Bedt'wein
As before, As again:
The Universal Database is pretty much
A wiki knockoff.
The Bedt'wein are most famously known for their roles as the chief editorial staff of the UDB. A collective of sixteen Ilk, or ancestrally related groups located on the same ship. At any given time, no more than three Ilk will be planet bound, and very rarely will they live in the same star system.
As far as records show, the Bedt'wein's homeworld is unknown. They themselves do not have cultural memory extending past their lives as intergalactic nomads. They usually spend between one and two generations on any given planet, before returning to their ships and moving on. Occasionally, some Bedt'wein stay behind on a planet the find particularly pleasant, and are called the Bedt by their nomadic cousins. Those who choose never to live on a planet, but rather to spend all their lives in space are called Wein.
It is assumed that the culture which led to the Bedt'wein was lost to extinction several millenia ago, as no genetic relation can be drawn between them and all other known races. However, many cultural researchers and anthropologists agree that the Bedt'wein likely originated on a Djinn colonized planet. These conclusions are drawn from the fact that their cultural memory does extend far enough back to show that when they first traveled in space, they did not know or understand their vessels. Though they did not have a written language of their own until 1890 Mangalore, there are preservations of the original texts seen on their first ship. These images bear distinct similarities to Djinn script, though the meanings are undecipherable at this time.
Due to the extremely late development of their written language, the Bedt'wein developed quite an extensive oral tradition, which lives on today. The annual performance of History, annual defined by their planet's current orbit, is the greatest of their holidays, and one of the few high events that Bedt and Wein are also invited to partake in, the others being Arrival and Departure. It is openly broadcast to any other sentient who wishes to watch, but only the Bedt'wein and their cousins are allowed on-world during the epic, usually taking three weeks in standard.
At any given time during the History, there will be six tales being told. These tales take place in roughly the same time, historically. Three are in poetic form, two in ballad with accompanying music, and one in dance. The dance is considered the newest form of preservation, though it is much older than their written words. It is believed to have come from the ancient Old Earth Dervishes, a religious subsect of Old Earth Islam that fell out of favor many centuries before Old Earth was sealed. Prior to this sealing, the Bedt'wein spent a single generation on the planet.
When the Rani came into power, this ancient race was easily bribed. They agreed to serve as Historians and Documentors for the Rani Empire, so long as they were granted the right to free passage and board on any planet, in keeping with their traditions.
As a general rule, when the Bedt'wein leave a planet, they leave it as pristine and unchanged as though they had never been there. They make conscious efforts never to sway the world they are inhabiting. However, if they feel insulted collectively by the natives of the planet, they may leave behind wide swaths of destroyed farmland or otherwise defiled resources. They pride themselves on their status as one of the very few group legally allowed to reside on pre-interplanetary and pre-interstellar worlds.
Though the Bedt'wein are not viewed positively by most, as servants of the Rani and little else, their creation and maintenance of the UDB as a neutral and factual resource for all sentients has garnered them a large amount of respect, and they are rarely crossed.
Due to their recent assignment, culturally speaking, as data keepers, the status of Wein is losing it's stigma, though being Bedt is still considered a form of treasonous behavior.
At any time, a Bedt or Wein may return to his or her historic Ilk, and after a period of three Mangalore years, will be admitted full cultural privilege.
Bedt'wein have a very large range of acceptable heights, ranging from three feet to seven. They are standard humanoid, with the addition of a second opposable thumb. They are notable for their monochromatic eyes, with no visible difference in pupil, iris and sclera. Their skin colorations are narrow, limited to hues between 330000 and FF9999. Their eye colorations are similarly limited, with shades of brown and green common, blue rare, and reds and violets available only by the existence of interspecies parents.
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Anyone with a set of vocal chords and ears knows that these folks are loosely (really, really loosely) based on the Bedouins.