Ilythiiri
(by Snowfire)
GEOPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
PLANETARY SYSTEM: L'Ilhar's Euol (1) (four star configuration)
PLANET: Delmah (2)
DESCRIPTION: Borderline class M/L marginal
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
APPEARANCE:
The Ilythiiri are a humanoid race that very closely resemble humanity except for a few defining features. They are more slender then most humanoids – almost delicate by human standards. Their ears are marginally larger then a humans and taper upwards to a sharp point. Ilythiiri also have dark skin, ranging from black to a hazy purple hue. Most Ilythiiri have white or silver hair and white or red eyes, but other colours are not unheard of.
PHYSIOLOGY:
Ilythiiri share many physiological traits with humanity, but the few differences they have are major ones. Ilythiiri grow and mature at a much slower rate than humanity once past the physical age of eight or nine, causing most Ilythiiri that the Federation has interacted with to range from three hundred to nine hundred years old. This causes most to regularly surpass ages of over a millennium with the oldest on record having lived for almost eighteen hundred years. Living underground with little in the way of technology caused them to evolve natural night vision that does not interfere in their ability to view colour. Unfortunately this vision also makes them sensitive to bright lights and as such most Ilythiiri who venture beyond their worlds wear a set of contact lenses that dim bright lights – much like human sunglasses. About a quarter of all Ilythiiri are born with mental abilities that are known among the Ilythiiri as Gifts. These Gifted are trained from the moment their Gift manifests and the Great Academy on Delmah produces what are arguably some of the most skilled telepaths and empaths in the galaxy.
There are four major Ilythiiri Gifts; Mindspeech (telepathy), Empathy, Foresight (precognition) and Fetching (telekinesis). All Gifted are capable of Mindspeech and almost all will have at least a touch of another Gift. Some Ilythiiri can access all four Gifts, but the general trend is for about two and a half. Two major gifts and touches of the other two.
Gifts are unlike almost all forms of ESP the Federation has encountered due to the fact that, whilst some Gifted can wield incredible power, their Gifts hinder them just as much as they help.
Mindspeech and Receptive Empathy have similar problems that become progressively worse the stronger the Gift is. A powerful Mindspeaker can pick up surface thoughts from everyone – bar other Gifted (including those of the Federation, regardless of the differences between them) –around them. Unfortunately, this is both unethical ( as taught in the Academy and no one can graduate without learning this) and rather painful for the Mindspeaker as they get bombarded by the 'shouted' thoughts of those within their range. An Empath has much the same happen to them except they will be bombarded by emotion. As such, all Gifted are taught to ground and centre their Gifts within themselves and use that ground to construct a shield around their minds that can protect them. These shields must be maintained at all times and although they generally are hardly noticed by most experienced Gifted, there are times when such need to exert conscious control over their shield. This can be done for a variety of reasons, but the most common are to allow the Gifted to defend their mind from mental attack or to allow them to conduct such attacks.
The main problem with Fetching is that it burns energy at a rate few things can match. And the rate increases as the object being Fetched gets larger. Ilythiiri with powerful Fetching Gifts are rare – although not as rare as Foresight – and even the most powerful are rarely capable of completely moving objects heavier than a few kilos. Most Fetchers are only capable of the Sar-alure (3), a routine that they practice daily to exercise their Gift. This exercise involves levitating a number of Sar – each no longer then an average fingernail – around the Fetcher in increasingly complex patterns. The Sar-alure is an art form amongst the Gifted and many have special sets of Sar, the latest trend being miniaturised holoprojectors.
With a species as warlike as the Ilythiiri though, the Sar-alure inevitably became a weapon. Sar coated with potent contact poisons and paralytics supplement the arsenal of the Talya (4) teams to this day. These things are heavily restricted however, only available to the Talya teams and only when they're about to go on a mission.
The most feared, and perhaps misunderstood, Gift of the Ilythiiri is Foresight. But Foresight is not the all-seeing crystal ball that many fear Foreseers lay in the hands of the Council. Even the, incredibly rare, powerful Foreseers cannot control their visions. And these visions have never been known to focus on the needs of a small group. The Gift of Foresight is one that, in its visionary form, focuses on events that will affect the entire Ilythiiri species. But visions of that sort of clarity happen so rarely that most Ilythiiri will only witness four or five in their entire lifespan. Most of the time Foreseers get a vague, long term sense of what is probably most likely to happen. Whilst true visions have never been found to be wrong in all of Ilythiirian history, these feelings are only a marginal way to predict the future. And the feelings cannot be fully trusted, with only about a 30-40% chance of them being correct. It takes a consensus of almost the entire Foreseeing Circle for the Council to accept such feelings. True visions however, they are accepted without question for every Ilythiiri knows the power of such things.
MATING:
Ilythiiri reproduce in the same way humans do and there is enough genetic and physical similarity (likely due to the influence of the Ancient humanoids) that– although frowned upon by Ilythiiri society – there have been several documented accounts of Ilythiiri hybrids (the non- Ilythiiri partner always being male though). Gestation period is comparable to that of humans.
DIET:
Due to the climate on the Ilythiiri homeworld, roots have taken the place of most grains. Apart from that, the Ilythiiri and human diets are almost identical.
LANGUAGE
NAMING:
All Ilythiiri are part of one of their Nine Clans, and their Clan Name takes the place of a normal surname. Early in their life, every Ilythiiri picks a use-name that they feel suits who they are. The change of an Ilythiiri's use-name is always seen as a grave action, symbolising a massive shift in their personality and who they are. Such events are extremely rare, but generally only happen after a severe trauma or life-changing event.
WORDLIST:
Ilythiiri words are strange and as-yet mostly incompatible with the Universal Translator system. This is partially due to the fact that almost all of the Ilythiiri met by the Federation have spoken English. The other side of the current incompatibility is the fact that the Ilythiiri seem to utilise at least two spoken languages.
SOCIETY
SOCIETY:
Ilythiiri society was once much darker and more confrontational (see Early History) but with the foundation of the Nine Clans, such conflicts have ebbed and even where such things occur, most are settled without loss of life. The clans now engage in self-moderated, almost entirely non-lethal combat when required to. Ilythiiri tradition relies on this constant conflict and states that such things help the Ilythiiri people advance as the continuous 'war' pushes them to develop new technologies and methods so that they can triumph in their engagements. Their society is also heavily matriarchal, although in the past thousand years that has begun to change. Males are no longer second class citizens, but much more work is required for them to achieve true equality and the processes will inevitably take centuries to complete according to the current High Council.
Due to their prodigious lifespans, the ascension of an Ilythiiri to adulthood is quite different from that of humanity. Whilst all Ilythiiri are eventually recognized as adults, it can be up to three hundred human years before such a responsibility is gifted to a son or daughter. Adulthood can be gained through one of three different ways. The most common of these is for an Ilythiiri to reach the 'age of wisdom'. Although the exact age varies from clan to clan, it is generally agreed upon as about 300 human years (at which point an Ilythiiri appears physically twenty to humans). The second method is rarely utilized, but a child can be granted the status of an adult if they contribute in a meaningful way to society as a whole and are judged by a council of their peers to be ready for the transition.
The third pathway to adulthood is only available to the Gifted. Whenever a Gift manifests in an Ilythiiri, they are immediately entered into the closest Academy capable of teaching them. If an Ilythiiri proves to the satisfaction of their teachers that they have mastered their Gift before the age of wisdom, they will be recognized as an adult.
GOVERNMENT:
The Ilythiiri government was originally a dictatorship ruled by whoever could keep themselves in power. The Ilythiiri Houses would plot and scheme – sometimes for centuries – to gain control of their society and advance their own agenda. This ended some fifteen hundred years ago with the enforced formation of the Nine Clans known as the Reformation which brought an end to the dictatorial rulership of the Ilythiiri. They are now governed by a council of representatives drawn from every clan.
According to records unearthed from the Great Cities, before the Su'aco d'Chath (5) ignited the S'argt's d'Delmah (6) the Ilythiiri were governed democratically.
RELIGION:
The Ilythiiri worship a deity known to the Federation as The Goddess. She is said to have a name, but the Ilythiiri have been unwilling to share Her name with Federation theologists. What has been gleaned from the records the Ilythiiri have been willing to share is that The Goddess has four sides; Maiden, Mother, Warrior and Crone. Ilythiiri freely spread their worship among the four sides of their Goddess, except for the Sworn Ones. Very little is known by the Federation about these elusive members of Ilythiiri society but from the fragments documenters and historians have managed to piece together they have discovered the following.
The Sworn Ones are Ilythiiri who bind themselves irrevocably to an Aspect of their Goddess through a combination of ritual and as-yet unexplained telepathic 'programming'. The most numerous of the Sworn Ones seem to be those sworn to the Warrior. These Ilythiiri are the most well known of all Sworn Ones and are known as Swordsworn or Kal'enedral. There are fragmentary records of Ilythiiri sworn to the other Aspects of the Goddess – swearing to the Crone and Maiden, seems more common then to the Mother – but such things are closely guarded by the Ilythiiri government
MYTHS:
None that have been shared with the Federation.
RELATIONS TO THE FEDERATION:
Mostly cordial, but some member races are suspicious of the Ilythiiri due to their unwillingness to share parts of their culture and the events of Operation Vanguard worry even the most trusting of the Federation signatories.
HISTORY
WARS:
The Ilythiiri exist in a state of perpetual conflict that is – now – mostly harmless to its participants. But even when such things were lethal, rarely did one House ever kill more then ten people in one action. The Ilythiiri philosophy in warfare is based around dagger strike tactics, they infiltrate small groups of highly skilled warriors into the capitols of their foes and then wipe out their leadership. Actually facing a foe in battle is a rare occurrence, but with the advent of warp travel and the need to protect themselves in space, the Ilythiiri have begun to adapt to such things. However, their greatest strengths within war is still – and shall probably forever remain – their aptitude as spies and assassins.
EARLY HISTORY:
Delmah, the Ilythiiri homeworld was originally an M class world very much like Earth. It orbited Xukuth (7), a B-class main sequence star that was the primary star of L'Ilhar's Euol. Scientific studies into how life evolved at all found that Delmah possesses an incredibly powerful magnetosphere that protected its inhabitants from the hurricane strength solar wind. Ilythiiri civilization had reached a level equivalent with 21st century Earth and spread across most of the planet – and was on the way to constructing several orbital space stations – before the event known to the Ilythiiri as L'Su'aco d'Chath. This event, almost definitely an act of an advanced race, ignited the three massive gas giants that orbited Droal. Federation scientists see these three gas planets as a mystery. Each was large enough to have formed main sequence stars, but for some reason none of them ever produced a fusion reaction that would have transformed them into the stars they became after L'Su'aco d'Chath. The other, as yet unexplained, anomaly is how they came to orbit on the same orbital path. Such an event would be almost impossible to happen naturally, especially when one takes into account how delicately balanced the gravitational fields between the planets are. These fields hold each the planets in place, each one stabilized by the two others. That, taken together with L'Su'aco d'Chath has led most studies to conclude that L'Ilhar's Euol was artificially created. The reasons behind the ignition of the S'argt's d'Delmah has remained a mystery to both the Ilythiiri and the Federation.
Regardless of who was behind it and what prompted the decision, the Su'aco d'Chath ignited the S'argt's d'Delmah and transformed them into three F class main sequence stars that became known as the Flamgra'in Ssussuns (8). The resulting influx of radiation slowly overwhelmed Delmah's magnetosphere and rendered the surface almost completely uninhabitable. But a small portion of the Ilythiiri species survived. They fled underground, digging deep into the world's crust to take refuge from the deadly radiation slowly leaking through the magnetosphere of their planet. In the process, they lost a great deal of their knowledge and when the last of the Great Cities went silent, many went insane and destroyed much of what they had attempted to preserve.
Ilythiiri civilization almost completely collapsed in the following decade, falling back into the depths of barbarianism – this event is known as The Fall. It had taken them twenty thousand years to bring themselves to the level of technology they had attained before the Su'aco d'Chath drove their civilization underground. It took more then twice that for them to pull themselves back from the brink of self-annihilation and regain their civilization. In the process however, their society changed. It became more feudal, Great Houses forming out of the chaos and trying to gain control over the others. Even with their technology regained, no one could hold control for long enough to advance much beyond mid-level 21st century technology.
It was then that the Narkuth Yvalm (9) intervened. Very little has ever been shared with the Federation about the origins of this group, but their intervention into the House warfare probably saved the Ilythiiri another fifty thousand years of rebuilding and possibly their entire race. They captured the Matriarch of every House and effectively reshaped Ilythiiri society overnight. It was the Narkuth Yvalm who oversaw the founding of the Nine Clans and rewrote a great deal of Ilythiiri law and custom. Although some originally resisted the changes, almost every member of Ilythiiri society would look back at the times before the Reformation and be glad of the Narkuth Yvalm's actions.
MODERN DEVELOPMENT:
With the Reformation came an end to the violent conflicts that had been holding the Ilythiiri back. There were still fights and disagreements between the clans and House rivalries took centuries to fade but most were settled with non-lethal methods. Ilythiiri civilization now advanced rapidly but also started to strain the resources of Delmah. So, inevitably, the Ilythiiri turned their gaze to space.
SPACE EXPLORATION:
Space exploration was not easy at first for the Ilythiiri. The first few attempts to launch from underground silos ended in resounding failures due to the massive burst of radiation that would overwhelm the crew of the craft and also short out most of the technology. After the fourth failed attempt, the Clan Council decided that they should try to reclaim any knowledge that the Great Cities might still hold. They were lucky beyond their wildest dreams. The remains of several of the Cities still stood and after several months of searching the explorers uncovered an intact pre-Fall research station. Further sweeps of the cities found several shielded bunkers that had been constructed in a last, desperate attempt to save Ilythiiri civilization. Although opening the bunkers took months, the results were worth it. Anyone who had taken refuge within the bunkers had died millennia ago, but the computers had survived.
Building on the knowledge contained with the bunkers, Ilythiiri scientists launched their first unmanned probe within five years. Dozens of such satellites were launched over the next decade as the Ilythiiri tested different types of radiation shielding until they found one that was safe enough for manned flights to become possible. Almost fifty thousand years since they had last ventured into space, the Ilythiiri had reclaimed all that they had once lost.
Twenty years after the first manned flight, the Ilythiiri completed work on their first orbital construction platform. At this point, every resource at their disposal was being thrown into the space program as resources were beginning to run dry. A year later, the first deep space mining vessel was launched to great fanfare. Over the following decades, Ilythiiri society stabilised as resources began to pour in from the mining vessels. Fifty years later, the first mining colony is completed in the inner asteroid belt.
At this point there are several dozen stations in orbit around Delmah and two colony fleets were being constructed to spread the Ilythiiri race to the rest of the habitable planets in the system. Survey ship reports surprised many when two other planets in the system were found to be habitable (both originally ice swathed rocks that are now beautiful oceanic worlds – Federation O class).
Over the next ten years, the colony fleets were dispatched – one to each habitable planet. Each fleet carried tens of thousands of Ilythiiri and a complete technological base. The colony ships themselves were designed to land on the planet and act as the central point for the planet's cities.
After a seven year journey, the first colony fleet touched down. The colonists named their new world Qu'madosfan (10). Eight years later the second fleet landed on the world they name L'Sokin (11). The settlers on both world are met with little true resistance thanks to the teams of Gifted among the settlers.
Throughout the next century, the Ilythiiri expanded across L'Ilhar's Euol, constructing bases and colonies in a network that tied their system together. Almost exactly a hundred years after the colonization of Qu'madosfan, Ilythiiri scientists made a startling breakthrough in gravitational technology in the invention of a stable reaction-less drive. Initially thought infeasible due to power requirements, the successful miniaturization of antimatter power plants to the point where they could be safely mounted on a starship saved the drive from uselessness. Unfortunately, although a revolution in its own right, it did little to bring other star systems truly within reach of the Ilythiiri as the maximum attainable velocity was only ten percent of light speed. However, the drive does succeed in bring the planets of L'Ilhar's Euol closer together with interplanetary travel now becoming truly possible.
The next major development in Ilythiiri space travel came after over a century of research into gravitational manipulation, but it changed their society forever.
WARP DEVELOPMENT:
Ilythiiri FTL originally (and still does in many cases) relied on something rather different from warp. Thirty years after the development of the reactionless drive, Ilythiiri scientists succeeded in creating and 'caging' a singularity. The resulting technology took another twenty years (and several destroyed research stations) to be adapted so that it could actually be used, but once it was adapted it opened the pathway to the stars.
It was called the Fasset Drive – although no one knows why – and it was a triumph of Ilythiiri science. A ship equipped with a Fasset drive was in a state of perpetual free fall into the artificial black hole created and contained by the field generators. The ship would fall towards the black hole and the singularity would be pushed forward by the field generators. A ship would accelerate steadily (and could do so faster outside of a certain distance from a star) towards the speed of light and it seemed as though the Fasset drive would finally bring other solar systems marginally within reach of the Ilythiiri. Little did they know what was to come.
The next year, in the first true test of the normal space velocity of a Fasset Drive equipped vessel, the Ssin'urn Q'elak (12) hit .985 c outside of the gravitational limits of a star (also known as a Powell limit) and vanished. A day later, it reappeared at the outer edge of Droal's Powell limit on the same side of the system. The Ilythiiri had conquered the last obstacle. Space was theirs to explore at last.
Over the next millennia, dozens of solar systems were claimed by the Ilythiirian Council and at least thirty worlds were colonized with hundreds of smaller colonies and bases being founded to tie the Council together. The Ilythiiri faced two wars during this time, both settled through their traditional dagger strike tactics and incorporated the defeated races – the Melkar and Tusteri – into the Council. This added another twenty worlds to Ilythiirian space. Deep space exploration vessels picked up Federation broadcasts and in preparation all Ilythiiri in positions where they might one day be confronted with a Federation First Contact situation were taught basic Federation Standard.
Federation scientists have been fascinated with how a Fasset drive works ever since First Contact and the more military minded among Starfleet have started to become intrigued by the possibilities it presents. To every known race in the galaxy, Fasset drive equipped vessels cannot be intercepted at FTL. They can be detected, yes and ships in wormhole space cannot scan out of it into n-space. But the only thing that can intercept a ship equipped with a Fasset Drive is another ship equipped with a Fasset drive that manages to match the relative phase of the other ship's wormhole. Ships can engage in combat under FTL if such a match is achieved.
Starfleet Intelligence suspects that the Council knowns a great deal more about gravitational manipulation then it lets on – especially when their proximity to former Borg space was factored in – but as yet they have been unable to gather any sort of information on Ilythiiri research projects.
Current generation Ilythiirian ships (both military and civilian) use an Alcubierre warp bubble reactionless drive system while not under Fasset drive. When an Ilythiirian ship jumps to FTL, the reactionless drive is used to boost the ship to .984 c before the Fasset drive is activated. The Fasset drive takes over propulsion, accelerates the vessel .985c and the ship jumps to wormhole space. The entire process takes little more than three seconds to complete. The drive system also acts as a last ditch form of shielding if the primary shields are disabled.
FIRST CONTACT:
The USS Stargazer detects an Ilythiirian Council survey ship as a superluminal singularity heading towards a nearby system. They move to investigate and discover that the singularity is actually the main drive system for an alien vessel. First Contact protocols are initiated and the Stargazer senior staff are surprised to find that the aliens are fluent in Federation Standard.
Although relations were initially shaky, fifteen years after First Contact the Federation signed the Treaty of Kahzet which formalised an alliance between the Council and the Federation. Part of the agreement included a personnel exchange to facilitate mutual cultural understanding between the two powers.
TIMELINE:
20,000 BF: Ilythiiri civilization begins to form on Delmah as small families of Ilythiiri start to band together in clans.
1,000 BF: The Ilythiiri have spread across most of Delmah at this point. Technological level is roughly 16th century human.
200 BF: The space program is well under-way at this point. Manned space flight has been achieved and several orbital stations have been launched.
5 BF: The Su'aco d'Chath ignites the S'argt's d'Delmah and causes the surface of Delmah to be rendered uninhabitable within the year.
0 BF: The last transmissions are received from those who tried to survive within the Great Cities. Many Ilythiiri are driven insane by the last link with the surface going dead. The Fall begins.
1 AF: The Fall ends with Ilythiiri civilization having been reduced to barbarianism. What little remains of Pre-Fall technology maintain the underground cities and the little pieces that survive become 'magic'.
45,500 AF: Ilythiiri civilization has regained much, advancing to approximately early 21st century human levels. Unfortunately, further advancement requires that the Great Houses work together. Ilythiiri technology stagnates.
46,103 AF: The Narkuth Yvalm intervene and induce the Reformation. The Great Houses are dissolved into the Nine Clans. Civilization begins to advance once again.
46,157 AF: The Clan Council realizes that the resources of Delmah are beginning to become exhausted and begins the space program.
46,158 AF: After the failure of all attempts so far to launch an object into orbit, the Council decides to return to the surface to investigate what – if any – is left of the Great Cities.
46,160 AF: Exploration teams combing one of the Great Cities uncover a partially intact research station which leads to the discovery of several 'vaults' that seem to have been constructed in the last weeks before the Delmahen surface was rendered uninhabitable.
46,165 AF: The first successful launch of an unmanned probe since after the Fall.
46,175 AF: Ilythiiri scientists hit upon the correct composition for radiation shielding and work begins on the first of the manned missions.
46,177 AF: For the first time in forty-six thousand years, a small number of Ilythiiri see their planet from orbit.
46,197 AF: The first orbital station is completed and work begins on the construction of a long range mining vessel to exploit the asteroid fields.
46,198 AF: The first mining vessel is launched.
46,231 AF: Ilythiiri society has stabilized and a second station has now been constructed in orbit (this one more focused on research then construction). Two more stations are currently under construction.
46,248 AF: Several dozen orbital factories, research stations and solar arrays have been constructed in orbit of Delmah. The first survey ships have reported several planets that are now habitable thanks to the Flamgra'in Ssussuns. Colony ships are currently in construction.
46,253 AF: The first colony fleet departs Delmah en route to the closer oceanic world.
46,258 AF: The second colony fleet departs Delmah en route to other oceanic world.
46,260 AF: The first colony fleet touches down on Qu'madosfan. They meet no resistance from native species.
46,268 AF: The second fleet lands on L'Sokin. Although the settlers are initially met with trouble from the local wildlife, such problems are quickly dealt with by teams of Gifted.
46,270 AF: The Ilythiiri have spread throughout L'Ilhar's Euol with dozens of colonies having been founded on moons and asteroids.
46,272 AF: The reactionless drive is discovered.
46,380 AF: Ilythiiri scientists succeed in creating and controlling an artificial singularity.
46,411 AF: The Ssin'urn Q'elak, the first vessel to be fitted with a Fasset drive, is launched.
46,412 AF: In the first of the extra-solar tests, the Ssin'urn Q'elak breaches the light speed barrier and begins a new age of colonization and expansions.
47,450: The Ilythiiri have spread across dozens of star systems, fully colonizing over thirty worlds and establishing outposts and starbases throughout their space. The Melkaren and Tusterian species are incorporated into the the Ilythiirian Council.
47,562 AF: First contact with the Ilythiiri is made by the USS Stargazer.
47,577 AF: The Ilythiirian Council signs the Treaty of Kahzet with the Federation.
47,655 AF: Present day. 2409 AD
TRANSLATIONS:
1.The Mother's Pearl
2. Home
3. Meaning not shared with Federation
4. Huntress
5. (The) Wind of Fire
6. Guardians of Home
7. Heart
8. Burning Lights
9. Meaning not shared with Federation
10. Ocean
11. The Pearl
12. Beautiful Speed
