The Mrr'tani

A Brief History of the Mrr’tani:

From the very beginning of recalled history, the Mrr’tani have been a peaceful species, living in harmony with one another, a symphony of minds singing in chorus. Ancient pictographs and other data indicates that at one time, the Mrr’tani were less peaceful, but it has been eons since that time. Since the beginning of the Mrr’ouwffi, the Mrr’tani have strived to be as united as it is possible for a people to be.
From the outset, they recognized the inherent worth and utility of every clan and every individual, and each Mrr’tani has done what they were best at. Learning was and still is accomplished by way of an apprenticeship of sorts. A Mrr’tani will take another under their instruction, and in old times, the Clan Mother would facilitate the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. Once the knowledge was passed on, the teacher would work with the student to develop their skills and physical needs. In this way, the Mrr’tani quickly attained technological advancement, and for a time were an industrial society. However, the clan Mothers saw the effect that the separation from the world was having to their clans, and it was decided that the path of industrialization was not one that was worth pursuing. The factories and manufacturing plants were torn down and dismantled, and the Mrr’tani set their minds on coexisting with their world.
The Mrr’tani have never been curious about what was beyond their world, contenting themselves instead with the wonders of their own world. They sought to understand every mystery of their homeworld, and thus began developing along the path of biology, genetics, ecology, and terraforming. Mrr’tani knowledge is extensive in these fields. It is so vast, in fact, that it resides within the Mrr’tani neural network at the subconscious level, with every Mrr’tani knowing the world around them as instinct.
Mrr’tani developed around this time, the desire and ability to forecast population trends and the clan Mothers developed a rarely-violated code of conception. Mrr’tani will instinctively not outbreed the population limit of any planet once they have become attuned to it, provided they are linked to a Frr’a’narr’ah. Without that link, Mrr’tani will produce prodigiously, with each female bearing a litter of up to six young.
First Contact was made by a race that later became known to the Mrr’tani as “The Masters.” The Mrr’tani had never concerned themselves with life beyond their planet, but they accepted the possibility that it might be so. When The Masters landed, they were greeted in traditional Mrr’tani fashion, in open acceptance and welcome. Prior to the coming of The Masters, the Mrr’tani had never had a reason to keep secrets or be suspicious of any other being, so they shared their society openly with the newcomers.
The Masters studied the Mrr’tani, living among them as friends and cooperative partners. The Mrr’tani did not know anything of the debate that was taking place in the Masters’ worlds about whether to study or to conquer. The conquerors won the day, and with what the Masters had learned about the Mrr’tani, they began to infiltrate the minds of those closest to them, turning Voids to their side and their plan.
The planning and plotting eventually ended in The Night of Blood. In a single night, rebel Voids silenced every Mrr’ouwff between the Clan Mothers and their Mrr’tani. The Masters had already identified the Mothers, and once the links were cut, the Masters slaughtered every Mrr’a’narr’ah and fledgling from birth to old age. The Masters took perverse pleasure in the creative ways in which they killed the Mothers, and many were killed in horrific fashion. With the Mothers gone, the Mrr’tani links were silent and the Mrr’tani were easily taken as slaves to work the Masters’ ships and planets. Given their easy breeding and docile nature without a clan Mother, they were the perfect slave species.
Within the Enemy worlds now, Frr’a’narr’ahn are killed on detection, with collaborator Voids acting as trackers. A clan Mother who survives to her awakening is sent to be vivisected by Enemy scientists, always while alive, to attempt to understand the Mrr’tani telepathic ability.
After the Night of Blood, with the minds of the Mothers gone, the Mrr’tani felt, for the first time, the mind of the Frr’a’tan’lass’I’ah. None could tell where she was, or how she had survived, but it was clear that she was not in captivity. There is little information beyond spoken stories and myths, but those myths state that she had escaped to uncharted worlds and would return to free the Mrr’tani. In reality, the Frr’a’tan’lass’I’ah, Catcher of Souls, did indeed escape and lived her days among traders and pirates, holding the last of the Mrr’tani neural network together, however weak it might be.
The torch, however, has passed to a new Frr’a’tan’lass’I’ah, one they call Keeper of Hearts. The legends remain, however, that she will return and free the Mrr’tani.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Mrr’tani are a bipedal felinoid species, resembling earth cats in features, but evolutionarily advanced beyond what humans would recognize. Fur patterns and physical features very according togenetic lineage, something that also determines clan membership of the individual.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Superior sense of smell: Mrr’tani scent perception is on par with Terran felines, and culturally, scent plays a large part in the bonding of individuals and clans. A scent marking from one Mrr’tani on another signifies companionship or some other social bond or relationship. Response to pheromones is heightened in comparison with most humanoid species.
Superior sense of hearing: Mrr’tani ears are highly evolved to hear well into supersonic and subsonic frequencies, and can swivel upon their head to provide directional listening. Mrr’tani can also perceive sounds much quieter than would be heard by most humanoid species. Some clans receive an additional bonus to this trait.
Superior low-light vision: Mrr’tani in general see quite well at night, and their eyes are adapted to a large range of visual environments. Their eye structure allows the Mrr’tani to see in bright and low-light environments. Overly bright environments, however, can impose a penalty on the Mrr’tani, as their vision narrows significantly when in such environments. Some clans have different versions of this trait.
The Memory

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Mrr'tani children are named for a distinctive feature that identifies them in the litter of kits. Names always take the form of two descriptive words such as Long Tail, Downy Fur, Large Paws, Spotted Ears, etc. As a Mrr'tani ages, they may receive other names from their clanmates and others in their lives, and they wear their names as badges of honor and recognition. The naming convention stays the same, though, for all Mrr'tani. Naming examples from others who have moved beyond child stage: Peace Maker, Quiet Words, Bright Eyes, Many Minds, etc.
One Mrr'tani is named differently than the rest, and that is the Frr'a'tan'lass'i'ah. This Mrr'tani is named with three words: Keeper of Hearts, Catcher of Souls, etc. At times, "The" is prepended to the name, such as "The Catcher of Souls," when used in conjunction with a Mrr'tani's other given name.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Mrr'tani are joined by The Memory, and all speak the same language, Mrr'tan'garr'i. There are no dialects found in any of the clans.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

In general, Mrr’tani are friendly and cooperative, but extremely private about their own affairs. They tend to keep to their own kind on the refugee worlds, attempting to do what they can to survive and provide for their kind. They will help if asked, and they have never been violent, but they have never offered any information beyond the very basics.
Relations with Avalonians: The Avalonians have welcomed the Mrr’tani with open arms, as is their nature. The Mrr’tani were settled on a rural continent on Avalon and given basic resources to begin their own lives. They took great advantage of this generosity and have since turned the continent into one of the highest-producing agricultural regions on Avalon. They provide enough food to the citizens of Avalon to feed over half their population, and some of the food grown is exported as a delicacy, specifically the Mrr’tani berry wine. Bottles of Berry Wine on other worlds fetch exorbitant sums, owing to the potency and rarity of the beverage. As the Mrr’tani have no concept of currency and economic development, the Avalonians have kept their surplus funding in escrow for use by their government when it arises.
Relations with Rigellians: Rigel 6, being an industrial world, is particularly unsuited to Mrr’tani habitation. Mrr’tani living on this world are more fragile than other Mrr’tani, and they tend to stay within tightly packed groups, rarely including any outsider. They are clannish and will defend their territory if pushed, but for the most part will leave most others alone. Those that are able work for the good of those Mrr’tani who cannot. The ability of Mrr’tani to learn quickly is an asset on this world, as the Mrr’tani can adapt to whatever work is required. The Mrr’tani colony on Rigel 6 is seen as a burden on the Rigellian economy, and though the Rigellians have no concrete reason to request its relocation given their peaceful nature and the state of the galaxy at large, Mrr’tani are sometimes resented by the other inhabitants of the world.
Relations with Quadranians: Refugees rescued by Quadranian fleets have always been studious in their thanks, and relations between the two peoples are good, though the Mrr’tani are still secretive and private. They see the Quadranians as a telepathic people, and thus give them more respect in that regard. They are also quite curious about the nature of the telepathic communication with the Quadranians. There is little contact with Quadranians in fleet service, given the Mrr’tani refusal in general to serve on ships. One in every 500 Mrr’tani will choose to stay aboard a ship, and those that do exhibit the same psychological issues as those in cities. Mothers, Voids, and the Frr’a’tan’lass’I’ah are immune to this effect.