Vounra

The Vounra, known alternatively as Kanirosians, are a species of light–skinned Humanoids that originated on the Continent of Kaniros.

Physiology
The Vounra are a proud and Intelligent species of humanoids that evolved on Kaniros.

Vounra are bipedal beings with a bilateral symmetry, having a front and a back end, as well as an upside and downside. Their body comprise a head, neck, torso, and multiple limbs. The upper limbs, called arms, end in hands which have five fingers each; the lower ones, called legs, ended in feet that have four toes each. Vounra also have a long tail. However it is rarely seen as most Vounra choose to tuck it.

The Vounra fingers have multiple points of articulation, and one of them was an opposable thumb that allowed for fine manipulation. Finally, they have one head perched atop a torso. Unlike other mammalian species, they have only a light covering of body hair. Most of it is concentrated on the head and, in the case of adult males, face.

Vounra were ectotherms, or "cold-blooded" animals, meaning they maintain a body temperature dependent of the environment using the energy from the environment. While some mistakenly described themselves as carnivores, Vounra are in fact omnivores, subsisting on both animal tissue and plant-based foods. For that reason, their gastrointestinal system is much longer than that of true carnivore.

As is common to many humanoid species, Vounra had two sexes: male and female, with the latter being distinguished by their pronounced breasts, overall smaller stature and lesser quantity of body hair. Members of the Vounra race are unable to interbreed naturally with any other species, including Humans.

Physical diversity
Despite overall physiological uniformity, baseline Vounra vary in appearance, and no two Vounra look exactly alike. One of the diversity factors are height. Vounra average 1.90 meters in height, although males are usually taller and heavier than females. Some individuals, namely Military caste Vounra can grow up to 2.40 meters.

Their hair is grown, cut, and styled for aesthetic or ritualistic reasons. The facial hair grown by adult males can be grown, styled, or shaved completely. Their hair color range from brown to black, sometimes with hues of red. It can be straight, wavy, or curly. In addition to those varied hair colors, their eyes come in shades of red, orange and gold. Gradiation of skin tone is also seen among baseline Vounra, usually limited to various shades of brown, ranging from pale yellowish brown to light brown. Diversity in appearance is seen on many Vounra populations, and no particular features seem to be traceable to specific isolated communities in any location.

Life cycle
Vounra are sexually-reproduced animals, requiring the mating of an opposite sex couple to produce offsprings. While developing in their mother's womb, the child give her a distinctive "baby bump" accompanied by a significant weight gain. Being mammals, the females give birth to live young, either one or several at a time. Two children born at the same birth are referred to as twins, and three as triplets. The delivery itself normally take place after 20 years of pregnancy. It is a painful process that can take as much as 3 days. In some circumstances, women would die during childbirth. During their first years of existence, Vounra babies are usually fed with milk from their mother's breasts.

The period during which a young Vounra developed from a child into an adult is known as adolescence. Regardless of physiological and psychological changes, the legal transition from childhood to adulthood depended on culture. While some societies treat their members as adults as early as the age of 85, others consider that full adulthood was only attained at 100.

Vounra do not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age, and older Vounra may be more fertile than younger Vounra. This longevity may be due to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs long repetitive sections of DNA sequences at the ends of chromsomes, referred to as telomeres. Telomerase is expressed by most vertebrates during embryonic stages but is generally absent from adult stages of life. However, unlike most vertebrates, Vounra express telomerase as adults through most tissue, which is related to their longevity.

At any rate, individuals past the age of 2'500'000'000 are considered old, and most Vounra still die in their early hundreds, However, most older Vounra are still healthy enough to pursue very active careers.

Culture

 * "The 'Vounra have strictly defined castes, There is no transitioning from one to the other."
 * ―Nelinys Kanir

Though they are in an almost constant state of war, their civilization is quite sophisticated; they see these acts not as cruel or barbaric, but simply basic aspects of existence. They are notable for engaging in supposedly primitive practices such as sentient sacrifices in the name of their gods. Their constant warring lead to a thinning of the population.

Native Vounra culture include the Vounra language, a rigid and stratified caste-based society, live sentient sacrifices to the Vounra deities and use of ancient and arcane alchemy and magic. For the Vounra, war and violence are just as much a part of the natural order of life as peace or serenity. Their social order was very rigid, and while many rose to the title of Monarch, only one, Emperor Nelthro Kanir I, attained the position of Eternal Emperor.

One aspect that originated from the vounra was the position of Supreme Mage. One of the oldest and greatest strengths of the Vounra is their knowledge of sorcery. This great power allow them to accomplish great feats such as causing stars to go supernova.

Castes
The Vounra society was very hierarchical, utilizing both a rigid caste system and a stratified rank structure to put its subjects in their proper place. Due to how long Vounra society separate the Vounra into castes, each caste is sometimes referred to as a sub-species of Vounra. All Vounra castes are humanoids. Among the Vounra, the stroking of the chin is a sign of thoughtfulness. Their caste system include the skilled and intelligent Noble caste, the war-like Military caste, and the Powerful Royal caste.

The following are notable castes present amongst the Vounra:
 * Slave Caste: The Vounra slaves among them are a meek and servile sub-species, the lowliest in Vounra hierarchy. They worship the Royal Caste as gods, and are often used as sacrifices. The Vounra use them for slave labor. When a Royal died, his slaves were buried alive with his body in his tomb. The Slaves were notably loyal and built and maintained Vounra technology, including tombs. They are also notable for a great immune system as slaves barely, if ever became sick.
 * Commoner Caste: The second lowest caste and also the most common. These Vounra take care of all the jobs that the other vounra did not.
 * Military Caste: Military caste are the warrior caste of the Vounra. This is because Military Casted tend to be taller and stronger than the other Vounra castes. The Military caste's loyalty have to be earned but once it is they are unswervingly obedient, they are also loyal to the individual Royal or Noble they serve.
 * Noble Caste: The Nobles are the second-highest class in the Vounra caste system and are known to study the nature of magic and practice of ancient Vounric magic and alchemy. The Nobles are more intelligent, observant and lack the physical advantages that Miltary caste possessed.
 * Royal Caste: The Royals are the highest class in the Vounra caste system and are known to command all other Vounra. The Royals are just as strong as the Military, and more intelligent than the Nobles.

Technology
Vounra rely upon Magic-powered technology.

Early civilization
Vounra civilization evolved on the continent Kaniros, leading barbaric and hedonistic lifestyles while using magic. The Vounra have a natural symbiotic relationship fused with magic. They feed on it and empower it, develop and perfect techniques of magic through it, that were once thought impossible—such as sorcery. Though they have great power, the Vounra are not united, and live in tribal "circles", led by one or more Vounra sorcerers who are responsible for the safety and protection of their people. The state of war between the Vounra nations on Kaniros is common in their society, but this existence is treated as one on par with peace and serenity by the Vounra people. They do not, or can not differentiate one state from another, and this, including other barbaric practices, are accepted into Vounra society not as being antagonistic or contrary, but integral to their lives. They can not see these barbaric practices they undertook as anything else but their only way to live; their ultimate existence.

Vounra record information in scrolls, tomes and tablets. These contain knowledge, such as writings that describe magic, alchemy, the construction of weapons and artifacts, and treatises on the domination and destruction of others. However many of these ancient writings are imbued with the madness of those Vounra who wrote them, and consequently, the knowledge is capable of driving unprepared seekers of knowledge to insanity. It is known that the Vounra already had great knowledge of the depths of their powers.

Unification
Civil war between Vounra nations on Kaniros continue for many billions of years, but eventually, Kaniros was united under the rule of a single Emperor- Nelthro Kanir. Nelthro was raised as a chosen, and he grew into a powerful being, demonstrating great skill in fighting as well as great intelligence. Nelthro also had an extreme talent for magic. Forging his own massive sword through the use of alchemy, Nelthro led the unification of Kaniros' warring nations.

Though with much bloodshed, Nelthro united the disparate nations of Nai-Iros into a single Empire, becoming an inflexible and undisputed leader of the Vounra. Nelthro became the King and God of the Vounra as his reign continued and he earned the title of the Eternal Emperor—the perfect being. Nelthro became the first Emperor. Eventually, his people came to believe that his reign would be eternal, and that Nelthro was immortal.

Nelthro had been ruling three hundred years when the invaders of the Beilzech Empire arrived on Kaniros. The Beilzech hid their ultimate agenda from Nelthro, and tried to lull him into their confidence by teaching the Vounra new technologies. Eventually however, the Beilzech tried to conquer the Vounra people, and the Eternal Emperor rose to repel the invaders with the indomitable will of his people behind him. Nelthro took his Blade to the invaders, and managed to outsmart the immensely powerful Beilzech Empire despite the advanced technology the Vounra were up against, eventually defeating the conquerors.