[Just my interpretation -A]
T h e L y r a e n R a c e
1. Physiology 4. Culture
2. Homeworld 5. Psychology
3. Civilisation & history 6. Empire and Colonies
1 . P h y s i o l o g y
Lyreans are sexually dimorphic catlike aliens resembling Terran
lynxes. The males of this species are the larger of the two sexes,
some standing nearly 210cm tall when standing erect. Females are
shorter, standing just under 170cm. Females are faster and the
males stronger. Lyraen hands have four clawed fingers and a stubby
thumb, also clawed.
The fur which covers the body thickly is usually red-gold, but
black or spotted individuals are not uncommon. Albinos are rare.
Lyraens have stubby tails, black tufts at the end of pointed ears
and 'sideburns' of hair, giving them the appearance of lynxes. Eyes
are gold, green or very rarely, violet with circular pupils and
wide irises.
Lyraens are partially omnivorous, capable of eating raw or cooked
meat, fruits, fish and well-cooked root vegetables. They cannot
digest cellulose. Dentition is consistent with this - lyraens have
four elongated canines, eight inscisors, ten carnassials and four or
six carnassial-molars. Lyreans have difficulty pronouncing sibilants
("s", "ss") and usually substitute something like the Russian "Cz".
The senses are highly acute as with most hunting feline races,
particularly hearing. Lyraen colour vision is not well-developed, they
have difficulty distinguishing subtle shades at the far ends of the
visible spectrum.
Lyraen females have four mammae and give birth to two kits after a
seven month gestation. Both sexes care for the young. Sexual maturity
is at thirteen years, legal seniority at sixteen. Lyraens generally
live for around 60 years naturally and 150 years with rejuvenation
treatment.
2 . H o m e w o r l d
The Lyrean homeworld Czyrath orbits the twin-star system of
Beta-Lyrae at a distance of 0.97 AU. It has two small dense moons
invisible from the surface.
B-Lyrae I is a vast red giant, and orbiting this with great angular
velocity is B-Lyrae II, a bright yellow type G sun similar to Sol. Due
to the smaller sun's rapid revolution, Czyrath is never in shadow
from the smaller sun for more than one complete day in every ten.
Czyrath has two large continents; the polar and temperate Southern
continent and the tropical-temperate Nothern land mass. The seat of
government is placed on the Southern continent at the site of the
earliest recorded civilised settlement. Gravity is similar to Terra
at 1.08 of a standard Gee.
Two major orbital cities exist about Czyrath: qiJaor Habitation and
Ranath Base, the former is primarily habitation as the name
suggests, and the latter is mainly military and commercial.
Federation space traffic is tolerated but not encouraged.
There exists the hulk of an unnamed kzinti military outpost in the
asteroid belt. This is being rebuilt by the Lyreans with some
distaste.
3 . C i v i l i s a t i o n & H i s t o r y
The Lyraens evolved from cats hunting in the Southern snow wastes
and tundra of Czyrath. Moving Northwards, these pre-Lyreans
developed a bipedal stance to see above the tall stout grasses of
the Southern plains and a stubby half-opposable thumb which aided
in traversing the treacherous ravines of this area.
From a nomadic existence in the Southern lands, a climatic shift of
the world prompted the development of animal husbandry and
eventually small-scale agriculture around the South Continent
deltas. Large ziggurats of a style oddly familiar to all visiting
Terrans still remain from this time, 6000 years ago.
A small group of Lyraens made the dangerous crossing to the
Northern continent sometime within the next 500 years, and settled
as the ice retreated once more making return impossble. Over time
this sundered Northern group diverged from the Southern Lyreans in
culture and appearance.
Lyraen religion is animist and vibrant. The belief is simple, every
object from a quark upwards has an associated spirit which makes its
nature apparent with increasing complexity. These spirits are to be
treated with reverance and respect, but they are not worshipped per se.
Lyraens do not easily tolerate imported religions, they usually dismiss
them as "not reflecting the nature of the universe". Lyraens have no
concept of heaven or hell, but the concept of the sundering and
dissolution of spirit to simpler forms is well-known and used in many
curses and imprecations.
The industrial revolution occured on the Northern continent some 1000
years later, but to a far lesser extent than on Terra. As such, Czyrath
still has most of its natural resources intact and some areas, for
example the deep, vegetated and misty Tsilhe Gorges are still amongst
the most breathtaking sights in the galaxy.
The Lyraen race was on the verge of interplanetary flight when an
outrider from the expansionist Kzinti Patriarchy encountered the system.
There followed 107 years of warfare at sublight speeds which the Lyraens
eventually lost. The race was enslaved for over forty years, but as
Patriarchal attention was turned elsewhere at the time (Terra, in fact)
the kzinti overseeing force was rapidly overthrown. With the
development of warp technology several bloody wars of attrition followed
with large losses on both sides, but few truly decisive battles
were fought. The Lyraens harbour a lingering hatred of their foes from
these times, and some may even attack a kzin on sight even though an
uneasy peace exists between the two governments.
Lyraen warp technology is primitive, but their force-field
technology is superior to our own. Lyraen ships, like those of their
former masters the kzinti use grav planers for propulsion and are
therefore hightly manoeuverable. Advanced biotechnological implants are
occasionally seen in those from the Southern continent, but genetics is
still in its infancy. The Lyraen genome is not yet mapped.
4 . C u l t u r e
The Lyraen Empire is headed by the Impirator and his court from the
Imperial Palace on the Southern continent. The current Impirator is
Czoltar Draebor, who has ruled peacably for thirteen years.
The cultures of the Northern and Southern Lyraens differ markedly.
The Southern civilisations are advanced and peaceable, but their
culture is corrupt and stagnant. The Northern types are similarly
advanced, but choose to forgo many of the comforts of modern life.
As a result of these self-imposed hardships their culture is stronger
and less corrupt. Despite the differences between the cultures
there is little antipathy.
Technology is considered important by both cultures, and the Lyraens
were spacefarers at the time of their first battles with the kzinti.
Common articles such as eating utensils and furniture are usually made
by local craftsmen from natural materials. Lighting is either by
gas-lamp, or less commonly electrical.
Both cultures allow institutionalised duelling to settle disputes. The
most common weapon is a 25cm steel knife whose form and construction has
been fixed for over two centuries. Those who carry these knives are
believed to be slightly dangerous, and most certainly know how to use
it. It is extremely unwise to attempt to take a duelling knife from
its owner. Duels are to first blood and a light cut is usually
considered sufficient.
In general, the Northern culture is considered harsh, unforgiving
and brutal by the Southern Lyraens. Northern Continental Lyraens
take names describing their physical attributes or their ideals which
they may change during their lifetimes. Southern types have a
clannish society and are named after their clan leader in the manner
of Terran surnames.
Honesty, to an almost brutal degree is regarded highly amongst Lyraens
and is the most widely praised virtue. Sadly, amongst the otherwise
advanced Southern race corruption and graft are rife, and because of
this several independant out-world colonies have been created.
Art is abstract in the extreme with smooth curves and solid geometrical
forms prevalent. More traditional forms include wall hangings from the
Northern continent, and wooden sculpture from the South, all beautifully
and abstractly patterned. Figurative works are made (but difficult to
spot), but painting is almost unknown.
The Czyrath Institute of Art in the large city of Cunetz River
Passage is one of the most widely respected museums of sculpture
in the galaxy. The Vulcan sculptor Sorath dedecated 30 years of
her work to it, even though Czyrath has never been a member of
the Federation. An extra gallery was built specially to house
Sorath's work, and the rare passes granting access to the
planetary system are highly valued amongst art lovers.
Food is simple and filling, mainly bird or animal meat and well-cooked
root vegetables. Carved wooden utensils are the most common, and this
use of natural materials extends to most other household equipment.
Technological innovations are concealed within abstract forms, almost
pieces of scuplture themselves.
5 . P s y c h o l o g y
Lyraens despise kzinti, a hatred stemming from the times of the
occupation. It is extremely unwise to confuse the two races- although
the males appear similar to an untrained humanoid eye the two races
are unrelated. Any rumors to the contrary will be met with violence,
but this is not true of WYN-lyraens (See WYN-cluser below).
Many lyraens following the main religion are superstitous to some
degree, but other than this lyraens are generally free of psychological
quirks.
6 . E m p i r e a n d C o l o n i e s
The lyraen race has settled some eight planetary systems, mainly to the
galactic South of B-Lyrae. The major colony of note is the
independant WYN (prnc. "win") nebula. Although this has never been
under Imperial control it is of note due to its unusual composition.
The fiercely independant WYN cluster is composed of kzinti and lyraen
refugees from the Wars of Attrition. To both governments embarassment
these refugees have built a vibrant and colourful society under the
infuriated noses of the Empire and the Patriarchy. The region of space
occupies a region at the edge of Kzinti, Lyraen and Klingon space and is
surrounded by a heavily radioactive cloud. Because of this the area was
unsettled before the cluster was colonised during the Wars. The
radiation shell is thin and can be breached with minimal damage at
warp eight.
The interior of the nebulous cluster contains a pair of white dwarf
suns and assorted sub-planetary chunks of rock. Life within is harsh,
even with imported gravity generators and habitation domes, and
WYN-residents adopt a hard no-nonsense approach to life for survival.
The colony was originally supplied by Orion traders and pirates, and
because of this the residents of the WYN cluster tend to be treated
as either pirates or romantic heroes. In fact, the fortunes of the
cluster are based on the skills of its many independant traders and
their fleet of second-hand patched-up small craft.
--
Andrew Chadwick Durham University, England - Student of Physics
Esn Elzar qi Rufus USS Tesla - COUNS
Esn Tzak Rathri USS Fenris - CSO/TAC
a.t.chadwick@dur.ac.uk http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d44abw/ [fenris/]
(
geocities.com/~holoworldfleet)