Vashkari Sunthrone - Felinid Species & Empire

The Vashkari never built a civilisation. They took one.

On the sun-baked savannas of Nyrrhal, the Ushrani raised the sleek, slit-eyed felines that shared their world from clever companions to something far more dangerous: a species that learned to speak, to plan, and above all to want. Within three generations the Vashkari owned the cities that had fed them. The Ushrani, who had never quite stopped adoring them, simply kept feeding them.

Today the Sun-Empress rules from the Sunthrone, a heated dais in the capital where decrees are issued between naps. The Vashkari regard other species neither with hatred nor with interest, but as furniture that has not yet been claimed. Having looked up at the night sky and concluded that all of it is, self-evidently, theirs, they have set out to collect.

• New species class: Felinid, with its own portrait category in the empire designer.

• Animated 2D portraits in three fur colours (Royal Violet, Venom Lime, Bloodrust) with distinct outfits for the ruler, scientists, officials and commanders.

• Prescripted empire: the Vashkari Sunthrone, ready to pick from the empire list.

• Two species traits: Nine Lives and Apex Hunters.

• One civic: Territorial Instinct.

• Custom name list for ships, fleets, armies, planets and characters, in the proper Vashkari attitude (VSS Unbothered, VSS Knocked From The Table, VSS Eventually).

• Flag emblem and a species icon set.

Every portrait is a hand-rigged cutout with idle animation: breathing, a lazy head sway, small nods and the occasional ear flick. Outfits follow the leader's role, and fur colour follows the court:

• The Sun-Empress is always Royal Violet, in full regalia.

• Scientists are always Venom Lime.

• Commanders are always Bloodrust, in naval or army dress.

• Officials, pops and the species icon vary across all three colours.

Every colour and every outfit, side by side:

Ethics	Fanatic Authoritarian, Militarist
Authority	Imperial (Sun-Empress / Sun-Emperor, heir titled Sunheir)
Civics	Barbaric Despoilers, Territorial Instinct
Origin	Syncretic Evolution, with the Ushrani as the servile species
Traits	Rapid Breeders, Nine Lives, Apex Hunters, Unruly, Deviants
Homeworld	Nyrrhal, a Savanna world in the Sekhra system

Territorial Instinct (civic, requires Militarist): claim influence cost -25%, war exhaustion -10%. Everything within sight is already yours; the paperwork is a formality. Nine Lives (2 points): leader lifespan +30 years. Apex Hunters (1 point): army damage +25%, army morale damage +10%.

• Built for Stellaris 4.4.

• The species, portraits, traits, civic and name list need no DLC. The prescripted empire uses Barbaric Despoilers (Apocalypse) and Syncretic Evolution (Utopia); without them, build your own Vashkari empire in the designer.

• Adds new files only and overwrites nothing from the base game, so it should sit happily next to other species and portrait mods.

• Can be added to an existing save. Removing it from a save that contains Vashkari is not recommended.

• Like every mod, it disables achievements.