The environmental constraints imposed by the Denan homeworld forced the Denan to evolve a very tough physiology. They are humanoid in form, but their hands have only 3 fingers and one thumb. They have a single, 3 chambered, heart but most of their other organs are paired on opposite sides of their body. Usually only one organ out of a pair is used, the other becoming active when it's opposite fails or becomes damaged. They have thick, leatherish, skin and a second, transparent, pair of eyelids, which help prevent damage if an individual is caught in one of the vicious sandstorms which frequently engulf the Denan homeworld.

The Denan have never displayed any significant psi ability. It is often the case thay the few Denan children who display telepathic abilities are rejected from Denan society as freaks.

Studies of the Denan show that their civilisation has changed considerably from it's early stages. Several millenia ago they had a well organised, thriving civilisation, now remembered as the Golden Age of the Denan. Then something happened to their homeworld, it is not known exactly what, but the environment of the world was changed completely. The Denan, who had never progressed to a technology level capable of spacetravel, suffered greatly and much of the population was destroyed in the sandstorms known as sectarm. Following the first storms Denan civilisation collapsed, the population fragmented across the globe, barbarism followed rapid decline. Slowly the denan evolved to withstand the new conditions more easily, the population began to increase and congregate together under warlords. Groups which had roamed the sands began to group together and build cities surrounded by towering walls to keep out the sectaem. Wars began to erupt between neighbouring warlords as they expanded their borders, trying to obtain land fit for cultivation. Of all these warlords Timbargh-Jehlan was the greatest. His armies swept across the largest continent, Gunkarv, conquering all in their passage. He constructed an empire with himself as sole leader, all contestants to his leadership were quickly eliminated and he ruled the whole of Gunkarv for over half a century. The greatest testament to his rule still stands in the main square of Talim, the political center of the Denan Homeworld. At 230 feet from the pedestal to the top of his helmet his is the largest known statue still standing in the galaxy.

Jehlan's government was controlled by a group of individuals who answered directly to him. These individuals, known as the Vyekam Par each presided over a section of the continent. Directly below the Vyekam Par in the government were the Tsinta Par. These were the mayors of larger settlements and cities. They were responsible for law and order and were the judge, jury and executioner for their district. This system has remained virtually unchanged since the days of Timbargh-Jehlan.

Hundreds of years after Timbargh-Jehlan, but still several millenia ago, the Denan entered an industrial age. However innovations were scarce and progress was extremely slow. They remained in an industrial sage for over 3000 years, assuming themselves to be the only race in the cosmos and paying scant attention to the sky above. This changed when a Tjinjon trade vessel, scouting for new trade outposts, entered orbit above the Denan homeworld. It remained in orbit for 3 days, unobserved by the Denan, scanning the surface for civilisation and minerals. The Tjinjon vessel began preparations for departure, it's occupants satisfied that the planet was too backwards to serve their purpose, when a solar flare erupted on the Denan sun. As the Tjinjon vessel came out of the shadow of the Tjinjon homeworld it was hit by a surge of radiation which knocked out the guidance and control systems and sent the craft plunging through the atmosphere. It crashed in a highly populated area of Talim, killing an estimated 1500 people and all it's occupants. The ships was quickly recovered and investigated by the greatest Denan scientists. Much of the ship had survived the crash intact, including the fusion powerplant, hyperspace engines and core computer. Once the Denan had managed to translate the information contained in the core computer they began to duplicate the technology. 89 years (Standard Earth Years) after the crash the first Denan spacecraft entered hyperspace. The pilot promptly flew the craft into the gravity well of the Denan homeworld, completely destroying the prototype. Unperturbed by the setback the Denan continued to investigate the technology. After another 10 years of effort, and considerable training of pilots, the Denan reached a new world. It took the Denan 30 years to spread, diffusely, across a large section of known space..

Upon their initial contact with another race the Denan began to realise how inferior their technology was. Deviod of scientists of a high enough standard to improve matters the Denen had no way to create more effective technologies. Trading for information soon soured as the Denan had little to offer except sand and the races they traded with were unwilling to release information concerning new designs. So the Denan turned to piracy and raiding to obtain new technology. At the time of publication the Denanare undoubtedly the largest group of pirates in existence, normally occupying many of the less well travelled trade routes, they attack even well guarded ships with great ferocity.

Approximately 30 years ago the Denan ambushed a lone Vaipen craft with a single pilot. The ship was hopelessly outnumbered and out-gunned but managed to take out 18 Denan fighters before being destroyed. The Denan hailed this as a victory over a strong opponent.. it did not take them long to realise that the Vaipen vessel, being organic in construction, was completely useless to them once dead. They did not have long to worry though because 6.3 Standard Earth Hours after the attack a Vaipen Hiveship entered the system and completely obliterated the Denan settlement. Nothing remained, not even the foundations of the colony buildings. Despite this dire warning the Denan still make attempts at disabling Vaipen vessels, although they have not succeeded. Both the Vaipen and Ovaska have warned the Denan that any ship approaching one of their vessels by more than 100000 Earth Standard Kilometres will be destroyed.

WARNING:The Denan are notorious pirates and will often attack even well armed or escorted vessels. Ensure that you are accompanied by a number of heavy fighters before entering areas where Denan are known to operate. Check with you local shipping office before your journey to check Denan activity spots and observe warnings released on StartNET.