The Elarien are small, normally under 5 feet high, and have very thin arms and legs in proportion to their body size. They are uncomfortable in normal Earth gravity preferring gravity about half that of Earth normal but are natural oxygen/nitrogen breathers. Their internal anatomy is similar to human but they have two hearts (with only two chambers each) on either side of a single lung. Their digestive systems consists of a stomach, intestines and secondary stomach, much smaller than the primary, situated about half way along the small intestine which ensures that all possible nutrients have been released from the food before entering the rest of the intestines. Curiously they have evolved with a liver which operates in a similar manner to the human liver and spleen. The Elarien visual organs are much simpler than human eyes, with considerably lower densities of receptors and poorer lens focusing ability. These two facts would render the Elarien eye a severe disadvantage outside their normal environment but the Elarien compensate using bio-alteration. Although they are on average of equal intelligence to humans they are experts at genetic manipulation, bio alteration and cybernetics and hare more advanced in these fields than all the other races with the exception of the Vaipen and Ovaska. Their original plan was to use bio-alteration to transform their race into a new form; much larger and stronger. To this end their scientists seem to have performed a major experiment on a group of criminals and POW's. Something went hideously wrong during the procedure and they actually created a race of monsters; heavy muscled with high stamina and little intelligence. With every generation born they get bigger, stronger and less intelligent. It is not known how long they will continue to grow but, for the moment, they are sold as slaves to work on Farmworlds and in dangerous construction work. Extensive bio-alteration is used by many Elarien, so much so that in some cases the only part of them which are original Elarien are the brain and spinal chord. This is taken to the extreme in the Elarien military where most of the soldiers have had most of their body altered with mechanical replacements.

The Elarien have very little psi ability, with only one in 40 million or so Elarien developing useful psychic powers.

Elarien society is well documented and is based around a complex governmental system and the major Elarien religion, Tachte. The diagram here shows the structure of the Elarien government. The Tul'mar Ren are planetary leaders who choose Sohlan Ren (province rulers) and oversee their work. The Tul'mar Ren meet once every Elarien year (511.358 Standard Days, 1.4 Earth Years) in a senate called the Charshant to debate political and social matters. If a debate involves decisions which are not clearly defined by Tachte the Tachte S'hran, a group of 5 High Priests of Toch, will halt the proceedings and decide what should be done. In such a case there must be at least 4 of the Priests opposed or in favour of a motion before it can be rejected or carried. Under Sohlan Ren are the Sohlan Dumat, volunteers who carry out the rulings of the Sohlan Ren in their local area.

Tachte

The Elarien religion has been called an explanation rather than a religion as it attempts to detail why the Elarien are as they are. A summary of the translation of the Book of Tachte is given here;

"Forever had the Elares lived beside Toch and everyone had everything they wanted, all Toch required of them was their respect and hard work. This was no problem for them as, during this time, they could make themselves as strong and dexterous as they needed. Then it happened that one called Nordan became selfish and began to spread his teachings. He made the Elares question why Toch was so almighty, why was it he who gave the orders but showed no respect and did not work. After some time most of the Elares harboured these thoughts and the more they thought the closer they came to the truth but the weaker they became. As time passed they began to work less and did not respect Toch.

At the end of the infinities, Toch gathered his people and questioned them on their behaviour and thoughts. Then the Elares, who now called themselves the Elarien, began to make demands of Toch and protest at their treatment.

To ensure they remained forever outside his kingdom he gave some of his power to Nordan the betrayer and told him to guard the doors to his realm with his life.

Now the Elarien must either become mighty once more, and show Toch that they have understood the error they made and beg for a place in infinity once more or defeat Nordan the betrayer who blocks the path of the Elarien after death and who must be defeated before Toch can be told the truth. This quest is called the 'Tachte' which translates as 'to become mighty'. Long ago the Elarien were becoming too powerful for Nordan to control so he create other races in the universe to stop them and, preferably, defeat them.

The Tachte is believed by over 95% of the Elarien population and, as such, is the main reason for the Elarien exo-phobia. Only the 5% of disbelievers normally have any outside contact where they are renowned as traders, although their efforts at diplomatic work normally leave much to be desired. Those who do not believe are often used as guinea pigs in scientific experiments or exiled from the republic or forced to serve it as diplomats or ambassadors, at which they usually fail miserably. Tochte is taken so seriously by the military that ceremonial execution of great warriors is a common occurrence. This is due to the belief that a great warrior must have a good chance of defeating Nordan, and there is little point in prolonging the wait for the warrior's attempt until he dies of natural causes. However, as all Elarien warriors aspire to a ceremonial execution and the status it brings to their families, it means that the Elarien have a severe deficit of experienced tacticians, resulting in a large, powerful, but poorly coordinated military.

The Elarien homeworld has seen better days. It is now almost 70% desert but once it had large expanses of vegetation. Much of the water is trapped in a layer of permeable rock several miles below the surface. The core of the planet cooled several millenia ago and it's magnetic field is generated by a layer of ferrous rock which appears to have been left when the core cooled. The surface is scared by extensive, extremely deep, valleys which normally have near perpendicular walls falling over 1000 feet while only being 300 or so feet from wall to wall. This gives rise to some very peculiar ecosystems; often the top of the valley wall will be a sweltering desert while the lower valley is a cold world. Often the Elarien build into the valley walls and fill the rifts with lights so it is common for large amounts of vegetation to grow at the bottom of these valleys. The largest major city is Huntoch and is built into the walls of the most extensive of the valleys; 2 miles deep and just over a mile from one side to the other it runs in a nearly unbroken line for 300 miles (although the city only covers a fraction of this). Work is currently underway to pump water from the deep rocks and boil it to form clouds in an attempt to kickstart a water cycle.

Very little is known about Elarien history, only the last 300 years have seen any records being made. Previous to that records were destroyed and those responsible for them tortured and branded as heretics. Those who did not recant were tortured to death, burned, thrown into pits of Tirallian weevils, fed to the Great Zu'mtra'hn or fired into the Elarien sun. What is known is that it is common for the Sohlan Ren, and even the Tul'mar Ren, to use religious arguments to trick their subjects into living in poverty to pay for weapons and research. Recent records show periods of frantic expansionism, sometimes nearly doubling the size of the republic, followed by sudden reductions as civil wars and local rebellions leave the borders undefended. It is not known where they acquired hyperspace technology from but it is unlikely that their own scientists developed it as they generally seem more concerned with bioengineering and astrophysics. Another factor is the great similarity between the hyperspace technology of the Elarien, Korhonen and Mogensen. It is also puzzling that it is only since Earth scientists have acquired hyperspace technology that it is being fully researched and improved. Some time ago the Elarien began to use thir knowledge of genetics and cybernetics to research robotics, specifically artificial intelligence, in which they have achieved great success. Their robots have the capability to learn from their mistakes and share knowledge with each other. When the intelligence of the robot is comparable to a 4 year old human, normally about 9 months after the unit is first powered up, the programming begins. At present the best model has reached the mental level of a 16 year old human but this is improved by the fact that the bio-engineered brain can operate faster than a normal human brain. The robots are, officially, classified military tools but many end up on the black market and are used as gunners as they are both faster and more accurate than computer control or normal gunners. WARNING If you should ever come into possession of one of these units you must allow a specialist to reprogram it; attempting to reprogram and Elarien robot is both complex and dangerous.

Several years ago am archive of documents was uncovered by J'halm Tarn (Noted Mogensen explorer and exobiologist) and has recently been summarised by him and translated. It is available at MOG_JTARN-PROJELAR5436

The Elarien are currently expanding their territory and have control over 3000 star-systems. However the current expansionism is not expected to last long before their habitual civil arguments, political ineptitude and inability to spend money on anything but weaponry backfires and they enter another period of disorganisation. NOTE WELL:Members of other races who commit crimes on Elarien territory are given a choice; to submit to use in scientific experimentation or to be executed. There is often another way out for richer offenders; the Elarien appear to have very bad memories if you donate large amounts of money, ships or weaponry to the state. In many of the colonies towards the border of Elarien space it is common for criminals to pay their way out of custody. Despite the punishment they would receive if they ever returned, there is a steady stream of Elarien leaving the republic to make a new life in other systems. Currently only two governments; the Terran Confederation and the Mogensen Empire currently accept Elarien as political refugees but many end up working in the Union of Independent Worlds as labourers.

Trade with the Elarien is a tricky business; they are very suspicious of outsiders and do not willingly trade in common goods. Bureaucracy is high, as are the docking and processing fees at their spaceports so it is important that you ensure you have all the required documents and credits to pay the fees before entering Elarien space. You must also know what to trade: the Elarien are fairly self-sufficient in most things but they have an insatiable appetite for robots, AI units, weapons, ships, bio-engineered slaves, metals, narcotics and, oddly, sugar! They are also willing to buy information, either covering scientific reports, corporate secrets, details of enemies or political information.

Mercenaries, members of the Alliance of Assassins (AA) and hired guns are rumored to be frequently used by the Elarien government to infiltrate, murder or acquire information from, neighbouring rulers and are rumored to be used in major offensives against other governments. None of these allegations are proven and an investigation by the Galactic Assembly Special Investigation Taskforce is currently underway. If you take contracts while in their territory and prove trustworthy and skilled there is a chance you may be hired by them in some way. Do not expect assistance from your government if you are caught.