Jennar

The Jennar are a species of hexapodal carnivores originating on the planet Ka-rik-shar, notable for their political unification under the Glorious Empire. Along with humans and Hyfor, the Jennar are considered one of the most influential species within the Starweb and Stellar Compact international system.

Biology

The Jennar have a vaguely centauroid bodyplan: a horizontal main body with six ambulatory legs, and a "torso" with the arms and head. A Jennar stands about as tall as a human, but is larger and heavier overall. In a reverse of the human sociobiological norm, Jennars are matriarchial by nature, similar to Terran hyenas, with females being larger than males and lording over them socially in early history.

Obligate carnivores by biology, the Jennars' ancestors were apex predators on their homeworld, ambush hunters who stalked prey and then struck quickly. This legacy gives them excellent motion-tracking abilities and fast reaction times, but proportionally worse pattern-recognition and endurance. While expert at fast leaps and lunges, they find it very hard to run any appreciable distance, as their six proportionally-shorter legs consume a great deal of energy.

Psychology

One might think a species of sapient apex predators and carnivores would be predisposed towards violence and war, but this turns out not to be the case. With no attackers to fear, apex predators are naturally cautious, as a single mistake could leave them crippled and doomed to die by starvation. Jenulan psychology reflects much of this, xenologically-speaking they are known for caution and introspection, prone to debating and considering all aspects of a problem before attempting a solution. This stands in stark contrast to the herbivorous Hyfor, known throughout the Starweb for their bravado and frequent status-fights among males.

The Jennar territorial instinct is stronger than in humans, due to the large tracts of hunting grounds their ancestors required. While a friend will be welcomed into their homes, they are naturally more suspicious of outsiders.

Jennar

Homeworld

Ka-rik-shar

Lifespan

~60 years (baseline)

Civilization

In the modern era, the Jennar are notable for their political unity in the Glorious Empire. The largest such species-state, this empire has been, barring an interregnum in the Interstellar Dark Ages, in existence since the Second Interstellar Period. Originally formed by the conquests and diplomacy of Tezzamat the Great, its ideology lays claim to all Jenulan societies and individuals in the Starweb, holding that such unity is necessary to prevent internal strife and avoid existential dangers. Nowadays, certain liberal commentators are known for arguing in favor of increased liberty for frontier territories, or even for home rule and devolution of control, opinions that would have risked execution in centuries past. Still, the imperial elite and their inner circle remain committed to keeping the current power structure.

History

The Jenulan climb towards agriculture and industrialization was long and difficult. A population of carnivorous sapients can only exist at a much lower density than that of omnivores or herbivores, as carnivores sit at a higher trophic level and must feed their crops to livestock before obtaining nutrition. Early Jenulan history is thus full of rolling collapses where overpopulation or natural disaster decimated the food supply of one region, the survivors from which overwhelmed neighboring areas. Only with long, gradual advances in agriculture were the Jennar able to support towns and cities of sufficient size to concentrate knowledge and bring about a scientific revolution.

Ka-rik-shar's vast oceans and relatively little land area brought about a large focus on shipbuilding and nautical travel once technology advanced enough to enable trans-oceanic travel. To a great extent fishing was used to circumvent food shortages on land, at one point entire nomadic sea-faring cultures existed. Only one landmass, a small continent, was of sufficient size to support an industrial civilization, which rapidly transformed into a globe-spanning empire. It was this culture which would reach out into space, discovering a Geometrician Jumpgate in their system and achieving interstellar travel through the Underzone. From one of these early colonies, Tokath-shar, emerged Tezzamat and the Glorious Empire's beginnings.