"Most factions or even entire sapient species we know at least at one point of their history treated greed as some sort of evil, or sin. Many still do. But not us. After all, ultimately the goal of every species is to prosper, to gain... To profit. To deny this basic principle of life is quite silly. We, instead, embrace it completely."



Nhilars are one of several species that originated on the Eye. They are the members of the same family of species as Aalvens. It may seem unlikely, when comparing them directly – Aalvens are relatively tall, lean and graceful, while Nhilars are short (typically 150-160cm), somewhat burly, abnormally strong and rather heavy. On top of that, Nhilars have reinforced, elongated head with multiple eyes, resembling a disfigured anteater.

However, they still have multiple features typical for Aalven family.

Their feet have all toes merged together, ending with a single, tough, black nail. They have a short, wide triangular tail. Females have 4, relatively small breasts arranged almost horizontally. Intense sexual drive is also present, though is still much less prominent than in their Aalven cousins. They also have very long lifespan of around 300 years, even longer than typical 250 of Aalvens. The difference is usually attributed to slower metabolism of Nhilars. That said, wealthier members of Nhilar society can drastically prolong their lifespans thanks to modern technology - bio-chemical rejuvenation processes and extensive gene therapies.



The most unique feature of Nhilar physique is the head – the jaws are elongated and reinforced. They lack any teeth, and instead feature bone plates that grind any food. They also have a very long (1,5m) and sensitive prehensile tongue, giving them incredibly keen sense of taste. They have 4 nostrils and nasal cavity is connected with mouth with tiny canals, allowing them to more effectively combine senses of smell and taste.

Nhilars have unusually thick, dark lips.

Eyes are multiplied to 5 per side, providing very wide field of vision and ability to observe multiple points at the same time, but they also offer poor focus. Nhilars are good at detecting movement, but can't see well over long distances. Their eyelids are regressed, so in order to provide moisture, eyes can slide deep into the eye sockets. Each eye can be pulled individually. Some Nhilars also lick their eyes to moisturise and clean them.

The eyes are typically brown, blue or green in colour, though they tend to be so dark that they appear black.

Nhilars do not have shaped external ears, only simple ear holes. Their sense of hearing is average at best.

Nhilars are typically pale, though darker skin tones also occasionally appear.



Nhilars evolved in Grand Barrier Mountains. It is a widely accepted theory that they originated from an isolated population of Aalvens that got stuck in mountain ranges. Shorter, stouter stature made them more resistant to falling damage and shorter extremities helped in preserving heat.

Split eyes and elongated skulls appear occasionally as birth defects in Aalvens so it is speculated that a strange head shape was likely an effect of accumulated random mutations or defects that turned into advantages in their specific environments.



Nhilars, throughout history created several civilisations and virtually all of them were based around the commerce. To Nhilars, trading is virtually as natural as breathing, eating or mating. They are also terrifyingly intelligent, perceptive and adaptive.



Many historical records depict Nhilars as formal and single minded – focused on profit above completely everything else. While this was true in early ages, Nhilars at one point absorbed the Aalven populations, creating the first ever multi-species nations where different species would be treated roughly as equals. Aalvens in turn inspired a cultural revolution in Nhilar societies, who, as adaptive as they are, quickly learned how to appreciate their cousin species and opportunities for more profit that they presented.

Simply put, thanks to Aalvens, Nhilars learned to translate their simplistic drive for numerical profit into desires for riches, grandiose and beauty. They also learned how to use this kind of appeal to sell even more.



The original Nhilar Federation, the very first species-wide nation on the Eye (except Shata'lin, who remained isolated and undiscovered till the Rain of Blood cataclysm) quickly dominated markets of the world and became the richest and most technologically advanced nation on the planet.



Modern Nhilars continue these trends – they no longer resemble their bland ancestors – they instead use culture and art as additional vehicles for constant profit. Their societies utilise all manner of species. They built entire philosophies and moral systems around the idea of profit as a whole.

With whole ages of cultural mixing between two very different species, many Nhilars became warm to ideas such as true friendships or even love, or the idea that profit may be much more than crunching numbers on one's bank account, and one's own sense of psychological well being or pleasure could be translated into actual value.



Modern Nhilars are not exactly family oriented – while love is sometimes present, a typical family is closer to a mating contract meant to guarantee continued growth of assets. Companies tend to be hereditary and many Nhilars consider their finantial accomplishments in form of legacy, a prolonged presence of one self. To a CEO of Nhillar corporation for example, the company itself is like a part of CEO himself or herself – a way to achieve immortality in a way.



With modern Nhilar society focusing around insanely large corporations, one would expect them to be incredibly immoral or exploitative. However, Nhilar greed isn't blind. Over the ages they realised that idea of well-being is generally preferable in a long run and guarantees stable profits as opposed to more ravenous systems that are bound to fail eventually.



Currently, there exist two major Nhilar factions.

The Nhilar Federation – a faction that bears the name of an ancient Nhilar nation – it is a conglomerate of countless smaller corporate entities dominated by two major companies. Surr's National Corporation and Sentoros' Industries. They represent the oldest, biggest and somewhat traditionalist mindset. Stable, reliable, but also internally fractured.



The second faction is Abhair Corporation lead by Mirabelle Abhair – perhaps the most recognisable and powerful woman in modern Nhilar history – eccentric, stylish, impulsive, foul mouthed and utterly brilliant. Abhair Corp was once part of the Federation, but the CEO of the company had enough of underhanded tactics and internal squabbles and decided to split. Abhair's secession was a brief and rather intense event, including a rare case of open armed conflict between Nhilar factions. Abhair Corporation survived the confrontation and emerged as one of the key players of modern markets, creating the first single-corporate nation. For all intents and purposes, Mirabelle Abhair is a ruler of her own empire at this point. Abhair corporation currently holds a monopoly on special modular technology that was favoured by Nhilars for generations.



In terms of technology – modern Nhilars are incredibly advanced, second only to Shata'lin. Their tech tends to be reliable, effective and efficient. Nhilars make extensive use of unique modular technology, pioneered by Abhair Corporation. This allows them to build ships and even raise entire cities in record times. However, since Abhair's secession, Federation is slowly moving away from it, due to extensive licensing fees.
Nhilars do not officially have the technology to guarantee true biological immortality, though they are capable of prolonging the lifespan of most species through genetic modification or bio-chemical processes. It is rumoured that that some more prominent CEOs champion normally shunned cloning technology combined with experimental mind-transfer. Mirabelle Abhair is often rumoured to be a prime user of such technology - by all accounts, she should be close to the dying age at this point, yet looks like equivalent of human 40 and shows no signs of using chemical or genetic means.
Combined, Nhilar Federation and Abhair Corp both occupy extensive territory, with hundreds of space colonies.