Vil-Nolwikkan Greater Dominion

The Vil-Nolwikkan Greater Dominion, known to its citizens as the Sos Konganaat (Third Kingdom), is a mighty and warlike monarchy located near Ravena's galactic core.

Biology
Were a human shown a picture of a Vil-Nolwikkan, they may compare it to a dinosaur. Of course, they do look rather similar. Arms held in front of body, legs two jointed and under the body, a dragon-like head and a long reptilian tail seem to support this claim.

External features

The skin of a Vil-Nolwikkan is smooth and soft, like you may find on an amphibian of some sort. The difference is that this skin isn't slimy or slippery. In fact, it's thicker than the skin of most aliens, seeing as Lanipus, their home planet, is locked in an everlasting ice-age.

Skin colors are usually shades of green, though occasionally shades of red, yellow, blue, and even white can appear.

The head, as mentioned before, is dragon-like. There is a small horn, about an inch long, on the nose. Several more spikes come from the jaw. The teeth at the front of the head are cone-shaped, made for gripping. The teeth at the back are molar-like, but still razor sharp, clearly made for crushing and chewing. The highest-recorded record for a Vil-Nolwikkan bite is ~200 PSI.

Attached to the head, behind the eyes, are four external ears, two on each side. Instead of eardrums, Nolwikkans detect sound directly from the air, thanks to tiny sensitive hairs attached to the webbing on the ears.

Nolwikkan eyes are usually quite bland, they don't have pupils; the entire eye is one color. Colors range from black to white, with colors such as grey, silver, and chrome in between. Rarely, mutations appear, allowing for ruby, gold, and red eyes.

Despite their dinosaur-like appearance, Nolwikkans stand upright, like many of the races of Ravena. The neck is two feet long and rather thick; it looks like a part of the body.

The torso is surprisingly humanlike, save for the arms, which hang off the front. The arms are held in a birdlike posture, often folded up against the owner's chest when not in use. However, instead of hands at the ends, there are two-foot long claws. These are like Swiss army knives; the front can be used for sawing (e.g. sawing off flesh that you don't want to eat), the claw itself can be used for stabbing and occasionally climbing, and the back of the claw, when pressed up against the arm, can be used for holding - it's more versatile than it sounds here.

The hips are very dinosaur like in bone structure, as well as the legs. The legs are very well-muscled in a healthy Nolwikkan, able to run at fifty miles per hour for up to a minute without tiring. The bones are heavier and thicker than other bones, thus able to withstand enormous pressure.

The tail is very similar to one that you'd find on a non-avian therapod, except that it's rounder and slightly shorter than you'd expect for a Vil-Nolwikkan. At the end of the tail are crests, completely for show.

Senses

Nolwikkans can see, hear, feel, taste, but not smell. Nolwikkan have nostrils, but only for breathing purposes; the mouth is not connected to the lungs and is only used for eating, tasting, and reproduction.

Nolwikkan tongues can taste things undetectable to creatures like humans. Nolwikkan tongues are able to taste flavors not able to be detected by human tongues. They are also able to identify poison by taste, and several particularly sensitive Nolwikkans are able to taste the air and detect odorless gasses harmful to Nolwikkans. Tongues are also able to "smell" similarly to how snakes and monitor lizards can; they taste particles in the air and can determine where the smell is coming from, as well as what is making it.

Nolwikkan eyes are rather strange; for one, they are unable to see shades of purple and dark blue. It is simply invisible, much like how infrared rays are invisible to us. Ordinary Nolwikkans are also able to see infrared radiation without the help of electronics. To them, it is another normal color in the spectrum.

A Nolwikkan's sense of touch is not too different from most creatures, nor is it's hearing, though it's about 50% more sensitive than a normal human's.

Diet

Vil-Nolwikkans are carnivores, and as such, eat meat of all kinds. That being said, they really had no choice. Plants are nonexistent on Lanipus, being replaced by plantlike animals, fungi, and even some other minor biological kingdoms that are nonexistent on earth. So, Nolwikkans can eat plant-like animals, as well as "true" animals, as opposed to eating poisonous Lanipan fungi and other organisms.

-Work in Progress-

Vil-Nolwikkan History
-Work in Progress-

Timeline
37,650 - Jihak Alahaal is born in the tribe of Eustal.

37,679 - Jihak betrays his native tribe and conquers it.

37,739 - Jihak finishes his wars against his native tribes. He names his new empire "Sonen," with its capital based in the old tribe of Eustal - subsequently renamed Alahaal.

37,743 - Jihak Alahaal dies. Transoceanic travel is discovered.

37,896 - The large nation of Aertahaalan is invaded by Sonen and another nation, Yarhas.

37,903 - The nearby nation of Asta is conquered by Sonen and Yarhas.

38,196 - Anomala Kaaros I is born.

38,227 - The King of Yarhas is assassinated. Sonen declares war on its former ally.

38,237 - Yarhas is defeated in a decisive victory. The lands of the fallen kingdom are annexed by Sonen. Sonen controls the entire planet of Lanipus.

38,285 - The first ever Vil-Nolwikkan colony is founded on the moon of Lanipus. Sonen becomes a spacefaring empire.

38,342 - Sonenese scientists discover the secrets of faster-than-light travel. The rest of Ravena is opened to the Empire of Sonen.

38,461 - Sonen becomes an interstellar empire.

38,769 - Carnufex Aven Tas Kaaros IX is born.

38,770 - Sonen makes first contact with an alien race.

38,783 - Carnufex is crowned Emperor of Sonen.

38,793 - Sonen wins its first inter-species war, firmly establishing its place in Ravena.

38,850 - Sonen encounters an empire known as "the Cult."

38,861 - Carnufex mysteriously vanishes.

38,866 - Sonen defeats the Cult. Sonen begins isolationism.

49,011 - Kharastana founds its own colony, to the anger of Sonen.

51,224 - Kharastana conquers the ancient empire of Sonen on Lanipus. The great military leader Delodosius I renames the new empire the Vil-Nolwikkan Greater Dominion. The war continues on Sonen's off-world colonies.

Sonen
For much of the history of Lanipus, most of the factions on the planet were small and their influence was limited. In 37,650, this permanently changed with the birth of Jihak Alahaal. Born in the small tribe of Eustal on a large island, it is said Jihak constantly felt limited - he vowed to change this; he vowed to make his mark on the history of the world. He conquered his home tribe with the help of a relatively large army of fugitive Nolwikkans.

He conquered the entire island by the age of eighty-nine, in the year 37,739. He named his new empire Sonen, after his language's name for Lan, the home star of Lanipus; within the next eleven millenniums, "Sonen" would gradually change meaning to "The Empire of the Never-Setting Sun." in Kharastanai, the native language of the Vil-Nolwikkan Greater Dominion, the name for Sonen is "Kal Ve-Kilaal Kongaanat," which literally translates to "The Never-Set Kingdom."

Even after the death of Jihak in 37,743, Sonen's warmongering didn't stop. With the discovery of transoceanic travel, the rest of Lanipus was suddenly within reach of the ever-expanding Empire of Sonen - and things would suddenly get much harder.

To the north, the two empires of Yarhas and Aertahaalan were in the middle of a tense war, but still seemed to be able to easily resist Sonen's influence. To the west, Asta was on its own island, and though it wasn't able to brave the oceans as Sonen did, it was still a powerful nation. Within a few years, Sonen seemed to shrink.

The Land Wars
The citizens of Sonen were not happy with their new position on Lanipus. Emperor Jilal Alahaal, the grandson of Jihak, began to grow Sonen's military to an almost ridiculous size in order to be able to step up to its large neighbors. In the year 37,896, Jilal orchestrated a surprise attack on Aertahaalan, to the delight of Yarhas. Fighting a war on two fronts, Aertahaalan wasn't able to handle the attacks and quickly was defeated. in 37,898, troops from Sonen and Yarhas marched the streets of the Aertahaalan capital. Its three consuls were publicly executed, and the formerly Aertahaalan lands were split between Sonen and Yarhas.

With Yarhas now a trustworthy ally, Asta became the next priority of Sonen. In 37,903, Yarhasian and Sonenese troops invaded Asta. The government, having witnessed the carnage dealt on Aertahaalan, abandoned their battered nation after seven years of intense fighting. Sonen and Yarhas split the territory between themselves, and in 37,910, Sonen and Yarhas were suddenly world powers, roughly equaling each other in area. Emperor Jilal passed in 37,967 due to the work of an unknown assassin; presumably loyal to the fallen nation of Asta.

From 37,968 to 38,106, Yarhas and Sonen continued to conquer the planet as close allies. Sonen gradually overtook Yarhas in resource gain, and by 38,100 Sonen controlled roughly 68% of the north continent, with Yarhas controlling only their native lands and several large islands.

The War Against Yarhas
The relationship between Yarhas and Sonen gradually decayed over the decades.

In the year 38,220, Emperor Anomala Kaaros took power. It is notable that Anomala was an enormous supporter of expansion - she had dreams of a planetwide empire. She felt that Yarhas stood in the way of her great dream, so she began to plot. Yarhas became suspicious, and they too began to plot.

For seven years, there was a cold war between the two massive nations.

It is said an assassin's bullet murdered the King of Yarhas - the instant a new monarch was crowned, Yarhas blamed Sonen for the incident and, in what many would call the mistake of the millennium, threatened war.

Yarhas had clearly issued an empty threat, because they were totally unprepared when Sonen declared war anyway. Anomala is noted today as a strategic genius, for though Yarhas was heavily defended, these defensed were destroyed with little losses on the side of Sonen. Yarhas was completely overwhelmed by the Empire of Sonen, and in ten years the war was almost over.

The King of Yarhas is said to have spoke some parting words in Ovkir, the capital of Yarhas. He then retreated to his quarters in the capital building. As the sounds of the army of Sonen became audible from the horizon, he killed himself. The war ended in 38,240, with Sonen now ruling the entire world.

Sonen was now the undisputed ruler of Lanipus. From here, the only direction to look was up.

Beginning of the Space Age
The post-war era was a brilliant time for the Nolwikkan species as a whole. Sonenese scientists saw the potential in the colonization of the distant stars, but as it is today on earth, it seemed as if it were a far-off dream.

However, the colonization of the local Lan system was imminent. Sonenese colonies were founded on the moon of Lanipus and the two other habitable terrestrial planets, as well as countless other moons. Colonists on these new lands often saw chances to rebel and declare independence, but these rebellions were quickly put down. Few saw it at the time, but these rebellions would be the origin of Sonen's eventual undoing.

In 38,337, ninety-seven years after the war against Yarhas was resolved, Sonenese scientists unlocked the hidden secrets of faster-than-light travel. Within a week, the rest of the cosmos were suddenly possible new fronts for the ever-growing Empire of Sonen. In the year 38,461, the Empire of Sonen was interstellar.

First Contact
For nearly three hundred years, the Vil-Nolwikkans were seemingly alone in their own part of Ravena. This was mainly due to the sudden slowing of pace of expansion, and limits in technology. However, for the three hundred years since the discovery of interstellar travel, there was never a doubt that there was any other intelligent life in Ravena - for centuries, strange transmissions have been intercepted, too well-organized to be produced by a stellar object.

In the year 38,770, first contact was made between the Empire of Sonen and a strange alien race that called themselves the "Exeventi Conglomerate." In 38,776, the language barrier between the two species was successfully overcome, and for the first time a Vil-Nolwikkan was able to communicate with a member of another species.

The Exeventi Conglomerate seemed to have been formed in a similar manner as Sonen - relentless warfare. However, in the end, Empire of Sonen and the Exeventi Conglomerate were unable to find common ground. Within years, they hated each other, but were willing to put up with a shaky truce.

Expansion
In 38,780, the Exeventi Conglomerate orchestrated a surprise attack on the newly colonized Sonenese world of Estrompir. The empire was umprepared and had no navy - their only defense being sets of turrets on the surface.

In 38,783, Emperor Carnufex Aven Tas Kaaros III took power. Carnufex was the great great great great grandson of the legendary Anomala Kaaros, and he, unlike many others in the House of Kaaros (Nat Tas Kaaros in Kharastani) was a brilliant military mind, not unlike his great ancestor. Carnufex knew how to deal with the Exeventi threat properly, unlike his predecessor. He constructed a proper navy within six years, heavily utilizing speed for hit-and-run attacks - a method now heavily associated with the Vil-Nolwikkan Greater Dominion in the local sectors of Ravena.

The Exeventi suddenly found themselves outmatched, and the raids on Sonenese worlds stopped. Carnufex then turned the tables on his enemies - within ten more years of grueling battle, Sonen won its very first inter-species war.

Carnufex had said after peace was declared, "We have made immense progress... We shall be merciless to our challengers and we shall take no prisoners. It is only a matter of time, my friends... that the entirety of Isaer Resbilis [Ravena] shall be united under the Grand Empire of Sonen."

While this never happened as Carnufex declared it would, Sonen continued expansion as it did back on Lanipus. As the Exeventi were displaced from their territory, so too were more relatively small nations - The Great Hinic Republic in 38,799, the Allied States of Kyleon in 38,806, and the Qopsolaan Kingdom in 38,812. It is notable that in later battles, Carnufex himself often took to the battlefield to inspire his troops and to instill fear among the enemy - both of which Carnufex was successful at.

After a thirty-eight year peace - a much needed break from the expensive warmongering - an aging Emperor Carnufex discovered a relatively small empire simply known as "The Cult." The Cult was openly hostile to Sonen, so it wasn't long before war was declared. The Cult was a very tough nut to crack due to strange technology and mysterious tactics. Eleven years into the war against the Cult, Carnufex vanished while invading one of their worlds - while never confirmed to be dead, he was never seen again.

Sonen was nearly shattered because of this loss, and the Cult seemed to be getting an upper hand. Thanks to several spies, however, the new emperor of Sonen got a hold of several of the Cult's technology... including several planet-demolishing weapons. It does not need to be said that this was used against the Cult, and eventually three of their major worlds were obliterated. The Cult was forced to surrender, and they too were displaced.

Sonen was now closer to achieving the dream of Carnufex.