at Home As the Na'I expanded, so did their need for space. The imperialism and desire to expand had crushed their planet and moon's resources. They journeyed to other planets in their system, systematically uprooting all their resources as well and turning what was left into farming sectors or housing. Space travel was becoming easier and easier, their ships often taking but hours to jump to each planet. They soon set their sights on other systems, and the Rise of the Stars began.

New Religion The imperialistic instinct of the Na'I led them to take hold of whatever they came across, be it a pebble or a planet. The Na'I were dumbfounded when they came across an Industrial Age planet of serpentine creatures called the Skarm. Smart enough to communicate through images, the Na'I soon realized their new found 'friends' were a threat to their imperialism. The first weapons were developed with haste, weapons of planetary force that incinerated the Skarm in but a few weeks. They saved DNA samples, but the rest of the Skarm was obliterated from existence. Na'I found themselves much more powerful than any of the nearby species, animal or sentient. The believe arose that the Na'I were created to preserve and protect strong species, and destroy those deemed unusable or strong enough. They traveled over the cosmos, great fleets of ornate star ships called the Stars of Na'I. Some revered them as gods, some hated them as enemies, but the Na'I maintained themselves as a matriarchal society all the same.

The Great Mothers Na'I still championed genetics and strength over all, and females quickly took reign of the space-age society. Some females were noted to be stronger, smarter, and all over better Na'I than the rest. These women were given title of their old disproved religion in honor of simpler times: Great Mothers. To be a child of a Mother was to point to bright future, or so it was supposed to go. They were quite picky with their mates; to be selected as her partner was of the utmost honor. This being said, the title was a lonely one. They were forbidden to have lifemates, and the Na'I lived for thousands of years a piece. Their children soon moved on to take jobs, and the Great Mothers often died young and alone in their great chambers. Such was a sacrifice they were willing to take for the betterment of the Na'I. Though a female dominant society, there were many recorded "Great Fathers" among their time, proving that there was room for advancement indiscriminate to gender.

Fangs and Minds In their ancient way of speech, the colorful crest evolved with them to express emotion, and the long forgotten scent pore on their tail plume was used to identify each other. However in the Trillions of Na'I, there were many similar scents. They began to identify by bite mark, in an ancient ritual known as Passing Food. The meat would be bitten, and the rest would be passed so that another Na'I may memorize the bite pattern. Each one's teeth were very different in alignment and spacing, no two alike. These sharing moments linked all Na'I together in powerful bonds. Only the genetic rejects were cast from society at a certain age, if they did not prove useful. The deformed Na'I often left themselves, to preserve the integrity of the Na'I. A hive mind of sorts began to form, the crest at the peak of it and bite mark at the tail. The crests would often align in color when in battle or researching, allowing subtle changes to be noticed and ideas communicated. The bite marks retained each Na'I an individualism; some branch groups formed, under different Great Mothers, but they never warred with each other. The overpowering desire to continuously expand and conquer drove the species forward into pure imperialism of all systems in their wake.

Zoo Tycoons Throughout their campaign of total domination, some Na'I began to see issue in the slaughter taking place of thousands of 'unusable' species. Several approached their peers, Great Mothers, anyone who would listen to the idea of saving at least a handful of specimens. Thus the Atera were born. Entire large rocky planets were set aside by the Great Mothers, given to their lead biologists and researchers to build and contain species from any planet they choose. A very acute measure was taken to provide accurate enclosures: They began to remove chunks of planets slated to be destroyed. A thought donned on them: Let's just create our own planets with pieces of others. Through feats of engineering and many collapsed dust clouds, the Na'I took the next step in their expansion-driven pathway. They could now create worlds on whims, and used this to save dying and re-clone extinct species for thousands of years of research. They were known to dissect at least one specimen of each gender or appearance, but did so with the utmost care and medical technology. Though traumatized, the specimens usually lived through the procedure and were cared for like newborn Na'I until they recovered. Many more intelligent races made friendships with the Na'I that was charged with their care. Records of otherworldly holidays celebrated with a great party, thousands of species attending are found among the stone the Na'I still scored on. Not all species accepted their zoo lives, however. There were many riots, large animals escaping and attacking the Na'I. In an effort to contain them, the Na'I began to manipulate genetics to remove the aggression genetic from these populations, or at the very least drugged them to lower the hormone causing the outbursts. Cloning in full swing, sustainable populations of these creatures grew. The Na'I taught them of their history, and in their symbiotic ways adopted some as pets or workers alongside themselves. They could not, however, resurrect the Skarm. In honor of this fallen race, they left their planet and reverted it to the old climate, in hopes that perhaps the Skarm would rise in the years to come again. 

One Na'I Trash The Na'I left strings of abandoned worlds in their wake, and something began to find their remnant technology and existence. This species was too lesser advanced to recreate, but could modify the tech to suit their needs. They saw only the ruin of the Na'I, none of the advanced society, the many Atera thriving with species long thought dead. This unnamed swarm of unidentified creatures began to show up on radar across the system, showing up as Na'I from the commandeered tech but did not move as Na'I moved. Their ships moved erratically, where the 7-pointed star like ships of the Na'I glided smoothly through space. The Na'I began to return to old planets to clean up their tech, but were met with a species not pleased with their appearance.

First Darkness This species was not Na'I in the slightest, lacking their distinct scaly patterns and long tails. But what the Na'I found them lacking in genetics they made up for in sheer stubbornness. The first attack took place on an abandoned mining world, smothered in nitrogen and helium and very harsh. The life previously there welcomed the Na'I as they had no room to advance farther than the Stone Age. But this cold planet did not deter the rising species as they picked apart the Na'I tech. As the Na'I made contact for the first time, they were met with familiar insults and threats of death. What they did not expect as they marched to war was their own modified weaponry stuck in their faces. Though they overtook and slaughtered them, it came at the cost of nearly 60,000 Na'I lives. This caliber loss had not happened since their days struggling against the Gilantos. A national day of mourning was announced, and the Na'I shied away from take overs, leaving some planets sighing with relief.

Fear and Falling Stars The Na'I population, nearing its first Quadrillion, began to feel terror in its very heart of hearts. Great Mothers near the Darkness, as they came to call this new species, pulled away or grouped in massive swarms of ships. The Atera planets they sheltered were evacuated to deep space, given new homes and farming materials. Entire ecosystems were settled, and the Na'I bid their long term pets farewell for now. Some Na'I biologists remained with the families and animals that accepted them as their own, to care and learn further from them. The Na'I kept all planets in three very close star systems, and left their pets with the capability for space flight. With tearful eyes they left, a dread over them that they would never see their beloved specimens again. The Darkness had spread, and actually began attacking Na'I owned planets. They were shadows, unseen and undocumented, destroying entire worlds in the same ferocity the Na'I did but not retreating till the last warrior fell. They did not give in under heavy pressure, did not flee from threats, and did not act in the way the lesser species had to the Na'I arrival. The Na'I found themselves at a match. The sheer stubbornness of the Darkness persisted, threatening their entire existence.

The Battle's First Coming The great fleets of Starships began to converge in entire swarm as the Na'I prepared. Long ago their biologists and ecologists warned of this time. The Universe was known to balance and the Na'I felt in their expansion they had unbalanced the Universe. They were too great a force, but there was no going back now. The Na'I had lost a great number to unsuccessful raids and dropped to the trillions. With their numbers falling faster than the Na'I had children, and many mated pairs going off to war with each other, there was one option to raise the numbers to their former glory: Cloning. 

Seal of Fate's Hand A harsh and fast recreation of the ability to recreate species other than Na'I was launched. The regime produced copies of Na'I, exact copies other than a tooth that was removed upon 'birth' to keep bites distinct. Their numbers overflowed to the point that mated pairs began to resist having any more nests, for fear that there would be no resources for their hatchlings. The cloned Na'I were treated no differently, were allowed to live normal lives, but when they came of age to take partners, not a single pair produced any eggs. The haste to swell numbers had missed a step, the fact that creatures with doubled genetics were often infertile. In fear of being ostracized for faulty genes, the Clones went into overdrive on the battlefield. Their attempt to recreate the stubbornness of the Darkness failed; though they presented it the same their bodies died instantly when mortal wounds were struck. Their enemy continued to fight till their heads were removed or they bled to death. Numbers began to drop at ever-alarming rates, and because there were no new young Na'I to grow and replace the fallen their numbers dropped lower than ever. The pairs still remained reluctant to make nest, however, due to a new problem with resources.

Imperialism Falls In their haste to raise numbers through cloning the Na'I overlooked the need to conquer more planets for materials. Stores of metals, minerals, chemicals, food, and even water began to run dry. It forced the Na'I onto planet surfaces, leaving them vulnerable to attack from their enemies. Millions purposely starved to death or dehydrated to allow stronger Na'I to survive, an unannounced campaign of weeding the gene pool commenced. Clones had no young to care for, faulty genes, and therefore began to lose their drive to go on. Na'I goal had always been to defend the species, expand the empire, and take over what was rightfully theirs. Billions became mere millions, and numbers were dropping fast. The Na'I had come to realize their days were numbered, and cloning and nesting stopped all together for mercy's sake.

History Carved In Stone With their numbers crushed, the Na'I returned to their Atera planets with dreadful news to some and great news to others. The last of the great Starships hung low in a sky, and true to their origins it began to rain over the Na'I. They reclaimed the Na'I on these planets, calling them home for a final battle, a final push to save their dying race. Some races the Na'I had recreated begged them to run, hide with them on these unknown planets, but the Na'I had risked themselves; they were not about to risk thousands of other lives. With heavy hearts and terror in their souls, the Na'I began to draw with their metallic ooze as they had for now billions of years. Their art covered mountainsides, left there for their former pets to remember them by. Some art was destroyed, but even the most angry of species left parts of the story so they could tell their children of them, warn them, perhaps warn their future selves. The Na'I left DNA samples among the colonies, even presented bodies of fallen Na'I for study. They only wished their pets a better fate than they, and with one starship left for each species, the Na'I took their kin and retreated to their home world. They were born of Narkoln, and they were determined to die there in the calm rain of their planet.

Fall of the Great Stars The Na'I actually asked their enemies' mercy, and were relieved to be given 5 years to stay among their home planet. It was 5 years of morning, preparation, and research. They studied old saved nest sites, skeletons of ancient Na'I, old rock caves long weathered by the rains. They sought a reason, a message from the past; what made them die now? An ancient metallic carving, much less refined than their metallic pores now, was unearthed and presented to the Na'I. An image of a farmer, trapping Yem in a pen. Further back it showed nesting pairs of primitive Na'I, chasing other species from their lands. The Na'I began to understand their fate was not to be met here. They were survivalists from a harsh world, had conquered galaxies, and would not be left to die without as much as a trace. The decision was made: Several younger Na'I, just at the age to pair, were told to choose a Na'I they could relate to, trust, and protect. Thousands of pairs were selected, and the process known as a "Second Egg" was started. The Na'I were placed inside cocoons, pods of rock carved from their home world, and placed in the fluid of metal from their pores. The fluid would sustain them, allow them to feed off it for millennia to come. The Na'I placed these pods on the Greatest Mother, a ship of immense proportions, and prepared for attack. The Darkness spared them 5 years, but did not spare any more in destroying the Na'I once and for all. The soldiers of the Na'I fought with ferocity unseen since their days as animals, but it would not be enough. They were purely outnumbered. As the battle began to affect the Greatest Mother, the pods were paired, sealed, and shot into deep space in all directs from the seven points of the ship's shape. The Darkness noticed immediately, and began to shoot down the pods. In a last ditch effort to save at least a single pair of pods, the last Great Mothers began to throw their ships at the attackers. The Na'I managed to surprise their enemy, never before had such a sacrifice been made by their most important assets. Six last pods were shot out the back of the ship, deep into space. One stray bullet struck one, shattering it and destroying the Na'I inside. Two pairs, and a singular pod remained, the last hope of the Na'I, the last of the Great Stars, falling forever into the void of the unknown.
Biology, Sociology, Psychology

The final evolution of the Na'I was a feat of nature, astounding physically and mentally. They were true predators, but did not lose their curiosity and emotion in a lust for blood.

Body To start, the Na'I are monotreme. They share characteristics of reptiles and mammals, but lean more toward their reptilian side. Scales cover their back, thicker along the spine, and trail over their neck in a collar. The topsides of their arms, hands, sides of the legs, and tops of the feet are scaled as well. A covering of scales over their chests, breasts for the females, and between their legs offer them a modesty to other species. The scales formed a protection around their eyes, but their faces are not scaled below their eyes. All other places are coated in a soft, silky skin that has the ability to secrete the purple metallic ooze mentioned in their long history. 

Eyes, Ears, Nose, Touch Their noses are humanoid, and their jaws are as well, tucked back further into their skull. They have defined features, pointed chins, and wide large eyes. Though small, their noses are incredibly adapted to scents. Their eyes were built to see in darkness or very low light, black orbs with vertical slits of color and a white dot at the center. They have catlike ears, back facing but able to rotate in several directions. They are acute listeners, hearing the smallest changes in sounds. Their skin is able to feel heat, cold, pressure, softness, and several other things, however their scaled portions of body cannot feel without lifting the scales to reveal skin. Scales are purely armor, and are shed once a cycle or whenever the Na'I takes too much damage to them.

Teeth and Taste Their jaws contain rotating teeth, rounded on one side and back-facing, serrated edged, replaceable teeth that are made of the same purple material. Two large holes at the top and bottom of the jaw where the canines were held long, pointed tusks built for puncturing and holding. They were made of bone, and if broken could not be replaced as their other fangs. Na'I enjoy savory meats and sweet roots, partial to hunting and digging them up themselves. They often hunt by pure skill, and never waste a bite of prey. Sweet or salty things are of particular weakness to Na'I, as they did not get much from their diets or freshwater planet. They enjoy chewing some metals for taste and to sharpen their teeth, copper and iron being their favorites.

Colorful Crest and Behavior The crest on their foreheads is crystalline in nature and difficult to damage by bullet or knife. It is a powerful tool for Na'I to express emotion and communicate ideas. They know many colors beyond ROY G BIV, some unable to be seen by the human eye. The crest is three pointed, diamond shaped, and connected at the points. If somehow one of the three crystals is damaged, the other two will split and fuse to form a third in the center. The left side communicates one emotion, the right another, and the center is the combined feeling. Na'I cannot hide their feelings due to this crest, and by result express all emotions in an intensity some find uncomfortable. They are very empathetic creatures, lively and friendly to new things, but when cornered will become aggressive almost instantly. A Na'I fang can puncture through carbon-steel, and the smaller fangs are shredding teeth. They always go for a Kill Bite if threatened with a weapon, but if one is defenseless or weakly armed, they will prefer to incapacitate and run. Na'I are predators with empathy, and always deliver a swift kill if they choose to destroy a life.

Tail The tail of a Na'I is their first weapon and last defense. A newly hatched Na'I is equipped with a tail at least their body length, ended with a plume of the softer tissue of their body. A very pretty, very deadly weapon, the edge of the tail is lined with the metal ooze from large pores along the sides. Also used for scents, the pores are visible to the eye and are bio-luminescent in the dark. Na'I will brush their tails along things to leave a mark, usually something to warn or alert creatures that they are there. Their tails are scaled up till the plume, and the shark-shaped fluff can be any size or colors. Females typically have slightly larger plumes, but the colors are entirely based on their genetics. 

Manes Their mammalian side gives them fuzzy ears and along with the fuzz a thick, soft mane along their foreheads between the ears and down to between their shoulder blades. Usually colored entirely differently from their skin and scales, the colors manes can be are much greater. When a Na'I sheds their scales, the mane goes with it, and it causes a bit of embarrassment to them. Nesting parents often use the fluff for lining, as the fur is as soft as a velveteen rex rabbit's fur. Na'I are not born with their manes, and grow them once they reach a maturing period in their lives.

Speaking of Colors The Na'I often were colorful creatures, but colorful with natural tones of their planet such as greens, browns, blues, purples, reds, and in rare cases gold. Their scales are translucent, the root of the scale one color and the top another. For example, a Na'I with red root will have brown-red tops to the scales. Their skin is usually all one color, with the occasional marking of color change along the edges of the scale lines. Females and males have similar coloring patterns, and use the strength and quality of color to define how healthy a Na'I is. If the root color is rich and spreads over the scale, the Na'I is healthy. Their skin will pale if sick or dehydrated, and their root color will fade. Their manes of fluffy fur can be most colors, excluding red, white, and pink. The most common mane was a deep orange, and the rarest a silver-grey color.

Na'I Nesting and Raising When Na'I manes are fully grown in, they often start looking for their lifemate. Na'I are monogamous, excluding the Great Mothers, and once bonded they stay together for life. If a Na'I loses their mate, they will resist taking another for many millennia. A Na'I's service to the Empire is to help defend and expand it; Na'I had no reservations with the sizes of their families. A pair of Na'I would find what they found to be a suitable spot in their ship or on planet for a rocky platform, and built a plush covered nest out of anything they could find. Theft was punishable by jail time, unless the thief was a parent-to-be or parent of young Na'I. Gestation ranges from 4 weeks to 4 months, based on factors of nutrition and size of the parents. Once the eggs are born, the parents become unbelievably hostile to anything that is larger than a small dog. The Great Mothers themselves would not approach a nesting pair, for the Na'I would kill over their nest. The eggs would be kept safe and warm by at least one parent for 2 months, during which the parents would hardly leave them for anything but food and water. Na'I parents were often presented (at a safe distance of course) with self-created bands of ornate jewelry for the eggs, offering them armor and decoration. The metal was used to clothe a young Na'I at birth. Hatchling Na'I were born without claws, fangs, or even tough scales. After two days their scales would harden, and their claws would begin to grow in. Being mammalian, they would be nursed by the mother and the father took role of providing food and water to his mate. The young would be raised in the nest till they wandered off, struck their first kill, and brought it home not for themselves but for their nestmates. This was a sign of totally mental understanding of their place among the Na'I. Parents and children were very close, and often visited each other for sessions of laughter and fun games, acting like a very, VERY large family. When the child reached their mature age, they would seek a mate of their own, and then start the cycle all over again. Na’I were all but heterosexual, due to their hormonal balances. However it was not unheard of for Na’I to be homosexual. These Na’I were not treated differently, but accepted and welcomed. They were counseled by psychologists to find the best place for them in society, and upon completion of the year session, would be given a nest and offered eggs from the nests of dead or weakened parents. They were few and far between, but these couples were the orphanages of the Na’I and highly respected.

Older Age and Death As close as Na'I are and as long as they live, death was a very sad time for the Na'I. A ceremony of honoring life would be performed, and the body would be left to a lab for autopsy. The more they studied, the more deaths were prevented, and the Na'I lived long lives of millenniums. Older Na'I that could not hunt were cared for by the youngest of their children. Na'I would not show signs of aging till their near end, where their mane would fall out and their claws would as well. They would be cared for until they could no longer do anything, researching, cooking, building, or anything else productive to the empire. They would request a stone from their home planet, use the last of their strength to carve a coffin, and lay down to die among their families. The tears of Na'I are the same fluid the seep from their pores, and most coffins were splattered with multiple shades of the purple material. The coffins were sent back to their home planet, left in the oceans for time to weather away slowly.

The Great Mothers and Fathers "The loneliest of Na'I, surrounded by the most kin," reads on inscription on a coffin of a dead Great Mother. These females were not selected, but born with superior genetics and thus were the treasures of the society. They would sense these changes themselves, and go to another Great Mother with the news. They would be announced, and start a new life separate from other Na'I yet so close to many. Great Mothers resisted the urge to take a lifemate, but nested with a selected handful of other Na'I. They were just as protective of their nests, often other Na'I would feel the call to defend her as well and protect the nesting platform around her. As soon as the hatchlings were out of their nest, however, the father would go on to raise them further and a Great Mother would return to her solitary throne of control, guiding the ship through space and leading attacks on planets. Few and far between but not unheard of were Great Fathers, males found to have superior genetics far beyond a Great Mother's own improvements. They would also never take a mate, but on few rare occasions a pair of Greats would stick with one another. Their children were considered superior in most ways to other Na'I, but never treated differently beyond being studied. These were the Na'I most cloned.

Psychology and the Hive Mind Their instincts drove them far beyond their home world, into the cold grips of space, and yet the Na'I prevailed and thrived among thousands of environments. Their individual preferences to things, however, were not lost. In battle or in work, the Na'I were a flowing stream of connected glances and words that effortlessly communicated and acted, a hive mind of sorts forwarded by the instinct to protect and build greater their empire. Their humble start as small predators followed them into their last days as a race, the drive to preserve themselves above all else. Na'I on an individual level had many hobbies, enjoyed different foods, preferred different colors, and even had different standings on the purpose of the Na'I. It was one big philosophical debate in their food courts, libraries, armories, shopping districts, and anywhere else. Two main factions rose: "We must preserve ourselves and destroy all threats." and "We must preserve ourselves and learn from what can be useful." Though these thoughts seemed quite different, and may possibly lead to war, there was never even so much as a fight over who was right. Those in Biology or Mechanical fields often agreed with the latter of the two, Physics and Agriculture stayed in the center, and Chemists, Working, and most others agreed with the first. In the end it turned out they all knew one day the Universe would correct them, but they never saw it until Extinction slapped them in the face.