NARN

Planet of Origin: Narn, originally a healthy green planet, dominated by primordial jungles and forests, teeming with animal life, craggy mountains and small, landlocked seas. One of the most revered locations on Narn is the G'Quon mountain range which was once home to the vicious On'Vik, herds of wild Dar and Natok horned beasts. The Centauri occupation of the 22nd century left it fairly barren, with a thin atmosphere and low humidity. The surface temperature can fluctuate by at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit on any given day. Very few areas of original forest and jungle remain. Although the Narn reclaimed much of their planet for agriculture, they managed to restore relatively small areas of forest and jungle. The second Centauri invasion of Narn caused massive climatic upheavals due to asteroid bombardment. The current state of the planet's already depleted biosphere after the bombardment is grim, with Narn's few remaining large animal species (such as the Val) endangered. Apparently only the avian species seem to be flourishing; and only heavy terraforming can return the planet to its former condition of lush forestland.

Narn are tall and stocky bald humanoids with high physical strenght and stamina. Their skin has a red-orange complexion, mottled with brown and/or green spots. Being sexuate marsupials; females give birth much like humans, but shortly after birth the  infant is placed into a pouch in the male, and they remain there until they are old enough to leave their father's pouch. As such, infant Narn are called "pouchlings".

Narn society  is strictly hierarchical and based on a class system. The Kha'Ri,  based in the city of G'Khamazad, consists of 8 circles, with the royal families being First, spiritual leaders Second, government officials Third, and trainees Eighth. The rest of the people are divided into Skilled Workers, Plebeians, or the Lost (unemployed, criminals, and the mentally ill). Upward movement between classes is difficult for the majority. Narn cities are built in roughly concentric districts which reflect the social hierarchy.

With several religions, the Narn are a deeply religious and socially conservative people. The holy Book of G'Quan is so revered that new copies must be hand written and identical in form to existing copies, including any imperfections in the pages, and rituals must be followed correctly or not done at all. It is also considered sacrilegious to translate the Book into another language. The Narn, like other races, also have winged beings of light in their myths (courtesy of Vorlon manipulation). These beings are similar to the angels of various human religions. A Shon'Kar is a Narn blood oath. The oath is sworn by a Narn against someone who wronged them or their family. An individual Narn is expected to not rest until the target of the Shon'Kar is dead. If the individual Narn fails, the family continues the Shon'Kar until the target is killed. Narn never draw weapons unless they mean to use them. If a K'tok, a Narn sword, is drawn, then blood must be spilled before it may be sheathed (even if that blood is one's own).

There were telepaths among the Narn population but during the first Shadow War (corresponding to Earth's 13th Century AD), the Shadows used one of Narn's southern continents as a base. They were driven from the planet by narn telepaths, but the telepaths were exterminated in the process.

In the early 22nd Century, the Centauri encountered the Narn and established relations with them. They saw the far more advanced interstellar visitors as demigods, and welcomed them with reverence. Realizing this, the Centauri quickly moved from being friends to enslaving the entire Narn population. The planet was mercilessly exploited for its natural resources - the forests and jungles were clearcut and most of the planet's land surface strip-mined. Entire animal and plant species were driven to extinction. The Narn themselves were used as servants or manual laborers by the Centauri, who often lived in large estates worked by Narn slaves; many Narn were deported to work camps on other worlds. The Narn began a lengthy guerilla war against their Centauri masters. They learned how to use Centauri technology and weapons, and turned these weapons against them, conducting hit-and-run attacks on Centauri bases, assassinated Centauri officials and civilians, and destroyed Centauri warships and equipment. The Centauri responded to these attacks in a ruthless manner; a hundred thousand Narn were executed as punishment for the Centauri losses, and cities were bombed to demoralize the population. But the Narn persevered, and eventually the Centauri wearied of the conflict and left, around the first third of the 23nd century. Thus Narn regained its independence. The leaders of the rebellion formed a new, united Narn government called the Kha'Ri.
At its greatest expansion, the Narn Regime, besides the Narn homeworld, also included a number of colonies and planetary systems such as Che, Zok, Dros, and Sigma 957. Narn territory also included vital border sectors with the Centauri such as Quadrants 14 and 24. These holdings made the Narn Regime a major power in the galaxy. However, this situation was not to last.

In 2259, unknown even to the Centauri Emperor, certain factions within the Centauri Republic had arranged for a small fleet of Shadows to destroy a Narn military base in Quadrant 37, killing 10,000 of Narn's finest warriors. The Narn were unable to discover who had destroyed the base, and a few months later another Shadow fleet attacked the Narn's largest colony at Quadrant 14, destroying its defences. This time a fleet of Centauri warships arrived after the Shadows to occupy and secure the planet. Over the next few months, the Narn steadily lost their defensive war with the Centauri.The Centauri fleet was able to bombard Narn from space using mass drivers illegally fitted to their battleships. The mass drivers rained huge meteors down onto the planet's surface, reducing most of Narn's cities to rubble, killing millions of Narn civilians, and effectively shattering the Narn's infrastructure and defensive abilities. As an act of simple survival, the Narn Regime agreed to an unconditional surrender to the Centauri, who then re-occupied the Narn homeworld with military forces and enslaved the Narn people once again. The leaders of the Narn Regime were arrested and/or executed, and Narn became a "protected colony" of the greater Centauri Republic. As a result of the Centauri bombardment, the Narn homeworld underwent major climate change, as dust blown into the atmosphere reduced the planet's sunlight, lowered the global temperature, and created near-constant windy conditions around the planet.  Due to the assistance of the Kha'Ri survivor G'Kar's in the assassination of Emperor Cartagia, a gesture which saved Centauri Prime from destruction at the end of the Vorlon, Narn was liberated early in 2261. The Centauri withdrew their occupational force from the Narn solar system and closest colonies.
After the formation of the Interstellar Alliance, the Minbari wanted to atone for their inaction during the early days of the Shadow War. They provided Narn with advanced technology to repair the damage done to its climate by the Centauri mass drivers.

In 2262 the Narn military became more numerous and active again, most notably in a joint strike with the Drazi against Centauri Prime in response to a series of attacks on Interstellar Alliance cargo vessels, but as much for revenge as anything else. Bombarding the Centauri homeworld with conventional weapons, they inflicted considerable damage to its urban areas and tens of thousands of fatalities - only a token repayment for the global carnage wrought by the Centauri upon them, but enough to humiliate the Centauri and help persuade their fleet to stand down without further reprisals.