Almchani
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
The Almchani were a major power in the civilized galaxy until a decade ago (Earth time). Scattered survivors remain throughout the galaxy, but due to the method of their escape from their home world, a fair number of them ended up on Earth.
Contents |
History
Evolution
The Almchani history goes back some way. They were always telepaths to some extent. the earliest records indicate a nomadic society of small clusters moving in common hunter-gatherer patterns.
Species Unification
Unlike most species that drift together and apart over time, spreading in straggled bunches over their world, the Almchani fixed in place. As individual tribes met, they would merge into a larger whole. In time most of the race was concentrated in a single region of their dry planet.
Civilization
The Almchani rapidly grew into a sophisticated culture and began to spread over their planet. Slowly at first, then with greater and greater speed. by the time the Almchani reached a form of industrialization, the entire species was connected as a single culture.
The Space Age
With an entire race of connected minds, it did not take long before the species had developed a surprising level of technological advancement. Space travel was a natural step for a species with intense imaginations and several moons in their sky.
Interstellar Power
With all four moons settled, the restless curiosity of the Almchani drew them outward from world to world until they reached the edge of their solar system and stared out at other stars. With a combined will they set about breaking the barriers of the vast expanse between stars.
Where many space faring species find propulsion systems to overcome the speed of light, the Almchani devised a method of bypassing the void altogether. They built massive machines that could punch temporary holes in space from one point to another, opening on the far end to let Almchani vessels through.
In a comparatively short space of time, the Almchani became a superpower in the settled galaxy. Their small but effective fleet functioned as a sort of police force for many, many years.
Fractured Glass
If you can tell a man by the quality of his enemies, what does the quantity of them speak to? Keeping law and order among dozens of different species earned enmity for the Almchani from some races, and eventually they drew the attention of a species of fanatics.
The name of the fanatics remains unknown, as does their origin, but they came in massive numbers, and though heavily outmatched in power, they overwhelmed the Almchani with sheer weight of numbers. What was left of the Almchani scattered, some by ship, some by the dimensional ram. Scattered, they would be harder to trace and it would give the remnant time to gather strength and numbers again...
And time to find a new home to replace the ancient desert of their home that now floated as drifting rubble around a flickering, dieing sun.
Biology
Visual
The Almchani are a race of roughly one to two meters in height when full grown. They have red tone skin and long, muscular antennae. Almchani have two sets of three eyes in triangle formations, with two facing more forward and one facing more outward on each side of their head. They have a small, simple ridge of nose and a nearly lipless mouth with two hard ridges instead of individual teeth.
Filters (see below) are generally shorter and have a 'tail'.
A World with no Water
Almacha had no water. At least little enough it was negligible. How then did a species evolve there?
The same way as anywhere else, but with some less than common adaptions.
The Almchani (and in fact all the species of flora and fauna on Almacha) developed as dry creatures with powerful hearts pumping dust instead of liquid blood. While their bodies are extremely resilient, they are left with a severe weakness to dihydrogen monoxide, and can easily become drunk, or even poisoned (possibly even fatally) from water absorption and ingestion.
Homogeneous Mixture
Very little auditory communication takes place between Almchani. Their antennae function as amplifiers and receivers for conscious surface thoughts. What physical communication they use is primarily body language, although they are quite capable of emitting sound, and even imitating some species vocal patterns enough to speak some languages.
A Rarity
Of all their unusual characteristics, one in particular set the Almchani apart from most species in civilized space. Three Genders.
While the common evolutionary theme tends to be two genders in many advanced species, the Almchani produced three: the genetic donors, the filters, and the bearers of young. While the reproductive process is similar to the common mammalian method, the inclusion of the so called 'filter' gender adds a distinct level of complexity; the sperm must actually pass through the extra gender, and in so doing are literally filtered for genetic stability, variety, and are infused with helpful protein chains. For modesty's sake, filters frequently wear either fabric sheath over their 'tail'.
Society
Familial
The Almchani form close knit family groupings on the whole. Despite this, monogamy was hardly ever expected out of a relationship as long as one remembered their responsibilities to their ancestors and descendants.
Culture
The Almchani are lovers of beauty, though they have a strong natural bent toward the color red. Art and music were regarded as masterful professions. Above all else though, the formerly nomadic race prizes dancing as the highest art, and virtually all Almchani can dance with a great degree of competence.
Musically, they trend toward smoother styled music and were very fond of large bells and lung powered instruments.
Crime
Despite the collective natural telepathy, the Almchani cannot fully read one anothers' minds without training and much effort. There are, therefore, opportunities for criminal activity given enough latent mental skill. Generally speaking though, the Almchani as a species have the lowest frequency of criminal activity of almost every know natural species.
and Punishment
With crime comparatively rare, the Almchani have a natural tendency to react more severely to illegal activity. Long term incarceration for most crimes with the death sentence mandatory for major crimes. For this reason the burden of proof was a very important factor in legal proceedings.
