The Sister Races (Kevali/Kalvair)

The Sister Races are generally non space faring, but very rarely one does pop up somewhere else in the galaxy.

They are not one race, but instead two very closely related species who inhabit two planets within a harsh two sunned system.
They refer to themselves as "sister races", due to a belief they were at one time in their distant past, one people.
When life on the surface became inhospitable millenia ago, the people were lead underground by a miner named Vaali. It is after him the Kevali take their name (literally "children of Vaali"). In time a small minority became restless and started to question the wisdom of remaining underground forever, but their options were slim. They decided to take a risk, to rely on their gods to guide them. They "shaped space" (see below) around themselves and the Kevaali never saw them again.
On a nearby planet, further from the raging suns and more hospitable to life, the Kalvair ("Chosen people"), as they named themselves, set up their new homes.
Over time both races developed their own cultures, distinct adaptations to their environments so while closely related, they are no longer biologically compatible. They can produce offspring, but such hybrids tend to be sterile and suffer a great deal of health problems, particularly in the digestive region thanks to the vastly different diets of both species.



Kevali:

The Kevali homeworld is a desolate wasteland on the surface. Most of the planet is given over to black desert with salt marshes to the poles. Vast, volcanic mountain ranges cut the barren landscape and the scars of long dried up rivers snake through the environment.

The sky is a dull grey haze thanks to the dust and sand in the air, twin suns constantly baking down on the surface. The binary star system consists of  a large white star (Surya) and a smaller, dimmer, orange/red star (Aditya).

The Kevali people are humanoid in form, standing on average around five foot three with little variation between the genders. Slender, fine boned with sharp features, both male and female not only dress identically but also seem to have little in the way of gender dimorphism. Females have small busts, usually concealed beneath layers of furs and hides, and while their hips are generally wider than males the difference is minimal, making the sexes difficult to distinguish to an outsider.

They have two four to five inch sweeping horns, their eyes are heavily sloping and most often various shades of purple and blue. These eyes have similar qualities to many nocturnal animals; they appear to glow when light is shone on them, the pupil is slightly oval in shape and shrinks to little more than a slit in bright light.

Their canines and lateral incisors are elongated and pointed, their dentition resembling that of a feline or canine more so than a human. The upper jaw juts slightly forward to allow for the larger upper canines.

Long ears taper into two distinct points, the shorter formed of harder bone.

Black hair is typically worn long and braided, their skin pale and ashen (presumably from spending so much time underground).

Their feet are slightly digigraded, formed like a human's but twisted so all weight is rested solely on the ball of the foot, their toe bones are elongated as a result of this deformity, being almost as long as their fingers.

The knee joint, instead of having a floating kneecap as humans do, is protected by a bony protrusion of the tibia, which arches over the joint and forms a spike. A similar bone structure is formed from a protrusion of the humorous, creating a small spine just above the elbow.  

The Kevali almost always have facial tattoos, they're related to their caste/profession and seen as a symbol of adulthood.

They are diurnal carnivores, adapted to a dark underground environment and long periods of famine and drought. They are all colour blind and have very limited senses of taste and smell.

They are extremely long lived, living well into the hundreds, however they also have a very low birth rate and infant mortality is high. As a result, they are small in number and decreasing at a steady rate.


Each Kevali is blessed with an elemental spirit, a second soul if you would entwined to form one. These elemental spirits grant their hosts great power focused on each of the four classical elements. Each of these elements, like human's zodiac signs, has specific personality traits associated with it.

- Earth = Typically strong and stoic, dedicated and level headed.
- Fire = Passionate and emotional.
- Water = Calm and placid but with a temperament that can shift without warning. Can become vicious, cold and cruel at a moment's notice.
- Air = Unpredictable, chaotic and erratic. Can be disorganized.

The Kevali refer to this elemental as "a symbiote soul" and regard it as a fragment of their gods' own power blessed to each child upon their first breath.
The elementals appear to be random, two fire elementals can birth air elemental children for instance. There's no way to predict which element will manifest at puberty, though certain personality traits and behaviors are thought to give a hint. (see above)
These abilities begin to show themselves at between 18 and 22 years, which is when puberty also begins. It's seen as a right of passage, a coming of age for both sexes. Once they can control and harness their elemental, they are ready to become real adults.
This usually happens at around 25, at which point they take on an apprenticeship.  The job they train as will be the job they have till the end of their lives. The Kevali have a strict caste system, everyone has a job to do and those who do not perform to the absolute best of their abilities will face consequences.

In an environment as harsh as the Kevali's, there is no room for dead weight. Those unable to perform their function are encouraged to end their lives so as not to burden the rest of society.
To outsiders the Kevali's rather brutal attitudes toward death and disability can be seen as callous and cruel, but the needs of the many outweigh sentiment and must always take priority. The people MUST survive, and that attitude leads to a society of people who are painfully pragmatic.

The Kevali also have one other curious ability. They refer to it as "space shaping", most other races would call it teleportation. They seem to be able to literally fold space around themselves and reappear somewhere else.
This is how the Kalvair left their homeworld, and how the occasional outcast ends up out in the universe. For most Kevali the ability is simply a useful way to get out of danger or travel any distance, but it isn't without risks. Shaping space blindly, that is, without a known destination in mind, can lead to at best being lost somewhere, at worse, reappearing somewhere fatal (like the middle of space). The longer the distance, the higher the risk and the more physically taxing the process. They CAN take another with them, but extending their ability around another is exhausting and if they lose their grip on their passenger, who knows where the other person may end up.
Suffice to say, most Kevali don't use this ability very often. It's easier to walk places or utilize the naturally forming portals of their home world (these seem to be a side effect of their ability, tears in space along commonly used routes)

Most Kevali are illiterate, only scribes are taught to read and write. There's just no reason to know how otherwise. Kevali itself is an unwritten language, the scribes use an ancient script called Sevai, believed to be the language of their ancestors.

The Kevali are ruled by a Lord, the eldest male of a family line that supposedly traces their ancestry all the way back to the mythological Vaali himself.
The current Lord is a man named Webster, a half breed.

The Lord is "assisted" in his task by the High Council of Elders.
Strange beings, the council of Elders claim themselves to be the once mortal hosts of their ancient gods. They serve but one purpose, to ensure the survival of the blessed people. However, centuries have skewed this basic task. Unable or perhaps unwilling to take the steps necessary to ensure the people live, the Elders watch helplessly as their wards die. Some, including the Lord Webster would argue that they need to find pastures new, but the Elders will not allow the bloodline to be tainted by alien blood. The elders it seems, are so caught up in their notion of pure blood and avoiding contamination that they are willing to let the people die, becoming extinct and forgotten as the Elder's own race once was.

The council of Elders consists of 9 beings who while as vulnerable and mortal as any of the people they so blindly lead, are so ancient and so powerful that few would ever dream of contending their decisions. It is the council's job to enforce tribal law, to keep the people "safe" and to enact the will of the gods they represent. The council are the few who can overrule their lord, he is but one and they are many. They will not allow a half-breed to usurp their position and most certainly will not allow him to take from them their wards, they must protect the people, must ensure the blessed ones remain so… till the desert swallows them all.

They are as follows:

Akantarak - The lunar goddess, bringer of life. Protector of all. Goddess of childbirth.
Suravi - The dual sun god, two minds, one body. Bringer of death, god of suffering, rage and punishment.
Naral and Ada - the god's of the people, the masculine and feminine respectively. Two forms, one mind.
Ania - Air, goddess of storms and confinement.
Saras - Water, goddess of survival, life and hidden dangers.
Shu - Fire, god of emotion (positive and negative), marriage and funerary rites.
Ilar - Earth, god of protection, medicine and shelter.

There is also one other "god", who is not worshiped so much as spoken of in hushed whispers. This is Fate, another ancient entity that unlike the Elders, did not take a mortal form. Fate instead took Vaali as their spokesman, and the eldest son of that bloodline all the way to modern day. Fate speaks to the Ishvara, or "Lord", through dreams and visions, guiding him in his task which at times, runs against what the Elders themselves want.
Fate seems to regard the Elders with contempt, though this shouldn't be too surprising when one understands that Fate and the Elders are from rival pantheons. Both have the same goal in the end though, the survival of their chosen people. Just what constitutes "the people" and what "survival" entails doesn't quite seem to match up.
Fate has a plan, but nobody's entirely sure what it IS.

The Kevali have a saying "May Fate's gaze not fall upon thee". The Kevali understand that when Fate takes an interest in you, it's seldom a good thing. The Lords almost all die young, shortly after losing their minds completely, that is if something else doesn't kill them first.


Kalvair:

The Kalvair homeworld is an arid, two sun world with large swathes of desert and barren wilderness. Kalvair settlements cluster around rivers and other water sources, where the land is at least moderately farmable and they can eak a meager living.
Their harsh environment has led the Kalvair to develop ingenious techniques of capturing and transporting water, they are masters of irrigation and drainage.

Their seasons are divided into two, the wet season which lasts only a matter of months and the dry season which is almost twice as long.
Their days are long and the Kalvair sleep through the heat and glare of the day, active at dawn and into early evening before poor light forces them indoors.

Kalvair males and females both stand on average around five foot six.
Slender, fine boned with sharp features, both male and female tend to dress in fairly similar manner to one another. They dress for practicality though this doesn't mean they don't have an eye for fashion. Colour and ornamentation plays a major part in Kalvair dress, with a distinct preference for vivid shades and shiny stones which they wear in jewellery and hair ornamentation.
Females have small busts and slender hips, which combined with the Kalvair's apparent lack of gender specific clothing can make differentiating the sexes difficult to an outsider.

The Kalvair have two long, curving ram-like horns which vary in length, size and shape by individual. On the whole, these horns are noticeably larger in males.
Their eyes are heavily sloping and most often a deep indigo blue, though some have lighter eyes.

Their canines and lateral incisors are elongated but not particularly sharp. They have 36 teeth in total, 8 Incisors (where humans have 4), 4 lateral incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars and 12 molars.  The upper jaw juts forward to allow for the larger upper canines.
Kalvair will go through 3 or 4 sets of teeth in their lifetime, an adaptation no doubt due to their advanced life spans.

Long ears taper into two distinct points, the shorter formed of harder bone.

Black hair is worn in a range of styles but more often than not, tied back from the face in some manner. Many Kalvair thread beads and other items through their hair in ornate braids.

The Kalvair have rich tanned skin and the russet complexion of those used to an outdoor life. During the day it is not unusual to see Kevali workers with their heads veiled against the fierce suns. While they may be naturally more resistant to burning than their pale Kevali siblings, the Kalvair do still suffer the ill effects of the heat.

Their feet are slightly digigraded, formed like a human's but twisted so all weight is rested solely on the ball of the foot, their toe bones are elongated as a result of this deformity, being almost as long as their fingers.
The knee joint, instead of having a floating kneecap as humans do, is protected by a bony protrusion of the tibia, which arches over the joint and forms a spike. A similar bone structure is formed from a protrusion of the humorous, creating a small spine just above the elbow.


The Kalvair are omnivorous, their diet mostly comprising grains and meat. Bread is a staple of their diet, found in every meal and every single part of an animal that can be consumed, will be. From offal to soup made from the bones and fat of the animal, nothing goes to waste.

The Kalvair also appear to have a sweet tooth, using native fruits to sweeten and flavour grain porridges and puddings into something more palatable.  

Milk and dairy products are difficult to store but that doesn't mean the Kalvair haven't come up with methods to keep such perishable food cool and moderately fresh in sealed containers stored in dug out cellars. Most of their dairy comes in the form of yogurt. Likewise they keep birds for eggs, or simply steal the eggs from wild nests to supplement their diets.

There's very little a Kalvair will not eat. They are creative cooks in the sense that they can create something out of apparently nothing, though their food can be an acquired taste. They utilise a great deal of spice to cover up the unpalatable nature of a lot of what they cook. Unfortunately it isn't always enough.

Like the Kevali the Kalvair have the ability to shape space and a sybiote soul, an elemental spirit that shares their body.

They're also just as long lived, though life expectancy is rather better on the Kalvair home world than the underground cities of the Kevali.
They have large extended families and arranged marriages are the norm.

The Kalvair are semi literate, they use writing for contracts and trade but that's about it. Oral storytelling has a strong tradition though.
Kalvair LOVE to talk.

The Kalvair worship the same pantheon as the Kevali, which in turn is the same pantheon their ancestors worshipped.
Unlike the Kevali however, the Kalvair do not believe the Kevali High Council of Enlightened Elders ARE the gods in mortal form. To the Kalvair, the gods are more than that and have far more important things to do than possess mortal hosts and play at politics.
They believe the gods are all around them, guiding them.

The Kalvair also see themselves as the blessed people, those who Fate lead away from the darkness and death of their original home world and brought to this land, a land of opportunity for those willing to work for it.

Like the Kevali the Kalvair have a rich tradition in facial tattooing. Unlike the Kevali, not everyone has them. Only those in trained professions. Farmers, merchants etc don't have markings.  

The Outcast

There are two punishments amongst the Sister races for crimes. Death, or banishment.
Banishment tends to be seen as worse than death by most, as especially in the case of Kevali, they don't fear death as humans do. Banishment is therefore a punishment only given out rarely, and in most cases for political crimes.
Those who rebel against their Lord and the Elders are cast out. Their hand is branded with a mark meaning "outcast" and they are forced to shape space blindly.
Many will end up reappearing somewhere unsurvivable, but those who do survive find themselves so far from their home and all they know that it truly is for most worse than death.

These outcast are the Kevali and Kalvair most will encounter in their travels (there have been accounts of one of the past Lord's younger sons traveling the universe with an alien partner, but nobody seems to really know what became of them, or indeed why he was traveling as he was. Wanderlust is not a typical trait amongst the Kevali, and curiosity about the world outside even less so.)

Outcast are rare and it's extremely unusual for them to encounter another member of their own race as they are so scattered across the known universe. They tend to be rebels, often shunning the culture and ways of their own people.

Many of the Sister Races regard the Outcasts as insane, dangerous and traitorous. They are not spoken of, written out of families. An outcast brings great shame to a community, those around them will quickly try to distance themselves to avoid the same fate.

The Elders fear what might happen should those outcast ever find one another, but the chances of that seem astoundingly slim.

Kevali outcast are curiously more common than Kalvair. This may be because the Kevali home world is that much more harsh and awful, or because the Kalvair are more likely to kick a dissenter out of their community into the desert than go through the entire banishment process. Either way, Kalvair outcast are extraordinarily rare, almost unheard of.




Naming conventions: The Kevali and the Kalvair use names that sound a little like sanskrit and arabic merged together. Their native langauge is strange and difficult for non native speakers, and as they generally have no writing, their names are, if written down, usually spelled phonetically or in a manner that the individual liked the look of. There's no real hard and fast rules to the written form of their names and those few who can write, usually adopt a sort of signature rather than writing their name anyway.
The Kalvair sometimes use a family name, usually an important ancestor or based on their location and other times use earned names. The Kevali however do not use surnames at all. Both the first and second part of their name is considered equally important. The first part is their given name, the name their mother gave them at birth. Until the age of maturity they will be referred to as this name and "child of" their mother's name. Once they complete their apprenticeships they get an earned name, a name related to their particular skills, talents or some quirk.

EG:

Jarral Dekar - Jarral the diligent. (This is also an example of selective spelling. Jarral is pronounced Ha'rell, he spells it with the J out of personal phonetic preference.)
Kaliyani Vivek - Kaliyani the accomplished.