Renlai

"Ah them. Our greatest and most glorious opponents. I think their main problem was actually competing with our superior - at the time - Regalia. The Arks were all we used, and were quite sufficient. Like any good race they united against us but - we'd been gathering porions for so much longer, and folding regalum so much longer - they simply did not have the numbers or skill required.

None of us are really sure how they hid. Whatever it was, we knew it was 'over', and they were not 'chosen' any longer, and were free to continue our search elsewhere. Since none of them are too certain, it's possible that a few of their more powerful Uanshin sacrificed themselves in a manner that would, eventually, lead to you. Since no other renlai seems to have a clue, it seems a good a guess as any.

I can guarantee a part of the reason Adam fell was because he expected their cerevate tactics, above and beyond your own, admittedly extreme, differences - upon seeing your physical forms, he thought you were returned renlai. He then proceeded to waste a lot of energy on useless defenses and attacks that would have rendered the renlai impotent, but that each of you already had circumventions for.

Yes, this too weighed in on the Truce. We were in over our heads - only Eve refuses to admit that.

- Lilith

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The Renlai are an ancient cerevate race that was one of the first sapient races in the Universe, if not the first altogether. They conquered the Milky Way before Sol's predecessor had even gone supernova, and had spread out across dozens of other galaxies in that time, linking trillions of stargates between them all.

Then the First discovered them. What followed was termed the Renlaic Purge, a great war lasting hundreds - some even say thousands - of cycles, and 'began' with the destruction of their home star system. The fragments of their empire was dubbed the Cetan civilization after discovering their relics at Tau Ceti, and the name stuck until the discovery of the race proper, and one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the known 'verse.

Physically, in terms of appearance, the renlai seem almost completely human. They tend to have paler skin and more oriental physical features, but beyond these slight tendencies, telling them apart requires genetic analysis - the base strains (renlus sapiens and renlus panacea, by the human classification) are completely incompatible. Renlus supernus and renlus excelsior are much closer, and after the Diaspora, the features were combined from both and the differences between the two are almost entirely cosmetic.

As they began to lose ground to the Purge, many decided to go into hibernation, hiding by various means. A few of these were successful, and made contact with mankind during the Diaspora. After the initial surprise - on both sides - had worn down, they formed a united front against the First, and the fall of Mot and the First Hellnacht brought about a final truce.

Newly chosen renlai are called bentun, while their awakened are termed uanshin. With the rise of mankind, some are getting chosen again, though this is no more common than it is amongst humans.

Though they have concepts for the content and those who aren't, renlaic society is much more structured - even after so many aeons - than humanity's is. They claim this goes back to their founding, and have a something akin to an imperial sociopolitical architecture.