Arahnka:

Pronunciation: uh-rahn-kah

Culture Economic:

The economy and government on Koronnas almost doesn’t exist. A few general common laws exist and a ruling council of elders is present for general leadership when necessary but few disputes ever arise large enough to need the intervention of this council.

There are 32 elders that represent 32 regions who occasionally meet to settle disputes but more often to entertain each other with stories of adventure. Each elder will typically settle any type of dispute in their own region. The Arahnka relocate on their home planet frequently and are welcome anywhere they go, accepting and adopting the elder and customs of the region they have moved to as their own.

The Arahnka generally do not cook their meals. They eat plants and even animals raw, usually cooking them only to introduce new flavors when the mood strikes. Because of this and because they have and care little for personal possessions their planetary economy is closer to barter and trade with a heavy emphasis on sharing what they find to be abundant. Often a story or a good joke is as good as trade goods. No actual currency of any kind exists on their planet.

Culture Religious:

Not one for planning too far into the future, the Arahnkans live very much in the moment. Most believe in a sort of afterlife that leads to reincarnation but religion for the most part is a very alien concept to the Arahnka. Since the formation of the Aegis Alliance the Arahnka have been fascinated with the many religious practices and beliefs of the various cultures across all the races they now find themselves friends with. Many have practiced or followed religions in this time but few have actually reached a point of true belief.

Culture Society:

The Arahnkans generally have a carefree but no nonsense attitude. Very free spirited and spontaneous, they live much of their lives by whim. They do however choose a single mate for life (until their mate's death) and honor commitments they make even those commitments promised based on a whim. They also very much enjoy adventure and exploration.

The Arahnka people are very tolerant of outsiders and other cultures even when they are not treated in the same manner. It could be said that they are incapable of experiencing prejudice. They often adopt many beliefs and practices of those they encounter later only to discard those practices and beliefs for another. They enjoy experiencing many things and will try out other cultures both to understand and to see if they may enjoy it.

Culture Technological:

Technologically the Arahnka are very close to our level. They don’t focus as much towards war and survival as we do since their bodies need less food and water to sustain them and they are naturally excellent hunters so most of their time and tech goes into transportation and entertainment.

Physical Appearance:

Age: Average Arahnka lifespan is between 60 and 80 years.

Bones: The bone structure of the Arahnka is very much like a perfect mix of a bird with a humanoid. Strong lightweight and hollow bones reduce much of their overall body mass.

Eyes: Both male and female have a variety of eye colors including blue, red, yellow and brown.

Hair: The Arahnka do not have hair, thin flexible reeds grow from their head and are usually worn straight down the back, females occasionally adorn their reads with ribbons. The reeds are hollow and are actually made of bone. Since they do not sweat these reeds act much like a heatsink radiating extra body heat away

Height: Males are taller and more muscular averaging 5’10” to 6’3” while females are slightly shorter and usually gracefully thin averaging 5’5” to 5’11”.

Skin: Both males and females have thin leather like skin that is incredibly soft to the touch. Their skin always comes in two tone colors usually close to matching but occasionally distinctly opposite. Red with orange striations or blue with green striations are very common but other combinations such as yellow and black are not altogether uncommon.

Special:

The Arahnka look very similar to humans except for a few areas such as hair, skin and their large wings that allow them to fly. The Arahnka have large leathery wings that enable them to fly. Their home planet is about 2/3 the size of the earth with .7 of earth's gravity. This is surely a contributing factor in their evolution of winged flight. Their wingspan is slightly larger than their height. Flying under their own wing power is akin to a human walking quickly and uses approximately the same level of energy, on their home planet at least.

Delmue:

Pronunciation: Dell-mU

Culture Economic:

Each region of Dalimar has its own currency and market. While I do see the shadow of capitalism at work I don’t see the corporate greed that has corrupted human capitalism. I saw little in the way of warfare.

Culture Religious:

None. They didn’t know what religion was and spent nearly three days asking me about it once I brought it up.

Culture Society:

I found the Delmue to be very erudite and jovial. They were a joy to speak with, I just wish they hadn’t been so creepy to look at. I realize that isn’t a very professional thing to say, but you’d understand if you saw them. They were incredibly inquisitive and passionate about pretty much everything. They love learning and are open to sharing technology. I exchanged some with them myself. They have many massive libraries dedicated to scientific advancement and when I arrived I was nearly treated as royalty.

On the planet of Dalimar, the government is structured with 3 independent high councils that rule on logistics, resources and civil issues respectively. Beneath them are regional councils and beneath those are local councils. Most issues are handled at the local level and only passed up with escalation.

Culture Technological:

In my time on Dalimar I never saw stairs. The Delmue are 4-legged and able to walk up and down vertical surfaces with ease. This has allowed them to make some truly incredible architecture. They are a much younger race than humans and the technology reflects that, though having discovered writing a few thousand years ago, it’s incredible that they are only a mere 30 year behind earth in technology. I expect they will surpass us in the coming century.

Physical Appearance:

Age: 30-45 years

Bones: Similar to humans

Eyes: the whites of their eyes and the iris are a dark black with a reflective pupil

Hair: Black, brown and grey

Height: 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 feet

Skin: Blue, the young have an almost pastel baby blue hue that darkens with age. The oldest Delmue I saw had skin so dark it was almost black. In middle age, skin color seems to be a royal blue.

Special:

The Delmue are difficult to look at. From the waist up they look humanoid with 2 arms and a head, from the waist down, they are insectoid. They have 4 legs, 2 in front and 2 behind. They also tend not to wear any kind of clothing, making it all the more visible. Their heads are similar to ours but have 2 horns that project forward. Their mouths open and close sideways in their face when speaking and eating.

Fajani:

Pronunciation: Fuh-zjahn-E

Culture Economic:

The Fajani economy as a whole is largely built on warfare. Trade between regions of the planet are almost non-existent and what trade there is, appears to be done by underground black market. Food as a whole is plentiful with nearly all Fajani with even a small patch of land, growing food in personal gardens. If there is a shortage, food is shared freely. A substantial helping of the population seem to either be soldiers or crafters that work on tools of warfare for their respective governments.

Culture Religious:

Eight thousand years prior the god-queen Lamanth led the female Fajani in a rebellion against the shorter, bulkier and far more violent males of the species. It is said that 9 in 10 males were killed. Lamanath had 14 daughters that seeded the 14 empires of Foridjan. Since that rebellion males are kept in what we would consider zoos. The population of males is strictly controlled and in recent times the males are often placed in a form of stasis and fitted for artificial feeding and life support. The females find it important to keep the males unconscious for nearly their entire lives. Reproduction seems to always be artificial insemination.

Culture Society:

The Fajani are, at this point in their history, a race of entirely female populations. Males hardly exist anymore and are only kept for reproduction. There are horror stories that predate writing that are still told to this day about what the males used to do to the females. Many have no doubt grown with exaggeration over the eons.

On the planet Foridjan there are 8 major land masses. Across them are the 14 empires, each ruled by an empress. These empresses are supposedly descended from the god-queen Lamanath and are held in extremely high regard by their people. I was fortunate enough to meet two of the empresses and they were very imposing to say the least. I was largely ignored as more of an oddity than anything remarkable. The Fajani were so focused on warfare that they hardly spared me the time to answer any questions.

About 90% of the population is actively engaged in warfare in some manner, whether it’s as a military soldier or they work in production of military equipment, harvesting resources for the construction of military equipment or involved with the logistics of movement for military equipment and personnel. I have found that only the very young or old are not active. This really perplexes me because I can’t seem to get a good explanation from any of them as to WHY they fight each other. The best I have been able to piece together, is that success in warfare elevates their empress in the house standings; with some being lower and some higher in relation to one another.

Culture Technological:

The Technology here is incredible, but entirely geared to war. They have energy shields and particle weaponry that surpasses anything I have managed to come up with. Unfortunately they wouldn’t give me any details about either and I have to step on eggshells around them because they are willing and able to shoot down my ship. Most of their cities are protected by massive domed shields making artillery and bombing impractical. I’ve seen many large tank-like vehicles armed with massive cannons and I believe it is what they mostly use.

Physical Appearance:

Age: 70-90 years

Bones: Similar to human bones, however the marrow hardens as the Fajani ages.

Eyes: Green, Blue or Grey

Hair: Soft White that fades to Grey with age

Height: 8-9 feet

Skin: Pink and Violet hues

Special:

At first glance the Fajani look remarkably similar in body structure to humans, if you can overlook their height and skin color. I was only able to meet female Fajani during my visit and they had very feminin physiques. Two large breasts, hourglass figure and long legs seemed to be universal on the planet from what I saw. They have no teeth and are vegetarians, preferring to eat fruit mostly. They have a long tongue that is cylindrical in general shape. I've seen them cut a hole in a fruit, put it toi their mouth and literally suck out the filling. When speaking, a substantial portion of speech is actually coming through their tongues, the sounds formed in the throat. It causes thier voice to uave a subtle echo. As if two Fajani were speaking just a hair out of sink.

Qin:

Pronunciation: Kouin

Culture Economic:

The Qin economy typically goes something like this. “Mine, gimmie” “ No, this mine, go away” “I give you this” “ok, here, you take”

Culture Religious:

The Qin do not understand the concept of god or religion. They believe when you are born you are, and when you die, you are no more. They also cannibalize their dead.

Culture Society:

The short Qin live the majority of their lives underground. Observers haven’t yet been able to tell what their society is structured like and the Qin’s grasp of audio communication is sufficiently limited to prevent most forms of meaningful dialog outside the race. Best guess is that the society is similar to a beehive but without a queen. There is no form of real leadership amongst their people. The Qin horde everything from food, to meaningless trinkets. They have often been observed to argue and fight with other Qin over the ownership of said property. It has been noticed that they will not steal from others, only protest ownership, which leads to a dispute, which is normally quickly settled by trade of some kind. When they were approached to provide an ambassador for the Aegis Alliance, the first Qin I asked immediately agreed to go and there was no argument from any of its peers.

Culture Technological:

Despite the perception of their simple mind the Qin are incredibly intelligent. They have an innate understanding of mechanics, especially gearing and differentials. They also have a vast knowledge base in metallurgy and chemistry. They spend nearly 75% of their lives underground, living in Qin made caverns and mining.

Physical Appearance:

Age: 20-30 years

Bones: While they have a thin internal skeleton of cartilage the primary body strength comes from their black or brown colored external carapace. Similar to a beatle the carapace is exceedingly tough. Each of their 2 hands has 4 opposable talons. And their 9” reptile snout can open to nearly a 110 degree angle.

Eyes: No eyes, they have a crest that rises from the snout and runs back. This crest somehow acts as a total sensory apparatus allowing the Qin sight in nearly all spectrums, massive sensitivity to many ranges of sound and the ability to taste the air. Being able to taste the air gives them better scent tracking than a bloodhound. They can also recognise each other by smell, several dozen yards away, even if it’s been years since meeting the other individual.

Hair: They have no hair

Height: 2’8” - 3’2”

Skin: Hard leathery carapace.

Special:

The Qin are hermaphroditic, I think. At least there seems to be only the 1 gender. They mate freely and often in what can only be described as orgys of between 8 and 20 Qin at once. How and with whom they share genetic material with is still a mystery as, even though the Qin are not shy and have no qualms about performing in front of others, the act itself is too repulsive for me to tolerate any level of exposure.

Taemen:

Pronunciation: Tai-men

Culture Economic:

The Taemen have a commercial marketing and financial infrastructure close to what we have here in the early 2000s, though it's a lot more honest and less profiteering.

Culture Religious:

The Taemen have no religious beliefs. They publicly burn their dead as a sign of respect but outcasts and offenders will be burned in seclusion as a symbol of disrespect. They do not believe in any soul or spirit of any type.

Culture Society:

The Taemen society is broken into four castes the lowest of which is the workers caste. Over 50% of the planet's population falls into this caste and it consists mostly of workers, servants, heavy laborers and outcasts or criminals. The color of the workers' fur or a brand made clearly visible on a criminal sets them apart from the rest of their society. They do not mingle with non-workers and while they are not looked down upon, they are expected to know their place. Workers are not slaves, they are paid according to the job and their performance at the job. Some worker families are very wealthy, even more than many of those found in the higher castes. And workers can hire servants and other workers. But are generally still considered workers and can not move beyond that station. They are also noticeably less intelligent and less aggressive.

The artisan caste is made up of merchants, skilled workers, engineers and scientists. Generally they mingle with the upper castes and their own. While both artisan and worker castes should be compensated for their work, an artisan is due a level of respect not shown to the worker; and enjoys a level of creativity and imagination in their work that the workers caste does not. Additionally the color of the fur is distinctly different, worker caste Taemen have a grey-rusty color to it whereas artisan, warrior and ruling caste Taemen have a grey-blue color to their fur.

The warrior caste consists of police, military and various types of hunters. At birth they will have the tip of the ear clipped so all will know they are a warrior. Though many warriors are rash and violent, just as many are cold and calculating. Warriors are trained to fight from infancy. Being a warrior is a mark of pride and most possess a strong sense of honor and duty.

The ruling caste has a hierarchy all of its own that consists of many levels of dukes, barons, kings and so many levels in between all set up in a system of checks and balances. It is a very complex system that few outside of the Taemen understand.

Culture Technological:

Though generally ahead of us in many areas of technology they still prefer hand to hand combat over ranged. And their technology strongly emphasizes this. Much of their technology is designed toward arena combat in areas such as dueling or tests of strength or skill. Not in areas such as guns or artillery.

Robotics and general levels of manufacturing and production is an area where they are much further ahead of us. The workers supplement the robots that the artisans program.

Physical Appearance:

Age: They may live between 40-120 years depending on their caste.

Bones: The bones of the Taemen grow outward in layers like that of a tree trunk. This makes them incredibly strong and resilient to stress.

Eyes: Black or grey eyes.

Hair: Their bodies are covered in a light soft fur of either grey-blue or a grey-rust color depending on caste

Height: All three genders are equally built averaging 7’ to 7’5” high and even the softer castes are very powerfully built.

Skin: Thick skin, they tolerate extreme temperatures very well.

Special:

Physically the Taemen are a very daunting race to look upon. They have two double hinged knees on each leg and four arms with 3 fingers and a thumb on each hand and. Despite their size they can move shockingly fast and gracefully. Additionally they do not have traditional male and female genders or roles. They actually have 3 genders though its nearly impossible for a non-Taemen to tell them apart. Reproduction takes 3 individuals. The genders are named Vie, Tie and Shy. But we do not understand yet if there is even any distinction of the gender outside of reproduction since the Taemen live in large family packs and identifying the genders is nearly impossible.

V’Tori:

Pronunciation: Veh-Tour-E

Culture Economic:

The economy on Voltar varies from region to region but most areas seem to prefer a generally socialist approach to market. Each region seems to have its own currency, but these are freely traded for imports and exports to other regions.

Culture Religious:

The V'Tori are incredibly spiritual, superstitious and ritualistic. They have a church ruled government and follow a pantheon of at least 107 major and minor deities. Congregations are held twice a day for worship and this is taken very seriously. Though they aren't the nicest bunch they were courteous and cordial to me. Right up until I politely declined attending the ceremony the second time, then they nearly executed me.

Culture Society:

As a race, the V'Tori are very haughty and highly arrogant. The entire race is that way with good reason. Every city and town I saw was a marvel of beautiful architecture. They have a natural crystal that is common on the planet and it is added to nearly all structural components. This causes every building to reflect the light from Voltar's 2 suns, 1 red and 1 blue. The light bounces around the city in prismatic colors that are breathtaking.

There appear to be about 6 major factions, each following a specific major deity. I have seen signs of military struggles in previous years but at present there is an uneasy peace across the planet.

Culture Technological:

The V'Tori have managed to harness the power of the native crystal, called Humundgened. It is capable of holding mind-boggling amounts of electricity and energy, acting as a room temperature super-conductor and capacitor at the same time. It actively changes it's structure depending on the amount of energy it is containing. It's remarkable what it's capable of. With enough power they emit energy fields that alter the nature of physics in unprecedented ways. For example, with enough charge they can emit an anti-gravity field. The shape and size of the crystal plays a role in what it's capable of. Because it is so common on their planet I was given a small sampling of Humundgened and I will be studying it further.

Physical Appearance:

Age: 75-110 years

Bones: V'Tori bones are incredibly dense. They have reinforcing lattices inside the bone architecture. And the bones themselves are made of calcium and silicon.

Eyes: Blue, Yellow or Rex

Hair: None

Height: 5-6.5 feet

Skin: Hues range from tan to a ruddy brown.

Special:

The V'Tori may be silicon life forms. Its hard to tell as they have carbon genetic markers but their bones and skin have a silicon base. I'm not a geneticist or even a biologist so I can't speculate further.