Tervani

The Tervani are an amphibious race of noble explorers that constantly seek out new worlds for the sake of discovery alone. They met the Collective whilst exploring a nearby system and joined without a fuss.

Appearance
Typically standing at just under six feet, the Tervani are covered in complex patterns and lines that mimic the waters of their home planet of Ulavara. Overall similar in build to Humans, the Tervani are straight-backed, possess two arms, two legs. Owing from an aquatic heritage, their fingers and toes are webbed, and two short fins can be found in their backs. Forgoing hair, they instead sport feather-like sensory organs, which are able to finely monitor air and water currents. They have gilled necks, and possess three eyes. A stout muzzle ends in a flat nose and a set of thin lips. They are often blue in colour but can range from violet to pink and crimson.

Biology
The Tervani first evolved underseas, and continued their evolution as they made their way onto land - they became amphibious. Continually evolving as they still lived on both dry land and in the water, the Tervani gained abilities that allowed them to prosper in both realms - they evolved legs for walking, but retained webbed feet; their eyes became equally good at sensing light above and below water; their necks remained gilled, but they evolved lungs as well. They are jokingly referred to as "wet Humans" by some of the other Collective races, and the Humans, "dry Tervah".

History
The early, fully evolved Tervah were fishers and farmers. They set up permanent, coastal settlements early, which would become heritage sites millennia later. These villages served as community centres for any Tervah gathering nearby, and openly welcomed outsiders. There is a sense of kinship and strength in the Tervah, in that they believed that they were safest and strongest when their numbers were great.

The Tervah would eventually continue building coastal villeges and towns, but would consistently build bigger and bigger. They had formed the first giant structures out of finely-sculpted clay only hundreds of years into their history, when the first structures were built.

Their existence was primarily as farmers and gatherers for a millennia, as their structures became more complex and their admiration of art increased. There were many nomadic tribes that went out in search of new land to settle, as they continued their expansion over Ulavara's single continent. Thousands of years of advancement and expansion followed.

As the continent became more crowded, tensions broke out between villages, as some required more space but others were protective of their territory. Skirmishes broke out for the next few hundred years, but eventually settled down as the Tervani searched for a practical solution. Eventually, a plan was hatched to begin creating artificial islands and eventually, undersea colonies.

What followed were years of hard work, further expansion, and technological advancement. As the Tervani engineers and scientists made extensive breakthroughs on what was possible, they created better and better ways to achieve the goals, and the creation of living space became exponential. Soon, the Tervani has floating cities, underwater colonies... and had solved their population problems.

Soon, their planet was not enough. They looked upwards, to the stars and planets of their system, just waiting for them to explore. The Tervani space program was founded, and they began researching ways to get them into space and beyond. Soon, the first spacecraft began development, and the first Tervani were launched into space.

In the centuries following, the Tervani perfected their craft, and began building the first colony ships. Before long, the planets of Impoch were colonized by the Tervani. Centuries after that, the Tervani built and equipped their own faster-than-light technology, and began sending explorers into the farthest reaches of the Frontier. Thus began a new age of Tervani history, who had more than enough living space. They explored for the sake of exploring.

Only after expanding to multiple nearby systems that the Tervani encountered the Collective. The race of amphibious aliens stumbled upon Collective scout ships, entering the same system they were about to explore. This effectively made them the first alien race to discover the Collective, instead of the other way around. After exchanging knowledge, the Collective made their offer, and the Tervani accepted, simple as that. Now, they are one of the Collective's most prominent and noblest members.

Culture
The Tervani are explorers at heart. They are obsessed with the unknown, and lead their lives in the discovery of it. They are highly scientific and highly value those who have wisdom.

Art is also highly valued, but they only partake in a few forms of it - notably food, dance and hands-on art.

Oceans and seas are seen as almost spiritual to the Tervani, and they find peace in meditation, especially when in close proximity to bodies of water.