Kalarnese

The Kalarnese are a bipedal reptilian humanoid species. They originally evolved on the planet Gild in the Urs system. They are the predominant species within the Kalarnese Civilisation.

Description
The Kalarnese are a species with a preference for alpine climates, derived from their evolutionary biosphere upon the alpine planet Gild. Kalarnese biology is highly sensitive to temperature and climate, making them slow to adapt to other types of biosphere. They are remarkably long-lived creatures with lifespans up to eighty years longer than the human average. They are a highly intelligent species with an aptitude towards quick learning.

A combination of their predatory biological origins and their feudal sociological history results in many Kalarnese being quarrelsome and solitary individuals, preferring to spend their personal time alone. Where groups of Kalarnese do meet, there is often verbal and physical competition to determine the dominant individuals in any group. This has led to Kalarnese society developing a complex martial honour system to regulate behaviour between individuals. Kalarnese origins as a pack-hunting predator species has also resulted in an emphasis on familial ties. Both of these regulatory sociological systems are seen incarnated within the feudal 'House' system seen in modern Kalarnese society.

Antiquity
The evolutionary history of the Kalarnese species stretches back approximately five million years. They were once a winged reptilian predator that made their homes in caverns and fractures high amongst the mountains of Gild. Over time, their evolutionary path resulted in the loss of their wings and a gradual movement of habitation into the valleys between their ancestral mountain homes.

The neo-feudalistic system of 'Houses' seen in contemporary Kalarnese society have been traced back thousands of years and are regarded as a formalised development of familial ties and vassalized 'honour pledges' between different groupings over history. The modern Houses of Kalarnese society result from several centuries worth of wars and amalgamations that eventually established them as the predominant means of familial, sociological, and political identity on Gild.

Monarchy
The centralised monarch of Kalarnese society was initially formalised in the peace treaties of the Third War of Succession between the House of Karadok and the House of Aermar in the 2100s. The primary cause of this conflict involved a disagreement over mining rights for a particularly mineral-rich area of Gild that straddled the Karadok-Aermar territorial border. Due to the complex nature of feudal pledges between the Houses of Kalarnese society, this comparatively small border conflict eventually resulted in a global war between almost every established House. The new forms of industrialised, mechanised warfare led to millions being killed over a fifteen year period; a death toll unseen until that point in Kalarnese history.

The treaties called for the establishment of "a high monarch, elected by the Houses, to reside with impartiality over all disputes between the Houses." The Monarch was styled as High King / High Queen, a title that survived into the next century. The Monarch was to act as a political and legal arbitrator between the Houses, assisting them to settle issues peacefully with the goal of avoiding another global war.

Initially, the Monarch had no other powers or authorities and was reliant on the Houses for protection and support. This gradually changed over the next century as the Houses reluctantly agreed that the impartiality of the Monarch would be best protected by the establishment of a royal bodyguard, subsidised by each House in the form of a tax upon their economic activities. This precedent for centralising certain global bodies under the authority continued to develop, with notable examples being the Kalarnese Space Navy and the Kalarnese Science Council. However, even at the beginning of the 23rd century the Monarch was subject to a number of restrictions and relied heavily on the goodwill and support of the semi-independent feudal Houses.

Stellar History
The Kalarnese Civilisation - at that time politically known as the Kalarnese Empire - achieved spaceflight capability in the 2160s. Over the next forty years, a concerted effort of resources under the Kalarnese Space Navy resulted in the establishment of multiple mining stations and research facilities across the Urs star system. In 2201, a joint Kalarnese Space Navy/Kalarnese Science Council project for interstellar exploration resulted in the Taplar Space Probe program. Initially, the Taplar program served as a test-bed for star system radar observation systems, allowing Kalarnese scientists to gain specific information on their stellar neighbourhood for the first time. This program also served as a testbed for the Kalarnese hyperdrive project, allowing Taplar probes to begin a cursory exploration of the local galactic area until the first crewed interstellar science vessels were completed.