Id-Thun

Id-Thum (id-thoom), singular Id-Thun, are the dominant intelligent race of planet Ka-Mar. Having aquired inter-galactic space travel over six millenia ago, their ancient knowledgebase and collective experience with the universe is vast. This knowledge is what the Id-Thum are most known for.

Due to long lifecycles and the rarity of child-birth, their population has maintained a steady two billion for the last millenium. Because the vast majority of the Id-Thum remain on their homeworld it is a rarity to see an Id-Thun outside its solar system.

Article is a work in progress.

Language
The primary language of the Id-Thum is Par-San, though i t is uncommon to find any Id-Thum who are not multi-lingual. Young Id-Thum are expected to start learning a second and third language almost from birth, and any parent who does not take it upon themselves to teach those languages is considered a societal failure. Despite this early adoption of other languages, however, it is not uncommon for Id-Thum to prefer Par-San to their simpler secondary languages.

Within their own conversation, the Id-Thum are incredibly detailed in their speech. When one Id-Thun makes a statement to another, there is never any doubt as to what information the receiving Id-Thun was supposed to understand. This is because every word which directly translates into an English noun, adjective, adverb, or pronoun is accompanied by a categorization sub-word. For example, in the word "Id-Thun", "Id" is the descriptive term for an Id-Thun, while "Thun" is the singular categorization of a high functioning race (Id-Thum is the plural categorization of a high functioning race).

Most Id-Thum cannot help but add Par-San categorical sub-words to those of other languages while they speak, a speech disorder known as polyparapraxia (see: Parsing).

Culture
Id-Thun culture is deeply rooted in a few key points; the maintenance of the strict, accurate recording of historical events; maintaining a peaceful academic society; and the preservation of the species.

Accurate Historical Record
The fervent, near zealous need to accurately record historical events can be easily linked back to the events following the 1,000 solar year Kaolun-Idsutaolum (rough trans: End Wars). In the wake of the massive information leak following the final days of the End Wars, and the resulting government coup, the Id-Thum made a promise to their species to never again let politicians keep secrets or warp historical facts to their benefit.

For the last four millenia every Id-Thun has had its individual experiences "uploaded" to a network of collected and shared memories called the Id-Thumlidin (rough trans: Sky Mind of the Id-Thum). The Sky Mind, a massive bio-cybernetic organism, then sorts, categorizes, and generates a 100% factual summary of any event free from bias. Since the end of the End Wars, The Sky Mind can be accessed telepathically at any time by any Id-Thun on Ka-Mar (this was previously a privilege of the upper class alone). Unfortunately there does not appear to be a way for a non-Id-Thun to view the contents of The Sky Mind because, as the native name they've given it would imply, the Sky Mind is partially Id-Thun in both mental and biological traits. The Id-Thum, however, have been known to translate and transcribe specific content from the Sky Mind for races they consider friends.

Through the Id-Thumlidin and its protectors, the highly trained Id-Thane, the Id-Thum have the luxury of a near perfect index of historical accounts for the last four thousand years. As expected, this has had a dramatic effect on their culture. It is not a stretch to say the Sky Mind is the pride of their race, with countless visual, auditory, and extrasensoral artworks created with the Sky Mind as inspiration or the direct topic. The Thumlidin-yasarsoni (rough trans: Celebration of the Sky Mind) is a major 6 solar day celebration of the creation of the Sky Mind, during which work is forbidden. Approximately 3 of the solar days are spent combing through the events the Sky Mind has recorded, during which time Id-Thum are expected to learn from their past so they might create a better future. The remaining time is spent eating, drinking, gift giving, and generally having a good time.

Peaceful Academic Society
Another devlopment resulting from the End Wars, Id-Thum dedicate their entire lives to the study of a topic chosen between the ages of 20 and 25 solar years. As a result of the Sky Mind's vast database of information the most popular topic of study among Id-Thum is history, followed closely by alien culture, medicine, and mathematics. All Id-Thum are expected to contribute to society in some way regardless of whether or not their chosen research topic is put to use, but it is also expected that each Id-Thun is and remains an expert on their topic for life. For the most part, Id-Thum are content to learn and explore.

Strangely enough a large number of Id-Thum dedicate their lives to the study of warfare, though many of those studying it will go their lifespan without ever using a weapon. If an Id-Thun dedicated to this research were asked why a peaceful race would have need of such knowledge, the answer would be a simple, "To avoid war at all costs one must understand why it occurs, how it progresses and – if necessary – how to end it."

Id-Thum deeply enjoy conversation with (and this is encouraged) other Id-Thum who do not share the same field of research. They believe that it is by becoming well-rounded individuals with an understanding of many topics that society can be prosperous and peaceful.

Preservation of the Species
The End Wars left the Id-Thum population devastated. Over the thousand solar-year civil war billions of lives were lost and, when the dust had settled and sanity regained control of the populace, a civilization of 10.25 billion was reduced to 2 billion. It is no wonder following the aftermath of the End Wars and its resulting fertility problems that preservation of their species has become a focal point for the Id-Thum and their culture.

The first goal of the surviving Id-Thum was to create a medical system which quickly and efficiently dealt with not only disease, but also physical injury. In the thousand years following the End Wars great medical strides were acheived to preserve the current population and extend its lifespan to procreate as much as possible. Unfortunately there has yet to be a cure for the Id-Thum fertility problem, which they have come to call Zartok-Ligtharum (rough trans: Pestilence of Our Folly, colloquially The Pestilence).

While most females appear to be fertile, it is very difficult to find fertile males. The Pestilence shuts down the nerve endings and cripples neurons in the reproduction center of the Id-Thun male brain, making the id-lignaros (rough trans: mind meld) responsible for conception absolutely impossible. Not only does the Pestilence remove the ability for male Id-Thun to begin the mind meld, but the crippled neurons completely remove the desire to do so. Medical experiments to repair or replace the nerves and neurons have so far failed to achieve positive results. While replacement of both has been successful and mind melding has been acheived, there has yet to be actual conception. This is further complicated by the fact that afflicted males born post-End Wars aren't aware of what a successful mind meld is supposed to feel like, and cannot elaborate on what might be going wrong.

As a result of the Pestilence, fertile males are well guarded and held in very high esteem. It is not uncommon for them to mind meld with many females over their lifetime because, although they are fertile, the Pestilence has made it possible for the offspring of even a fully fertile couple to be infertile. While Id-Thum mate for life, it has become common practice since the End Wars for fertile males to impregnate the females while the female's infertile mate takes a strictly parental role in the relationship. Unlike many species, the act of conception for the Id-Thum is not a symbol of love or trust, nor is it practiced recreationally. It is meant purely for procreation and the preservation of the species.

In order to save any possible fertile males from a wasteful death, it is against Id-Thun law for them to enlist in the military. The all-female Id-Thun standing army, while very effective, is very small and not well suited for large scale war. See Id-Thun military.

Social Structure
Id-Thum social structure is, like Par-San, very complicated. It is rare for any Id-Thun to be able to describe their social rank and political leanings without a minimum of seven categorical sub-words. Outlined below are the main political houses, races, communities, and titles of Id-Thun social structure.

Political Houses
Id-Thun society has five prime political houses: Kiaga-Mokagé, Razza-Molina, Fro-Mozantha, Jun-Morathu, and Gru-Molyani. Each prime house is allotted five leaders to serve on a law making tribunal (Mosolkap), regardless of the number of Id-Thum who actually belong to the houses. Those five leaders are voted for from within the political houses, which most Id-Thun (with the exception of soldiers) must group themselves into. Unlike most democratic governments, however, the house leaders do not serve for a predetermined amount of time. They merely do their job until the houses are no longer satisfied with them.

Each house of the five pillars is further divided into countless political groups, but each has the core idea of their pillar at the heart of their arguments. This ensures diversity within one goal, allowing law to constantly expand and change based on the development of culture and circumstance.

When the Mosolkap was established at the conclusion of the End Wars it was decided that each prime house was responsible for the laws upholding one major pillar of Id-Thun society, and without those five pillars society would fall. Should too many Id-Thun stray from the beliefs of one pillar, the five officials of the house responsible would still exist to ensure those values were upheld. The five pillars are, roughly translated, Protection of Life (upheld by Kiaga-Mokagé), Protection of Mind (upheld by Razza-Molina), Protection of Assets (upheld by Fro-Mozantha), Protection of Speech (upheld by Jun-Morathu), and Protection of Joy (upheld by Gru-Molyani).

One Id-Thun, titled the Id-Moltara, is chosen by the twenty-five members of the five houses to give direction to the Mosolkap, and serves a similar role to that of the president of a democracy. Like the twenty-five house leaders, the Id-Moltara does not serve for a pre-determined period of time. When the majority of the population believes the Id-Moltara is no longer fit for leadership (s)he is immediately relieved of duty by the Id-Thane, protectors of the Id-Thumlidin. No vote for this is necessary, as the Id-Thane are constantly in touch with and monitoring the feelings of the populace through the Sky Mind.

Races
Ka-Mar is approximately twice the size of Cradle, giving it a wide variety of enironmental zones. While the capitol state of Idle-Kagé is by far the most populated land mass on the planet (near 800,000,000 or 40%), the remaining Id-Thum are spread across the planet. With such a small population for a planet the size of Ka-Mar, it is most common for pockets of communities to exist in sizable city-states. This provides a strong network of protection against the powerful native beasts and the wretched life-forms resulting from the End Wars. This also means those communities have evolved in different ways over thousands of years, causing minor differences in appearance and behavior. The world-wide link to the Sky Mind, however, has kept the root of Id-Thum culture at the heart of each race. They are divided into the following: Id-Thumkiba (Heat Dwellers), Id-Thumkihazo (Void Dwellers), and Id-Thumkiyori (Sun Dwellers).

The names of each race are based on their location in relation to Ka-Mar's rotation. Ka-Mar rotates with one pole facing their sun at all times, making the standard definitions of "day" and "night" obsolete. Heat Dwellers, should they never move, will spend their entire lives with the sun in the sky circling just above their heads. The closer a Heat Dweller moved towards Idle-Kagé, the sun would circle lower around the horizon and the more Sun Dwellers would be evident. If the Heat Dweller continued past Idle-Kagé (s)he would eventually lose sight of the sun completely as its circling path disappeared beyond the horizon. There live the Void Dwellers, where Id-Thum spend their entire lives without any sun at all (though they do have one of two moons to light the surface at all times).

Almost all physical differences between the three races could be mapped on a gradation. For example, the Heat Dwellers have the smallest pupil slits of the Id-Thum and slightly larger brows to protect their eyes from the glaring sun. If a traveller were to travel along a single line of latitude the pupils of the Id-Thun encountered would get bigger, and their brows smaller, until the traveller reached the far side of Ka-Mar and the Void Dwellers living on the darkest part of the planet (where Id-Thun pupils are biggest and their brows smallest).

Similiar to many lifeforms with exposed skin, the skin of the Id-Thum is affected by the ultraviolet rays of their sun. As a result their skin color varies depending on its need for protection. The gradient for this trait is quite literal, with the Heat Dwellers having near black skin, Sun Dwellers having neutral grey skin, and the Void Dwellers having pure white skin. Regardless of an Id-Thun's skin, the blue glow emanating from their veins can be seen just as well in a Heat Dweller as a Void Dweller.

Heat Dwellers are, in general, very relaxed and sociable. The intense amount of heat those at the least habitable portions of Ka-Mar must endure causes them to seek shade often and move little to reduce the chances of heat stroke. This is not to say they are inactive or lazy, but the lifestyle of a Heat Dweller tends to be much slower paced than that of a Sun Dweller, and certainly more slow paced than a Void Dweller. It is difficult to find a Heat Dweller who is not quick to laugh or smile, and the majority of Id-Thun entertainers held in high esteem are among them.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Void Dwellers are typically high strung and anti-social. While living in near complete darkness for thousands of years has increased their sensitivity to light allowing better night vision than other Id-Thum, it has also bred a small but noticable amount of paranoia in the culture. A Void Dweller would, no doubt, disagree and say it was heightened observational skills. To some degree this is true, there is very little that goes unobserved in the vacinity of an Id-Thunkihazo. Void Dwellers tend to be the most gifted in combat, and they have a much stronger showing in the Id-Thun military than the Sun or Heat Dwellers.

The attitude of a Sun Dweller can fall anywhere inbetween their Heat and Void brothers and sisters. Having to deal with neither intense heat nor darkness, there are no environmental factors that noticeably affect their culture. It is easy to see, however, that the majority of Id-Thun culture generates from the Sun Dwellers. Because 40% of the population resides in Idle-Kagé, located on the generally accepted latitude of a true Sun Dweller, this is no surprise. The majority of Id-Thun political leaders, critical thinkers, and embassadors are Sun Dwellers, most likely due to residing at the mid-point of Heat and Void Dweller travels.

Groups and Communities
Id-Thun society has many major groups and communities, so it's easiest to first divide the groups by the main states in which they reside.

Idle-Kagé
Idle-Kagé is home to the largest Id-Thun communities, which is understandable given its population. The largest and most well known group calls themselves the Lethar-Litara, though outsiders call them the Academics Guild. Each Id-Thun nuclear family is expected to have one member to represent the whole family. It is considered a high honor to be a part of the Academics Guild and typically passes from parent to child once the child has mastered their subject of choice. The Academics Guild is responsible for forming and guiding the curriculum and education of Id-Thum across Ka-Mar. While the largest sect calls Idle-Kagé home, they have headquarters in every major city on the planet.

The second most important community in Idle-Kagé is the Din-Litara, or Guild of the Sky Mind. The Guild of the Sky Mind's main purpose is translation of the Sky Mind's records into the languages of other species. It is rare for any Id-Thun who has not decided to dedicate his or her life to linguistics to be a part of the Din-Litara, as it is a source of pride for Id-Thum across Ka-Mar to share their stories with other species. To have translation error is absolutely unacceptable, and to be responsible for the release of a memory with incorrect translation means immediate expulsion from the guild. Every memory released is very carefully proofed, however, so such explusions are rare. When they do occur, it is common for more than one Id-Thun to be expelled as it is difficult to place blame on one when so many are involved in the proofing process.

Article is a work in progress.