Peppalexan

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			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Peppalexan
Four Letter Code	PPLX
Federation Status	Nonaligned
Planet of Origin	Unknown
Encountered	GRD: "The Time Traveling Planet"
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N+
List of Named Peppalexans
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The Peppalexans are a warp-capable, starfaring species that, before 2392, were known only from records of the Ancient Alliance that once operated in the Menthar Corridor. According to those records, the Peppalexans were once an integral and powerful member of the Alliance before they disappeared from Alliance records at the beginning of the Alliance's decline. Historians have long assumed that their disappearance was due to several socioeconomic and political factors and that fragmentary records that indicated that the entire species had "vanished without a trace" were records of some myth or morality tale.

Home System

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Home World

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• Gravity: Lower gravity than Earth norm to allow for tall/graceful appearance
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• Classification: M
• Surface Water: 77% of the planet’s surface is water
• Atmosphere: Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere
• Climate:
• Terrain: Diverse biosphere - jungles, deserts, arctic/glacial, mountain/alpine, etc.
• Population:

Land consists of two smaller landmasses (continents) and several large islands. Many smaller island chains are found throughout the planet’s oceans. As technology advanced, artificial islands were often used to supplement areas where burgeoning population made space a limited commodity.

Locations

• Armattin University
• Cavern of Our Legacy
  • Seat of Power for the Elders. Island of Miswella
• Jungle Island where the Separatists are based.

History

The Ancient Alliance (or just Alliance to Peppalexa) was formed in response to incursions of these aliens into normal space, which caused significant damage to subspace. A massive quadrant spanning war took place between the Alliance and these aliens that lasted for at least 200 years. The temporal accident took place roughly thirty years before the last known Menthar colony was destroyed.

Ancient Alliance records indicate that the Peppalexans had a dominant culture that supported trade and exchange with the rest of the Alliance but was, in a word, lackadaisical. Much of the members of that dominant culture seem to have spend their time pursuing activities that kept them close to or on the homeworld, made use of the natural environment, and cherished the creation of art -- cloud sculpting, tectonic craftwork, and other pastimes that have no direct modern equivalent -- though there was a minority culture that operated in tandem and represented most of the Peppalexans who would travel beyond their homeworld.

This minority culture seems to have had a counter-Federation approach to dealings with aliens: Rather than leaving pre-warp aliens alone to develop on their own, the Peppalexans would directly interfere, helping races to achieve warp travel, technological prowess, and artistic nirvana. The Ancient Alliance seems to have been counted among its number several of the Peppalexa's former "pupils," though how they fared after the Peppalexan homeworld's disappearance is unknown.

However, when the Peppalexan homeworld suddenly appeared in the Piktar System in 2392, the USS Garuda was immediately dispatched to investigate. The homeworld's appearance, which occurred directly on top of a strange stellar phenomenon that orbited the Piktar star but hasn't been seen since the planet's appearance, brings with it the entire homeworld population of Peppalexa -- some several billion individuals -- who will no doubt want to know when they suddenly find themselves.

Description

A Peppalexan individual

Tall with slender bodies, Peppalexans are bipedal with strong legs, though they can walk on all fours to "sprint" for short distances on land. Long tails with fins provide the ability to swim faster. They also have elongated noses, lizard-like eyes, and three long fingers on each hand. Skin flaps and and bio-luminescent hues on their bodies change based on mood.

Physiology

Peppalexans are amphibious and capable of breathing air and water - gills can be seen within neck skin flaps. Their smooth skin exhibits a 'slimy' membrame of which is thick enough to provide minor protection from phasers set on low stun settings. Peppalexans are a cold-blooded species.

Peppalexans are comfortable both in and out of the water, though high humidity environments are strongly preferred. Prolonged time spent in extremely dry environments generally requires a special moisture suit to keep individuals from drying out.

A very small proportion of the population is larger and more ornate, and in the case of the females, able to bear more young. It is difficult to distinguish with certainty in the males, but easy in the females, who are denoted ‘Ooyi’faen’. Normal females are ‘Iiya’fret’. It is an ancestral type that was largely selected against due to overpopulation pressure, before the rise of civilisation.

Culture

• Mestafar council - A scientific body similar to the Daystrom Institute. It once spanned the entire Alliance. Members of the council received the title of “Scion.”
• Council of Elders -philosophers, artists, ambassadors, and thinkers
• Generally egalitarian: all are equal. The councils are more like salons (in the high society sense, without the ‘society’ aspect) -- they’re groups of folks who have spent years and years devoted to something (also, think Ba’ku).
• The Piktar star is referred to as Ooyiin and receives feminine pronouns. Perhaps a reference to mythology or religion?
• Children of Thought / The Uplifted - Prewarp races selected as ‘pupils’ by Peppalexa. They were tutored into a warp-capable species, and some (many?) eventually joined the Alliance. Traditionally, such races are considered to owe the Peppalexa a ‘debt of learning.’
• Traditionally there was a certain amount of status associated with Ooyi’faen females and males suspected of carrying the trait, but in modern society there are a mixture of attitudes, from great respect to dismissal as a primitive holdover.
• Possible Breen Ties - The Breen referred to the planet as the World of Heroes.

Noted language and body language

• Flared skinflaps are something similar to a nod, and may indicate agreement. Rapid movements might indicate agitation. *
• Whistle-like noises are often used as vocal pauses (similar to “umm” or “ah” or “hmm”).
• “Water voice” is a kind of whisper they use to communicate while underwater, similar to the kinds of whistles and clicks that dolphins use. Some words are similar to those spoken with their ‘air voice’, some are very different. They essentially have two languages, with one being a derivative of the other.
• Khuri-Tael’s Gift - Peppalexan equivalent of a Trojan Horse.
• Dependant upon their dialect, some Peppalexans have difficulty with the pronunciation of Federation Standard words, evidenced in the way they say proper names. It is quite probable that both their perception and ability to pronounce the nuances of the spoken language is limited. Those who have been trained as orators, diplomats and debaters - masters of language - have less difficulty.

Customs

• Two names joined by a hyphen. The second name is usually a single syllable and is passed from a master to apprentice during adolescence. Proven leaders of the society are sought out by youth who wish to literally give themselves a strong name. Two syllable (or larger) second names might indicate a lineage involving multiple names combined into one for one reason or another (political marriage, multiple masters,etc.)
• An additional part to the first name, separated by an apostrophe, can indicate certain personal states or ancestries.

Technology

• Weapons: Common energy weapons are chroniton-based plasma weapons. Beams appear to be violet (nearing the ultraviolet range). Other weapons based on other technology likely exist, but are not as widely used.
• Ships: Most of the fleet was away during the accident, so there are only a few ships in orbit. Mostly civilian shuttle-type craft with perhaps one or two larger military ships.
• Defenses: Prototype orbital shield array that uses chroniton particles. Testing the new array is what the Peppalexans believe triggered the accident.

Starfleet Intelligence Files

Known Members

Contemporary

• Kiren-El: Leading researcher at Armattin University. Field specialty of temporal mechanics and chroniton-based technology. Scion of the Mestafar Council.
• Astra-Om: An admiral of the Alliance fleet. Senior most military official. Presumed dead.
• Mola-Ra: Leader of the Council of Elders
• Ula-Ytalo: An Elder of Clouds, one of the great atmospheric sculptors.
• Jhuul-Lan: An Elder of Speech, one of the great orators.
• Yais’lyan-Oora: Separatist physicist. Former pupil of Kiren-El.
• Kohr-Ital: Separatist military leader.
• Vhae-Al: Separatist Lieutenant.

First Kingdom Era

• Virah-Latyi: Her Majesty, Queen of the First Kingdom
• Tru-Dar-Orr: First Minister
• Tura-Fe: Royal Historian
• Je-San: Captain of the Guard
• No-Lahn: Brother of Tru-Dar-Orr
• Meed-Mon: Physician's Apprentice

Appearances

• GRD:
  • The Time Traveling Planet
  • Demons Past