Lumerian

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Lumerian
Four Letter Code	LUME
Federation Status	Member
Planet of Origin	Qularie IV
Encountered	TNG: Man of the People
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N
List of Named Lumerians
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"My mind, your mind, such a simple thing and yet we are so fragile, so susceptible to the weakness of others."

a Lumerian proverb.

The Lumerians are a species of intelligent humanoids with empathic abilities. For the most part they seem to be a peaceful people, dedicated to the advancement of science and the preservation of the Federation.

Home System

• Quadrant: Beta
• Location: Zarvo Tunar Sector (coordinates B23-0003-1296)
• Proper Name: Qularie
• Star: It orbits a class A (White) star
• Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 332 million km
• Companions: It is the 4th of 12 planets in the system
• Moons: It has 3 small moons and 1 large one

Home World

• Proper Name: Qularie IV
• Diameter: 15,259.8 km (9,482 miles)
• Gravity: 0.96 standard gravity with a density of 4.4
• Axial Tilt: 8.8%, with minimal seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 383 days
• Rotational Period: 24.8 hours
• Classification: M
• Surface Water: 56%
• Atmosphere: 1.07% is a standard pressure with 72% nitrogen, 23% oxygen, 5% trace chemicals
• Climate: Mainly a cool temperate planet with large polar caps.
• Terrain: It has numerous fertile plains separated by rugged hills, a few deserts and large mountain ranges.
• Population: Just over 9 billion with another 3 billion on nearby colonies

History

Like many intelligent species they have a convoluted history rife with natural disasters, wars, civil unrest and developmental friction. Regardless they survived these problems to unite as a single cohesive species in 2073.

In 2187 they were admitted to the Federation.

Government

Their government is made up of three different groupings. The first is the Council of Elders, the 2nd is the Council of Hope and the 3rd is the Council of Responsibility.

Council of Elders

The members of this council are selected from amongst the planet’s best educated and most respected individuals. To be considered for membership they must be a minimum of 50 years old and have a recognized history of educational excellence and dedication to continually expand on their knowledge.

Council of Hope

The members of this council are selected from the medical and scientific communities.

Council of Responsibility

The members of this council are selected from the engineering, logistical and development communities.

Description

The Lumerians are a humanoid species, clearly noticeable by their distinctive forehead markings.

Physiology

As with most intelligent humanoid species they have a very complex system with specialized organs, and unique hormones, chemicals and enzymes. They are typical humanoids with most of the physical, mental and biological medical problems that seem to plague most humanoids.

Psychology

For the most part they seem to be fairly well adjusted when it comes to their mental health. They have a modern and advanced system of care and treatment for those members of their society that do become mentally ill.

Unfortunately a small fraction of their society has no problem using their unusual empathic gifts against others, especially members of other species. These individuals are believed to suffer from some form of mental illness or to be devoid of the social morals necessary to prevent such criminal acts.

Empathic Abilities

As a species they are gifted with empathic abilities, but are usually restricted in the use of this empathy to other Lumerians and alien empaths/telepaths. Some Lumerians seem to be able to ritually form a psionic bond with another person, giving him/her the option to "dump" bad feelings and other "mental waste" onto the bond partner. The latter one usually suffers from severely accelerated aging and aggressive behaviour. The ritual is performed with the help of a crystalline stone, that seems to enhance the psionic output of the ritual participants.

Religion

While their do seem to be a few small factions that still cling to old ideas and beliefs most of their population has long since cast these aside in favor of the logical and much more believable facts that have been provided by science.

Mythology

They still have a vast collection of myths, tales and legends but most are seldom ever examined anymore. In fact only a few museums and University archives still maintain and preserve these records.

Society

While they have access to much of the technology and economical advantages available to most Federation member worlds there are still remote areas of their world that are considered to be almost primitive. As well there are still other areas that have not yet been or are awaiting upgrades, improved infrastructure or adequate facilities of many kinds. Things are improving and continue to do so but it will be a long time before all such changes can be implemented on a global scale.

Culture

As a species they have a deep and active interest in many different types of artistic expression. The predominant forms are calming music that lends itself easily to meditation as well as any type or form of artist expression that can be used for the same purpose. This does not mean they do not enjoy or cannot appreciate other types and forms of artistic expression. They can and many of them do.

Customs

The most recognized of their customs is the right to emotional privacy. It is considered unacceptable to actively and with full knowledge attempt to read and divine the emotional state of others. This does not apply to direct family where it is an accepted action, only with strangers and acquaintances. The unavoidable detection of strong emotion or the random detection of any emotion is not considered to be a violation of anyone’s emotional privacy as it was not intentional or as a result of an active and premeditated scan.

Technology

As members of the Federation they participate in many diverse and complex research programs. They also enjoy the benefits of most of the new developments, technologies or breakthroughs that result from these programs.

Economy

Since becoming members of the Federation they have been able to develop a vast and diverse series of long and short term trade deals that has greatly improved the overall quality of life for a vast majority of their population.

Military

They never had much in the way of military forces, merely a well-trained and heavily equipped force of quasi-military who act more like a police force than anything else. Since becoming a member of the Federation this force has not changed but a small fraction of their population has joined Star Fleet. Even fewer have elected to join the Federations Marine force.

Federation Intelligence Files

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand or feel the emotions of another being.

Some humanoids have extrasensory empathy. A Human-Betazoid hybrid is a known example of such empathy, as are the Lumerian, Napean, and presumably, Deltan people.

Inaprovaline

In 2369, Dr. Beverley Crusher administered forty ccs of inaprovaline to 93 year-old Sev Maylor, the mother of Lumerian Ambassador Ves Alkar. It failed to revive the elderly woman, who was pronounced dead in their quarters.

Autopsy

In 2369, Doctor Beverly Crusher asked Captain Jean-Luc Picard to persuade Ambassador Ves Alkar to allow her to perform an autopsy on Sev Maylor, having rejected Crusher's initial request to do so under the claim that Lumerian custom forbids it. Although Picard initially refused since there was no proof that whatever had killed Maylor could after the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, he permitted Crusher to proceed after Deanna Troi began to suffer the same symptoms as Maylor.

Sev Maylor

Sev Maylor was a Lumerian woman who accompanied Ves Alkar when he arrived on the USS Enterprise-D in 2369.

Alkar introduced Maylor as his mother, but in reality she was a female companion that he used to store his unpleasant and hateful thoughts in her mind, so his mind could remain pure, helping him mediate disputes. This caused rapid aging in the victim, followed by premature death. Maylor transported onto the Enterprise-D with him and immediately took a dislike to Deanna Troi and insulted her, believing Alkar would replace her with Troi. Shortly afterwards, Maylor died.

During the autopsy, Dr. Crusher determined that Maylor was not Alkar's mother, and that she was only 30 years old; Alkar had previously claimed that the woman was 93. This helped to uncover Alkar's horrible deed and save the life of Troi, who would have become his next victim.

Jarth

Jarth was an Lumerian assistant to Ves Alkar, a Federation Mediator.

In 2369, Jarth accompanied Ves Alkar to the Rekag system to mediate a civil war. He was unaware that Alkar was using females as "vessels" to deposit his evil and dark thoughts so that his mind could remain sharp and pure. This process killed the female vessels.

Liva

Liva was an Lumerian aide to Ves Alkar, a Federation Mediator.

Liva assisted Ves Alkar during the mediations in the Rekag system. Ves Alkar used women to transfer his dark and hateful emotions into their brains, in order to make his mind pure for his negotiations. This process caused premature aging and death.

Liva almost became one of his victims. Believing Deanna Troi, whom he had infected previously, was dead, he began a funeral meditation with Liva in order to infect her. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, aware of his intentions, beamed Liva away, leaving Alkar alone. He was flooded with his evil thoughts that he normally transferred to others, and he died.

Ves Alkar

Ambassador Ves Alkar was a Lumerian representative for the Federation.

In his youth, Alkar discovered that he had the ability to telepathically channel his darker impulses and negative emotions into other people, granting him unusual clarity of thought and leaving him free of distractions. This intense focus and the self-confidence it brought him made Alkar well-suited for a career as a diplomat.

But Alkar's success came at a cost. Maintaining his perfect peace of mind required him to establish a telepathic link with a "receptacle," a person who would serve as a vessel for all of Alkar's unwanted thoughts and emotions. The ideal candidate was another member of Alkar's species, as all Lumerians possessed some degree of telepathic ability, although other emphatic races could also serve as substitutes.

Being the recipient of Alkar's "psychic waste" had a number of detrimental effects. His victims underwent radical changes in personality, the result of changes in their brain chemistry triggered by increased levels of neurotransmitters. They also became sexually aggressive, particularly regarding Alkar himself; they developed an obsessive fixation with him, could not bear to be apart from him for any length of time, and treated him very possessively, acting with hostility and even physical violence toward those whom they believed might "take" Alkar away from them. The most pronounced effect, however, was their greatly accelerated aging. Due to the terrible strain upon their bodies and minds, most of Alkar's receptacles survived for only a few years – some even less – and in the case of non-Lumerians, that length of time was shortened to a matter of days. When a receptacle inevitably died, Alkar would select another under the pretense of performing the Lumerian funeral meditation for the deceased person. Sharing this ritual with another person then allowed Alkar to establish a new telepathic link with them.

In 2369, Alkar was called upon to mediate a dispute in the Rekag star system. When his current receptacle, Sev Maylor, died – he had introduced her as his mother to explain her presence with him, although she was really a thirty-year-old woman – he turned to Deanna Troi to serve as the new vessel for his negative emotions. When his actions were discovered by Troi's shipmates, Alkar displayed no remorse and justified his actions by pointing out the services he performed for others as a mediator, forcing Captain Picard and Worf to leave the planet while he continued his work.

In an attempt to save Troi's life, Dr. Crusher was able to place her in a death-like coma, forcing Alkar to seek out someone else. He tried to use his aide Liva, but as Alkar was preparing to transfer his negative energy after severing his bond with Troi, Picard beamed Liva away. Overburdened by the emotions that he had long denied to himself, Alkar aged rapidly and died in a few moments.

Sources

Both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta were used as references as well as the following TV episode, TNG: Man of the People. )

Content from this article may have
come partially, or entirely from
 Memory Alpha

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