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, and that their own 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 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 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.

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.

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 three 'generations':

• Anat, Asherah, Ashima, Ashtoreth, Ataratha, Berith
• Baal, Dagon, Elyon, Hadad, Mot (Deceased), Resheph

• Adam, Cain, Abel, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared
• Lilith, Eve, Luluwa, Aklia, Awan, Azura, Noam, Mualaleth, Dinah, Baraka

• Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Jabal, Jubal, Tubal, Noah
• Edna, Betenos, Adah, Zillah, Naamah, Emzara, Aretitia

In addition to the above known to the Galaxy, these often speak of two others.

• Lucifer - Ascended to face the Demiurge. Her fate is not specifically known, except that she failed.
• Yam - Began the war with the Renlai, and perished during its early phases, much like Mot died during the Battle of Sol.