Tempestian

General Characteristics

Tempestians are a humanoid species. Tempestia is host to a variety of cultures, dividing themselves primarily into city states or else loose domains run by guild masters. A primitive form of something akin to capitalism has developed in most Tempestian regions, while universal equality is still not yet enjoyed in some cultures.

Biology

Tempestians are short in stature, being at most five feet tall.

Tempestia is host to two sentient "races." However it should be noted that these races are very closely integrated so that they are present in every Tempestian culture. The two races, the Pesans and the Empis, both reproduce sexually. Oddly neither Pesans nor Empis are capable of reproducing with one another but instead need to be paired off such that a male Empis mates with a female Pesan or vice versa. This fact will be of interest later.

Gender

Gender for Tempestians should be understood not as a characteristic which splits Tempestians so much as one which splits both races. That is, in order for a male Pesan to mate he must find a female Empis. Similarly a female Empis must find a male Pesan. As a result, the two races are divided into two classifications by gender. A male empis is called an empo, while a female empis is an empa. Similarly a male pesan is a peso and a female pesan is a pesa.

Federation scientists have dubbed this cross-race mating dipolar mating. That is, males and females must be of differing biological "race." The analogous mating practice among most species such as humans is then dubbed unipolar mating.

Unipolar Mating on Tempestia

Ifanan is an island in the northern hemisphere of Tempestia. It is host to a small population of Pesans which are able to mate with one another. Starfleet observers have been unable to find a similar population anywhere else on Tempestia, making the Ifanans the only known unipolar "race" on Tempestia.

Pesans

The Pesans are amphibian-like in that they possess gills and are capable of remaining under water for extended periods of time. Like the Empis however their skin shares the same range of roughly twenty tones from dark to light. They are able to move low to the ground like Terran reptiles but also walk upright. Much of their biology is still not yet fully understood.

Empis

The Empis lack the gills which the Pesans possess. They are generally slightly taller than Pesans.

Ecology

Tempestia is known for its frequent storms. Federation observers translating the Tempestian language quickly learned that much of the naming of people or groups derives from notions related to thunder storms or winds, leading scientists to give the planet its name. Indeed, the Tempestians call themselves "The children of the Storm."