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a GNP that equals the US and European Union combined.
But I can introduce you to a few of the more prominent peoples and people. Remember, if they don't have hands to
shake, a simple nod and hello will usually suffice. For courtesy's sake, never refer to an alien as an alien - if you like
them, they're Outlanders, if you're neutral they're Offworlders, and if you want to get a bit offensive, they're
Foreigners.
Someday, I will have some clever bugger illustrate, but for now, I hope my descriptions will paint enough of an image
in your mind so you can get to know what everybody looks like.
of the sentients you'll encounter on Athesea proper. Other members of the Athesean Empire are treated in separate sections
on their own worlds.
Drusav
For all intents and purposes, we're talking Unicorns, but that's considered a derogatory term, so don't use it to their faces.
They closely resemble Arabian horses, except for a slightly more forward set to the eyes, a great curved and above all sharp
horn in the center of the forehead, and cloven hooves.
Drusavs are divided into two different ethnic groups: the Plains Cousins and Mountain Cousins. As the names imply, the
Plains Cousins mostly evolved for the great plains of Athesea, and the Mountain Cousins the more mountainous regions.
Plains Cousins are generally taller, with lithe muscles and harder hooves. The Mountain Cousins are shorter, more
compactly muscular, and have a good degree of flexibility in their hooves.
Both varieties are pack animals. I say pack because they are omnivores. Despite what one might think when encountering
a species that looks very much like a horse with a horn, Drusavs are not pastoral grazers. They are adept hunters. As any
one would tell you, "You think these horns evolved for defense?" This statement would be followed by the Drusav version of
a gale of laughter, during which you may notice that their front teeth have canines, much like ours, although their mouths
are entirely different otherwise.
The Drusav language is mostly one of gesture and motion, and the whole body is involved. Thus, in one of the most famous
poems ever composed in the Drusav language, the poet asking if the addressee has beckoned him or if the wind has caught
her tail is a great pun.
Drusavs are immortal. Natural causes will not kill them: unnatural causes, however, can. Immortality has given them a
rather broad perspective on life and an incredible social cohesion. Their civilization is the oldest in existence. They are
intensely curious, consummate travellers, and have a reputation for wisdom and diplomacy that many other peoples strive to
emmulate and often call on when in dire straits. They're also some of the greatest warriors ever evolved, of necessity.
The Drusav were the first to discover and manipulate the force called te'i'ahne, and are the most adept at its use. If you are
talking to a Drusav, and thinking you're hearing a voice speaking English, it's because they're using te'i'ahne to translate
their language straight from their brain to yours.
Dstinesh
These are one of the few native hominid species on Athesea. They are generally golden skinned, golden haired, and green
eyed. Years of living cheek-by-jowl with the Drusav have given them exquisite talent with te'i'ahne, a sophisticated
civilization, and minds that can think ahead about ninety generations despite life spans not much in excess of four hundred
years.
Together with the Drusav, they built Athesea's capitol city of Tarmahn, but most of them live in a broad belt of territory
south of the plains on the main continent. They don't put themselves forward much, and are not as well known off-world as
some of Athesea's more prominent species, but the Drusav consider them essential to Athesean civilization.
Ekidaens
These folks can definitely not pass for human, although they share bipedal posture. They inhabit Athesea's island chains,
and are evolved to deal with both water and land. They have blue-hued skin, webbing between fingers and toes, and sleek,
pointed faces. They also have copious tattoos and piercings, and are fanatics for jewelry.
Ekidaens live life mostly by the sea. They are supreme sailors and fishers. They do not live life on their boats, but they
spend a good amount of time sailing the oceans and waterways (yes, sailing - Atheseans aren't big on motors), and their
cities and towns are never located far from navigable bodies of water. They are loud, musical, gregarious, and welcoming
to outsiders who share their passion for the seas.
Sylfehn
Another group of folks who can't pass for human. They're quadrupeds whose bodily lines vaguely resemble deer, including
the enormous racks of branching horns (both male and female). However, their tails are big and bushy, and their faces are
bulkier, something caught between a fox and an elk. They're about the size of small horses, which is disconcerting to
humans.
They came from the hillier, forested areas of Athesea. Their civilization is quite different from most on Athesea, with a
stronger oral tradition and less emphasis on written words. They have long life spans, but no immortality. They tend to be
quiet, deep thinkers, analytical, and use a combination of that, a keen interest in other people, and sheer physical presence
to be among the most effective of Athesea's diplomatic corps. If a Drusav can't talk sense into hostile nations, they'll turn
the negotiations over to a sylfehn and come back in a few days.
Not all sylfehn are diplomats, of course. Quite a few of them are career military, where they bring a whole new meaning to
the term "fencing." They also grow a lot of tree products and are considered superb boreal engineers.
Pakahllah s'ea Siker
The name literally translates as "People of the Desert." The Siker are descended from Dstinesh, but whereas the Dstinesh
tend to stay in the wetter areas, the Siker inhabit Athesea's desert wastes. They are nomadic, insular, and have an
astonishing range of ways to make blood into a tasty meal, drink or dessert. You will rarely see them outside their deserts.
And if you are unlucky enough to go to their deserts with hostile intentions, you are most likely never to be seen outside
their deserts, either.
main difference between us and them are their nails, which resemble nothing so much as blunt black claws, although almost
as wide as a human fingernail. They tend to be fair skinned, sometimes olive complected, and have eyes in varying shades
of gray from true, pure silver-gray to shades of blue, violet and green with a gray underlay. Their hair is always black, often
wavy or curly.
There is a large cultural difference between Xtaleans now and Xtaleans as they were sixteen thousand years ago. In this
treatise, we'll be meeting them in their current cultural incarnation.
Xtaleans are, without exception, trained in warfare from toddlerhood. They are bar none the most accomplished
blademasters in the Known Universe. Their reputation is such that some hostile nations have capitulated upon learning that
an Xtalean ground force was being sent their way. They have a reputation for being undefeatable, which they know isn't
strictly true but cultivate because it's so useful for avoiding war to begin with. What an Xtalean can't do to you with a
sword, he or she will do with spear, bow, te'i'ahne, or a variety of other weapons developed for warfare that can defend
against any chemical, nuclear, or non-edged projectile attack. They also fight in small, hard-to-locate platoons or alone -
there is no better urban fighter around.
Every Xtalean is expected to serve in the military at some point in their lives, which will, if not cut short, last an average of
five hundred years.
Xtaleans are among the most cohesive civilizations in the Known Universe. An Xtalean is born an Xtalean and remains that
way until death. You won't find Xtalean-descended colonies or settlements elsewhere: once garrison duty is over, Xtaleans
go home.
For all that, they are not an insular people. They get along famously with other cultures and species, and do travel widely.
They are incredibly hospitable. Tourists can show up in any Xtalean city without a place to stay, a clue about where to go
or what to do, and no money to do it with anyway, and within moments be put up with an Xtalean family, well fed and
taken sightseeing. This serves a good purpose. You will likely then have the Xtalean to your place next time they're passing
through your city, and there you go. Budget travel and instant friends. But it's not that which motivates them. It's an
almost instinctive feeling for people in need.
Outlanders, however, remain outlanders. Very few non-Xtaleans live permanently (at least officially) in Xtalean cities; fewer
are granted citizenship. They will grant it to a select few. The rest of the Outlanders among them are simply seen as
long-term guests, even if they've lived among Xtaleans for generations.
Xtaleans have a sense of history as keen as the Drusav (who were alive for a good majority of theirs). You'll hear an Xtalean
several generations removed from a past event speak of it as if it happened recently, and as if the people involved were
personally known to them. Their history is a living entity to them. So is their language. Xtaleans have a beautiful, lyrical
language, and they are renowned for their impromptu street poetry and even more famous for their Philosopher's Parties,
during which the whole point is to get philosophically drunk and then get further intoxicated on words and ideas.
Any Taoist, Zen Buddhist, philosophe, sophist, or such like would find themselves perfectly at home with Xtaleans. So will
you.
There are some major commonalities between the two species. They are a highly religious people, following the
Triumvirate of Draco (the Creator), Nemanses (the Warrior) and Dowhari (the Tiller) - the three Eternals who created and
cared for the Bktarians. Bktarians believe they continue to do so even now, after their vanishing in the War of a
Thousand Years, only now they direct the people from hiding and can speak only in signs which must be properly
interpreted.
Bktarians are also incredibly insular. Few Outlanders are ever allowed on Bktar; fewer still are allowed to become part of
Bktarian society even to a minor degree. Bktarian society is highly ritualistic and exclusive. Outsiders can't understand it
enough to fit in. The few exceptions to this rule, however, are warmly welcomed - once one proves they comprehend
Bktarian thought, they are considered Bktarian. In all of history, however, only a handful of Outlanders besides the
Drusav have achieved this status.
One of the most extraordinary features of Bktarian society is their Games. To outsiders, these look like brutal blood
sport. To the Bktarians, they are the truest means of communication with their vanished Eternals. Messages are read in
who wins and loses, patterns of blood in the sand of the arenas, in the movement of dancers as they contend with spear
and strength. The Games are the central feature of Bktarian life. Nearly everything centers around them: their economy,
their identity, their goals, ambitions and dreams.
Dragons
Dragons rule Bktar, and all Bktarian society is centered around them. They look pretty much like you'd expect a dragon
to look: huge, winged reptiles with slitted eyes and taloned forelimbs that double as arms. They move with a slow, heavy
grace most of the time, but can move that bulk with incredible speed when need be. They are fantastically beautiful and,
despite popular rumor, revered for wisdom, not hoarding treasure and munching virgins.
Dragons have incredibly long life spans, nearly matching the immortality of the Drusav. They also consider themselves
close kin to the Drusav, although it's likely none but the Bktarians and the Atheseans would see the relation. They are
diviners, able to interpret the future from signs and see the most likely pathways the future might follow. They preside
over the Games, from choosing those who will enter to interpreting the meaning of the events and patterns formed.
When Dragons die, their souls are encased in crystalline spheres and conveyed to the Valley of the Elders, where the living
Dragons can still communicate with them. Dragons do not experience death the way any other species does.
Naataalii
The naataalii, by choice, live to serve the Dragons. They are descended from the same line that gave rise to the Dragons,
but look very little like them. They are bipedal, and come in several varieties, from the thinner and more elegant
chamberlains to the heaviest draandaalii warriors. Form defines function for them: what you are born as defines what
course your life will take, and to them, this is natural and right. A draandaalii who wanted to become a chamberlain or
vice versa would be unthinkable.
Within those broad bodily categories, there is some choice as to what you will do. The body type that can become a
chamberlain, essentially a personal servant to the Dragons, can also become administrators, restaurateurs, or enter other
service professions. Draandaalii can become warriors: they can also become laborers (a respected profession) or
professional Gamers or just about anything else that requires great strength. And so on, down through all the physical
types. But this is not as much a matter of choice as a matter of calling. Bktarians have Games for everything, including
to discover what profession you will enter. They take great comfort in not having to make such momentous choices
without the guidance of the Games.
Naataalii have incredibly short life spans by normal standards, a mere two or three hundred years. This, too, they accept
as right.
But don't start thinking of them as ritual-blinded automatons. They are sharp-minded, sharp-witted, and easy to
underestimate. They also have a fine sense of humor, especially when it comes to those Outlanders who try to hard to be
Bktarian.
past the physical differences. Miraldians consider themselves quite beautiful. However, they evolved on a high-gravity
world, and are therefore short, stocky, thick-boned, not particularly graceful in lower-gravity situations, lumpy (only
part of that's natural), with thin lips that vanish when they grin and teeth that put Teddy Roosevelt to shame. Their
eyes tend to be a dark violet or equally disconcerting color. Their skin runs a gamut, but always has a hue we don't
expect: dusky violet or orange, most often. Most Miraldians are dark. Some are paler. Hair color is hard to
determine, as at this point in time, it has become the cultural norm to replace natural hair with fiber optics or some
other synthetic fiber geared toward outrageous brightness. And these are the conservative folks...
Point in common with us: they share hominid form. Two arms, two legs, one head.
Miraldians are technology obsessed, and have been for thousands of years. In fact, when we discuss Miraldians as
above, what we're talking about is biological Miraldians descended from the sentient beings who first populated
Miraldo. There's whole other categories, from immigrants to Miraldo's digital citizens, AI so advanced that it has a
culture and social standing quite on par with biological Miraldians. And biological Miraldians find it quite normal that
AI systems would have their own wants, needs and desires and deserve to be treated like any other citizen.
Technology is so much a part of Miraldian life that they could easily be called cyborgs. Miraldians implant themselves
with wetware, clothe themselves in intelligent fabrics, and live in a manufactured world. There is nothing natural left
on Miraldo proper. Colonists and a few of the odd ducks might appreciate nature, but the vast majority of Miraldians
think it's something better happening to other people. Their worst swear words all revolve around grime and dirt.
They love crowds, chaos, novelty, travel (in cities), Earth television programming (believe it or not, especially Dynasty),
a good argument, science, and above all their tech. They're enthusiastic to the point of scariness, for the most part
incredibly friendly, and good people to have on your side. They're very bad people not to have on your side. Miraldo is
a military civilization. They have weapons that can blow up stars. You do not mess with Miraldo unless you are
suicidal or very, very good.
Miraldians have a totalitarian democracy. This probably sounds freakish. It is. Their Lord Regent Commander is
elected, and serves for life unless such a spectacular mistake that they pull him down. They call their rulers Regents
because their true Lord Commander is Desadahr, whom they've named Lord Commander Darkstar. The Regents are
expected to step down whenever Darkstar is reborn and would like to take over the throne. They are fanatically
devoted to him, Regents included. Miraldians tend to question everything, but that's mostly surface. They put a lot of
faith in the rulers they choose, because they know those leaders will have to answer to Darkstar first and the people
second if they botch the job too badly.
Miraldians tend to follow a strict chain of command in most things, although that command may come from
committee. They are capitalists of the first degree, but generous. They know that generosity their style will pay
dividends in the end.
There is a strict divide between the military and civilians. The military is run by the Lord Regent Commander, but
answerable only to him, although the people can change the military's course if they raise their voices. The military is
paramount: in times of war, the entire civilian sector comes under military control. Remarkably, it works, because the
civilian sector, being the one who pays the bills, can always wrest back control. And if not, Darkstar's sure to have
something to say about it...
Miraldians will bicker over internal divisions endlessly, but present a united front to outsiders. Among Miraldians, they
may identify themselves as Teledarians or colonials or what-have-you, but if an Outlander asks where they're from,
even those from the furthest colonies will identify themselves as Miraldians first.
pupils, the long sharp canine teeth, and the soft fur. Their ears are pointed, but nearly buried in the thick ruff of fur
that covers their heads and grows down their necks. They have distinctive markings, stripes and spots and colors.
Their bodies have shorter fur, and their fingers are long, with claws.
They are among the most physically graceful people. They move lightly, like poetry, and nearly silently unless they
mean to be heard.
Culturally, they are nothing like felines. They are a pastoral people, growers and herders. They tend to live in
villages of no more than a few hundred people, spread out by a good several miles. They prefer downlands, hill
country, and areas that closely resemble the English countryside in many ways. Vast tracts of land on their world is
given over to agriculture, but they always have a small population that clusters in the downlands and hills and only
travels to prairies and mountains for their growing and tending.
They are an animistic people. To them, everything has a spirit, including the world. Their duty is to keep all spirits
in harmony. They don't simply cut grain when it's ripe: they perform ceremonies designed to harmonize with the
spirit of the grain first. Their animals aren't bred until they've been through a fertility ceremony and introduced to
their potential mate. All life is connected, from the bones of the earth to the skies and space itself, and they work
hard to make sure all things retain that connection without acrimony.
Nothing much takes them by surprise. If you drop by out of the blue for a visit, chances are one of the local spirits
has already clued the village in to your arrival, and you'll find a hot tea ceremony waiting to greet you.
The Druens don't have rulers per se. They're governed by groups of elders, with the village Loremaster as the eldest
(which has nothing to do with age and everything to do with knowledge). If events concern more than one village,
the Loremasters, who are usually women, will get together to decide what needs to be done, which ceremonies need
to be performed to determine the best course, what the Lore has to say about this, and so on. The people tend to
arrive at a group consensus through such ceremonies. To an outsider, it would appear that no one's in charge, and
that everyone came to the same decision at once after some dancing, singing, storytelling, and sometimes sacrificial
killing (although the victim is brought back to life afterward, the point not being a death but allowing a spirit to
enter the sacrifice and point the way). All knowledge, all paths through the future, are contained in the Lore,
although it takes a Druen to see that.
They're a gentle people, but there is a core of steel to them. They don't often fight, but when their world is
threatened, they go through the proper rituals and become warriors who seem like ghosts to the enemies suffering
their strikes without catching more than a glimpse of those doing the striking. Afterward, the proper rituals are
performed to return the people and their world to peaceful life once again.
It takes a Druen to understand Druen spirits. For that reason, you'll often see them among Outlanders, but rarely
see Outlanders among them.