Iridian

			Memory 118

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Iridian
Four Letter Code	IRID
Federation Status	Members
Planet of Origin	Ireane, Iridi System
Encountered	Non-canon
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N-
List of Named Iridians
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The Iridian species is one of some mild renown in certain circles. Most Federation citizens, however, would not know an Iridian from a Terran and, quite frankly, that is just about all the scrutiny they desire.

Name

• Proper Name: Immetri (similar to "human")
• Pronunciation: Ihm-eh-tree
• Catalog / Common Name: Iridian (similar to "terran")
• Pronunciation: EYE-ree-dee-ann

Home System

• Proper Name: Iridi
• Pronunciation: EYE-ree-dee
• Catalog Name: Benke 34J-67
• Quadrant: Beta
• Arity: Trinary
• Orbit: Components B and C orbit around a common center, which, in turn, orbits component A at a distance of approximately 1.6 AUs.
  • Component A: F6 Sub-giant
    • Companions: 5
      • Iridi-A I: B-class, orbiting at 0.5 AUs, 119.34 T-day period, no satellites.
      • Iridi-A II: J-class, orbiting at 1.6 AUs in the L4 ([1]) point of A and (B-C), 1.96 T-year period, 8 satellites.
      • Iridi-A III: A-class, orbiting at 5.7 AUs, 12.61 T-year period, 1 satellite.
      • Iridi-A IV: J-class, orbiting at 10.2 AUs, 33.46 T-year period, 26 satellites.
      • Iridi-A V: R-class, orbiting at 67.3 AUs, 422.03 T-year period, no satellites.
  • Component B: K4 Dwarf
    • Companions: 1
      • Iridi-B I: B-class, orbiting at 0.2 AUs, 61.03 T-day period, no satellites.
  • Component C: K4 Dwarf
    • Companions: 0

Home World

• Proper Name: Ireane
• Pronunciation: EYE-ree-ahn-ee
• Catalog Name: Iridi-A IIf
• Diameter: 10 595 km
• Gravity: 0.83 G
• Semimajor Axis: 3 085 600 km
• Orbital Period: 27.4 T-days
• Rotational Period: 27.4 T-days
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 68%
  • Notes: High salt and mineral content. Detox chemicals and desalination units required for all extended visitors. Breather masks recommended.
  • Atmosphere: Slightly thinner than Earth-Standard, with a higher average humidity and a higher concentration of noble gasses.
  • Climate: Ranges from temperate to tropical, with no real arctic zones. The weather tends towards storms and rapidly shifting tides. There are some mild seasonal shifts, but most climatic changes due to spatial position come from Ireane's orbit around Iridi-A II.
  • Tide Locked: Ireane is tide locked with Iridi-A II, meaning that the same hemisphere of the moon always faces the gas giant. As the moon is still in orbit, both hemispheres do get regular sunlight, but there is a definite tidal cycle associated with the orbital period.

History

The khanates were established because of Ireane's radical weather patterns and the amount of manpower needed for any one family to survive such effectively and efficiently. By pooling resources, the iridians could better ensure their survival as a whole. Shortly before they achieved space flight, the khanates were politely distant towards each other. Trading occurred frequently, but all were aware that Ireane had only so much wood and metal available. Also, while nobody was willing to put their own khanate at risk for another, most had long since given up thoughts of attacking other khanates for their resources. Such actions had led to disaster in their past. Upon gaining access to the stars, the khanates became a good deal friendlier for a while. Long enough, at least, for their space industry to become well-established and inexpensive enough that even a single khanate might support a small fleet of vessels and habitats. After that point, pleasant old rivalries returned, now limited to the financial realm. By the time they developed warp travel and were approached by the United Federation of Planets, the Iridian Federation had already spent a few centuries mucking about their own solar system, establishing habitats and outposts throughout.

Government

Federation. The iridians gather themselves into large familial units referred to as khanates. The nominal leader, or khan, of each unit is elected by all members in good standing and of legal age. These khans then gather into a Grand Conclave, which is headed and maintained by the Principal Khan. The khanates are, for the most part, independent factions that peacefully coexist with each other and their government at large.

Politics

The Iridians are members in good standing of the Federation, although there has been some mild grumbling at having to upgrade the life support and radiation shielding systems on luxury and tourist vessels to meet Federation standards. Only a small number of iridians ever join Starfleet and most that do try to remain on Ireane as much as possible, finding the routine difficulties of living on a starship more than they care to deal with. The Iridian Federation has independent trade agreements with a number of other star systems, and transports move in and out of the system on a daily basis. They have some minor disagreements with nearby systems concerning tourism and solar sailing routes and, as of 238205.27, there has been an ongoing dispute of some importance with several Ferengi businessmen concerning a gambling establishment on an orbital habitat.

Physiology

Physical Characteristics

The average iridian height is around 5'10" (177.8 cm), with a generally elongated body type. Their bodies follow the standard bipedal archetype, with their chief physical differences being slightly elongated limbs and digits, as well as secondary membranes on their eyes and nose that seal when an iridian is submerged or surprised. The only real deviations from the standard bipedal model that abounds in the galaxy is their bone structure, which tends towards 'cages' and 'meshes' instead of tubular bones, and a pair of gills located on either side of the torso just below the rib cage. These gills function best in the salty waters of their home, but any water is technically breathable. Using their gills in 'fresh' water, however, is usually a very good way for an iridian to get very sick, very fast.

Cosmetically, their hair and eye colors tend to be more vibrant than terran-standard, but largely stay within the normal range of 'natural' colors. Dentition more closely resembles that of an aquatic predator than an arboreal omnivore. Molars are small and most teeth are wickedly sharp and easily replaceable. Smiles are nearly always close-lipped. Lastly, the extremely lengthy rotational period means that the iridians do not have any sort of biological day/night sleep cycle. Instead, their circadian rhythm is an eighteen-hour cycle with six hours of sleep followed by twelve hours of useful consciousness.

Body Composition

The high salt and mineral content of their home world has given the iridians themselves a high salt and mineral content. Their bodies contain, on average, three to four times the salts and minerals of a human's body. The minerals stay mainly in their skeletal system, but also laced throughout their soft tissues and other internal systems. Healthy iridian bones have a breaking strength analogous to ceramic-steel alloys. The low gravity of Ireane has allowed their bodies to lengthen a bit, giving them added flexibility, but most of this is lost in higher-gravity environments.

Senses

Iridian senses are largely equivalent to terran-standard (weaker eyes, better ears, others normal), with one notable exception. Living on one moon of several orbiting a gas giant in a trinary system makes their lives quite dependent on the motions of celestial bodies. Somewhere back in the annals of history, an organism developed the ability to distinguish the gravitational pull of the primary star in the system from the 'background gravity' put off by Ireane and Iridi-A II. This ability has, over time, evolved into a more sophisticated sense capable of perceiving the gravitational pull from multiple sources, and is named guruh. This sense is limited by distance and the strength of the gravity field in question, but largely parallels unaided human sight in terms of range. (i.e. From Earth, unaided human sight can perceive Jupiter and Saturn. An iridian's gravity sense would be able to perceive those gas giants with mild difficulty.) The iridians have utilized this sense to track the movements of Iridi-A II's moons and the various other celestial bodies in their system, using them first as a warning for large tides and storms and, later, as navigational beacons for solar ships. It is possible for iridians to detect artificial gravity sources with this sense, but it does not have quite the same /feel/ as a true planet. They liken it to staring into an ultraviolet light, which will eventually give any viewer a nasty headache, and many of them dislike artificial gravity for this very reason.

Resistances

Iridians are used to having to swim or stay underwater for prolonged periods of time and their bodies have grudgingly adapted by shutting down non-vital processes when the air supply becomes limited. Iridians have found that their biochemistry is ill-suited to support most viruses and bacteria from M-class worlds, providing them with a limited resistance to such things. Although, this also means that they are prey to some organisms that other sapients are immune to. Iridians also possess a higher tolerance for radiation than most humanoids due to living in the radiation belt of Iridi-A II.

Vulnerabilities

Some of the minerals laced throughout the iridians' bodies can be adversely affected by certain types of forcefields, most notably the annular confinement field of most Transporters and most selectively-permeable barriers (such as those on shuttlebay entrances or in quarantine labs). Interaction with such forcefields can cause an allergic reaction consisting of mild nausea and numbness of the extremities. The severity of reaction depends on the individual, but it is neither fatal nor seriously debilitating in continuous exposure times of up to five hours. Next, the increased concentration of salts and minerals in an iridian's body has shifted their osmotic balance a fair bit from terran-standard. While capable of drinking fresh water, it will very rapidly throw off their osmotic balance, causing no end of health problems. Lastly, being in or around artificial gravity has a tendency to give some iridians a headache. There are drugs available to both alleviate the symptoms and to dampen the gravity sense, but most iridians eschew the latter and just learn to live with the 'noise', building up a tolerance for it over time.

Physiological Requirements

To survive in the 1G environment standard on Federation starships, iridians follow a daily workout regimen to strengthen their bodies and make moving about easier. Their diet is often the trickiest part of their lives. Just as most non-iridians could not survive on what the iridians consider to be potable water, so is the reverse true. Simple things like replicators and water-based showers have to be programmed with instructions specific to the iridians.

Religion

Most iridians loosely adhere to a form of ancestor worship, although as few still revere the stars themselves as great gods and protectors. Mythology and natural forces still play a prominent role in their lives, especially in their language. Expletives are drawn from Ireane's brutal weather and myths concerning an ancient, ninth moon about Iridi-A II. Lately, there has been a growing epidemic of secularism amongst young iridians, and it is a point of minor contention between the generations.

Society

The members of each khanate are all related by blood or marriage, although they are not necessarily next-of-kin ties. A proper analogy would be that of a very small frontier community where everybody knows everybody else and somewhere along the various family trees, everybody is related (even if it is only a great-grandfather's second cousin on your mother's side). Thus, there are strong social interactions within the khanate and specific traditions and social mores that have developed over the centuries. Because of their close familial ties, iridian custom places the surname before the given name. A physical representation of these community ties is the Y'm'ae Vrd'fy that decorates the back and limbs of every iridian. There is no exact translation for the phrase, but it takes the form of a tattoo that is designed and applied by the community onto the individual. There are many layers of complex meaning to the Y'm'ae Vrd'fy, and the individual never has a say in what goes there. Part of the reason it is on their back is so that they will never even see it on a regular basis. It is meant for the community, not the individual.

Culture

Taboos

Stemming from both the chaotic nature of life on Ireane, as well as their historical belief and acknowledgment that each khanate must support itself, the iridians have developed very strict and well-defined property laws, specifically detailing the fine line between personal and communal property and the uses thereof. In their culture, stealing is considered one of the greatest insults, be it the person stealing communal property, or the community stealing personal property. Similarly offensive crimes are those of lying (especially to the detriment of the community), making a crisis situation worse (by distracting those in it, sowing misinformation, and otherwise making the community less efficient), and not assisting others during a crisis. Enemies who have sworn to hunt each other to the ends of the earth will freely aid one another in the middle of a fierce storm. An iridian simply does not refuse to offer their hand to another who is in danger, nor would they refuse such a hand offered to them.

Technology

The iridians have some of the most developed and still-functioning solar sail technology in their sector. With three sources of power in the system, solar sail astrogation is an art both alive and well. While they possess the means to develop artificial gravity fields - compact, efficient units donated by the Federation that are far superior to anything home-brewed - the iridians as a whole prefer not to use them any more than necessary. Their idea of radiation shielding is also considered below Federation standards. If any of their pre-Federation technology should be lauded, it should be their search and rescue and disaster recovery equipment, or perhaps the building techniques that allow their edifices to withstand Ireane's fluctuating climate.

Economy

The Iridian Federation's chief sources of intersystem income are tourism and researchers. Admittedly, Ireane itself isn't exactly a paradise world, but it does have its perks, just like any other world. There is a thriving solar sailing element to the tourism trade, allowing a lot of races to 'get back to their roots' in a superficial fashion. The Iridi system plays host to any number of research facilities examining the intricacies of a trinary system, solar phenomenon, and effects of such on an inhabited world.

Military

The Iridian Federation maintains a small fleet of patrol and search and rescue craft that keep impulse-capable vessels out of the solar sailing lanes and vice versa. Occasionally, they are called upon when a solar ship breaks, stranding its passengers, but mostly they are little more than glorified traffic cops.