Mauren
Biology and Appearance
Physiology
Mauren- often referred to as 'catfolk', 'koshachilyudi', 'koshka', or even 'neko' by humans from the Federation- are mostly humanoid with feline features. Their legs, arms, groin, and occasionally abdomen, back and chest are covered in a plush coat of fur. Most mauren individuals have tails, but almost none of them are of the same length, and all of them are covered in the same kind of fur as the other parts of their bodies.Genetics
Federation researchers, while sampling the species for profiling and pharmaceutical adaptation, discovered that the mauren genetic sequence is much cleaner than most, looking more organized and more distinctly patterned. Though deemed a fluke by Federation officials, this discovery proved to be fuel on the fire for conspiracists who swear that the mauren are created.History & Background
Contact
In the middle of the year, 27 PD, a Federation scouting party, heading out to the Valmadian Fringe discovered the Koshac solar system.Society and Culture
The mauren tend to gather in small tribes/prides- built of families and friends who have banded together for mutual survival and often share common beliefs- to form their governing bodies. These tribal bodies seldom control more than a small portion of the planet, and their territorial ranges often tend to vary wildly on account of how nomadic most tribes tend to be. Only a few of the tribes have settled into stable places; Asayuma, Orhiana, and Renyimura.
This focus on a nomadic lifestyle, with impermanence being central to mauren society, has led to a race of aliens who have a tough time establishing more stable, permanent housing arrangements. As well, stable, monogamous relationships are a foreign concept to the cat-people, and instead resort to group- or sometimes crassly referred to as "orgy"- procreation. When questioned, the more scholarly mauren justify this as "keeping the gene pool varied and strong", since "only the mightiest, healthiest seed will take root".
Though the nomadic clans of the mauren are fairly disparate in their beliefs and customs, many of them do follow a similar pattern of following one, or sometimes a select handful of, lead person(s). They also all split their people into specialties, from warriors and guardsmen, to hunters and foragers.
Technology
Mauren inventors are about as rare as mauren cities are, but, those few inventors that the species has seen in its history have been groundbreakers for sure, as they have developed electricity conveyance, and have established a standard for mauren computer systems, rudimentary though they may be. When the Federation established a port near the, at the time, fledgling city of Asayuma, this opened the way for technological imports.Oheliah and Taboo
The exact nature of the relationship with the veshch and the mauren is still being looked into, it does appear, given the fondness with which those who know the name "Oheliah" seem to speak of the creatures, that they were reasonably good to one another. It seems strange, then, when one finds a veshch/Oheliah site, and finds that there are very few, if any, mauren clans set up around it; indeed, it seems that they give these sites wide berths. When questioned, Federation personnel were told that "[the sites] are sacred, and establishing homes in, on, or too close to it, is taboo".Extraterrestrial Influence
As the mauren do not possess a space program of their own, they have control of any other planets in their system. Those mauren who do escape to the stars often strike out on their own, choosing a lone 'wolf' lifestyle rather than the life of a colonist.Language
Maurish: The maurens' native language, consisting of smooth, flowing syllables and rolling 'r's.General
Views on Other Races
Human
Bafflingly similar in structure to themselves, interspecies relations were quick to follow the mauren race's citizenship, much to the mauren's pleasure.Eidex
The mauren don't have a wide opinion of the eidex. To most mauren, the eidex are neither friend nor foe, neither prey nor predator; the eidex, to them, simply are.Mauren
Inter-mauren relations are about as widespread and unpredictable as inter-human relations. For the most part, mauren clans stay out of one another's way.Empyrean
Having had only limited exposure to the Empyrean humans, the mauren have yet to develop anything for them, other than a vague, fringe curiosity.Notes
Human puritanical extremists view their inclusion as a Federation client race as blasphemous, given their propensity toward sexual activity. Prior to Jette's stint as a mercenary, they were often seen as worthy only of sex and secretary work, little else.Many are baffled with how uncannily human the mauren appear, and all records show that prior to their contact with the race, no human hands were out that way, ruling out some kind of genetic manipulation being at play. This curiosity has spurred many scholars to look into avenues to find answers.
