Prelian

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Prelian
Four Letter Code	PREL
Federation Status	Neutral
Planet of Origin	Prelion, in the Par'tha Expanse region, Beta Quadrant
Encountered	ATL: "Hidden Hand"
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N-
List of Named Prelians
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"Knowledge is worth more than life."

a Prelian saying.

The Prelian are a species that both love knowledge and the debate of that knowledge. It is the cornerstone of their very existence. The need to understand, to correct, tweak and putter with something until it has been perfected seems to be the essence of their society.

Home System

• Quadrant: Beta
• Location: Freeworlds Region Sector (coordinates B30-0001-1295)
• Proper Name: Prelion system in the Par'tha Expanse region
• Star: It orbits a binary pair, A being a Main Sequence Type K (Orange) star, B being a Type F (Yellow-White) dwarf star
• Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 39 million km
• Companions: It is the 5th of 8 planets in the system
• Moons: it has 2 moons.

Home World

• Proper Name: Prelion
• Diameter: 13,990 km (8,693 miles)
• Gravity: 1.00 standard gravity with a density of 4.9
• Axial Tilt: 7.7%, with minimal seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 372 days
• Rotational Period: 23.4 hours
• Classification: M
• Surface Water: 53%
• Atmosphere: 0.98% is a standard pressure with 73% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 2% trace chemicals
• Climate: Mainly temperate planet, with a semi-tropical zone at the equator.
• Terrain: It has many hilly zones covered in rock, dense forests or grasslands with a few massive mountain ranges.
• Population: 5.7 billion on planet, hundreds of thousands off-world

History

They have had a relatively peaceful history with no wars, internal strife, revolutions or civil upheavals. They lived in harmony with one another, enjoyed spirited debates on the various sciences, areas of study and the discovery of each and every new piece of data. As time passed these debates became more and more popular both as a teaching aid and as a means of digging for the truth. While they often do get very spirited, none have ever resulted in violence.

They advanced at a slow but steady pace, more so due to the need to perfect each and every new discovery before they would proceed on to the search for something new. This has created a market for just about everything they build and boosted both their economic power and their reputation in this region of space.

Eventually they developed the technology to study space and learned they were not alone. This sparked a frenzy of new study and technological breakthroughs that got them into space in less than 8 years. They also learned that space could be very dangerous; they needed ships and weapons to protect them from other species.

Fortunately for them they were able to develop and build a small but effective fleet before the Valcarian and Caraadian empires even knew they existed. They also met and became members of a union of species dedicated to their mutual support and freedom. This has enabled them to grow and maintain their independence.

Government

The Prelion system lies quite a few light years outside of the Expanse Sector, well within the Freeworlds Region. For now, the Prelian are a free race to do as they please and interact with whichever species they desire, even though they are an active member of the Freeworlds Council.

They have a unified independent Global Confederation which also includes representatives from all of their colonies.

Description

The Prelian are a humanoid race standing slightly shorter than the average human, at about 162 cm tall, and are fairly stocky. Their skin is a dark bluish-grey color, sometimes appearing as a very dark and washed out mauve. Their hair is always black, as are their eyes. Prelian have a snout-like protuberance on their faces, which many say make them resemble a cross between a human and a mole. They even have very short whiskers that add to the effect. Many Prelian move with a slight hunch.

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.

Every member of the species seems to have the genetic traits that indicate the presence of an eidetic memory. However in their case it does not seem to be as broad based as it would in most species. As a result most experts believe that their form of eidetic memory may be a unique development, one that ensures that each individual can become an expert in a different field of knowledge or skills.

Psychology

For the most part they tend to be very dedicated and can be very single minded when in the pursuit of some new form of knowledge. This can easily become an obsessive behavior. It can also result in their becoming disassociated with the world around them and with reality.

Religion

They have no religion unless it is the pursuit of new knowledge. They have always been a practical people, one that believed in logic and the need to understand everything around them. As a result they filtered out any quasi-religious notions or beliefs over 1,800 years ago.

Mythology

If they ever had any they have been deemed illogical and allowed to vanish into the void. No records remain and that in itself would be considered unusual for a people so determined to compile, document and record everything they learn and discover. However when acquiring new data or knowledge from other species and cultures this and religion seems to be the only two fields of knowledge that does not interest them in any way. If they do record it, it is as a side record of the alien species culture.

Society

Every community on their homeworld and colonies are always laid out in logical, precise patterns that ensure that everyone has access to medical, recreational, educational and utilities facilities and services. In the center of every community is their central library and the capitol city has the largest such library in the Expanse. All of their communities are extremely clean but also very bland. No effort has been put into making anything interesting, simply efficient and practical.

Crime is almost unheard of as is poverty and everyone has access to all services, opportunities and chances for advancement. On the whole they are a happy people, eager for new knowledge and experiences that will result in new knowledge.

Prelian fashion varies widely and often depends upon the tastes of the individual. Most clothing however is very decorative. One would be hard pressed to find a Prelian-designed outfit that did not have some type of pattern in the material, even subtly.

Culture

While they do appreciate many different forms of artistic expression and have a limited number of citizens who endeavour to produce their own creative works it is knowledge in all its forms that they truly appreciate. As a result music, visual art forms and other means of creative expression always seem to take a back seat their desire to learn new things.

Jarbaron Library

Prelian culture's biggest asset is their peoples' genetic disposition towards organization, storage and retrieval. The Jarbaron Library on Prelion is the most extensive cataloguing facility in the Par'tha Expanse, and probably would rival anything the Federation had to compare to it. It is the size of a small city, and public transportation exists within the building as a courtesy for its patrons. Every member of the species has the potential to be an expert in a specific field of study, whether it contributes to society as a whole or purely for recreation. This would be the result of their genetic disposition towards an eidetic memory.

Customs

Inure

Their most universal and best known custom is the establishment of Inure, which is when a member of their society has proven their level of knowledge and have been granted the title of Specialist. At this time they are considered to be a full citizen with all the rights and privileges associated with such a position.

The Debate

This is probably the one thing they are best known for and in many ways the one thing that most confuses other species. Any time a group of experts get together to discuss or argue any aspect of any field of knowledge it turns into a massive public spectator’s event. Crowds will watch as it is televised, or sit eagerly in the stands of massive halls and take notes, arguing and discussing every aspect of the debate with anyone and everyone around them.

Technology

Prelian technology is, for the most part, on par with that of the Federation, although it would require some effort to integrate the two alien forms of technology. Part of this is because they will study, examine and experiment with every new device and form of technology until they have perfected it and made it the best it possibly could be. However this often makes them more complicated than they need to be for alien cultures. As a result they do excel technologically at the storage, transmission and retrieval of data.

Economy

They have a well-developed trade system with numerous species and over a large area. This is partially to ensure that any shortfalls from any species can be easily made up by others but more so because they desire information and by having trade contracts with as many different species as possible increases their ability to acquire more new and interesting bits of knowledge.

Military

While they never needed any military forces on their own world for use among their own people they are intelligent enough that once they acquired the technology that allowed them to communicate and listen to sub-space messages they realized that they would need one if they were going to be able to retain their freedom.

The development of this defensive force did run into a number of different problems. One of which was their natural, some would say genetic, aversion to aggression and violence. As a result they eventually settled on 5 different classes of warships but each one has extensive AI systems which can be governed by the crew. They also have a number of automated repair systems and between both of these systems they can man their ships with a third of the people they would normally need.

Added to this is the fact that the Prelian have few colonies outside of their home system. They quickly realized it would be almost impossible for them to protect them as their fleet is no match for the Imperial arm of the Valcarians or Caraadians fleets. In fact it is unlikely that they would be able to stop either of them if they did decide to invade.

Federation Intelligence Files

Members of this species were encountered by the crew of the USS Atlantis on an away mission to Urlista Station in the Aelann system on 238207.26

The Prelian have existed since before the coming of the Valcarians, or even the Caraadians, to the Expanse.

Sources

This is an original Starbase 118 species created by the crew of the USS Atlantis.