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Hope One Dyson Sphere Race
—Johvan

Johvan are a reluctantly technological civilization. Traditional culture adheres to hard work, tepes (ie. not imposing on one another), thankfulness to Saepio and expression through art. Deeply held spiritual beliefs concern their place in the cosmos and within the Sphere. Some Johvan adopt some technology from space-faring cultures although such adoption is discrete and unobtrusive. Johvan society describe themselves along a spectrum from Naturalists through to Industrialists.

The Johvan society is structured into civic organizations. Organizations include cooperatives and unions (eg. farmers cooperatives), civic duty groups (eg. fire brigades), support organizations (eg. illness circles), recreational clubs (eg. throw-ball teams), educational clubs (eg. scouts) etc. Most Johvan belong to two to four organizations. Each is headed by a select person that represents the organization and coordinates with other organizations' select persons.

Broad decision-making is legislated and coordinated by the Johvan Senate. Senators are elected from the select persons in their communities. The vote of each senator is not equal, but, reflects the number of unique individuals within their community as represented by each select person. For example, one senator may vote for 100 individuals while another may vote for 1000 individuals. At each session, one senator is chosen as Speaker, or Dar whom appoints Officers of the Senate to administrate senate business. Laws are decided by broad consensus; "agreement by five out of six". Members of civic organization and the Johvan Senate vote in one of three ways: agreement; agreement with reservation; and; opposition. A law is passed when no more than one-sixth of votes are in opposition. Societal progress may appear slow to outsiders because of the need for broad consensus although, in practice, laws with a very narrow scope are easily debated and supported in a vote.

Tepes is the forced imposition of one's beliefs on another. This is visible in their creation of laws by consensus. It is also how individual Johvan come to consensus. Violation of Tepes can be resolved with a public apology, expulsion from civic organizations, or, in extreme cases, forced outlawry. An outlaw must live in isolation from all Johvan.

Hern Gal serves as the capital of the Johvan people.

Saepio is the only diety. It is always directly overhead regardless of where one is standing upon on the interior surface of the sphere. The Builders are believed to have constructed the world to imprison Saepio. There are no public worship spaces. Each home has a room with an open or glass ceiling where acts of worship are performed. There is an underlying societal fear the Builders will return to sujugate the Johvan people and Saepio itself.

Outsiders have visited the sphere for centuries and some colonies have been founded. The relatively poor soil conditions and lack of concentrated resources have little attraction to expansionist species. Most of the Johvan population accept the existance and presence of advanced societies that adhere to their own social norms.

Visual art is held in very high esteem among the Johvan people. Painting, sculpting and handiwork are expressions of the psyche. Johvan art is not a commodity to be bought and sold. Art pieces are given as gifts or exchanged. When a Johvan individual dies, art pieces they have received over their lifetime are buried with the body. The Flower of Saepio (pictured left) is a common motif. Written art works are uncommon. Oral history is often shared with the help of objects that represent the characters and themes of the stories.

The Johvan appear shorter and thinner than the humans. Skin tone is pale pink to ruddy pink with hair colour ranging from white to blond. Both men and women dye their hair vibrant colours using natural pigments. Eye colour is generally a white or light brown iris with flecks of colour that change to reflect mood.

The Johvan people are believed to have originated on a planet utilized in construction of the Hope One Dyson Sphere. Remains found buried in the sphere show some changes in skeletal morphology that support the belief that Johvan were manual labourers during the construction of the sphere. After the Builders abandoned the sphere, the Kharians remained in a position of power. Their use of what little Builder technology was understood allowed the Kharians to dominate the technology-averse Johvan. Roughly one thousand years ago conflict erupted and the Johvan overthrew the Kharian overlords. It coincided with the Kharians expanding outwards to subjugate more fertile planets and peoples. A weakened Kharian society returned the Sphere but never regain the control they once had.

The military, The Johvan Protective Force, is very limited. Only after the collapse of the Kharian Imperium did Speaker Tanden Sorr advocate for the Johvan to arm themselves. His movement collapsed and the military was absorbed as an element of the police. There is no native ship construction and transport is almost entirely provided by the Federation.