Sani'Tatem (San-ee-Tay-tem)
Sani’Tatem is the smallest inhabited World in the galaxy, and has always been a World that focused on technological and scientific pursuits above all else. This is due to the World’s lack of natural resources, forcing them to come up with creative and sustainable ways to keep their civilization alive. They always prioritised education and civil growth, which lead to a very equal civilisation. They also implement green energy into everything they make. When The Web was first introduced to the galaxy Sani’Tatem became obsessed with its technology and was determined to understand and replicate it, to no avail.
Political and Social Customs
The Sani'Tonians are a people that value their community above all else. They strive for equity and balance in all aspects of life, and freely provide vital resources such as food, water, shelter, general appliances and medicine. Any other goods or services that is required by a Sani'Tonian can be requested and they will be placed on a waiting list. The person that requests an item in this manner can be waiting anywhere from a handful of hours up to multiple months until their request is carried out, depending on the popularity and rarity of the item. Sani'Tonians tend to look for the best in people, as prior to joining The Web they had never met with a sapient species that sought to do them harm. When they learnt that the other Worlds were not as communcity focused many Sani'Tonians were genuinely surprised, but believed that it was important to extend a hand to them regardless. However, ever since The Split occurred Sani'Tatem has become far more removed from the galactic stage. They also preserve their culture through an oral tradition. This is done by passing down their knowledge to the younger generations of Sani'Tonians through speech, songs and plays. While the Sani'tonians have had the technological know-how to record their knowledge for many centuries, their ancestors decided that they would not use this technology. This decree has been honoured up until recently.Pre-Web History
View full timeline in: History of Sani'Tatem Sani'Tatem is a World with a long history of survival against all odds. The Sani'Tonians once lived on the surface of the planet and in shallow subterranean caves in a series of villages across the habitable areas of the land. They weren't able to form any highly populated settlements due to the large quantity of massive Beasts that roamed the planet, and learnt to coexist with these creatures rather than oppose them. These villages' knowledge, art and culture were kept alive through the oral traditions, and village elders would often meet with their neighbours to share new developments. There was even an annual event known as The Agora where elders from villages across the World would meet and collaborate to benefit all of the Sani'Tonian villages. Sadly, this peace wasn't to last. One Agora, the elders from a habitable sector in the northern hemisphere didn't show up to everyone's surprise. When the other villages sent scouts out to investigate the disappearance, they never returned. The southern Sani'Tonians began to worry about northern villages in other habitable sectors and sent messengers to them, offering to host them during a time of uncertainty. Only one messenger returned. They spoke about a giant creature, larger than any of the Beasts that the Sani'Tonians had ever seen. The creature had been seen ravaging a village as well as devouring beasts as large as a house. As far as the messenger could tell, all of the northern villagers had either retreated to subterranean caverns or had died. Worse still, the creature was moving south. The southern villagers grew increasingly frightened by the news of this beast, and came to call it Sköll. Many villagers began to retreat into their caves out of fear for their lives and livelihoods, and those who didn't would come to know Sköll's hunger intimately. It took Sköll five years to fully mature to a size of 675 km². For the next 700 years the Sani'Tonians would live almost entirely underground except for the occasional excursion to the surface. This period was known as the Era of Sköll. Due to its colossal size and tendency to traverse all over the World in search of new food, the surface of Sani'Tatem became completely inhospitable. It is said that when Sköll wandered over a village's cavern roof the entire village would go silent, even the youngest of children. During the seven centuries that the Sani'Tonians were forced underground they were constantly trying to find ways to return to the surface. They began by constructing long ranged telecommunication systems so that they could resume their Agoras and preserve their culture, and learnt how to turn the native creatures into mechanised weapons should the need arise to defend themselves. Collectively, Sani'Tatem's technological prowess bloomed as they worked to improve the quality of subterranean life as well as find a way to either coexist with Sköll or end its reign over the surface. They would run consistent tests on Sköll, and even found what was believed to be its birthplace. Through these experiments they learnt about Sköll's hunting patterns, its biology, and even discovered that due to its size other beasts and creatures had begun living on its back. While none of their findings would help subdue it, the Sani'Tonians would prosper during the Era of Sköll. But one day, everything would change. Researchers who were posted at Sköll's birthplace reported a strange object that had been produced: an egg the size of a small hut. A creature the same as Sköll was about to be born. This spawned numerous debates throughout Sani'Tatem as to how to manage this new creature: Hati. Some thought that they should destroy the egg, while others contemplated weaponising the creature when it hatched. These arguments went in circles until the prevalence of a new train of thought came about. A Scholar of Sköll raised the prospect of living on Hati the way that the other creatures of Sani'Tatem would live on the back of Sköll. At first, everyone scoffed at the idea, thinking it ludicrous. But the Scholar pressed the issue, knowing that her design held merit, and would go on to prove her working time and time again. A mobile city would be the only way to avoid Sköll's hunger, and there was living proof that life could sustain itself on the back of one of these creatures. Sani'Tatem had centuries of behavioural data that they could use to control the roaming patterns of both Sköll and Hati. The more she spoke at the Agora, the more people she would convince. The Sani'Tonians had hoped that they would be able to return to the surface for the first time in seven hundred years. And so, construction began. Engineers began designing how buildings would be structured and remain stable on the back of that beast. When Hati hatched, behavioural researchers began to tame it and quelled its hunger with beasts that they had hunted on the surface. Using carefully placed lures, the Sani'Tonians ensured that Sköll and Hati never met in the five years that it took for Hati to fully mature. Slowly, the villagers all began to migrate to Hati as accommodation was built for them. While most Sani'Tonians would relocate to Hati, there were plenty that wished to stay in the caverns that they had become so accustomed to. Moreover, having permanent outposts scattered across the planet was integral to the preservation of Sani'Tatem's new way of life. For the next 500 years, Sani'Tatem would perfect life on Hati. The population in Hati would grow to over 13 million, whereas the combined population in the various subterranean outposts and villages would roughly total to 2 million. Through their combined efforts, Sani'Tatem would thrive.Post-Web History
Sani'Tatem was first contacted by Mundi, and then later by Telea. They grew fond of these two nations and would go on to foster a mutually beneficial relationship. They especially felt a kinship to the Teleans after learning about their megafauna and struggles against the Medved. When they were told of the other Worlds they came to respect Yilvyke and couldn't help but notice the similarities between themselves and Nurn. However, when the Nurnites culture of superiority and self-importance became apparent to the galaxy the Sani'Tonians came to pity them instead. In the early years of this period of communication, the Sani’Tonians struggled greatly when it came to speaking with the other Worlds. Up until meeting Sani’Tatem, the Mundians had been talking to the other alien species by learning the written languages of these cultures, so upon realising that the Sani’Tonians did not have a written language the Mundians had to try something different. This was especially challenging because the Mundians were biologically incapable of replicating the Sani’Tonians’ native tongue. Eventually, specialists from both species were able to come to understand each other, but the Sani’Tonians knew that something had to be done so that they could participate in galactic life without sacrificing aspects of their culture. Thus, they constructed the universal translators and began mass producing them so that everyone in The Pontision System would be able to directly communicate with each other. The device functions by translating languages heard by the wearer in real time to the wearer's native tongue. They received the blueprints for their Node from Mundi, however they did not understand the design or how it functioned. Once it was constructed they attempted to question Malum Auctori about the science behind The Web, but the Auctori's explanations were unable to clarify the Sani'Tonians confusion. The Auctori would only ever explain what was occurring rather than explaining how they were able to achieve that effect. They asked their neighbouring Worlds if they understood what the Sani'Tonians couldn't grasp, but no other World seemed to understand the technology within the nodes either. Most Worlds dismissed this, with the only World taking genuine note being Yilvyke. The Sani'Tonian inquiries into the technology of The Web would continue to prove fruitless, and Sani'Tonian interest in the topic would progressively die down over the following decades. However, this would all change after The Split. When Yilvyke separated themselves from The Web, the leading Sani'Tonians were convinced that it was because they made a breakthrough in their studies into the nature of The Web. For the first time in their history, the Sani'Tonians began recording their knowledge. The World has begun to keep to themselves, only keeping up the appearance of being concerned with intergalactic politics whilst communicating mostly with their Telean neighbours. Though within the past few months they have been especially quiet, making others wonder what they are plotting and if a second Split is on the horizon.Species and Geography
Sani'Tonians are large scaled creatures that come in a plethora of different pigmentations. They all have thick tails and stand on their hind legs, but are capable of walking on all four of their limbs. After centuries of living underground these lizard-like people have developed an acute sense of vision, with some even being able to steer their eyes in different directions to create non-overlapping vision. Sani'Tonians have no external ears and rely heavily on their olfactory senses when sight is not an option. They are an egg laying species, and often hoard their eggs in communal clusters. This means that when the batch of eggs are hatched an infant Sani'Tonian is raised by their immediate community, rather than their procreators, which is believed to have inspired their community focused culture. Sani'Tatem is the smallest planet in The Web and the only dwarf planet that hosts sentient life. Its surface area is 1.831664×107 km2. It is a dry, arid landscape with no oceans or continents. Rainfall is minimal in Sani'Tatem, and the deserts that litter its surface vary only by consisting of either sandy expanses or cracked, earthen crust. The shallow surface is also riddled with caverns and tunnels that were once heavily occupied by the Sani'Tonians.Hati (City)
Hati is a massively mobile city that roams Sani'Tatem. It is built on the back of a creature known as an Amarok, also named Hati. The city utilises the same technology that the HORUS manufacturers use to make their mechs to empower Hati and ensure that the city won't be destroyed due to any erratic movements. The city's area is over 620 km2 and is densely populated, achieving a population of 13.6 million Sani'Tonians (the greatest their population has ever been). Due to Hati being constructed on the back of a massive monster, it is extremely important that all Sani'Tonians are operating at peak efficiency. Because of this, the city instituted a four hour work day with a minimum of three days of no work per week. Further, if any careers require workers to work overnight, workers must do so for an entire month (no longer or shorter) without any adjustments in the times of their shifts, and they can only be rostered in this way twice per year as a maximum. Once a month of this shift work is complete the worker is given two weeks of break to readjust their sleep cycle to regular waking hours. The city is split into four major sectors (listed below) that all contribute to life on Hati. There is an intricate, solar-powered public transport and has high levels of walkability throughout the city. There is a train system that follows along The Vertebrae, wrapping around the Spikes of Hati akin to a DNA strand that branches out through The Soma and toward The Lower Extremities. Because of this there is almost no form of private transport in Sani'Tatem, with the only exception being space-faring transit units and the HORUS mechs.The Cranial
The Cranial sector is the where the head of Hati management operates, known as The Synapse. They focus on maintaining Hati's health, enrichment and charting their course. They also coordinate the general upkeep of the city and the beast it rests upon. This sector is located on Hati's head. Whilst Sani'Tonians believe that all careers have equal value, many see this position as the most vital to their life on Hati.The Soma
This is a largely residential area. It is split up into six major districts: upper right side, mid right side, lower right side, upper left side, mid left side, lower left side. Each district has a representative that reflects the wants and needs of their district. There are also leaders of different work forces in those districts that inform the district representatives as to the needs of the people that they represent. These leaders come from Sani'Tatem's agricultural, arts, sciences, manual labour, militaristic and political divisions of workers. The leaders and representatives are all democratically elected, and all adult Sani'Tonians are automatically put into the running for these positions.The Vertebrae
The Vertebrae is a sector located along the spinal cord of Hati, and the buildings are constructed around the protrusions that extend from Hati's back, known as the Spikes of Hati. There are 52 of these mountainous spikes. The buildings built in this region are primarily used to further scientific discovery; primarily basing themselves in biological, astrological, physical, and chemical fields. Farmlands have also been carefully cultivated in the lower Vertebrae, with some even growing food and vegetation from alien Worlds. In the central Vertebra the Sani'Tonians host political conferences and meetings, and is the current meeting place for the annual agoras.The Lower Extremities
The Lower Extremities are located on Hati's perimeter and are composed of four quarters: front left gait, front right gait, hind left gait, hind right gait. This sector mainly hosts factories and maintenance outposts that attend to Hati's locomotive functions. The Lower Extremities also host the majority of Sani'Tatem's offensive capabilities as well as facilities for HORUS manufacturers. There are very few Sani'Tonians that live in this sector.Villages
Some villages still remain scattered across the subterranean tunnels of Sani'Tatem. These outposts are vital in tracking the progress and position of Sköll. Villagers in these caverns upkeep the traditions that were cultivated during the Era of Sköll, and maintain subterranean agriculture that can't be replicated on Hati. The villages are also where Sani'Tonians find their mechs and train in them before returning to Hati.Valkyrie
A Sani’Tonian space station that orbits Sani’Tatem. It serves as a dock for space ships and transports any visitors or migrants to and from Hati or one of the villages. Shuttles are sent to and from Hati every two or three hours, since the trajectory of the shuttle needs to be recalculated each time due to both Valkyrie and Hati not being stationary locations. Staff members are given temporary accommodations within this space station so that they do not need to return to Hati each night to rest. Further, there are plenty of recreational spaces on the station itself, designed for both staff and visitors to relax in between shifts or flights (respectively).Important Figures
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