Tever

Illustration by Charley Hall.

Pictauris acuminata

Descended from ambush predators, the painted Tever are a species of fiercely independent hunters who have learned, since the early days of the Alliance, to play nicely with others – but instinct is a powerful thing, and not easily shed even in the cold depths of space. In idle conversation, they are direct; on the prowl, they are daring; at the negotiating table, they are dangerous. You’ll only see a Tever if they want to be seen.

Tever Homeworld

Arliris

Galactic Co-ordination System: Forest, DIBOLE-2

Arliris is a humid world of heightened temperature, low ocean coverage and a high amount of atmospheric water vapour. The result is a highly consistent climate across latitudes, with even the polar and equatorial regions supporting vegetation in the form of a dense and diverse forest. Much of the surface is concealed beneath the canopy.

The homeworld of the Tever is sparsely populated and underdeveloped by the standards of many Alliance planets; the traditional Tever preference for personal space and the value they place on an unspoilt forest environment means that Arliris resembles a nature reserve rather than the birthplace of a spacefaring species.

Visitors to Arliris are often easily lost in the cities of the Tever, which tend to be sparse and embedded in the natural environment, as a holdover from that stalemate age of secrecy. Even Tever from other regions on the planet may be hard-pressed to work out which district they are standing in when they visit an unfamiliar city – or if they are even standing in a city at all.

The administration of Arliris does not encourage visitors. This was agreed as a concession to the traditional Tever lifestyle of hunting and hiding, which is still practiced in its original form by many on Arliris – but also as a way of ensuring the safety of travellers, who might easily lose themselves in the planet’s threaded woods and succumb to exhaustion and/or heatstroke before they could ever be found. With that being said, there are a few notable sites that are accessible and welcoming to outsiders:

• The province of Corilis (core-ee-liss) and in particular the administrative district of Leril (leh-real) within it comprise the capital of the planet – they held the seat of the planet’s government in the colonial age before the Alliance was formed. The open-air amphitheatres here once held meetings between the ruling council and representatives of farflung Tever colonies, though these matters of state now occur in more formal environments with better air conditioning.
• The nadir of the canyon known as the Dehesilin (deh-heh-seal-een) Rift holds a memorial for all of the voyagers lost by Arliris when it first set out into space. The structure is barren, crude, and carved entirely with primitive tools – a symbolic act of penance to form a site of quiet contemplation.
• Moruc (moh-ruck) is Arliris’ highest mountain, which rises clear over the canopy around it. Moruc is not notably tall by the standards of other planets, rising to a mere 852m above sea level at its peak – but it is broad, dry, temperate and comparatively clear of vegetation on its wide shelves, which made and makes it an ideal site for launching and receiving spacecraft. “Moruc” means either gift, visitor or invader in the Tever language, depending on the dialect.
• The Prili (pree-lee) is a coastal region notable for lacking the mantle of vegetation that coats most of Arliris’ other landmasses – instead, its gentle hills are covered in a spongy and absorbent moss, creating a dry and pleasant landscape unlike any other on the planet. Prili moss is remarkably resilient and an invasive species – controls on its spread have been bolstered by the mandatory decontamination of all visitors in or near the region before they leave the planet.

Tever History

The history of the Tever begins in medias res; the earliest days of the species are shrouded in smoke, the result of careful obfuscation by the dominant factions of their homeworld Arliris to conceal their origins and weaknesses from each other. What is known – what can be cross-referenced between the surviving accounts – begins as follows:

Prehistory to A -1000

The Tever evolved on the planet Arliris, and grew (in spite of frequent and brutal warfare between families and states) to global dominance. Weapons of mass destruction put an end to open bloodshed, after a fashion, by forcing the species into a stalemate between several prominent factions.

A -750 to -650

The development of Tever spaceflight becomes a “long game” – the species did not develop manifold collapse technology for faster-than-light travel, but instead explored their neighbouring star systems over centuries by sending manned scout craft the long way, at near light speed. Pilots would make the trip in cryogenic suspension, knowing full well that their arrival meant that they could be stranded for their remaining lives. All available evidence suggests that the competing Tever states intended to establish holdings on other planets as soon as possible.

A -650

One misaligned Tever scout craft lands on a world that – between its launch and the forerunner’s arrival – has been settled by the Omdua. The Omdua respond by delivering the pilot back to the Tever homeworld, as a show of good faith to initiate diplomacy. The mission is disastrous; the Omdua are completely unprepared for the secretive Tever culture, and the crew that land on Arliris are captured by Tever responding to a perceived threat.

A -640 onwards

Cooler heads (and/or pragmatism) prevail – the Tever release their Omdua captives after studying their vessel and reverse-engineering manifold collapse technology. Formal diplomacy is established, though dissimilarities between the species mean relations are strained. The Tever use FTL travel to establish and administer colonies on the habitable plants they had already explored; the culture holding said technology becomes dominant, ending the stalemate on Arliris.

A -550

Tever exploration has reached its fever pitch, but the establishment of so many outposts strained the resources and the authority of the homeworld – an internal crisis loomed, and collapse of the colonies into independent fiefdoms seemed inevitable until the Omdua stepped in to facilitate negotiations. A union was formed to represent the Tever’s interstellar holdings – and many of its founding tenets survive to this day in the legal codes of the Alliance.

A -500 onwards

The Omdua unwittingly courted disaster by attempting diplomacy with MOTHER, who responded by immediately invading Omdua space. The Tever moved to protect the Omdua, and that intervention – paid for with many Tever lives – cements the bond between the two species. Together, they form a mutual defensive pact – a true alliance – in A -495.

Present

The Alliance has grown exponentially since the Tever formed one half of it, and the changes have been difficult for some to reconcile. But, while the Alliance’s first resort will always be diplomacy, its defenders understand that there will always be threats and disasters that demand direct action – and that there will always be a reason to stay ready, and to keep your senses sharp.