Tumnisians are a caprine semi-hominid species known for advanced subterranean architecture and an eclectic herd mentality, featuring large family groups often centered around a local Vaigarin for protection.

Tumnisians are an example of coevolution leading to sapience by prey species. Many species of Sirrisian predators mimic their prey, and the Vaigarin are no exception, being able to modify their body shape and size to infiltrate prey populations.

The Tumnisians appear to have thus evolved enough sapience to be able to effectively utilize the “uncanny valley” effect to identify Vaigarin infiltrators. While this was effective at keeping the predators at bay, it also opened up opportunities for both species to work together for common goals, such as hunting larger and more dangerous game than a group of Tumnisians or a single Vaigarin could handle on their own. This codomestication led to the end of an evolutionary cold war by predator and prey, and to the beginning of an extremely rare case of multiple sapient species evolving and coexisting on a planet simultaneously.

Most of what we know of Tumnisian history comes from Vaigarin scholars and Tumnisian public school systems. It is known that the Vaigarins and their subterranean culture are major factors in the slow development of tumnisian culture due to the stability and disincentivized forward progress that such a foundation can cause. Unlike many cultures, however, this did not lead to stagnancy. In fact, quite the opposite, as tumnisian social structures are often seen as far more reliable, and their actions better planned and executed than many similar events in available Hassani history.

Major events that we do have, is that the earliest settlements were surface dwelling hunting and gathering camps, with all the risks that presented in such a developmental standpoint. Many of these camps tended towards being in places with easily defendable surroundings, while still having ready or easy access to resources needed by the establishing populations.

The shift to move underground came as these early cultures realized the benefit that arose from being able to control the flow of hostile predators, leading to gate houses being built around cave entrances and the earliest tunnel openings in more open areas that were vastly more rich in goods. From here began the climb to more advanced and effective tools, allowing for larger and more grand underground structures to house the growing population, which in turn encouraged the development of agriculture, alongside the relative rarity of locations featuring both easy defense and access to needed resources.

While conflict was not nearly as common between early Tumnisian cities, due to the easily missed nature of their entrances on all but the largest cities of the time, and the fewer threats reaching the populations underground, this would result in the first slowing of development, as the peoples began to focus on mastering their newfound crafts. It wouldn't be till the first trade routes, which transported food from an Abree city which was in the now aptly named Abree Valley, to a Rweja city which was awash in iron in excess of its needs, a resource which the valley in fact had little of. This new interaction would encourage the first 'Iron Bit' coinage, though it was purely a weight of unfired iron at the time. All of this would occur over a thousand year period, with the Abree Vaigarin noting it first, confirmed by Rweja records that have recently been discovered. By Sirrisian standards, this was rather fast for a cultural shift.

Over the next two thousand years, this trade between singular cities with one another continued. With the discovery of coal beneath the Abree Valley came a second resource that enabled the advancement of the trade economy, producing fires hot enough to smelt, and later forge, the raw ores into pure metals that could be transported as ingots or finished tools, to be later repurposed at their final locality. Other cities eventually joined in this trade network, expanding the variety of ores, raw mineral wealth, finished products, and even cultural exchanges by immigration. With this expanding network of trade, the Iron Bit was measured by two types - The Raw Bit, and Refined Bit. Due to the higher return of iron in a refined bit, it was seen as more valuable. Growth of trade would explode from this shift, and the growing Family system by the Vaigarins would trickle into Tumnisian cultures as the various Family's began to solidify their common trait. Atop this, would be the introduction of the written word, as keeping track of all the goods now moving between cities could no longer be done with simple pictographs.

The next major cultural shift, a mere hundred years later, happened due to several city wide population deaths and widespread illness from various toxic wastes being produced by the advancement in technology. In some cities, this led to striking advancements in waste management, life support, recycling, and “green” agriculture, while other cities were forced to expand onto the surface before these advancements were made. Especially in still underground cities, this resulted in passive, temperature driven air circulation systems more effective than even some modern Hassani climate control methods, advanced aqueduct and canal systems, and advanced sewer systems that ferried waste to agricultural centers to be used as fertilizers. As technology advanced, chemical wastes became more heavily refined and more toxic to life in general, leading to new methods to regulate, control, and improve such wastes to find other uses. With the 'Surface System', as the cities which moved their industries above ground called it, the need to establish stronger tools to build stronger structures to protect themselves from the wildlife arose, as the simple huts which could be easily mistaken as a hill, was no longer possible. With these realizations came the construction of walled cities, with many compartmentalized expansions and easily defensible bastions or castles for the safe retreat and defense of less defended peoples caught outside the walls.

With the growth of the Surface System also came the drive to produce new weapons and measures of defense of the individual Tumnisian. This is around the time we see the first recoverable arms and armors, designed not to protect from the weapons they made themselves, but from the threats which lurked above. Examples we have are of weapons that were still reflective of their origin as miner's tools, but made of lighter metals to facilitate the needed speed, while the armors were often of solid pieces, with as little segmentation as possible. We believe there were non-metal armors and tools used, but the details of which are limited beyond stylized murals and paintings. Some claims of Quetzo tools indicated a use of wood as a protective measure, often in armor and hide-bound shields, but this is hard to confirm at this time.

These systems would continue to stead the people well for many years, with very little change over the next three to four thousand years. It wouldn't be until the accidental discovery of steel by a Yilas smith's student that could be repeated easily a new growth would happen, as there was now a new means of strong, durable, and effective metal, as new forging techniques could be used to actually make use of this metal. It wasn’t long after this that the introduction of forced air systems were used to increase forge temperatures and improve the quality and quantity of steel produced. Efforts to find ways to better defend themselves would look to steel as the means to increase their ability to protect. Miners saw it as the means to better grow the cities and find more resources. Farmers knew that they could use tools for longer meant they could clear more land for foodstuffs. It would also be thanks to steel, that the first Pack Roach taming techniques would be devised, allowing for the ability to have a capable companion to guards and farmers, as pack roaches which had their barb launchers removed at a young age were much more docile and trainable, if still aggressive and fast moving. And it was only with the advent of steel scythes which would allow for the launchers to be removed at all due to the thick hide of the roach.

This would be the state of things for the next thousand and a half years, as a Fucon performing work for the Tiamer to develop a more durable, lighter weight and less prone to corrosion metal, managed to not only do so, but also discovered the power that existed within a combination of high-sulfur infused coal, saltpeter, and ammonia if contained in a tube while attempting to create a better forge with which to form this metal, aluminum, in the quantities the Tiamer desired. Unfortunately, while effective for very short durations, it was found to be infeasible to produce this fast burning and high temperature forge fuel in the quantities necessary and burn it safely, though it did find widespread use as a spear propellent, often used to drive barbs at predators, in a similar manner to pack roaches’ main ranged weapon. Later, it would be figured out that taking a capped small tube, filling it with a powdered form of the attempted fuel, and pushing a ball of metal down the tube, it could produce a weapon that had more force than the spear launchers, and at much further ranges.

The first large-scale production of aluminum was, surprisingly, a natural occurrence. It was well known at the time that crushing bauxite, heating it in a pressure vessel with sodium oxyhydrate, and then filtering the resultant red mud would produce sodium alumate, a common bitterant. In fact, many industrial processes at the time produced alumates as waste byproducts that could not be easily disposed of. In general, these were handled by dumping the contaminated waste in a pit over crushed cryolite, a naturally occurring and fairly common alumate of fluorine and sodium that bonded readily to the waste. The discovery came at the hand of a lightning strike on one such dump. As the cryolite and alum salts were superheated, melted, and electrified in the event, large quantities of aluminum were deposited near the top of the deposit. Fucon smiths used this “original” aluminum to tip packed charcoal filled iron tubes to act as lightning rods, which were placed into these alumate dumps as an early method of mass manufacture of the precious metal. This style of “aluminum farm” is still in use today, though significantly more advanced, partially due to platinum lined lightning rods.

Manufacture of aluminum allowed the production of aluminum hulled boats and ships for the Tiamer, rapidly accelerating their vessel’s range, longevity, and reliability due in part to the formation of aluminum oxide on the surface preventing corrosion, and its light weight allowing larger vessels to respond better to ballast and become more stable on the water. This, of course, led to advancements in navigation and seafaring, which, in turn, led to the discovery of the “new world,” the other major continent of Sirrus. This led to first contact with the Quetzo, who had made many similar advances in a similar time scale, although convergently. With the differences in technology and art came trade between the continents. In addition to the meet of the Quetzo, the first of the star walkers, as the Senti would be referred to at the time, occurred during this “Golden Age of Sail”. They would trade ideas more than goods, though platinum group metals such as platinum, tungsten, manganese, and molybdenum were common trade goods, and the Senti would leave and return several times to see how the Sirrisian population was doing over the next thousand years.

It would be a few centuries before the advent of steam power, with early experiments dating back several thousand years involving a form of popped grain snack, using a pressure vessel of grains and oil over a fire to heat and cook, followed by a sudden decompression causing the grains to split open, similar to popcorn. It soon became apparent, however, that tea kettles could be used to drive simple levers as they heat up, a rod being extended by pressure exerted in the boiling of water to ring a bell. As this idea progressed, it eventually developed into aluminum or steel pressure vessels being used to drive turbines, and thus the first boiler driven ships as this technology was scaled up. With advancements in valves and mechanical timing came the first steam engines and the introduction of steam powered factories.

While the Hassani contact teams believed the Tumnisians were far more advanced, with a smaller population, based on small surface settlements and widespread use of aluminum. However, the realization was quickly made by the Hassani by just how much larger the population was, as well as the methods by which they had advanced. But with long-standing trade and interaction over the last fifty years between the Hassani and the Sirrisians, many aspects of their culture, economy, and sciences are expected to rapidly and drastically advance and change going forward.

Tumnisians are noted for building grand underground cities on Sirris II. With a high population of around 2.1 billion currently and many threats to their survival, building surface settlements were unsafe, while building underground ensured more control over access to their homes. This would eventually evolve into building grand massive underground structures filled with canals and waterways as the major 'thoroughfares' for goods and transport. The many structures often have load bearing properties, allowing for deeper and large caverns to be turned into cities, and all are often made of carefully carved stone done in what would be described as an 'art deco' style.

However, this styling does vary from Tumnisian settlement to settlement, as it all depends on which Vaigarin Family they have centered themselves around. Those around the Quetzo family have a noted styling towards what some would describe as simple craftsmanship, while those amongst the Fucon have a very grandiose stone work with smooth edges. So explorers of Tumnisian cities should expect to see the cultural cores of the Vaigarin influences on the places they visit.

Like Vaigarian, the Tumnisian chromosome count is a strong 28 pair as opposed to the traditional 23 pairs of humans. However, there is no evidence to support Vaigarin cross-breeding being possible, likely due to significantly different evolutionary origins. They are noted as having goat-like features, such as the horns. Due to technically classifying as a 'prey species' on the planet, closely tied to the Vaigarin's, it has been noted that the concept of 'Uncanny Valley' is very strong. This capacity is very likely developed from their need to very capably identify any Vaigarin's mingling into their population.

The Tumnisian people are very similar to humans in nearly all respects sans those noted below. The main differences between humans and a Tumnisian is their horns, slightly elongated ears, and there are some with hooves in place of feet.

Tumnisians have standard gamete-zygnote diploid genetic systems, featuring 28 base chromosomes with no apparent method of repairing telomere damage, unlike their Vaigarin counterparts. Thusly, they present age and age based genetic damage in a very similar way to industrial revolution era humans.

Tumnisians follow a very similar pattern and style of development as a human, including reproductively. This includes their lifespan.

For Tumnisians, the growth of their horns is often a painful experience, as they do not grow in until around toddler stages. This leads to the Tumnisians often having pet sheep or goats to help, as this gives the toddlers a 'playmate' with which they can 'butt horns' with to help them lessen the pain and grow used to having them. It is also not uncommon for human or other race teachers to place pool noodles over horns to prevent damage to the child and surrounding architecture during these painful ramming phases.

Tumnisians are predominantly a herbivorous species, though they are able to handle meat, but not to the same degree that a carnivore or omnivore would be able to.

Many tumnisian food crops are low light tolerant, but there have been reports of above ground farms and animal husbandry with native fauna, primarily by employment of tamed pack roaches (To date, not even Sirrisian's seem able to domesticate the creatures) or vaigarins to defend crops from herbivorous pests. These, however, are rarely utilized for supplementation of Tumnisian diet, and are more commonly utilized for their Vaigarin residents. Crops include large berries similar in passing to Sirrisian tomatoes, tubers similar to beetroot and potato, and grains. Other crops are common, but not as notable in their widespread growth and sustainability. Though it is notable that Tumnisians will often utilize the chaff, straw, and leaves of their plants in their cuisine.

Consumption of Hassani crops can lead to indigestion, cramping, and other digestive distress, but are not generally considered dangerous. Research has led most experts to believe that the difference in lipid, sugar, and amino acid concentrations can lead to these symptoms similar to humans requiring some time to “adjust” to a planet’s native plant and animal life as food sources.

Tumnisians are noted as having the normal human blood types, though it should be noted that they cannot accept human blood donations due to the chromosomal differences. In addition, they have a wide range of heights, weights, builds, equal to that of humans. And while most Tumnisians are on the paler side of skin colors, they have a similar range of coloration to humans as well. The main difference you will find though, is their horns, with variations ranging from curled, to straight, to forward, to back swept. Length, girth and texture of the horns also vary wildly from Tumnisian to Tumnisian. Along this note, many specimens have been described as “fluffy”, with thick, curled body hair similar to a sheep’s fur. Another major point that can come up, is the feet of Tumnisians. Some have typical hominid feet, while others have hooves, indicating multiple interbreeding subspecies. The number with hooves is significantly lower than would be expected of such a large population, indicating this to be an uncommon mutation. It is however common enough that the populations rarely remark upon it, treating it more like we would if someone required corrective lenses for eyesight.

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While they have emotional ranges similar to humans, a noticable difference is their grief. It is often fierce, emotionally crippling, and often come to terms with fairly quickly. Many attribute this to the harshly brutal life they live, so they come to terms with their grief much more quickly as a survival measure. It is also noted that they only seem to begin feeling their grief when 'safe', likely as another survival measure, as if they feel unsafe, they are focusing on survival and getting to a place of safety if removing the threat is not possible.

They are also noted as having a higher desire to protect or even experience life much more vividly and actively. Cultural upbringing can alter this aspect more or less depending on the cultural severity on it. For instance, in Bahum-centric cultures, the Tumnisians are generally regarded as more exploratory, taking the risk of traveling between cities to trade and experience new cultures and cities.

In the case of Rweja-centric peoples, they tend to be less likely to take such risks, instead focusing on spirituality and medicine to protect life by healing the sick and injured. In the case of Fucon, architecture is often far more durable and resilient than most other cultures, efficiently eliminating environmental risk and accidents by an adherence to procedure and strict construction codes. Yilas-centric peoples tend to be an odd mix of both Fucon and Bahum influences, focusing primarily on culture and artistic expression, and the experience of life to the fullest to produce the most decadent art.

Reports of Quetzo centric cities, however, stand as a stark contrast to most other families, where their teachings emphasize the idea that death is a tool, and that people can be just as worth protecting and utilizing in death as they are in life. This may influence the culture to see death and severe harm as less of something to fear, or even regard as more than a passing phenomenon, focusing heavily on the experience of life and laying the groundwork for greater things that they may never see the fruits of.

The objects of attraction seem to follow human norms, though there does seem to be noted greater interest in 'measure of fertility' in Tumnisian females, these being large busts and wide hips, both being seen as extremely beneficial towards bearing and supporting new life. For males, this is 'measure of virility', which is often considered to be measured by muscle density (as opposed to mass) and larger male packages. Beyond these two measures, which are likely deeply ingrained holdovers of their more primitive needs for larger families for survival, is a focus on horns. What attracts Tumnisians to certain horn styles, shapes, patterns and lengths varies from one to the next, being as varied as the people themselves.

The enforcement of the idea of heterosexual or other specific sexual orientations is almost unheard of. The Tumnisian people seem to regard sexuality as nothing to be ashamed of, and to accept that you are interested in who you are interested in.

In addition, gender dysphoria is something that can be noted to occur in Tumnisians, though they don't seem to understand the mechanisms or even emotional and mental effects it can have, and so while they do what they can to help those who have this particular issue, culturally and socially, often allowing them to take up the gender roles they feel more in tune with, but that is about as far as they can go with their current systems and medical technologies.

Love is very common in Tumnisian society, and is often a driving reason for two Tumnisians to get together. Some could say that they view lust as love, but it's likely that finding someone to be with is just so deeply ingrained in them that it is very easy for them to find someone they can and do love. Beyond this facet, the way they handle love depends on the culture.

Bahum-centric Tumnisians tend to be more polymorus and view large groups as the norm, while Abree-centric Tumnisians tend to stick to a singular partner and work diligently to ensure the largest and most abundant family possible. Tiamer-centric are often unafraid to love again after the loss of a loved one, as they see the sea as being the harshest, and yet most gentle lover of all, with its many threats that are just as gentle and violent as the weather itself, and feel that denying yourself the chance to love again is the greatest curse one could chose to take.

This is a subject which has some interesting complications involved. Due to their proximity to Vaigarin Families, this has resulted in the closest 'approximation' we have to Tumnisian nations. This is due to their interconnected cultural systems. Most Tumnisian fashion, behavior, and politics often mirrors their Vaigarin population, though it should be noted that this is not always the case. While Tumnisians generally place great emphasis on craftsmanship, there are only a few Vaigarin families that share this particular trait.

Typically dialects of simplified vaigarin, though other concepts and translations do exist, making both languages be closely related, but still exist as separate languages, with their own nuances and inflections that oft reflect their origin.

Tumnisian names trend to, but not fully, follow Vaigarin styles, often taking a softer or more calm sounding approach to them, almost as in deference to the Vaigarin style. There are, however, noted outliers, and in the time since contact and communication between Hassani and Sirrisian populations, Hassani names have begun to creep into the Tumnisian lexicon.

Tumnisian architecture has been mentioned several times, but descriptions in this article have so far been vague. Due to their subterranean nature, it is often that instead of building into a cavern, architecture can be seen as carving out of existing rock and soil. This leads to a very organic style with intricate carvings and murals often carved from solid rock faces. Due to their cultural intertwinedness with their sister species, they are surprisingly not as densely packed as one would normally expect of subterranean peoples. Tumnisian cities often feature large and open plazas more than capable of allowing an ancient and fully grown Vaigarin to stretch their wings, or even allow the Hassani to land small spacecraft.

Due to the lack of motorization of transportation, many cities feature large, extensive canal systems taking the place of major road arteries in the cities, with barges capable of floated two a breast through them while still having room to handle hundreds of persons on either side on the sidewalks. Bridges which cross these waterways tend to be very well designed and intricate, featuring elements in them that not only strengthen their construction, but also avoid being too plain and simple. These canals are also noted to feature large numbers of edible plants grown as a form of citywide community garden alongside the canal system, purifying water and air and encouraging people to wait for their ride in comfort. Especially at major arterial joints, are often large parks built on bridge networks above the canals, featuring large scale artistic and historic installations.

Noteworthy however, is the difference between their building on the surface, and their building underground. Few buildings on the surface are taller than 6 stories, and almost every one is built like a fortress. This is due to the hostility of the creatures which can roam the surface of the world, on top of their potential size. These structures are often more plain and more heavily built than those underground, as they serve both as gateway to the city itself, and one of the few aspects which the fauna can aggress upon. Underground, they have buildings which can reach upwards of 40 stories, and often have what would be described as an 'art deco' style, with building sides often graced with aspects which help flow the eye unto certain features which often serve as centerpieces of murals.

Artistically, their style can be noted as a tactile realism, using careful chisel strikes to replicate the feel of skin, fur, or scales, and they are known for their ability to make stone statues that replicate the softness of synthetic fabric, or give the illusion of transparent or sheer veils.

Also notable is on the personal scale of artwork, many prefer to use the tanned hides of various animals used in their farming, or bone. Many artisans will also work the shells of large mollusks into mother of pearl trinkets ranging from hand mirrors to expensive cookware. As their industrialization continues, artistic metalworking has become common. Commonly, blacksmithy was, until recently, a purely utilitarian art, capable of producing surprisingly advanced mechanisms by hand. Now, though, many of these metalcraft artisans are taking the opportunity to richly decorate their work with fine inlays and filigrees, some even building similar skill to the stonemasons responsible for buildings and city planning. This is made feasible by the introduction of hydraulic press, power hammer, machining, and casting advances that allow for more consistent and higher quality metallurgy.

Typically perferring practicality, durability, and comfort over fashion and flare, Tumnisian attire is often decorated aside the base layers to show social standings or identification, depending on the role. This can vary wildly, from high visibility and neon colors to subdued and subtle livery. Due to their early industrial age technical status, there is a high resemblance to human fashions of early to mid industrial revolutions. Military attire tends towards bright colors to make units easy to spot in the fog of war, as gunpowder weapons are of a black powder variety as opposed to more clean burning cordite.

A common trend observed amongst the Tumnisians is the establishment of religious facilities and systems which hold the Vaigarin are 'god-like' beings. This is very likely due to the long life-span which a Vaigarin can achieve, especially in comparison to their Tumnisian counterparts. Many generations of Tumnisians can come and go in one Vaigarin's life-span.

Organized religion does exist, and often is built around the veneration of specific Vaigarin groups who reside in or near the cities. Older Tumnisian cities have a 'central' church structure which is often of a grand scale and scope, likely designed to help allow the Vaigarin in question to enter. Smaller chapels and churches are often branches of these more cathedral-like centerpoints throughout the city.

The precise rites and beliefs varied vastly, as those who venerate a Bahum are often treating them as stars descended, similar to how the Bahum seek to 'elevate' their fallen 'to the stars' in their burial rituals, while those who were to venerate a Quetzal would view the use of the dead as material to support the community often can be found carefully and reverently disassembling the deceased to get the most use of their physical body.

While this religious view is common, it has been noted as beginning to wane as the natural sciences have begun to make their way into the fore, beginning to explore and understand their world in ways that previously weren't possible or commonly touched upon.

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Tumnisian family groups are very similar to human family groups, though one of the larger differences lies in their more herd mentality, meaning that family groups are often larger than human equivalents. Due to the more dangerous work they do in expanding cities, and the surface and sub-surface threats which lurk in the unexplored caverns of the world, it is not uncommon for Tumnisians to be slain in various activities, which in turn encourages the families to be larger to avoid potentially being wiped out by some freak accident.

This inherent danger also leads them to a more life-cherishing culture, preferring to spend as much time as they can with their loved ones before some accident or predator can take them away. It should be noted that tumnisians rarely fear this loss, and are more adept at accepting and recovering from such grief than many species, leading towards breakups of such relationships to be fierce and intense, but generally not resulting in permanent social damages.

Relationships are usually fairly common, as there is, as above, an impetus to find someone to be with, so you can start a family of your own. This isn't to say there have not been relations started for the sake of politics or such, but just as often love can be a reason to get together. Marriage is usually done in a similar system as humans.

Tumnisian governments are varied as much as many other aspects of their culture. This aspect, more than any other, seems to have the greatest influence by the Vaigarin neighbors. Examples include republics which often form around the Bahum, monarchies often found around the Yilas, and the almost theocratic systems, some more democratic than others, around the Rweja. There are even reports of autocratic meritocracies centered around Quetzal houses, but most of these are unverified.

Generally speaking, however, most Tumnisian governments will be centralized around a Vaigarin representative, often reflecting local culture and attitude of this representative, from the distinct “Useless Royals” attitude towards members of the Yilas house, where they are often monarchs primarily in name only, though this, too, varies wildly.

While Tumnisians are not violent by nature, they have been known to wage conflict upon one another. While it is an uncommon affair, this does mean that Tumnisian cities do have armies, though most are on the small side by planetary standards. The majority of conflict that exists on the planet is that of Tumnisian soldiers versus the local wildlife, typically to protect said cities, or to help escort peoples traveling between them.

There is of course, evidence to indicate skirmishes between cities is not uncommon, though it is often more in the vein of competition than outright conquest. Despite the violence and death inflicted. There has only been one recorded 'conquest' taken in recent history, though evidence indicates this was an attempt to reclaim a city from the wildlife which had nested into it after being abandoned for some time.

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