Athan

The Athans (//) were a sentient species native to Bolera in the Unknown Regions.

Biology and appearance
Though humanoid, Athans could hardly be mistaken for Humans. Each of their hands and the tops of each finger were covered in keratin growths as hard as bone, segmented over each joint of each finger, giving them the appearance of wearing plate armored gauntlets. The final section of each finger, leading to what would have been a fingertip, instead ended in a long bone spur, forming a claw. Athan claws and hands were powerful enough to punch through wood, weaker metals, and sometimes even rock without fracturing. Athans walked on two legs, and their feet had four solid, clawlike toes, the middle two longer than the two on the sides.

The Athans appeared unhealthily thin compared to Humans, their abdomens nearly concave. The appearance was only heightened by their large, pronounced rib cages. However, both were because nearly all Athan vital organs—heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, and the majority of the intestinal tract—were all compacted into the area protected by the ribs, leave the abdomen covering only muscle, a short portion of the digestive tract, and the spine.

Heightening their thin appearance was the fact that the Athans were biologically conditioned to store very little fat on their bodies. This left their tough skin stretched tight over the muscle beneath, giving them very well-defined figures. However, it was also hazardous for the Athans; off their warm homeworld, they needed to dress in several layers to remain safely warm. Further, their inability to store fat meant they could go much shorter periods of time than Humans without eating before they began to suffer serious detrimental effects.

Lack of fat and tight skin gave the Athans drawn, stark facial features, and their mouths were very rarely fully closed, though their lips could meet if they put conscious effort into it. Though they had flat molars like other omnivores, the six front teeth of each jaw (beginning with the canines) were sharp.

Athan females gave birth to live young, though with soft, supple fingers; Athans developed their keratin claws fully by age three, and reached physical maturity at thirteen. Because they did not store fat, Athan females did not have breasts or mammary glands, and did not nurse their young.

Society and culture
Before becoming citizens of the Golden Empire, the Athans existed primarily in small, nomadic clans, moving across the savannahs and plains of Bolera. They were omnivorous predators, and often stalked prey through the tall grasslands, but when prey animals were scarce they also fed on fruit and various plants. Some Athans preferred to skirt the edges of Bolera's many deserts, relishing the hot climate even though food was harder to come by.

Trained to fight with a variety of tools as well as their claws, both male and female Athans were expected to take part in hunting, labor, and combat when it arose. They also developed a number of hunting strategies, relying on strength of numbers and creativity to bring down larger prey.

The Athans had great loyalty to others in their hunting packs, which could range in size from only a nuclear family to as many as fifty, though larger packs could only thrive in areas with many prey animals, and even then they often splintered. Children were raised collectively by the pack, and blood relations were less important to a pack than contribution to the pack's survival. Packs were led by a chief, who was usually selected by popular consensus, though sometimes rivals would fight for the position.

Athans did not initially have personal surnames in the sense used by other sentients, as a link among biological relatives. Instead, packs had a collective name, which was applied to the individual name of a pack member when speaking to someone outside the pack. After the establishment of cities, when multiple packs came to live in a single location, these "pack names" were established as something closer to traditional surnames, and were redesignated "tribe names", to denote ancestry rather than an active pack affiliation which would detract from loyalty to the city. In some sense, a city itself would be seen as an enormous pack. Among the known Athan tribes were:
 * Porén tribe
 * Isshut tribe
 * Alatz tribe

Although not a very emotionally expressive people, between lovers or family member, linking claws was considered a sign of great affection and trust; due to the keratin growths on Athan claws, fingers twined together were difficult to extricate quickly, and thus left both Athans briefly defenseless.

History
Royal scientists from the Golden Empire theorized that the Athans had developed sentience only recently in galactic history, somewhere between 2,000 BBY and 1,500 BBY. Athan tribes were spread across Bolera, existing in every climate except the frozen poles. Both foreign scientists and the Athans themselves came to believe that the Athans had originally been strict carnivores, but that mutant omnivores among them had gradually become the main population, as they were better adapted to survival in areas or times with little prey.

In 91 ABY, fresh from their acquisition of Iomis, Rin Sakaros and her followers arrived on Bolera. The idea of assembling all the disparate Athan tribes was almost impossible, so Rin, Tariun Sakaros, and Keltrayu instead rounded up tens of thousands of Athans on the largest continent and Rin presented her views to them. Though much of what she had to say was beyond them, they could clearly understand that Rin was a powerful chief of an extremely lethal pack, and they were intrigued by her suggestion of being able to exist without constantly moving in search of prey. They agreed to follow her, and Bolera was counted among the members of the Empire.

As good as her word, Rin deployed many of her servants to Bolera to help bring them up to technological speed. The more advanced Kasci and Zaractoks in particular often volunteered, and in short order the Empire's protocol droids were able to assimilate and translate the Athan languages. Rin's forces helped the Athans build cities and begin farming crops and domesticating some prey. By the end of the Great Liberation, a half-dozen moderate-sized cities existed on the main Athan continent, and extensive effort was being put into raising Athan children with galaxy-level scientific understanding.

While many more primitive cultures reacted badly to the abrupt and major changes in their ways of life, Rin found the Athans surprisingly agreeable. Their hardy nature and adaptability was not merely physical, but also mental: they were able to quickly adjust to new surroundings and circumstances, and Bolera flourished under Rin's protection. With supplies imported first from Iscandar, and later from the expanded Empire at large when the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob was vanquished, a technologically literate society developed on Bolera within two generations.

The Athans played a role in the final destruction of the slaving syndicate Red Eclipse. They agreed to use Bolera as a trap for Sayl Leikvold and what remained of the Red Eclipse fleet, and some even volunteered to be captured into slavery, with the promise of rescue later. Red Eclipse launched a few tentative raids and duly captured some slaves. Emboldened, they brought their whole fleet to the planet to launch a major raid, but the Glorious Armada of the Golden Empire sprang an ambush on them and wiped them out. After Rin and her Centurions rescued the captured Athans, many communities throughout the Empire had newfound respect for them and their role in taking down the feared slavers.

In the galaxy
Aside from the fame the Athans won for helping destroy Red Eclipse, several volunteered for service in the Armada. Their need for heavy clothing in all but warm climates made service in the Royal Army difficult, but many Athans succeeded in the Royal Navy and Royal Starfighter Corps, where Tariun Sakaros authorized them thicker variations of the normal uniforms.

Athan twins Malyri and Kylaea Porén became Centurions of the Order of Keltrayu, and later bodyguards of Rin Sakaros herself.