One of the four castes of the Lorath. The Fyunnen have traditionally served as the cornerstone of the Lorath Matriarchy's historical and modern military force. They are characterized by their devout faith to the Lorath Goddess, their military focused social structure, and heightened physical capabilities.
Ingrained into the culture and genetics of the Fyunnen Caste is their role as the Lorath Matriarch's defenders working to ensure that the Matriarchy is defended from both external as well as internal threats. The Fyunnen are synonymous with the Matriarchy's military arm supplying the bulk of the Matriarchy's lorath fighting forces while also providing much of the logistical support for the Matriarchy's traditional military as well as the LSDF. The Fyunnen civilian population is almost universally involved in either manufacture, distribution, clerical occupations which ensure that the Matriarchy's military needs are satisfied as well as improved upon when flaws are identified.
The Fyunnen are a people whose way of life is guided by three central pillars consisting of Faith, Duty, and Tradition. Serving as both the primary source of guidance and comfort for the Fyunnen faith lays the groundwork of their behavior encouraging personal cultivation, moderation, and consideration for their fellow lorath. The Fyunnen caste embraces the teachings of the Goddess and attempts to adhere to her lessons with a zeal and fervor which outside of the caste is chiefly found among the clergy. Contrasting the faith that the Fyunnen hold for the Goddess they, more than any other caste, shun the God of the lorath faith strongly warning against the hubris and failings that may befall those who tread that path.
Though a devout people, the Fyunnen are seldom known to preach or evangelize preferring to hold their faith close to the heart as they pursue personal cultivation as well as providing solidarity for those who may require support and encouragement in times of crisis. Instead of filling the role of a priest or missionary, the most pious of the Fyunnen caste often find themselves recruited into the ranks of the Inquisition where their clarity of purpose and dedication to upholding the Goddess' will is applied to keep the Matriarchy safe from even the foulest corruption.
The Duty of the Fyunnen is visible in almost all aspects of their lives. Born to serve as the protectors of the Matriarchy the Fyunnen have modeled their professional and even domestic lives after the structure of the military to which they all belong in spirit if not always in career. This is clearly seen among their most common non-military occupation; the vast manufactories are run with clear chains of command and workers functioning in units to inter support as they work ensuring that each task is handled with the utmost efficiency.
In the domestic setting, traditional households are organized in a manner which reflects a military barracks, with shared sleeping, eating, and living areas, with separation earned by age and status within the family. Each member of the household knows their place as well as the duties that they need to perform to uphold the smooth function of the home each assigned their role by the house matriarch. Family units typically operate with regular schedules giving a sense of structure and reliability to the home with individuals gathering for meals, leisure, chores, and observations of faith before dispersing to attend education or occupational duties.
The Traditions of the Fyunnen are held close to their hearts. Along side their Faith, their traditions provide a stable fallback and reference upon which they build their world view. One of the most apparent traditions that the Fyunnen hold more than any other caste is that of placing an emphasis on the reliability and strength of the woman as a mother, a mentor, and a warrior. The Fyunnen are most likely to call out the impulsive nature of lorath men, and caution against action which is taken due to passions rather than rational thought. This bias is felt most strongly in those households which choose to retain the traditional roles placing men in home maker positions often in the kitchen or performing other duties such as cleaning clothing. Though men are typically seen as somewhat less reliable than women in Fyunnen society, they as a people recognize the efforts put in to overcome failings and men are treated as equals in both a professional and military setting where they may choose to work or serve side by side.
Other common Fyunnen traditions include many major and minor social rituals used for greeting new people, bidding farewell to departing soldiers, as well as more regular daily events like asking for luck, or giving thanks. All of these small observances and rote activities provide a layer of reliable structure in the Fyunnen life giving a sense of security and normalcy which can be easily carried over even in times of war or crisis. For this reason the Fyunnen caste is able to function with minimal difficulty in even the most chaotic of circumstances drawing comfort from the familiarity of routine rather than relying on comforts such as infrastructure or even a home.
Due to the strength with which the Fyunnen uphold their traditional role, almost all occupations within the Fyunnen caste are ultimately geared toward supporting the Fyunnen military, and in more recent years the LSDF. Refineries, assembly yards, machine shops, food processing plants, utilities, academies, and many other practical places of work all work to provide for the needs of the Fyunnen allowing them to be well provisioned, equipped, and healthy for when conflict may come.
Though modern technologies of the Matriarchy have made their way into the Fyunnen's occupations found in offices, machine shops, and many other aspects of their work and learning, the Fyunnen as a people tend to reject the devices and conveniences of the modern age instead preferring to live their lives in a simpler manner on their own time. Choices may be made such as using oil lamps may replace electric lights and few modern amenities such as network terminals or personal communication devices will be found in active use in a Fyunnen home. This choice to live on their own time without the complexities or distractions of modern life in favor of focusing on interpersonal connections or personal development has led to the Fyunnen in general possessing a grounded disposition which contrasts with the urbanization of the Occhestian caste but finds some commonality with the shamanism of the Lmanel.
The typical Fyunnen family structure consists of a monogamous pair or poly-amorous group living together in a shared residence. These core family units may live in their own residence or in the presence of extended family as desired. Normally Fyunnen family units are typically heavily involved in the lives of all members of the family with a strong focus on supporting each other as well as functioning as a cohesive team. This facilitates the sharing of burdens and allows for issues to be addressed when they arise with the care and effort needed to resolve them allowing for difficulty to be overcome and individuals to be strengthened by the family unit as a whole when needed. When it comes to care for the young there is heavy emphasis on the importance of mentors and providing a positive example. Individuals are expected to behave in a manner which will form positive impressions upon younger generations with sometimes severe social repercussions should an individual conduct themselves poorly around those who look to them for guidance.
Physiologically the Fyunnen caste's purpose is rather obvious with many adaptations suited to mitigate or better recover from physical harm. This is most obviously seen in the caste's physical stature with Fyunnen tending to be tall individuals typically ranging anywhere from (6'5“) to (9') in height, statures which accentuate their naturally lithe and acrobatic frames allowing them a wide range of motion and a graceful nimbleness. These traits were initially cultivated for prowess and dominance in melee combat with their naturally long reach and mobility has proven useful for allowing the Fyunnen to carry greater loads and be less reliant on equipment in combat than the physically weaker members of the other castes.
Internally individuals have dense reinforced bone structure making them much more durable than that of an Occhestian or even most Lmanel while also having developed in such a manner as to break cleanly reducing the chances of complications as a result of damage. Fyunnen muscle fiber has been cultivated to be both denser and more efficient than that of other castes working in concert with supporting circulatory and fatty tissues which aid in reducing to fatigue by efficiently providing fuel as well as removing byproducts from cellular respiration which might impede the function of the muscle fibers.
Fyunnen organs have developed to be more hardy enduring more damage before failing as well as having a greater capacity for regeneration in the event of damage allowing a Fyunnen to recover from wounds to vital organs which would prove fatal for other lorath. In addition to adaptations to cope with physical trauma, the Fyunnen physiology is well adapted to capturing and removing harmful chemical compounds with cellular adaptations to either contain or more quickly recover from chemical damage. Compared to the other castes the Fyunnen auto-immune system is both more prolific as well as more aggressive in order to quickly address microbial threats and reduce the chances of an infection developing.
While the Fyunnen as a caste are blessed with physical prowess, these abilities do not always match up to the shapeshifting of the Lmanel caste or the psionic capabilities of the Occhestian caste. To this end the Fyunnen caste has invested in several augmenting technologies ranging from simple skeletal grafts to comprehensive cybernetic enhancements featuring sensors and capabilities outside of those available to natural born lorath.
Among the most common of these augments are the installation of a brain-case which is designed to both isolate the brain as well as provide another layer of physical resistance beyond that of the natural skull. This provides the Fyunnen soldier with an additional layer of defence against chemical, pathological, and physical threats increasing the chances of survival. Along with the defensive qualities of the brain-case they are constructed with the capacity to sustain the function and health of an individual's brain in the event of ordinarily fatal trauma giving an individual a chance of recovery through either surgery or a cloned body in the event that the body is destroyed.
Parallel to the development of cybernetic aids the Fyunnen caste has also reasearched and developed several varieties of potent combat drugs utilizing the vast pharmalogical resources provided by the native life on their planet. These compounds provide often provide benefits to both cognitive and physical performance allowing an individual to perform above and beyond their natural limits at the cost of taking a toll on the body.
This section covers the current affiliations and involvements of the Fyunnen caste both internally and externally to the Lorath Matriarchy.
Formerly the principle standing military of the Lorath Matriarchy, the Fyunnen Militia serves as the chief domestic peacekeeping force within Lorath culture. Steeped in tradition, service within the Militia mingles the practical aspects of military service with ritualized practices which serve as a cornerstone of the Fyunnen faith structure. This ritualized aspect of the service is highlighted by modernized traditional plate armor, close-range combat service weapons, and the invested importance of doctrine of both war and faith in standard operating procedure.
Even with faith guiding their hand, the militia will still apply pragmatism to their methods however, keeping them relevant in an era of castes working closely in the Lorath Self Defense Force and venturing forth into the space beyond their ancestral homes.
A branch of the Fyunnen Militia, the royal guard in documented history was an honored position, with formidable rank and file, built around granting the Tur'listia caste their own standing military to enact their will. Documented history, however, differed from what the Matriarchy had on hand upon their arrival in the here-where in which their worlds appeared. Rank and file of the guard was sharply reduced.
Investigation into the cause of this reduction has not indicated any absolute results. Despite missing information, it has been surmised that the royal guard had been reduced to avoid corruption and cost bloat. With the reduction and reforms which were then put in place by Velor Tur'listia, the royal guard has been brought down to a single battalion sized element, with oversight directly in place from the multi-caste comprised leadership of the Lorath Self Defense Force, castes including the Tur'listia themselves.
A summary of observations and statements, do's and do not's.