Irathient

The Irathients are a member race of the Votans and the most populace of the Votan races on the planet Earth.

Biology & Appearance
Irathients have broad and flat nasal bridges, reddish skin and often have red hair. Irathients are naturally athletic and have intense combat skills. Irathients have livers. Irathients are capable of inter-breeding with humans but it requires some assistance as Irathients are triploid, receiving one chromosome from the father and two from the mother.

Culture
They are a proud, tribal people with a deep love of the natural world and aggressive demeanor. They are often perceived as feral by others. Irathients are handsome and naturally athletic. They are fierce fighters and pride themselves on their low-tech hand-to-hand combat skills. Irathients greet each other with their hands out and the word eseneziri, which literally means "Without concealed weapons or hidden agendas."

Irathients prefer the company of their own kind, but because they evolved on the same planet as Sensoths and Liberata, they enjoy a degree of kinship with those races. They resent Castithans' sense of superiority. Irathients view Humans as crude and lacking respect for the natural world.

Religion
Irathients are a deeply spiritual people, believing in a god that they call Irzu, who sets people on their path in life and defines their fate. Irathient spirituality is made up of three idealized parts of the body:

Other gods exist such as:
 * Gyabire (the brain) the seat of intellect
 * Gyagbe (the heart} the source of vitality
 * Gyargye (the stomach) the house of emotion.
 * Idanyu "of the flame," who is called during a time of plague.
 * Gyaamashaa "of the waves," seemingly invoked for healing.
 * Gyakusa "the quick one"

History
Irathients evolved on the planet Irath along with the Liberata and the Sensoth and once were very technologically advanced until they abandoned it and went back to a more nomadic lifestyle. Around 4,000 BCE Castithan raiding parties arrived on Irath to round up Sensoths to be used as slave labor. The Irathients took it upon themselves to defend the Sensoth but their primitive weapons were no match. Many Irathients that fought were put into caves and killed with chlorine gas; this event became known as the Great Diaspora. When the Arks were being finished Irathients engaged in tribal combat and religious trials to determine who would go aboard the ships. In November 2030 Irathient settlers moved into the area that would become the town of Defiance. In 2038 a disease spread through the Irathient population in Defiance and Mayor Nicolette Riordon and the town council decided on mandatory vaccinations for the young. This led to violence and the eventually exodus of most of the Irathients from town.

Language
The Irathient language is spoken at a slow and deliberate pace. It is rich in consonant clusters, and may sound halting at times as a result. Some of the other Votan races consider Irathient coarse and harsh. But for anyone who's studied their speech, it's clear that Irathients take great care in finding unique ways to describe the world around them.


 * Eseneziri! — Hello!
 * Tikwithe wazaze? — Where's the bathroom?
 * Lemak ewei. — I love you.
 * Ume tha hunu gyi gyagya. — I need cash.