First

Cognita Primus, or primii - the 'first minds' as they call themselves - claim to be the first sapient race in all existence, predating the current Universe, as their own universe was long ago destroyed in their struggle for ascension. They are responsible for the annihilation of the Renlai and Soronen civilizations, along with uncounted others that rose in the Galaxy since.

Once it became clear that the Milky Way was the locus of new cerevate races, they created puppet species to build fanatical, technophobic empires. These artificial civilizations acted as an early warning and response system, finding and pinning down nascent species as they awakened, giving time for the First to respond. Once the threat was eliminated, the empire was destroyed, and a new one begun in its place. The Dyrajt and other members of the Triad are the latest in this line, but as humanity proved resistant to elimination, many among the primii became divided over whether or not these continual purges were wise.

Unlike humans, the First do not have separate melds. They wield a full spectrum of abilities, compared to the somewhat more focussed talents of triates. The separate melds appear to be a unique feature of humanity, as it seems every preceding race manifested their abilities more akin to the First.

The First claim that their exact physical form is impossible to replicate perfectly in this universe, and thus, they either make an approximation, or take on a form more natural to their nature in the Universe - that of humanity or one of the countless races they have defeated. They prefer to take on human or renlai shapes - they consider most others to be innately weak.

Their imitation form is vaguely humanoid in appearance, with two animal-like legs (bending the 'wrong' way, as with a satyr) ending in feet with a bony, hooflike protrusion, two arms with likewise reverse joints, a head of sorts fused into the torso, and a vestigial tail. Their skin is pale and hairless, ranging from a light purple to yellow, and glows under blacklight. They have genders, with the female being an analogue of placental mammals - during pregnancy, she forms a sort of hard, egg-like cyst over her womb, in which the baby develops and eventually hatches from.

Their native language is a series of intonations that are combined into chords, giving a voice that is often described as crystalline and musical. It is comprehensible by humans, but instruments are required in order to 'speak' it. They are not above speaking the languages of other cerevate races, but anyone else - such as the Concord or Triad, must find a way to comprehend them. This, of course, is little issue for a bunch of sapient machines, but for members of the Triad, those capable of understanding them are considered to be divinely gifted.

Notable Cerevates

As with humans, only a handful of them have actually become cerevates. Since their language has no reasonable phonetic analogue in any human tongue, humans give them Levant and Antediluvian names. They are separated into five generations. The first three are sometimes called the elders, as they all recall the fall of their universe. Fourth-generation chosen did not appear until the war with the renlai, and fifth-generation the war with mankind, and are called adepts. This rather immense separation in age and power has cemented the elders as the leaders of the First as a whole.

• First Generation Female: Anat, Asherah, Ashima, Ashtoreth, Ataratha, Berith
• First Generation Male: Baal, Dagon, Elyon, Hadad, Mot (deceased), Resheph

• Second Generation Male: Adam (deceased), Cain, Abel, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared
• Second Generation Female: Lilith, Eve, Luluwa, Aklia, Awan, Azura, Noam, Mualaleth, Dinah, Baraka

• Third Generation Male: Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Jabal, Jubal, Tubal, Noah
• Third Generation Female: Edna, Betenos, Adah, Zillah, Naamah, Emzara, Aretitia

In addition to the above known to the Galaxy, these often speak of two other elders, both of the first generation.

• Lucifer - Ascended to face the Demiurge. Her fate is not specifically known, except that she failed. Some among the primii claim that she was greater in power than each of the other elders combined.
• Yam - He began the war with the renlai, and perished during its early phases, much like Adam died during the Battle of Sol.

Since the Purge, the fourth generation has mostly avoided the Milky Way, as humans and renlai both take a rather hostile stance towards beings dedicated to their eradication. Envious of their betters, they often set themselves up as local gods over a star system, the residents of which are blissfully unaware of the larger 'verse around them.

The Relic

During their fight with the Soronen, the First reasoned that they could gather the powers enabling the chosen's growth again if they destroyed the Milky Way. The structure of this brilliant move remains in orbit around A-star, as no member of the race can willingly approach. Called the Sagittarius Relic, it was partially successful, and it obliterated all sapient life in the Galaxy - and the Soronen along with them.

More importantly, however, since then they have been extremely uneasy inside the halo of the Silver River. For reasons unknown, mundane primii will simply vanish, with no explanation as to what happened. While the elders consider some losses to be acceptable, this has caused the great race to scatter far instead of close, and resulted in the careful construction of the Triad.