Argyrus

Rigane is home to a technologically advanced race of obligate carnivores. Although they call themselves the seheiak, outsiders commonly call them the rigane, after their planet, or less commonly the ivaldi, after their home star system (being the only sentient race in their solar system). This is along the same parallel as alien races calling humans "earthlings". As a people, they are polite but asocial; not many leave their planet.

Outwardly, the race closely resembles humans, with varying shades of tan and brown skins, but they're afforded extra height from their high-protein diets. The major outward variations include animalistic sub-circular eyes, black sclera, and tapetum lucidum. Their nails are also much harder, and are often allowed to grow slightly long. They also have pronounced incisors, distinctly carnivorous teeth, lacking the flat molars used for masticating. Unknown to many outside races, rigane also have the ability to completely unhinge their jaws, a feat people understandably find a bit unsettling.

Rigane's interior anatomy is vastly different; as obligate carnivores, their digestive track is considerably shorter, inadequate for digesting tough plant fibres. They don't bruise easily (their skin in general is quite tough; when they do bruise, it's a sign of serious internal bleeding), can't blush or develop goosebumps, and have very rough tongues, like large cats. They are adept at consuming most any carbon-based hemoglobin lifeform, but are liable to become sick from any sugar, fibre, or carbohydrate-rich diets.

Expanded Biology:
Rigane's low bruising potential is a complicated result of tough skin and a less shallow vascular system; this in general makes their veins less visible, and can make the administering of intravenous medicine difficult. Often rigane are easier treated with intramuscular injections.

Tongue: The species has rough barbed tongues, used for scraping meat from bones. Since rigane have roughly the same amount of bodyhair as humans, the tongues serve no secondary grooming use.

Unhinging Jaw: *** Rigane are able to effectively dislocate their jaw, which allows them to latch onto larger prey (a bit like a thylacine). Although the effect looks similar to the phenomena seen in some Earth animals, the mechanisms and muscle-groups behind it are quite different. Rigane do not have the segmented lower jaws of snakes, although they have something similar to their quadrate bone, plus secondary jaw-muscle groups. The mechanics rely on rigane's jaws being triangular like a human, rather than elongate like a dog's. The two sets of muscle groups allow this dislocation while maintaining a very powerful bite even when distended.

It is not uncommon for the secondary muscle group to weaken with age, and senior rigane can have problems with mandible ligament laxity.

Eyes: Their eyes are sub-circular, reminiscent of large active-foraging predators (large earth cats, or raptors), instead of the vertically narrowing eyes of smaller ambush predators (small house cats). That said, their eyes most closely resemble an owl's at first glance (although quite different--owl's eyes are unable to swivel, being tubular, but both share advanced binocular eyesight as a trade-off for limited colour detection); they also have tapetum lucidum, allowing their eyes to reflect light in the dark, and a nictitating membrane--a translucent secondary eyelid that protects their eyes.

Doctor Carimor Okar graciously volunteers for a basic infograph breakdown of rigane anatomy.

Doctor Carimor Okar, "Imora", is a middle-aged rigane woman suffering from severe anaemia, which causes weakness, fatigue, and pale skin. Her pale hair reflects a northern heritage, and pronounced canine teeth are indicative of a continental nationality. At 6'1" she is average for a rigane, with a slender build, however her silvery hair is a bit uncommon, and her pale skin extremely rare. Due to her blood-sickness, many rigane find it uncomfortable to be around her. As a result she left her planet to pursue her studies off-world.

Outside Impressions
Those who aren't familiar with the rigane people are often afraid of their reputation as obligate carnivores. They're unsettling to watch eat, there are always rumours of sentient cannibalism, and they're just a bit intimidating to be around. Those who are more familiar with alien races, and the rigane in general, know them as a technologically advanced, irenic culture (not afraid of war, but not currently involved in hostile relations with any other Nations), well-known for their push for environmental rights, and for having well-sought after fashions.

Hospitality/Tourism
Rigane are generally quite polite but asocial. The planet doesn't have a booming tourism scene, but does see its share, which are mostly welcomed as a 'hope you enjoy your stay, please keep it short' kind of way. The majority of those visiting are there for fashion events.

Rigane are an intensely family-centered species, and can be a bit socially awkward to outsiders.

Extraterrestrial Relations
Rigane do not allow any non-rigane to colonize/terraform worlds within their solar system (although case-by-case permanent landed residency citizenship, mainly for work, is recognized). They are on good terms with most alien races.

• Humans: Rigane encountered early human colonists and signed a promise of non-hostility with them. As humans were scattered, agreements were colony to colony, mostly involving minor trade and no alliances. In general, rigane have neutral feelings towards humans. Being short omnivores, rigane tend to find them amusing--diminutive, sometimes child-like. This isn't helped by many of human's mannerisms, such as cooking meat, something rigane mostly do for small children (akin to humans avoiding feeding unpasteurized or undercooked products to children).

Naming conventions differ region to region, but the basic form is commonly [Surname-Firstname] [Highest Familial Title]; when transcribed in English, the Surname and Firstname are sometimes separated by either an apostrophe or hyphen, visually, but in most countries, are pronounced in seheiak as one word (they are given here as one word). The planet is not a single monoculture, and many different naming variations exist, although most stick to this or a similar form (known to linguistics as the Hokk-Central Naming Convention). Surnames are generally very short (old-status/country rigane can have a longer surname, occasionally abbreviated), and when pronounced with the first name as one word. If the first name ends in a vowel, it's usually dropped in the full name.

The Familial Title refers to whether or not the rigane is a parent or grandparent; the name is, normally, only the direct highest title (father, grandmother), rather than indirect (uncle, great aunt). However, if their indirect title is higher than their direct, then both can be transcribed (direct followed by indirect, such as son-uncle). Usually only relatively close relations are used (aunt); far relations (great-great aunt) can be, but are considered superfluous. Rigane familial titles are gender-neutral, but can be appended to denote the non-bearer, in direct lineages, or to indicate adoption.

If the rigane is a child, "Oka", meaning 'offspring' is used. Non-direct lineages are dropped in their legal names (until they're an adult), but can be added as a sign of endearment ('young child who is an aunt'). If a rigane reaches adulthood, and does not have or adopt children of their own, their Familial Title remains "Oka". This often gets appended to "Okar", literally "Non-Bearer Offspring" but used to mean "Adult Offspring/Offspring Without Offspring", usually used in a slightly derogatory sense (similar to a spinster), since rigane highly value family.

Example
First Name: Elixi
Surname: Nov
Familial Title: Oka (in this case indicating a young adult)
Full Name: Novelix Oka, NovElix Oka, Nov'Elix Oka, or Nov-Elix Oka