Kiith Sjet is something of an oddity
among the power structures of the
kiithid. While they are an ancient and
respected kiith whose expertise has been
courted by kiithid-sa across Kharak, they
have never parlayed this influence into
any real political power. Kiith Sjet is, in
fact, one of the only kiith to have a
validated claim to direct kiith descent
from the ancient first city of Khar-Toba.
Translations of the words and calculations
found on the wall of the Temple-Observatory
where the Guidestone was found make several mentions of a group of astronomical philosophers with
the family name of Sjet. Even the Sjet sigil, a series of embedded circles
representing the celestial spheres, can be found etched in the temple doors.
It is now an accepted fact that Kiith Sjet once was responsible for the
preservation of the Guidestone and constructed the Temple-Observatory to
protect it and scan the heavens. And therein lies the true power of Kiith Sjet --
its undying desire to question, observe, predict and record.
In ancient times they were the first to plot the path of the planets in the
Kharakid system and derive a calendar from them. They were the first to
discover the 13-year progressive cycle of sandstorms that tear around the
equator of this world and predict where the rains that follow the end of every
cycle would fall. Most of the impartial histories of the Heresy Wars and the
resulting reformation were penned by Sjet scribes, who recorded it along with
their observations of top-soil destruction and the slow crawl of the sands
northward.
During periods of upheaval, Kiith Sjet have always been too valuable as allies
and advisors to be turned into vassals. Any kiith who killed or attempted to
interrogate a Sjet was shunned by the Science philosophers for a period no
shorter than 100 years, and in order to keep their knowledge from being
corrupted, any kiith who wished to become Sjet swore an oath directly to the
Sjet-Sa and had to serve faithfully for two generations before being instructed
in the sacred wisdoms. The closest thing to a scandal that has ever shaken
the Sjet Kiith occurred during the Time of Reason, when it came to light that
during the Heresy Wars certain Sjet vassals had actually lived under a secret
secondary oath to Kiith Naabal. These secret Naabali used their positions of
Sjet immunity to move through the various warring factions and carry out
missions of retrieval and intelligence-gathering. When this truth was revealed,
the sense of outrage was strong, but Fliir Sjet-Sa realized the extremity of the
situation may have justified the betrayal. Even though she was able to bring
enough of her kiith over to this line of reasoning to avoid sanctions or exile
for the families involved, there is still a lingering thread of mistrust between
some Sjetti and Kiith Naabal to this very day, and the debate over the use of
Science as Power is still a passionate one.
As the Time of Reason progressed, Kiith Sjet expanded their studies and
moved away from the tradition of celestial mechanics and mathematics.
Various families began to delve into the nature and origin of life on Kharak.
Within a century, Kriil Sjet presented a paper to the Daiamid in Tiir
presenting the scientific evidence that we bore little biological similarity to
the vast majority of Kharakid life. This scientific proof of the religious tenet
of Exile shook Kharakid society but established once and for all that Kiith Sjet served the truth, however disturbing that might be.
With the advent of the Mothership project, Kiith Sjet finally found a goal
wherein pure science could be applied without the danger of corruption. This
belief was strong enough for Sjet to overcome its distrust of Kiith Nabaal and
join their theories to Naabali applied sciences. Sjet supercomputers have
worked out the theoretical quantum waveforms of the hyper drive module.
Sjet bio labs help perfect the cryogenic process which will allow us to colonize
the stars. And it was a Sjet who came to the conclusion that the Mothership
could never function without a radical redesign of the command core.
Karan Sjet, the only daughter of Huur Sjet-Sa and in direct line for the
leadership of all Kiith Sjet, was a neuroscientist in charge of the research
division that was designing the command and control systems in the
Mothership. Many other researchers would have balked at having to tell an
entire world that its dream was impossible, but Karan was true to the spirit of
her Kiith, and broke not only the news to the Daiamid, but also suggested a
terrifying solution. Again, as a Sjet, she rejected fear in the face of the truth
and demanded that her own system, using a living being as the command core
for the Mothership, be applied to herself.
As our people are on the brink of a new voyage of discovery, it is only fitting
that a Sjet is at the frontier, helping us satisfy our desire to know the truth
and face down the terrors of the unknown, no matter what the cost.
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