lore
lore should be expanded by the community! if you have an idea for your Teracon that doesn't explicitly violate pre-established lore or the theme of the species, go for it - it might even become a part of the official lore!
nenge
The word neng does not have a direct translation in English. if one were to try, it might translate something like a mixture of religion, culture, and nationality. nenge are groups that various Teracons affiliate with, with their own sets of rules and views, like religion, but they also function something like nations, with laws, if not borders. though the Great United Tyrius has its own laws and loose government, it holds less of a hold over the citizens than the nenge. a neng can pretty much govern its people as it chooses. the world government exists to mediate disputes between Teracons of different nenge, as they might have very different laws regarding something, and there are no borders, aside from tightly controlled areas inhabited solely by members of one neng.
there are currently four major nenge on Tyrius. nearly all Teracons are affiliated with one of these. most of the remaining are part of much smaller nenge, usually very localized with little external support, and a very few are unaffiliated. the latter is a very difficult lifestyle, as there is no social infrastructure or nenge-related benefits. it would be like not being a legal resident of any nation or social group. tricky. but some prefer it.
the four major nenge are the Tegua, the Nitrri, the K!ba, and the Orro.
tegua
the Tegua are industrious people, with socialist ideals and a help-your-own mindset. they place great values on technological advancement, but have little interest in such frivolities such as art and literature, save for that which stores knowledge. they do, however, have an interest in music, possibly for its mathematical elements. they mark themselves with the teal karro dye, thickened so it sticks to their skin. they were also the first to figure out space travel. go figure.
nitrri
the Nitrri are the smallest of the major nenge, with a cultlike us-vs-them mentality. they tend to be aggressive and warlike, which gets them into trouble with the law...a lot. generally, they avoid contact with individuals not of their neng, and they have some peculiar practices, such as kkhoro gouging out their hind right eyes as a sign of strength, and cutting their tail crests.
k!ba
the K!ba might seem open-armed and friendly, cultivating freedom of expression, art, music, and dance, but below that they can be deceptively...ah...racist. see, no Teracon with a hint of green pigment is allowed in the K!ba neng, and they refuse to touch such individuals. individual views on green-pigmented Teracons (greenies is the closest translation of what they call them) vary from “them’s the rules” to “greenies are truly inferior and should be wiped out”. it is not, of course, legal for them to attack green-pigmented Teracons based on these beliefs.
orro
the Orro are well-known for their metalcrafting abilities and knowledge of ores. they often set up controlled mines in areas rich in metal, are are probably one of the most territorial of the nenge for this reason alone. according to their customs, they don’t wear anything dyed with the teal karro plant, and they often wear piercings and other sorts of jewelry. it’s a symbol of status. the Tegua have enlisted the services of the Orro on several occasions, making use of their skills.
"gender"
the Teracons may only have one sex, but they do have a rudimentary sense of gender. as a result of reproduction, one participant provides genetic material, and the other receives it and produces an egg. some Teracons are biologically predisposed towards providing genetic material, called kkhoro, some are more predisposed towards producing eggs, called tsiri, and those who have no preference are called ngeke. were a ngek to reproduce with a tsir, they would likely take the part of providing genetic material, and were they to reproduce with a kkhor it would likely be the other way around.
there is the occasional stereotype attached to these various "genders", but there's no isolation and completely different socialization such as in many Earth cultures. in fact, there is no way to determine the "gender" of a Teracon until they've attempted to reproduce several times.
human relations
wip
language
most Teracons speak Therro. although I have worked with conlangs a lot and I might make it into an actual language, such a project is intimidating and instead I'm leaving it open for anyone to contribute vocabulary. if you name a Teracon and provide some sort of translation, and it isn't a duplicate and doesn't look extremely silly, I'll add it to the dictionary! if you want to just add a word or two or ideas for grammar, you can also let me know and I'll do that. I'll probably put it in a Google document.
the only thing I have for grammar currently is that plurals are marked by duplicating the last vowel used and putting it at the end, prefaced by 'h' if necessary. examples: tsir > tsiri, karro > karroho
