Cordathans

Biology and Culture
Cordathans are a humanoid, aquatic and craniate species of the planet Cordatha. They are very radically sexually dimorphic, with the females not only possessing a better adapted respiratory system, but also legs and high intelligence. The males are stuck in a solely aquatic state while the females are in a transition point in between fishlike and amphibian. The females were the only ones to develop legs for in the beginning of their species they would go into land to protect their eggs from aquatic predators, while the males stayed underwater seeking more females to mate with. Male Cordathans are little more than neanderthals with tribes and simple tool using, serving to Cordathan society only to extend it with new generations. Due to the necessity to warm themselves in the cold climate of Cordatha, the females grew hair instead of extra fins, and ended up losing fins as part of the evolutionary process. Cordathans breathe through their ears which have a respiratory vein in them and lungs, but females are better at air breathing and so can stay far away from water for a long time, allowing their civilization to grow.

Society and Technological Advancements
Since early Cordathan females had legs and were able to breathe easily out of water, many of them decided to shelter themselves from the extremely violent males which raped the females very frequently and murdered the ones that didn't cooperate. To escape this brutality, the females started using tools and creating a city in the supercontinent of Gillia, the only landmass in Cordatha. In consequence of this brutal relationship between the males and females, Cordathan society came to completely isolate itself from the ocean, and adapt themselves to the land.

Cordatha is a very humid planet, and has very little mountains with huge plainlands. This humid climate allowed vegetables and other types of farmable goods to be very easily grown. Due to this humidity, the Cordathans prefer to use very loose clothes of silk-like and cotton material, both of which are easily found in Cordatha. Leather is not used in any way, as it retains humidity. Instead, it is replaced with thick-cloth materials. The people of Cordatha carry a water bottle on their belts, as it makes them feel more comfortable when they are refreshed.

Cordathans like to use short hair, as it is easier to manipulate tools and provide for the community in this way. The color black is used cosmetically, as one of their main sources of food since the beginning of this transition is a fruit that blooms a black flower, representing beauty and happiness. Other means of making themselves prettier are makeup that make their skin more contrasted, which differentiates them more from the light-colored males, which represent death and violence. Black lipstick is also common. Females who stimulate their muscles and become extra-muscular are admired, as since the beginning of their species, the bigger females would protect the smaller females from being killed by the males. Strength is a very admired trait in Cordathan society.

Most Cordathans engage in same-sex relationships due to their matriarchal, female-only society and despising of the males.

Although the males are despised and seem as brutish, Cordathans realize they need them to let their society prosper. Every year, half of the population is selected to be artificially inseminated and generate new children for their society. As citizens of this female-centric society, these selected females have the duty to inspect their eggs and separate the males from the females, of which the females will be selected to be nurtured, and the males will be discarded into the ocean. Not properly discarding the males is considered a crime and those who commit it are viable for prison time.

They have a religion, called Cult of The Night Goddess, where they would worship a goddess that was represented by their moons, which were 9 in total. The Matriarch is thought of being a representation of the Night Goddess, and that's why she's the most powerful in their society and its higher leader. It is thought this religion arised during the adaptational period of the species, where the night would provide cold moisture opposed to the day with its less humid sun.

They entered the space age somewhere around 4000 B.E, utilizing its extremely powerful star-vessel fuel to escape the extraordinary gravitational pull of the 9 moons. Eventually, it was not much of a problem.

During the period around 1930s A.E, their Empire, the Undying Empire, was growing exponentially. After expanding to all 9 moons and establishing themselves there, their society was in dire need of resources and territory. Needing an excuse to explore the cosmos, the Matriarch launched a crusade of sorts, to spread the word of the Night Goddess to all ignorant worlds and absorb them into their holy empire. As such, it started a long period of exploration and conquering, culturally absorbing all innocent and primitive worlds into it, excluding its male population and educating their females into the word of the Night Goddess. After the end of the crusades, some Cordathans believed the males deserved rights and for them to be nurtured so they can be as smart as them, but institutionalized sexism in the Matriarch's government never allowed that to happen. As of 5061 A.E, male Cordathans are still seen as brutish tribal animals, even though they have been observed creating primitive societies of their own underwater.

Notable Cordathans

 * Vi-lla Noarhhe, a celebrity starring as Vorghia Greeves in the classic movie John Gunnery and The Purple Glass Planet.
 * The Matriarch

Mentions

 * Cordathans have not yet been mentioned in any Everdream work.