LB's TCE: Manaba

Note: This is a work in progress. The Manaba were a warm-blooded, reptilian, bipedal species that were native to the planet Ragnora. They never officially joined the Citadel, due to their monarch's belief that being a part of a larger interspecies galactic community would undermine his people's independence. Despite this, he was perfectly willing to send manaban refugees from planets that were taken by the rachni to the Citadel.

Manaba followed the Five Wills, which they believed were an essential guideline for eternal life and happiness. They also followed a complex caste system based on their religious history.

Biology
Manaba were, as previously mentioned, a warm-blooded reptilian race, whose natural planet's atmosphere was basic enough for them to adapt to that of the Citadel. During their first contact with an alien species, this being the brief war with the rachni that preceded the loss of their homeworld, those that came into contact with the rachni caught a disease that would slowly deteriorate their skin and organs. Only high-class "descendants of the originally redeemed" manaba were provided with the antibiotics to prevent the disease from drastically affecting their bodies. The disease can take up to twenty-five years to reduce a manaba to complete bodily failure.

Similarly, manaba that were of the low class, or were bound from birth to slavery, were generally stunted in their growth due to malnutrition, and their bodies were thinner and deprived of muscle due to the fact that only high-class manaba were treated with stimulants or given proper training. Under the cultural beliefs, this was not only justified, but morally right.

History and Society
It is taught in the manaban faith that the beloved ninth Manaban Emperor, Derocrik II, believed that he could ascend to the station of their gods through an elaborate ritual involving sacrifices, but it is said that the gods struck down Derocrik and he was left for dead in his temple. However, his daughter was able to preserve his life, but for a cost. So that he would be saved, Derocrik was forced to swear that, for the rest of his life, he would take the words of his prophetess daughter to heart. The first generation of manaba that worked towards redemption in the eyes of the gods created a precedent for manaban society.

As a result, the descendants of the "original redeemers" are members of the high class, provided with proper shelter and nutrition; the lower class, the descendants of those that resisted Derocrik's newfound religion or the "original heretics," are forced to work to earn money, food and shelter. Those are the descendants of the redeemer's servants make up the slave class; the members of each of the three classes remain in their status for their entire lives, without exception. In 69 CE, the invading rachni made first contact with the manaban homeworld of Ragnora. After three weeks, when thirty-five percent of Ragnora's territory had been taken and all of the non-military high-class manaba had been evacuated, Emperor Derimakshan gave the order to eighty percent of the manaban military. They reacted to the initial assault with a brutal counterattack on the rachni-claimed territory. Over the next fourteen months, Ragnora was reduced to a barren wasteland of stone, engulfed in ash and the remains of both manaba and rachni. Several planets in the surrounding area, that had been prepared for colonization in the case of such an emergency, were occupied by the remaining manaban population.

In the year 74 CE, Citadel scouting ships made first contact with a manaban colonial planet. Within weeks, Emperor Derimakshan and Asari Councilor Telia Millangada had made contact via holograph, and negotiations were opened.

The Five Wills
The Five Wills were the key of the manaban religion. It was believed by the manaba that after his failed ascension, Derocrik II followed the advice of his daughter, thus allowing him to be offered a chance for his people's redemption by the goddess Aterdil. This redemption could only be earned by the fufillance of the five wills throughout one's life, which were relayed to manaban people by the prophetess. They were:
 * 1) Fight for your Gods. Ye who betrayed thee father in war should take arms for he.
 * 2) Thou shall not kill thee fellow manabans. Ye who are bound together to stave the Void shall work as brothers to escape damnation.
 * 3) Thou shall not engage in dishonest activities of theft, adultery, fraud and bribery, for they only promise damnation to the Void.
 * 4) There is no god above thee father and none you shall worship above. Such is the blasphemy that damned the manaba to seek redemption.
 * 5) Remember your place. None can be more powerful than their father; thoughts of such are blasphemy.

By following these wills, the manaba believed that they could earn redemption, and in death, they would be rewarded by a life in Solitude, whereas failure to devote themsleves to the Five Wills resulted in damnation to the suffering and eternal silence of the Void.

Government and Church