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By Sholari James
with much inspiration from Joseph Steven Coleman
The blue-skinned ramian arrived on Jorune as servitors of the Lamorri and were abandoned to
their fate after the shantha expelled the lamorri from the planet. Ramian were distant cousins of
the lamorri, but were considered by the lamorri as merely clever chimpanzees. After almost
5,000 years apart from their lamorri masters, the ramian culture has developed into a stoic,
stratified society that is virtually closed to outsiders.
After centuries of confinement to the unhealthy realm of Voligire, the ramian took to the vast
open seas they loved and which brought them peace at mind, around 1900 PC. They sought
the ancient and holy lands of their gods and masters whose true identity had been lost in time.
Warmer and drier lands have always been the target of the tirtive’s colonising attempts, as
these suit ramian better. The ancient ruins of the lamorri have been the target of the ramian
priests. Ramian have now permanently established themselves at four locations on Jorune,
except for Voligire, the cold country south of Gilthaw, which is the land most people associate
with ramian. These main colonies are Ponteer, southeastern Drail, western Temauntro and
Sillipus along with its surrounding islands. The amount of land controlled by ramians is
therefore vast and much larger than humans suspect. Only by being situated in remote areas
(Far enough from interfering and noisy humans, so that the ramis can feel safe.) have they so
far avoided attention of humanity’s greatest rivalling realms. The ramian colonisation of Drail
and Ponteer in 2100-2300 PC was, however, met by tremendous force as the Erucians and
emerging Holy Coronian Empire in 2342 PC tried everything in its power to liberate its
colonies and drive the ramian back into the sea. The ramian initially won most of the
northeastern Drail colonies but eventually succumbed to the powerful and well-organised
Coronian heavy infantry. A stalemate was reached and the ramian were in Drail to stay. Their
colonies were cemented in the far eastern parts of Drail (The Vareech deserts and wastelands.)
and in Ponteer. Still today there is enmity between the ramian of Ponteer and Drail and the
Thanterians.
Ramian are semi-telepathic or empathic. This means that they can feel the emotions of a race
member (normally only at close distances) and have a very strong bond between themselves.
Ramian would automatically know if a member of his race lies, is at pain, is afraid etc. Ramian
who have been close together for a period of time, such as boat crews, soldiers, mates or
family can even notice subtler reactions. Many humans have reported how one ramian has
noticed them and the rest of the crew turned their heads their way at the same time. Chiven
rachu-eh have also been known to sense empathic reactions from other species such as
humans. But ramian cannot transmit thoughts, details or otherwise communicate. They receive
each other’s strongest emotions and reactions. Unfortunately, in this way fear or rage will
spread through a ramian army like wildfire, as not only body language but also emotions are
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 noticed. More than once this has been used to the ramian’s disadvantage. This bond between
the ramian was created originally by their lamorri masters. The ramian servants were attuned to
their master’s minds and heeded every command they gave them. Unlike the cleash, the ramian
were mindless slaves in the presence of their masters. Through this bond the ramian felt the
terror and fear when the shantic evids hunted the lamorri. The Ca-Shal shanta learned how to
induce this fear again by manipulating this empathic bond. All ramian fear the wrath of the
shanta who can torment their minds. All ramian have inherited nightmares from the time the
shanta killed their gods.
Any ramian would feel for, or take care of a race member as if he was a brother or sister, even
though he has not met him or her before. Contrary to common belief, Ramian can disagree
about many things and even be enemies. However, a ramian would never lift a hand against
another member of the race. It would feel just as wrong or terrible as cutting of ones own
hand. This is not merely a code of conduct or part of their cultural morale; this is a strong
instinct, a behaviour coded into their genes. The disturbing cycle of chiveer has disrupted this
behaviour. Chiveer ramian have been known to sometimes attack others of their race and
always act violently. Because of this, chiveer ramian are banished from ramian cities, but are
often used in ramian raiding parties as they are more fierce and fearless. Some ramian that are
insane or have genetic defects that makes them uncaring of, or blind to empathic emotions
have been known to have been elevated to Tirikav (kinslayers/executioners) as they can
perform this task easier.
Ramian society is a complicated caste system, where passage from one caste to the other is
symbolised by a destructive ceremony called Rak. The ramian that is elevated abandons all ties
to his previous caste and the family that raised him. From now on he has been elevated and is
more than he was before. He will not take a mate from a lower caste. Climbing the caste ranks
is very hard and is not offered as a reward. Only greater deeds for the race, great mastery of
ones inner self or great religious deeds allow elevation. The ramian castes are seldom broken
thanks to the empathic link the ramian have with each other. These ranks are upheld in both
war and common society and are strictly obeyed. A ramian would break these ranks as often as
a human would seriously harm herself.
Tirtive
The rulers of all ramian. These four lords all come from the Urat caste and sit
in Vinteer.
Korochka
Ramian high priests. Normally not involved in warfare but very influential
among the Urat. They have ranks among themselves all the way down to the
lowest acolyte. The most noted of the ramian high priests are Ortive Chorki,
who is one of the Tirtive and Chokulsha, who is a Matirikiv girelord.
Matirikiv
Colony lords that rule in Drail (The Four Southsea Girelords), Ponteer (The
Four ”Fathers/Parents” of Ponteer), Sillipus (The Ruling Four of
Twathigire), and northwestern Temauntro (The Four Temauntro Warlords).
They are autonomous but must obey all orders from the Tirtive if they
choose to interfere.
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Degralochi
Religous and ethical advisors to the Tirtive and Matirikiv. They also work as
teachers and mentors for many Urat. They are interpreters, readers and
writers of the ancient degraloch scripts.
Urat
The nobility of Voligire who receive their position by birth. Urat take their
high office from heriditary titles that can be traced back to the lamorri
servitude and is ranked according to the responsibility the ancestor held as a
lamorri slave. The four greatest Urat are the Tirtive. Urat seldom leave
Voligire or the colony they have been sent to willingly, but sometimes help
their servants in matters where their presence is needed. Even the highest
Urat lives a spartan life, surrounded by lower caste ramian and affiliated with
at least one or two Chiven Rachu-eh. Urat governors studiously keep the
meaningless ceremonies started by the lamorri to give the lower castes an
outlet for the need most intelligent races have for ritual. They avoid dealing
with non-ramian, considering such contact to be distasteful and the duty of
lesser ramian.
Tirikav
Kinslayers. The only ramians allowed to carry out a death sentence towards
another ramian. The order of kinslaying must come from a caste which is
higher than the ramian to be excuted belongs to. Often same ramian is used
for these temporary task over and over again, and often the ramian feels
great hesitation to perform the task that is very unnatural to this species.
Sometimes half insane ramian are chosen, who lack this racial block.
Chiven Rachu-eh
The highest level in the Voligirian society is the Chiven Rachu-
eh, those who are masters of themselves. Those who assert an amazing level
of self-control during chiveer may burst their own blood vessels, particularly
on the chest or above the ears, while resisting the desire to breed or draw
much blood of those around them. No ramian is born to the caste. It is not
unknown for a ramian to use chemicals or berry juices to fake the exalted
bloodstains of the Chiven Rachu-eh, but discovery of the fraud results in an
immediate and painful death for the imposter. Chiven Rachu-eh are chosen to
govern, negotiate with other races, administer the minimal governmental
structure within Voligire, Drail, Ponteer, northwestern Temauntro and
Sillipus. Most bigger gire ships try to carry at least three chiven rachu-eh to
give the force of authority to decisions.
Rochka
Lesser ramian priests. They uphold the ramian motto and help the Urat to
control the lower castes through the dark religion riddled with demons. ( The
demons are supposedly of lamorri origin. )
Krokive
Warlords. They coordinate up to 10 000 ramian in battle thanks to greater
empathic abilities. These abilities were originally genetically engineered by
the lamorri, which has led to the fact that the Krokive title is hereditary.
Talanki
Leader and coordinator of an Eecroh. During more peaceful times they are
slave herder superiors in Voligire or in the colonies.
Larchko
Provincial lords. Responsible for land, town or part of sea.
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Zhon
The Zhon are the farmers and teachers of the ramian. Zhon maintain the
plantations in Drail and teach the basic hearth skills to the young. The zhon
will occasionally join a gire crew to reach a distant port for discussions with
iscin and farmers to solve problems beyond the understanding of the other
ramian castes. Five Zhon journeyed to the North Valley station (now called
Gauss) to discuss the inability to grow a cultivated shirm-eh (the ramian
healing limilate) with the scientist Iscin. Iscin travelled to Voligire with the
Zhon to attempt to overcome the genetic weaknesses that causes
domesticated shirm-eh to fail within three generations, necessitating the
constant quest for wild shirm-eh to make healing limilates. (NOTE: It is a
thriddle’s purpose in life to destroy any patches of shirm-eh they discover,
destroying established sites. It is also a custom among forest thriddle to mark
passage into adulthood by adventuring to a shirm-eh site and salting the
ground to prevent it from ever growing again. Many of the worst conflicts
between thriddle and ramian have taken place because of thriddle action
against a source of shirm-eh — and the thriddle are usually not the winners in
such conflicts.)
Kor
Captain of a ship. A great honour surrounded by many rituals when
becoming one and receiving a ship.
Ramis
The average ramian. Somewhat shorter and stockier than the lithe ramian
gire and chiven rachu-eh, the Ramis are the common farmers, miners,
fisherman and labourers. The philosophy of "powerful silence" illustrated by
the Ramis – the site of dozens of blue gray Rami in the fields or the great
open pit mines of Vinteer, working without uttering a word for days at a
time can be very unsettling. A Rami seldom travels more than a few miles
from the site of his (or is that a her?) birth.
Gire
The Gire are the heroes of ramian society. Because shirm-eh will not
germinate in domesticated fields (except for the inferior shirm-eh that can be
cultivated in the fields of Drail), there is a constant need to discover fresh
sources. Other nations, knowing the value of shirm-eh to the ramain, have
charged outrageous prices for their supplies of the limilate and virtually
forced gire into piracy to raise the jewels, gold and crystals to meet the
exorbitant prices the merchants demanded. After a few thousand years, the
role of gire as pirate was firmly established and their prowess in sea battles
was well known. A Gire can be feted for bringing ships loaded with
unprocessed shirm-eh into Vinteer, and a six day feast, called Gire-sau, is
held in the heroes’ honour. All non-ramian, including prisoners and slaves,
become guests at the feast, with the understanding that on the sixth day
everything will return to its previous status. There are several stories of
captive adventurers who escaped from Voligire during Gire-sau - and they
are the only ones who lived to tell the tales.
Chiveer
Below the Gire are the chiveer. The ramian abandoned on Jorune found that
their body chemistry changed as a result of being on the new world of Sho
Caudal. Their normal mating cycle was changed. Where it was simple part of
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the reproductive cycle in the lamorri-ramian homeworld, on Jorune the
season of the chiveer ceased to be part of a normal cycle. Chiveer drove
some members of the race into a bloodlust accompanied by physical
transformation. Chivs, the bony projections other races use as a warning sign
to mark mating-mad ramian, do not appear on all members of the race. The
chiveer are driven from the main population and commonly take up with gire
crews - it is one of the only places they can go and success as a gire will give
them a return to society for a short time during Gire-sau and as giron, or
‘heroes.’
Rochera
A ramian bound by oath, gratitude, vengeance etc to someone of another
race. The ramian stands outside ramian society and nothing is required from
him until he has fullfilled his task. Has no authority among ramian regardless
of which caste he is a member of.
Silent Ramian
A colony of ramian remained in Jasp as hostages for three human generations
after the negotiations of Harangire Many of them remained and Jasp
eventually conferred full citizenship and rights onto its ramian citizens. These
ramian are called the silent ramian and may not complain to or adress the
Tirtive in Vinteer. They stand politically outside of ramian society. This has
led to that ramian of the Urat pretend that they do no exist and treat them as
air. Among themselves they have the titles of Larchko, Zhon, Kor, Ramis,
Chiveer and Rochera. They have four leaders chosen among the Zhon for a
lifetime called The Four Silent. Ramian from Jasp can be unnerving in their
casual use of slang and other non-ramian flourishes in their speech (such as
anecdotes and jokes). Jaspian ramian have also learned the ‘showing of
teeth’, which most races seem to associate with pleasure, but the sight of a
ramian attempting to smile is very upsetting to most intelligent species.
Thivin
At the bottom of the social structure are the thivin, who are mutations of the
ramian race. Thivin within the ramian societies will never be anything other
than of ramian who do the dirty work, the monotonous smithing and the
accounting of treasuries. There is no chance to advance or improve their
station in life. After a plague reduced the population in Voligire to less than a
third of normal, thivin were sent in place of Zhon to trade and negotiate with
other realms. Most of the thivin who left did not return, but made new lives
as respected craftsmen and artisans in the other cultures. A free thivin
returning to Voligire is subject to immediate capture and will be impressed
into a thivin work gang, which amounts to a lifetime slavery.
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