Condorian

A ‘’’Condorian’’ is a humanoid bird that was able to fly surprisingly well for their size, which usually exceeds 2 meters. They have two arms and two spindly legs, a long neck and an owl-like face, though having a beak similar to a raven’s.

Biology
A Condorian is evolved to have very powerful wings, which span 6-10 meters. A Condorian’s flight is sacred in their culture, and is traditionally accompanied by a shriek. The Condorian race evolved on Condoria among several semisentient species, which they competed with constantly for food and land. The Condorians resulted in developing a species-wide religion that assumes a terrorist role, with forced martyrdom being a great honor. In reality, this religion was invented by a Commander in the civilization’s early days to motivate soldiers to make ultimate sacrifices. A primitive Condorian preyed on large rodents that roamed their homeworld. They were organized into nests, with parents being very protective to their children by instinct. A Condorian can see infrared and ultraviolet light and is usually pigmented to absorb ultraviolet radiation much more efficiently than most beings.

Childhood
A Condorian male is drafted to be a warrior at age 8 when it comes of age and learns to fly. There it must serve for 12 years to obtain “Perfect Adulthood.” Once military service is done, a male is to marry and raise a family. A male shows off its cape, which is embroidered with tokens representing victories in battle, to gain prestige. When a female learns to fly, it is sent to an intensive training school where she is to learn a trade and learn how to raise a nest. Once 12 years is up, she awaits a husband that a male’s parents choose. During that time, the Condorian woman earns feminine prestige by weaving feathers and cooking the best cuisines. As bringing the next generation of warriors and mothers is important in Condorian society, a nest can have 16 eggs in one year during the eight-year cycle of Condorian maturity and the Condoria star solarmax.

Migration
On Condoria, a tradition of migrating to the South Pole of their planet every eight years is commonly practiced, and is a trial of a Condorian’s passage into “First Adulthood.” The magnetic field of Condoria is not very strong, but the ionosphere is thick. This results in a glorious aura borealis once the Condorians arrive to the South Pole.

The Condorian homeworld is 18000 miles across, and is respectively low gravity. However, a Condorian flies high to avoid the mountains and other natural obstacles that stand in the way of the pole, and so on higher-gravity planets, a remarkable altitude can still be obtained. The Condorians naturally immigrate to the South Pole of their planet because the South Pole provides a burst of energy during the Condorian star’s solarmax. The stream of energy pigments their feathers a pitch black color, which protects the Condorians from constant ultraviolet bombardment. Other species on Condoria do similar rituals at the South Pole, though most live in the dark undergrowth of the thick forests on Condoria, whose leaves photosynthesize with the steady ultraviolet radiation.

Social Classes
A Condorian civilization is strictly guided religiously. The Condorians believe that the Gods made some beings superior to others, and superiority was passed through heredity. The Condorians also believed, however, that redeeming chances can be given to those originally deemed “inferior,” and a Condorian could raise its social class by showing outstanding prestige in its duties in life. Here is a list of the social classes in Condorian society.


 * Peasant: Peasants were the most common class in Condorian society. Peasants were owned by those of higher classes, but if they gave more service than required, they could buy themselves out of slavery. This class consisted heavily of criminals and those who did their preordained job poorly.


 * Craftsman: Consists of the average Condorian after military and schooling, depending on the gender. Crafting includes weaving, dyeing, cooking, hunting, mining, factory labor, and other common labor that includes assembly or construction of a product.


 * Artist: Consists mostly of craftsmen that worked proficiently. The artists made products that could sell for more money, but did not have any practical value. Feather paintings, mosaics, embroidered clothing, and decorative works of any kind are created by the artisans.


 * Tradesman: Craftsmen and artists sold their work to merchants, or tradesmen, who distributed the products for profit.


 * Noble: Governs a small area. Consists of very successful warriors.


 * Patrician: Wealthy merchants, who made much profit and fancied themselves a higher standard of living.


 * Elder: Consists of those who live longer than 5 Condorian generations, or 100 years. The elder class is regarded as wise to the point of near godhood. Nobles and rulers of all types consult elders, whether it is for honest advice or to gain respect from the people.


 * Superwarrior: A Condorian who chose permanent military service, and has achieved a status beyond nearly any other. The Superwarriors are treated like kings, though have no ruling burden.


 * Commander: The highest position in Condorian society, after the unification of Condorians in 3000BBY. This position was only to be inherited, and started when a Condorian who called himself Millennium Falcon triumphed over the other semi-intelligent races of Condoria, and unified the species. This position for the first time lost a ruler and heir at the end of the Second Clone War.

Religion
The Condorians believed in several gods that demanded sacrifice. Their religion applied in all aspects of Condorian life, including trading, homemaking, and warfare.

The Condorians believed in three main gods: Quetzal Coatl, Mossunja Pijin (or just “Pijin”), and Sahawk. The three gods competed for power, though for the most part acted on one cause: to support the Condorians, their greatest creation.

Quetzal Coatl
The most revered god in Condorian society was the Creator god. It was illustrated in Condorian art that Quetzal Coatl was a rainbow-colored bird with long green tail feathers.

According to Condorian lore, the Creator god awoke at the beginning of time, and pulled a feather from its tail on the first day to make the Universe. It pulled more feathers from his tail and the god created the stars, the planets, and placed the plants and later animals on the planet Condoria. Then Quetzal Coatl pulled a plume from its head and planted it into his third creation: the planet. Out sprouted the first Condorian, who multiplied and had a direct communication with Quetzal Coatl and the other gods.

The birdlike god, according to Condorian beliefs, had only the power of creation, and otherwise could not influence the universe in any way. The god could take one thing and form it into another, though, and Condorians prayed to Quetzal Coatl for success in weaving, painting, and crafting. Sacrifice to this god includes treasures, feathers, and other artifacts. Quetzal Coatl promised an afterlife of knowledge and endless learning and exploration if a Condorian dedicated a good percentage of its wealth and masterpieces to the religious order and the god himself.

Sahawk
Sahawk was the God of War of the Condorians. According to Condorian art, it was depicted as a shadowy raptor that watched events in the world of mortals who had the power of shaping, destruction and persuasion. The Condorians believed Sahawk was equivalent in power to Quetzal Coatl.

Condorian lore depicted the God of War as an entity that was spawned by Quetzal Coatl when he sacrificed half of his energy to turn their planet. The half of the energy used became the God of War, who saw that his now equal was creating a Universe, and was taking absolute charge of it.

To gain a foothold of power, Sahawk used his shaping powers to evolve bacterial and plant organisms into higher life forms. Several semi-sentient creatures were created, which were mainly predators of the Condorian species. Sahawk, realizing that his creations could not match the pure Condorians, challenged Quetzal Coatl and they dueled with vast armies of their creations following. Neither side won, but Sahawk declared that he would support the Condorians and make them stronger by giving them enemies.

The god, according to Condorian beliefs, had only the powers of shaping and destruction, and was therefore in charge of the purging of things that serve no purpose. The god preached that the Condorians are pure, and were to become the dominant species of the Universe. (Millennium Falcon said this to rid Condoria of the competing semi-sentient species.) Sahawk promised the eternal life of a Superwarrior, with offerings of pure bliss and no responsibilities, to those who died in battle for the cause of the Condorians: to become the dominant species. This martyrdom was the only sacrifice Sahawk demanded, other than the dedication of meat to his honor. The willingness to die for this cause made many Condorians decide to become lifelong warriors, and made the Condorians feared greatly among the Galaxy.

Mossunja Pijin
Mossunju Pijin was the God of Communication for the Condorians. According to Condorian art, this god was depicted as a broad figure that had short arms and long wings. The other gods depended on this entity because it was the only one humble enough to bring messages between the Condorians and their gods. Pijin was also the creator of ultraviolet and solar storms, and Force-sensitive Condorians believed their abilities came from Pijin’s power. Condorians also believed that Pijin was the one who gave people their destinies, talents, and abilities.

Mossunja Pijin was forged when Sahawk made a treaty with Quetzal Coatl after a devastating war between the two dominant gods. The Condorians believed that the gods said that they should work together begrudgingly, and the Condorians should have free will. Pijin was to bring prayers and sacrifices to the gods and inform the nobles and shamans the will of the Gods. When the Condorians broke off and became independent of the Gods, Pijin created an ether-like substance that bound living things to the Gods (the Force, as the Jedi call it) and made Condoria’s star give off intense ultraviolet radiation. According to Condorian legend, Pijin made the Condorians slightly connected to the gods by making the Condorians migrate to the South Pole of their planet and making them have to resist the ultraviolet radiation that bomboarded Condoria.

Pijin required a visit to the South Pole every eight years to redeem the ultraviolet-absorbing pigments produced by their sun’s solar flares, and nothing else.

Warfare
The Condorians were quick learners, and attended a military school for 12 years. There they piloted different types of craft, proceeding from the best ships to the oldest out-of-date ships as they gained honor and experience. This is because of a balance order that has sacred roots: ‘’Those who are disadvantaged in battle shall be exalted with the greatest complement, and those who are strongest shall rely on lower-quality weaponry, for he can make use of it best.’’

The heavy belief in martyrdom resulting in becoming almost an entity in the afterlife caused the Condorians to become kamikazes when they developed vehicular combat very shortly after the founding of their religion by Millennium Falcon. Hence, they developed technologies that made suicide runs and collisions effective, which resulted in the creation of the Slicer and later the higher-technology but less-feared Superslicer. The Condorians, shortly before the invention of their religion, had invented the ion engine as an efficient energy source, making their civilization leap from a Type 0.4 to a 0.9 civilization in less than a generation, and allowing space exploration and colonization. The Condorians were respected for their ship designs, but deals with them were nearly impossible to make because they believed that every non-Condorian sentient race is inferior.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Terrorplane was developed to introduce a kamikaze capital ship. The Terrorplane was designed mostly as a psychological weapon, though in desperate times, most of the insignificant crew was evacuated and the high-ranking officers had the honor of causing a massive collision with an enemy target, allowing them to achieve divine status in the afterlife. This large ship was made out of a strong material that was magnetically distinguished and easily recycled, meaning the transport could be easily rebuilt after sent on a suicide run. The Terrorplane was used against largely-populated planets, and were effective in removing entire cities from cartographs. The Terrorplane line of vehicles became more of a transport ship than a kamikaze after the Galactic Civil War. However, the capital ships caused much panic in pilots and citizens who had witnessed their destructive power.

When the Condorians were enslaved to work for Seinar Fleet Systems, they built many TIE variants, which were taken into the Condorian fleet when they revolted. These TIE fighters became obsolete, and were then classified to be the ships piloted by their warriors with the most expertise.

Behind the Scenes

 * The Condorian civilization was created by C3PO the Dragon Slayer.
 * The Condorian civilization is based heavily on the Aztec civilization on Earth
 * Many Condorian names are based on the names for different birds, and most after pests or raptors.
 * Quetzal Coatl is based on the Mexica god Quetzalcoatl, who is depicted as a many-colored bird