The Yondar, are a warp-capable humanoid species from the planet Yondar. They are known to be religious zealots and their society is described as very draconian and brutal.
History
Documented Yondar history goes back tens of thousands of years. Their society cycles between long periods of piece and short but brutal periods of unrest and revolt. The earliest surviving records already detail divine monarches and a unified society and scholars believed that when the first Yondar King or Queen rose to power they purged all traces of records pre-unification. According to their ancient records, divine rulers are empowed by The One True God with a mandate of heaven as the chosen ruler and this mandate is passed down from parent to child creating political dynasties that dominate Yondar history. However, internal strife builds and after hundreds of years the ruler is declared to have lost the mandate of heaven triggering a brutal period of civil war as different political factions wage war to claim the mandate for themselves. Once a new ruler has secured their power they typically purge Yondar of the previous dynasty, eliminating them in elaborate executions to appease The One True God.
Several hundred years ago, a radical shift occurred in Yondar society when a Queen, in a fit of religious fervor, declared all male Yondar to be heretical to the One True God and purged all males from their species. The Yondar remained isolated from the rest of the
Typhon Expanse for most of the
Xanid Suzerainty rule over the region. It wasn't until Xanid control began to contract that the Yondar made themselves known. It wasn't until the
Tzynn Star Empire declared war on Yondar that they were forced into reaching out for allies and thanks to an incredible amount of effort by the
Djomar, the Yondar were brought into the
Starlight Alliance.
The current ruler is Queen T'Kiiri Haakanuri, Her Supreme Eminence, High Mistress of the Sacred Fires, The Radiant Arbiter of Celestial Purity, Warden of Divine Secrets, Matriarch of the Unyielding Faith, Bringer of Eternal Light, Keeper of the Sanctum Celestia, Yondar Sovereign of the Ascended Skies, and Guardian of the Gates of Heaven.
Biology
The Yondar are humanoid in appearance, sharing biological similarities with humans. They possess tall, slender bodies with large eyes and ears, adapted for understanding echoes. Evolving in cave environments, Yondar's diet primarily consists of cultivated fungi and domesticated animals. Facing extreme surface conditions due to a prolonged ice age, the Yondar have migrated deep into the crust, relying on thermal heat and energy for survival.
Yondar biologiy is capable of inter-breeding with other species however any
hybrids produced are viewed as abominations and fanatically purged.
Society & Culture
Religious fanaticism is the cornerstone of Yondar society and every important aspect or decision is tied in someway or another to their holy texts. These holy texts span tens of thousands of pages creating an entire caste of scholars employed by the elite to search the holy words to find the justification for their decisions. The elimination of men from the Yondar has resulted in an artificial breeding program becoming of great importance to their society with "Seers" responsible for mixing different genetic lines together in order to produce The Great Empress, a mortal with a hint of divine essence that will rule the Yondar until the end of time and open the gates of heaven.
Yondar society views non-Yondar as barely better than animals. They will tolerate other species but there will never be any respect for non-Yondar because, according to their holy texts, only the Yondar were created by the One True God and thus only the Yondar are allowed to pass through the gates of heaven. Non-Yondar exists only to aid the Yondar, or to test their character to determine who is worthy of pass through the gates of Heaven. Even creating formal treaties with the
Starlight Alliance is viewed as dangerously close to heresy and it nearly cost the previous ruler thier Mandate of Heaven.
The Yondar believes that there is no free will and everything that happens is the will of the One True God. The society's only crime is heresy and things like theft and murder are tolerated so long as the criminal doesn't get caught. Getting caught in the act is tantamount to heresey resulting in swift trial and, typically, execution. This viewpoint results in a very elaborate and deadly political system where espionage and assassinations happen quite often and at the highest levels a family member getting caught committing a crime can result in their entire immediate family being purged as punishment. Conflicts are often resolved through debate with each side quoting scripture at one another until one side cannot rebut or repeats themselves and thus are declared the loser. It is telling that in these conflicts it is not about logical reasoning but memorization and repitition of the holy texts that determines which side had the superior arguement.
