Aurelian

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Aurelian
Four Letter Code	AURE
Federation Status	Member
Planet of Origin	Aurelia
Encountered	TAS: Yesteryear
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N (very little space tech)
List of Named Aurelians
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Name

• Proper Name: Aurelian
• Pronunciation: Aure'Lian

Home System

• Quadrant: Alpha
• Location: Rigitus Sector (coordinates A28-0002-1302)
• Proper Name: Aure
• Pronunciation: Aure
• Star: It orbits a class K (Orange) star
• Distance from Star: it's orbit is approximately 232 million km
• Companions: 4 other planets. It is the 3rd planet in the system

Home World

• Proper Name: Aurelia
• Pronunciation: Aure'Lia
• Diameter: 11,027 km (6,892 miles)
• Gravity: 0.91 standard gravity with a density of 5.8
• Axial Tilt: 18.4%, average seasonal changes, though winters are slightly less intense than Earth.
• Orbital Period: 402 days
• Rotational Period: 31 hours
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 69%
  • Atmosphere: 1.12% is a standard pressure with 75% nitrogen, 24% oxygen, 1% argon
  • Climate: Warm or hot weather, mild winters, tropical at the equator.
  • Population: Just over 950 million

History

The Aurelians are a peaceful people who evolved from large migratory birds. They have never had any recorded acts of aggression between tribes. In fact, they are well known for their willingness to help not only anyone of their own species but others as well.

Over time they developed a rich culture and changed from a migratory people to one with cities. These cities are composed mostly of huge, lofty towers that soar into the sky high above the planet's surface.

They knew about the existence of other races living in the depths of space long before they made first contact. They had a number of very advanced observatories as well as excellent communications abilities.

Their first contact with an alien race was with the Orions. Fortunately, they realized who they were dealing with before they could get a stranglehold on their planet. An emergency council of elders communicated in secret and determined they needed assistance. A brief discussion finally selected the Vulcans as the species they would contact and ask for aid.

As a result of this, the Federation stepped in and put a halt to the activities of the Orions. However, this was not before more than two hundred thousand Aurelians had been taken and sold into slavery. Many of these were rescued and returned to their homeworld but tens of thousands were never found.

The Aurelians were distressed by this but were determined not to allow it to affect their way of life. After much discussion and conferences with a select group of diplomats from the Federation, they requested permission to join with the following conditions.

The Federation would build a space station to orbit their world. They would pay for it but it was to be manned and controlled by either Federation or Starfleet personnel. This station would act as a meeting place for contact between their people and visitors to their world. It would also be the major location for the transference of cargos to and from the planet below.

Government

They do not have a real central government. Flocks/tribes are traditionally governed by the oldest living female, and it's pretty new for it to be different. However, in recent generations, some flocks have shifted their traditions a little bit. Usually, it's still the oldest female. But some flock leaders are the oldest Aurelian suited for leading regardless of gender, and other flocks have slightly younger women leading instead. Aurelian society overall is still extremely matriarchal, but the changes have become a very welcome shift in perspectives.

There are 250 of these flock/tribes, each with its own area. In many cases, the center of each flock/tribe area has a large city. Each leader controls and makes the rules for their own flock/tribe. When needed these leaders will meet and confer in order to reach a solution to the problem. Due to the advanced ages of most of these elders, this is normally done by the use of their advanced communication devices.

Unified Records and Proposals Department

This unusual government organization could be considered to technically be the only form of centralized government on the planet. Located in the largest city on the planet, Alurian, it occupies the largest building on the planet. Here every single record of every single political discussion, proposal, investigation, committee, decision, and cooperative effort between each and every single flock is kept and stored for future use. It is also something that holds a very large degree of Federation archival information.

Description

Aurelians are a bipedal, avian race that stands taller than most humans. The most common feather colors are many variations of yellow, gold, an eggshell color of off-white, and brown. It's pretty common for feather patterns to include multiple colors mixed in. But other color variations while a lot rarer do live in specific flock lands. (i.e. flocks with bright feather coloration such as reds, oranges, bright greens, and blues, with multi-colored wings or feathers on their bodies. Or Aurelians who have tendencies toward melanistic, sleek, pure black traits including the feathers, skin under the feathers, feet, and on the opposite spectrum have albino traits.) Their eye colors are as diverse as humanoid eye colors. While they resemble birds, the Aurelians have humanoid arms and legs and are perfectly capable of using devices like a tricorder. Though, they have three fingers and a thumb on each hand, as opposed to the common five-digit setup. And most have large wings.

There are also subgroups of Aurelians that are flightless and have no wings but are otherwise still recognizably Aurelians in all other ways. They are more likely to wear more clothes as it is easier for them to do so.

With or without wings, since they are fully covered in feathers, they generally don't wear typical clothing outside of necessity or for a job like Starfleet which requires some version of the uniform on duty. At most, they may wear light breezy fabrics tied around the waist or otherwise practical pieces like belts and harnesses. For the more spiritual types, sometimes there are unintrusive accessories like bracelets, gauntlets, gloves, or very simple necklaces. Wearing full, heavy outfits is seen as a semi-quirky habit for an Aurelian to practice outside of those things.

Physiology

General-

Like birds, they have hollow bones but have evolved past the stage in which flight was possible for all of their species. However, gliding is still possible by most members of the species even the elderly. (save for, of course, the Aurelians without wings. But they have their own technological means of reaching the sky if they so desire to. It's not a hindrance, simply a respected physical difference.)

For the Aurelians with wings, due to their increased size due to evolution, flying for too long puts a strain on the body to sustain flight. For the young and old of the species, it can be too physically draining to fly. However, most healthy adults can fly under their own power. Just not for extreme lengths of time as they use to do when they were still migratory people.

It is very common for Aurelians to stand 7 feet (2.1m) tall or more, and that's without the addition of their head feather height. The women are usually a little bit taller than the men, if only by a little bit. This isn't the case for everyone, there are flocks that are naturally shorter, as well as Aurelians who just end up on the short side. But they are ridiculously tall naturally.

Reproductive physiology-

As you could expect from a race of beings who evolved from birds, they hatch from eggs. It's extremely common to have at least two eggs in a clutch, sometimes up to four, and incidentally slightly less common to only have one at a time if they're having children at all.

Most flocks regardless of feather colorations are not sexually dimorphic (i.e. They don't have overly obvious external characteristics that would differentiate males from females.) Given their choice not to wear clothes unless necessary in most cases, it can be especially hard to tell at face value. But there are a small few flocks whose feathers are different colors depending on the chromosomes, and usually, the men are a little more decorative in the feathers in those cases. But given that in recent years more flocks have been intermingling with others, and there have always been exceptions, even that can be confusing. They are aware of this and aren't bothered when misgendered up front so long as their corrections following it are respected.

Other-

They have exceptional eyesight but many flocks have poor hearing that gets worse with age. Some flocks hear better than others for adaptation reasons, this is especially so in the tropical regions due to the amount of sound that occurs in the tropics. Otherwise, their physiology is a rough meld of avian and humanoid features.

There are two variations of eyes that Aurelians could have. The eyes with visible pupils, and the eyes without visible pupils. You're more likely to see Aurelians with the latter. Which appear to be all iris. The ones with visible pupils have what is considered 'typical' eye appearance with the whites of the eyes and the black pupil in the center. The visibility of the pupil is a flock-specific adaptation used in certain nonverbal communications within the flocks that have them.

Despite the iffy hearing, one thing most Aurelians have kept through their evolutions is the existence of the paratympanic vitali organ. A middle-ear sensory organ that allows them to pick up on subtle weather shifts. If it's going to rain, or snow, or something of that nature, if it hasn't been picked up on a weather readout, they will likely know that it's going to rain quite a while before most other people know because of feeling the atmospheric shifts that come with it.

They do not have sweat glands, and cool down by fluffing up the feathers a bit, opening their wings (when applicable) to spread their feathers, and also what appears to be panting, but is really called "fluttering". Which is to say they flutter their neck muscles to promote heat loss. They do also stay hydrated which helps.

Because they don't have teeth, or lips to shape words with, they don't speak the same way many humanoids do. Like birds from various worlds, they have a vocal device called a syrinx. A y-shaped muscular structure in their throats where the windpipe meets their lungs. It is more advanced and evolved in Aurelians than it is in average birds, which has allowed for their advanced level of communication and speech, and ability to speak non-Aurelian languages. They almost always end up with unique "bird-like" accents as a result. Even those who choose to try and tone that down will often still have a lingering "bird voice" sometimes. But a really nice bonus to this vocal device is that they can mimic sounds very accurately in many situations. Which is very fun, and their musical abilities in that area are usually pretty good, if unique.

Due to cooperation and their very well-kept planet, they don't suffer a whole lot of extreme illnesses or medical issues, and so have evolved in such a way that it is the norm for Aurelians to live for a good few hundred years, the record for longest-lived Aurelian was aged in the low 500s, but most often it's in the 400s age range.

Psychology

As a species, they tend to suffer very little in the way of mental illnesses. This may be partially due to the lack of pollution in their world or the long-standing cultural tradition of close-knit co-operation between all members of the species, not just the close family or fellow flock/tribe members. Because of this ability to communicate, and cooperate, (and at least partially due to their spiritual identities), they have developed a very good sense of intuition.

They have a tendency toward a minor form of ESP. Mostly it's just an adaptation that allows them to better communicate with one another as their facial expressions are much subtler with a beak and feathers. So being able to get a slight feel for someone's mood or energy helps. It also makes them particularly good at getting a read on nature in their environments. It's not hard for most to look at a plant and know when there's something wrong with it. They interpret the ESP energy with the use of very practiced intuition and mindfulness. Sometimes they do it with awareness because it can be useful. Other times it's very passive and they'll say things that unexpectedly resonate in a way that makes one think there's mind or emotion reading going on. To be clear, it is neither telepathy nor true empathic ability. They will be the first to admit that things are more complex than that and that sometimes their interpretations are wrong. But they might also get an accurate impression of someone very quickly and have a surprising level of understanding in turn.

Religion

Most believe in a gigantic mystic bird of living flames. They call Her the Pho'Nix and She was their creator who shaped the heavens and created the stars and planets. Every city has a large statue carved from a single piece of A'urin crystal standing in the center of the city with 6 fires burning around it that are never allowed to go out, each fire is representative of something that helps keep their society together and that is why those fires in particular are not allowed to go out. Many Aurelians also believe in the concept of the soul's rebirth, and something akin to karma. Every fire eventually burns out, but like the Pho'nix, you can rise again stronger and brighter than before, holding more knowledge and understanding in your new aspect. No one is ever truly beyond hope, or above the ability to learn from their actions and change. Sometimes it just takes multiple lives to achieve it. Eventually, those spirits will be rebirthed back as an Aurelian to rest and be cared for, in much the same way as the Pho'nix rests on Aurelia between creations.

Very notably most Aurelians refer to the Pho'nix with She/Her identifiers. This is a matriarchal society, and as such their creator being is leaned in feminine terms to most. Alternatively, people have been known to use a They/Them pronoun or their flock language form of a neutral pronoun otherwise. In some cases It/It's is also used depending on a person's full view of the Pho'nix. Regardless, it's very rare to hear an Aurelian refer to the Pho'nix as He. It's not seen as inherently wrong. The masculine is an aspect of the Pho'nix's rebirths. But it will catch them off guard and they likely won't instantly understand that the Pho'nix is being referenced without clarification of that aspect first.

It's not an organized religion, it is simply a strong sense of spirituality that many people share in some capacity. Even those that don't fully believe it in the same way, hold great respect for it and vice versa. The spiritual stories that mark the Pho'nix as the real creator of their world and the stories that mark the Pho'nix as more of an allegory or a metaphor are held with the same respect and reverence. Much like anyone else, they don't know everything. So everything has merit and deserves the respect of being considered.

Mythology

According to many of the oldest legends their people were created by a huge bird made of nothing but fire. This creature shaped the world and gave birth to the stars and when it wished to rest in between the creation of new stellar objects it would return to Aurelia to sleep.

There are a fair amount of flocks who believe the resting cycle has the Pho'nix in something of a literal Aurelian rebirth state when She rests. The cosmos are timeless. Three hundred years as an Aurelian to rest is the blink of an eye in the grand scheme. There are signs for what various flocks might consider signs of such a rebirth, but they are speculation and they don't think it's time for one of Her rest cycles for a long while yet. As it stands because they recognize the concept as a resting cycle, they would hardly treat Her differently than anyone else even if they did know. A time of rest would be a time of love and not a time of heightened responsibility for such a being.

They do also have a number of stories and myths about the many different aspects of rebirths from ash that the Pho'nix has gone through to help create their world and others prior to them being Aurelians. And given that their society started with spoken stories and performances before even developing a written language, there are different means of reciting the Aspect stories depending on the tone they want to convey. A story of one event can sound like a different story depending on who tells it.

Known idioms/phrases based from some of said mythos:

• "To take on lightning." Means to go through something painful, or difficult and come into a new aspect of self in the aftermath. Relates to one of their more popular Pho'nix stories in which the Pho'nix reforms for the first time and takes on/becomes lightning in a very dramatic fashion.
• "Strike the ground and blaze the forward path." There are other similar variations of the phrase. It's also related to the lightning rebirth mythos, and it means something like "Kick its ass, you got this."

Society

They are very close-knit people regardless of the flock/tribe that each of them belongs to. It is not unknown for members of a flock/tribe to know by sight every single member of their own flock/tribe even if they number in the hundreds of thousands. This is because as a society they place a high value on love, compassion, forgiveness, and family; including one's chosen family through friendship bonds. They also encourage one's emotions to be expressed without a cultural reprimand, so long as harmful actions taken during moments of high negative emotions are held accountable after the fact.

A very obvious benefit is the Aurelians have never had issues with LGBTQ+ topics. All relationships regardless of the make of the individuals in them are simply seen as love bonds. As a result, Aurelians don't have to come out as anything unless they want to. It varies from flock to flock, but there aren't necessarily words for these things because of that factor. And the flocks that do have those identifiers use them with complete respect and choice of the ones using them. (Since joining the federation there are a number of Aurelians who feel connections to off-world identifiers.) Similarly, polyamorous relations are fairly common. Transgender or nonbinary identities have always existed on Aurelia, and they've always had loving terms for them, as well as unique Aurelian pronouns for those in the nonbinary categories. But there has also been a huge adoption of the Standard they/them pronouns, and some others as well. You would be hard-pressed to find an Aurelian who has a problem with any of it.

They are surprisingly open and loving toward others despite the fact that their planet isn't a big tourist attraction, and they don't leave Aurelia much. They're social beings and they like people so long as those people are respectful. They're also very compassionate and understanding and it makes them very prone to easy forgiveness whether or not someone "deserves" that forgiveness. Some Aurelians, and flock sub-cultures are more introverted and selective about this, and others are over-affectionate about it. Regardless they are kind, cordial, and mostly willing to share their cultures, and help out within their own personal boundaries. They are often found to be very likable, if odd, because of it.

They are also an extremely accommodating and accessible society. Flightless visitors have access to the places they need to go as easily as the flighted Aurelians do. This is in large part with the help and idea sharing from the flightless Aurelians, and they are quite proud of everyone's co-operation for that.

Aurelians have three points of maturity:

• Between the ages of 12-14 years old is a completed reproductive maturation. But because there's still some brain development happening, they're still considered children and youths. The adults do their best to give education on such things so as to save a child the stress of accidentally ending up in an early parenthood situation. It's generally an extremely effective education, and so that problem is rare, thankfully.
• Age 16-17 is about when the brain becomes fully developed. While they could consider this full adulthood, they don't. It doesn't feel right to consider a teenager an adult. Because while their brains might be fully developed by this point, they haven't had experience using it with such a capacity. This is social maturity. They are given a lot of extra leeway for the growing pains that come with learning how to be an adult, but it's very much like practice for cultural adulthood. So there is more responsibility given and expected of them as they learn to help keep things sustainable, and in turn, to help them learn how to go through life without too many problems.
• Age 20 is considered Cultural Adulthood. This is when they'd recite family history, and get beak tattoos. There are accommodations for the few who have disabilities or similar struggles, there are ways to culturally become an adult. No one is left behind or without options and compassion to support them all around. But it's still age 20 at the earliest in most flocks. Once they are considered a cultural adult, or the equivalent, they can have official bonding ceremonies with their partner or partners, and they're considered a full adult with the rights, privileges, and consequences therein.

Culture

They have a deep love for music and poetry. Many of them can remember and perform extremely long and complicated songs that tell the story of a flock, family, or their world in general. Some of the more in-depth songs can take a couple of days to perform.

Another unique aspect of their culture is the beak markings or tattoos that indicate the tribe and time of ascension to maturity that all adult Aurelians have.

Something that's often misinterpreted with Aurelians is the idea that they are a monolithic culture. This is incorrect. They do share some traditions (such as the adulthood ceremony, and beak tattoos), they tend to be very helpful and loving, they have a formal language to communicate with others of different flocks easier, and they do look similar to one another in many cases. However, there are also countless sub-cultures, languages, dialects, flock-specific traditions or greetings and behavioral norms, stories, art and music specialties, food preparations, etc. They are never truly offended if someone uses another flock's greeting or behavior toward them. The fact that someone knows an Aurelian and respects them enough to use their greeting means a lot and tells them that they will likely respect theirs the same, but they will explain how it works for them after the fact so that it is corrected and respected as unique to them.

One thing that's common among subcultures is the ability to treat any other Aurelian like they're already good friends when interacting. Even if they've never met, or they've only met once years ago and aren't that close, personally. They're just exceedingly kind people who are, in general, willing to become close at a moment's notice.

Language

There is a common planet-wide language that all Aurelians learn from childhood to be able to speak to anyone on the planet. It's generally referred to as "the formal dialect" or "the formal tongue." But this is something that's learned alongside their own personal flock dialects. So most Aurelians know two or more languages (provided they aren't from a few specific flocks around the city of Alurian, where their flock language is the formal dialect. But even those Aurelians often to know another flock language for one reason or another.) They find this arrangement of having a flock dialect and a formal dialect allows for easy communication between flocks and simultaneously allows individual flocks to keep their language-based cultural aspects intact without issue.

Despite being matriarchal, their formal language is surprisingly non-gendered unless it needs to be for specific identifiers. (Though there are flocks that do have a more gendered layout for personal dialects.) A lot of their means of referencing things are based on intensity, or it is said directly if it has nothing to do with a feeling. And in a good number of languages across the planet, this sticks as a consistency even as grammar and vocabulary differ.

They also have unique physically signed languages to help with the various degrees of hearing problems. Many of which are a little bit theatric in the way they are used. They're very beautiful languages by themselves, and very beautiful communication and language enhancers.

Customs

Every single individual can remember and repeat the entire history of both their family and their flock/tribe. On the day that they reach adulthood, they are called upon to perform both. It is only after they have completed this that they are acknowledged as having fulfilled the requirements needed to become a member of the flock/tribe. This tradition of oral records dates back to long before they learned to read or write.

One of the oldest customs that has survived and is still an important aspect of their culture is the beak markings or tattoos that they receive upon reaching maturity. At this time every adult Aurelian receives a series of tattoos on their beak that proclaim their maturity into adulthood and the name of their tribe of origin. They will also upon forming a mating bond have this indicated as well by the use of tattoos.

Technology

They did not discover space travel but have adapted to living in a universe that includes space travel. They knew that it existed before they joined the federation, it's how they knew to reach out when the Orions were wreaking havoc, and it's likely a pretty big reason they were allowed in the federation despite technically being a 'pre-warp' society at that point.

They are very curious people and take naturally to both the sciences and medical fields. Part of this relates back to their history of peaceful cooperation between tribes and their tradition of keeping important records orally. Because their culture relies very heavily on communication, and because of their poor hearing, they've nearly mastered the art of excellent communication devices and techniques among their people, including hearing devices and a unique physically signed language alongside their spoken languages.

They have nearly fantastical technology to help maintain the eco-friendliness of their world, for forms of record and archive keeping or other science and medical tech, for transportation, and for recreation and fun. As well as very unique ways of building houses with their nearly fantastical things. Humanoids are often surprised by it because they take the fact that they didn't discover space travel at face value among other things. But the real reason they didn't develop their own had a lot less to do with inability and more to do with finding it unnecessary at the time considering they live in a veritable paradise. In general, this does translate to them being somewhat surprised when an Aurelian takes up specialties in starship Engineering if they go off-world as it isn't a common thing for them. But if they wanted to create their own, it wouldn't be outrageously difficult for them to pick up.

Economy

They have a strong planet-wide trade system that is especially effective in times of drought or famine. Not much off-world trade except for their export of A'urin crystals. A clear easily worked with crystal used to make amazing but small crystal statues. Its special ability is the refraction of light into rainbow colors.

Military

They have no military of any kind, not even a planetary police force. This has changed slightly over time with them hiring off worlders to police the small numbers of visitors that they receive.

Federation Intelligence Files

One Aurelian of note is the renown historian Aleek-Om who was one of a very select few allowed to not only learn about the existence of the Guardian of Forever but also travel through it.

For more data see Federation Intelligence file TAS-2242-1425

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