Lashunta
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Lashuntas are a species of humanoids native to the continent of Asana on the planet Castrovel in the Pact Worlds System. They are psychics with a unique, self-determined subspecies, and are a prominent population within the Pact Worlds.
They have adaptive genetics and traditionally develop into one of two heritages at puberty: damayas or korashas. Damayas tend to be tall and graceful with delicate features and are traditionally pushed toward artistic or intellectual and political occupations. Korashas are shorter, more muscular, and gravitate toward military service, manual labor, and wartime leadership.
Around puberty, lashuntas traditionally choose whether to express damaya or korasha genetics, a decision that determines their physical development and influences their potential societal roles. Lashuntas achieve their choice through a combination of psychic rituals and gene therapy. Today many young lashuntas have chosen to tread their own path and abstain from this choice, instead becoming "unbound," defying traditional roles and labels, and they might express traits and innate proclivities of both or neither groups.
A growing minority of lashuntas instead pushes for further genetic diversification and aims to express unique or long-buried genetic permutations, pioneering entirely new chosen heritages.
History
Lashuntas naturally gravitate toward the promotion of individualism, while the ant-like Formians (one of the other two major sentient species native to Castrovel) are fiercely collectivist. It was therefore only a matter of time before these two native telepathic species came into conflict. This conflict eventually blossomed into a millennia-long war that only came to a close when the Shirren, a relatively recently-arrived (and also telepathic) species brokered a peace deal in 287 AG. This event is believed to have been necessary for the foundation of the Pact Worlds government in the system in 291 AG.
Recent history
The birth of the Outer God known as the Newborn on the planet Aucturn in 324 AG released waves of strange dreams and visions in the peoples of the Pact System that hit telepathic species like the lashunta particularly hard and temporarily disrupted the psychic infosphere of Castrovel. Many have turned to science or religion to help explain and deal with the recurring dreams and powers that continue to linger.
Society
Since time immemorial, lashuntas have dwelled in sprawling, picturesque cities along the shores and wildlands of Castrovel, a lush jungle world teeming with dangerous predators and extreme weather. These independent settlements are protected by a mighty military caste of psychic warriors, technological defenses, and magical countermeasures. The most iconic of these soldiers are the shotalashu cavalry, lightly armored riders who form telepathic bonds with (and take their name from) their saurian mounts.