Kasatha

Kasathas are four-armed humanoids native to the desert planet Kasath in The Vast. Because their homeworld's star was dying, the kasathas decided to move their people into a massive worldship called the Idari to settle on the planet Akiton in the Pact Worlds System. Even though their resettlement did not go as originally planned, they have since spread out to become some of the most commonly encountered people in the Pact Worlds.

History

Kasath

Kasathas originate from the planet Kasath, a massive desert world orbiting a distant, dying red giant star in The Vast who achieved a high level of technology thousands of years before the peoples of the Pact Worlds system. Due to their sun's imminent demise, their Witchwyrd progenitors returned to them after The Gap to tell them of Akiton, a distant desert world that would be a suitable replacement for their home world.

Journey of the Idari

After learning of Akiton, kasathas united to built a tremendous worldship called the Idari and set out to settle it. Its slow crawl toward Akiton from their distant home world took centuries, during which time Akiton's technology advanced to equal, and even surpass, once-superior kasathan technology.

They arrive in the Pact Worlds system in 240 AG with the intent of invading Akiton, but found themselves overmatched. Incapable of conquering Akiton's natives, many of the kasathan settlers instead integrated into its society. The rest remained on the Idari, which settled into an orbit between Verces and The Diaspora, and petitioned for and gained membership to the Pact Worlds government as a full member.

Recent history

The birth cries of the Newborn in 324 AG sent physical and psychic shock waves throughout the system that caused panic on the Idari when it damaged its shields and made crops growing on it to suddenly increase disturbingly in size. After discussing it, the ruling Doyenate government has decided that the Pact System has become too unpredictable and has ordered the world ship to begin departure preparations. Because the ship has not moved from its orbit in over 80 years, and also due to its incredible size and age, the process of getting it ready for travel will take years to complete, but the expectation of its departure has given the kasathas living in the Pact System a difficult choice.

Society

Born of a world plagued by devastating disasters, kasathas value cultural stability and treasure their rich and long history. The resulting culture is heavy on complex traditions that often confuse younger peoples, heavily focused on rituals of dignity and propriety, and sometimes even at odds with their own survival — for instance, favoring dangerous melee weapons over long-ranged combat. Their own native language is known as Kasatha.

The Tempering

When kasathan youths reach maturity, they spend a year melding common traditions with new ones of their own creation. This sojourn is called the Tempering, and forces a young kasatha to stretch their limits, leave their comfort zones, and even commit scurrilous acts, all in the name of learning the values of tradition and stability. Since their arrival in the Pact Worlds, some kasathas who begin the Tempering never end it, remaining wanderers and explorers their entire lives.

Star cycles

Kasathas also follow The Cycle, a philosophy of cosmic balance based on star cycles, one of the core beliefs of most solarians, which seeks revelations through the natural, infinite cycles of the stars and the universe. They are the ones who introduced this philosophy to the Pact Worlds, and most solarians are kasathas as a result.