Jiralhanae

The Jiralhanae, commonly known as Brutes by humans, are a robust bipedal sapient species native to the planet Doisac and the last species to be incorporated to the Covenant collective. They are known for their incredible strength and durability, and are regarded by many as a savage species due to their territoriality, aggressive tendencies and tribal social structures. The Jiralhanae have an ancient mutual animosity with the Sangheili, originating from nearly a millennium of irregular conflict between the two species in the spinward side of the Orion Arm before the Jiralhanae's assimilation to the Covenant.

Etymology
"Jiralhanae" allegedly means "Thrice-risen ones". The name's origin is unclear, and it does not directly mean anything in any known modern Jiralhanae language or dialect. Some Covenant scholars, by drawing similarities to the modern grammar of semi-isolated Jiralhanae groups living in the Nuemian Boundary and the Inner Corelight Reefs, have concluded that the popular meaning may have some basis in reality. San'Shyuum linguists have postulated that the original name may perhaps have been Yrrolhanag (yrro= to rise, to lift up + ol-hann= three times + -nag = suffix used for peoples or ethnic groups).

However, alternate theories have been presented. Some Covenant sources suggest it originated as the name of one of the ethnic groups or tribal associations that first raided Covenant colonies in the coreside spinward regions of the Holy Ecumene. Likewise, it is uncertain if the name began as the Jiralhanae's own endonym or an exonym by the Sangheili based on what they thought the Jiralhanae called themselves, though today most Jiralhanae claim the name solely as their own. Likewise, most Jiralhanae embrace the "Thrice-risen ones" meaning as being prophetic of their history.

There are many variations of the name in different populations, e.g. Jirahhanae, Diraanae, Yrohane, and Tira Hannaeg. In some diaspora populations in longtime contact with Sangheili, such as those of the Oarthen Threshold, the name has even "Sangheilized" into the form Jiralanee, without conscious effort on either party's part, and Doisac-born Brutes often mock the "farborn" for this. Whatever the original name may have been, the Covenant formally uses "Jiralhanae", which has led to some degree of standardization also taking root among the clans most involved with the Covenant.

Age of Legends, Wars of Dominance and the First Immolation
The first industrial age came to the Mbreultu continent during a time of flux, circa 900 AD. Old alliances were breaking down, and charismatic new leaders were forging nations from disparate tribes. New sciences ended the old cycles of famine and want. Most importantly, philosophical teachings broke out of ancient monastic schools and were embraced even by the peasants. The ways of the old gods were found to be hollow. In their place came an imperative for the men to cultivate virtue and knowledge.

The industrial revolution and the philosophical teachings spread across Mbreultu and the Roghan sea to the rest of Doisac. In these times of tumult, Jiralhanae individuals forever left their mark on history by overthrowing or renewing ancient institutions. This Age of Legends reached a climax with Doisac's first world war, a conflict between the coast nations of Mbreultu and an emergent steppe kingdom that had already spread across three continents.

The heroes and warriors of this age would come to be revered much in the same way that the Hellenistic Greeks revered the heroes of the Illiad. They, their weapons, and their armor became legendary after the First Immolation even after their philosophies were ignored. Modern day implements such as spike rifles, Brute shots, and even the power armor favored by many tribes is patterned off the weapons used in the Dan Rh'tol Invasion.

Gryunjalla contact and conflicts with the Covenant periphery
In the later centuries of this period, the Jiralhanae were deployed as auxiliaries by the martial ministries of the Covenant proper with increasing regularity.

Biology
While now recognized independently-evolved aliens, the Jiralhanae have convergently evolved various characteristics commonly described by human xenobiologists as pseudo-ursine, simian and pachydermian. Early on into humanity's encounters with the Covenant, it was speculated that Jiralhanae may be related to terrestrial fauna - the most notable candidates brought forth were higher primates and bears. Alongside the dinosauroid Kig-Yar, this would make them the first potential examples of sapient out-of-place biota known to humanity. However, autopsies, DNA analysis and intel on Jiralhanae reproduction quickly dispelled this notion, showing that the species has no link to Earth life.

Anatomy and physiology
Compared to other known sapient species, Jiralhanae exhibit an unusually high degree of sexual dimorphism. Jiralhanae females are barely sapient, as their cognitive development is permanently stunted on the level of a small child; they are capable of learning basic tasks and some language, but their capacity for complex conceptual thinking, planning and independent action is highly limited. Physically, female Jiralhanae are around the size of their male counterparts until they reach adolescence, at which point they begin to accumulate large fat reserves meant to support their offspring. As it directly correlates with a female's health and her ability to produce healthy offspring, fat is considered a highly attractive trait. Jiralhanae give birth to litters of live offspring of up to twenty individuals. The gestation process consumes most of of the female's fat deposits, and she must be continually fed during the process; malnutrition can result in stillbirths and miscarriages. In times of resource shortages, such as those experienced by Doisac over the last millennium, females often die in childbirth; a single female producing more than one litter is rare.

Jiralhanae females' stunted brain growth is a xenobiological curiosity. The prevailing theory holds that their immense energy needs and mostly-stationary nature during gestation meant that larger brains would only be a hindrance in Doisac's harsh conditions, where sources of energy were at a premium. Before the Jiralhanae evolved into sapience, it is likely that both sexes were roughly as intelligent, but the fact they were so biologically specialized restricted the development of full sapience to the males, who were the more active sex in the proto-Jiral communities. This is supported by what can be gleaned of the species' evolutionary relatives, though most of these are now long extinct.

Gravity adaptation
The Jiralhanae's robust physiques owe much to their homeworld's high gravity of 2.1g. They take great pride in this, and there is a common belief that gravity builds not only strength, but also character. Along with certain quirks and limitations in their natural spatial awareness and sense of orientation, this is one reason many Jiralhanae dislike space and spending time in low or microgravity. Their threshold for debilitating muscle and bone atrophy is at around 0.8-1g of prolonged exposure, where most other species can withstand half that or less. This also led to even the early Jiralhanae colonies on Doisac's moons quickly developing artificial gravity devices. Unfortunately, it also often causes Jiralhanae who spend time on low-gravity worlds to develop various physiological conditions, and many Jiralhanae consider it taboo to procreate on such worlds as it is believed "lightborn" offspring will grow up to be weak.

In addition to the various ethnic groups already present across Doisac, various diaspora populations of Jiralhanae on other worlds have diverged from the species baseline. While many colonial populations sought to settle high-gravity worlds, and some managed to, most had to make do with what they had. Jiralhanae lightworlders are typically taller but less physically robust than their Doisac-born counterparts, which — coupled with the homeworld's harsh conditions — is often used by Doisac Jiralhanae to justify their sense of superiority. The lightworlders are often called Larthanae, a pun of sorts meaning "Skinny ones" or "Delicate ones". A common stereotype prevails among the so-called "pure" Jiralhanae of the Larthanae as weak and submissive, and they are frequently mocked and humiliated by heavyworlders of a particularly spiteful temperament. In general, the lightworlders can do little but accept their lot while trying to ignore the indignity, though some struggle to prove themselves by routinely spending time and exercising in high gravity. This rarely does much to impress heavyworlder Jiralhanae, who are only convinced by concrete displays of power and dominance. However, it has also contributed to the splintering of the Jiralhanae meta-society, with many groups of Larthanae actively seeking to distance themselves from Doisac's ways both in terms of physical distance and culture.

Jiralhanae shipmasters frequently run their ships' artificial gravity at Doisac's 2.1g or close to it, though if other species (particularly Kig-Yar, San'Shyuum or Yanme'e are present, this may not be seen as feasible. With their hardy body plans and exoskeletons, Unggoy can withstand high gravity surprisingly well, though above a certain point the Jiralhanae have found it hinders their productivity; to Kig-Yar, Yanme'e and San'Shyuum, it can be lethal. Some Jiralhanae crews have also been known to use this as a show of dominance, intentionally turning up their ships' artificial gravity for the discomfort of other species, especially Sangheili and even lightworlder Jiralhanae, during diplomatic meetings and boarding operations alike. Similar issues apply to other species landing on Doisac.

Governance
Despite common assumptions, the Jiralhanae are not predisposed to despotism. They're more aggressive than the other species active in the Orion Arm, but they're also cooperative, and their better-structured cultures teach the young how to channel that aggression into useful outlets. What Brutes have had a problem with, ever since the lead-up to the First Immolation, is scaling society up past the tribal level. There were nations with global reach on Doisac, and supranational organizations and alliances as well. But civilizations have a natural cycle of growth and decay, and the most prominent of those nations were decadent and corrupt at the worst time possible, when there was a resource crunch. After the First Immolation, the Grunjalla spread the Brutes out so far that few worlds had population concentrations big enough to call a nation. Tribes naturally organized themselves, claimed territory, and built.

At about the same time when many worlds finally had nations big enough to come into conflict with each other, the Gryunjalla-built ore freighters fell into the hands of warlords. The warlords subsisted by conquering worlds and extracting tribute from them. This meant that they invested in building launch infrastructure so that the tribute could be delivered, but it also meant that their boots were on the metaphorical throat of the worlds they conquered. Eventually, this matured into a system of tribal confederacies, where many tribes were linked together by lines of travel, trade, and a shared culture inherited from a common origin point. Then the Covenant came in, killed off the warlords, and established themselves as a new overlord. The transition was pretty seamless because the Brute colonies were used to paying tribute to whoever controlled the orbits, but the Covenant brought a short-lived reprieve. Travel was no longer restricted, and industries were freed from manufacturing spaceship parts and luxury goods for the Warlords. This led to rising tensions and would have led to all-out war, reminiscent of the bush wars of Humanity's Inner Colony Wars. The relationships between the tribes on most worlds were allowed to develop out of equilibrium, because violence was held off the table by the threat of the Warlords to drop rocks if conflict threatened their tribute.

Had things gone otherwise, High Charity would have spent decades wandering through Brute territory, resolving conflicts and bargaining territory transfers to restore order among the tribes. This obviously didn't happen. Instead the Brutes got Tartarus, who preyed upon the social malaise within the tribal confederacies by turning the young against the old. He promised his followers power through ambition and victory on the battlefield. This worked, but it would only work in the short run. When you unfetter the ambitious and fuel your rise to power with the burning of old social institutions, there's only one way it can end.

Since the Great Schism and the defeat of the Torchbearers as a united front, the Jiralhanae have splintered into numerous independent chiefdoms. Many of these sought peace with Schismatic factions by the 2650s to retain their autonomy as the Concord of Reconciliation grew more powerful and pushed deeper into Jiralhanae territory. Some war-chiefs fled beyond Jiralhanae space known to the Covenant. Culturally, the Jiralhanae worlds splintered between those who retained their faith in the Covenant religion, though even this took various forms on different worlds as Covenant beliefs syncretized with the native Jiralhanae faiths. Some discarded the Covenant religion altogether, often as a rejection of Tartarus' ideals, though it did retain a strong foothold across the Jiralhanae meta-society.

Naming conventions
A characteristic particular to Jiralhanae names are maturity suffixes, a type of suffix added to one's name typically following some form of initiation rite or a given amount of experience in battle. In this capacity, the suffixes "-us" and "-um" predominate on Doisac, along with some colonies. Some clans do not use such suffixes at all, while others use variants of the more common ones such as "-ox" or "-ax", which are essentially the result of phonological drift. A number of variations exist even on Doisac, like "-or" or "-r" (as in "Castor") and "-un" (as in "Orsun"). In Tartarus' coalition and the Covenant, many Brutes adopted the -us or -um standard to fit in with the mainstream.

Many Jiralhanae names are also Latinized to some extent as part of a translation convention; Tartaus' real name might be something like "Tartharrosh" and possibly include sounds foreign to the human ear; as such they're often simplified in a form more understandable to humans.