Spaetor

Spaetor Appearance and Characteristic Behavior

The Spaetor are perhaps one of the oldest races of the Dragon Quadrant having discovered the Slingshot Drive over 500 years before any of the other races. The Spaetor are typically slight of build and appear rather fragile, though they can easily be as strong as anyone else. Spaetors average between 1 1/3 and 2 meters tall. They have a reflective skin that varies from deep gray to white. Their eyes are entirely black, making it difficult to determine what they are looking. Their hair favors dark colors such as black and brown, though the bald look is very popular amongst males.

Spaetor tend to come across as shy or reserved because they are very quiet compared to most races. This is primarily because the Spaetor are naturally gifted with psionic abilities. Key amongst these abilities is Telepathy, the ability to project ones thoughts and receive the thoughts that someone else is projecting. Though Telepathy is the most common way to communicate, Spaetor still have a spoken and written language.

Note that Telepathy is not the same ability as Mind Reading. In order to actually read the mind of another being, the other being must be willing. Both subjects must achieve a meditative, trance-like state and must remain in physical contact. In Spaetor society, attempting to Mind Read without permission is treated the same as if physical rape had occured.

Events that shaped Spaetor culture

Though the Spaetor currently inhabit the world Lalunae, this is not truly the birthplace of the Spaetor. The actual birthplace of the Spaetor is Spenculaer, a world that lies beyond the Delta Galactic Region. Approximately 600 years ago several thousand Spaetor scattered across the planet were simultaneously overwhelmed by visions of Spenculaer being devastated by attacks from an alien species that would later become known as the Aernooern.

At the time Slingshot Drive technology was still in the theoretical stages. When the Visionaries began to publicize their message of doom, many Spaetor dismissed it as sensationalism designed to encourage even more spending on the Space Agency. The general public of Spenculaer felt that there was little reason to look for other planets to inhabit as the one they had more than enough room for continued growth. Popular opinion also tended towards a belief that Spenculaer was the only planet with intelligent life and that should there actually be other life out there, that their defense technology would be adequate to handle anything that came along.

After their rejection by the general public, the Visionaries began a more subtle campaign to prepare for what they felt was the inevitable destruction of their homeworld. For the next 50 years, the Visionaries organized their supporters and as their following grew, they funneled their resources into the nascent Slingshot Drive technology and any other technology related to space travel that looked promising.

About eleven months before the Aernooern were expected to attack (based on calculations derived from the details of everyone who experenced the visions) the finishing touches on five colony ships were completed. Each colony ship was designed to hold two million Spaetor in cryo-stasis during the unknown length of time it would take for them to find a new home. With three months to go, the last of the colony ships left Spenculaer forever. Only the crews of the colony ship witnessed the final news broadcasts detailing the relentlas destruction of their homeworld and the lives of 3 1/2 billion of their people.

It took them nearly a century to locate a new home, but it was generally held that the effort was worthwhile. When they found their new home on Lalunae, it was almost as if the planet has been made especially for Spaetor. Though it was somewhat smaller than Spenculaer, the bulk of the land mass is positioned within the planet's rather large tropical region. Over 80% of the planet's surface is covered in rainforest of one type or another.

As the Spaetor began to get comfortable with their new home, they also began to explore the surrounding region. It was not long before they discovered several planets that were home to intelligent life. Though it might be expected that fear would rule the Spaetor thinking, curiousity was the overwhemling emotion experienced by those explorers. Still, they were not without caution. After 300 years of study and exploration, the Spaetor made their first contacts with the Rheleign, Belarth, Altair, and Darvot races (they had also discovered the Humans, it wasn't until much later that first contact was made with them). The Spaetor timing was such that bringing all five races together simultaneously worked to defuse any immediate hostilities and allowed for the development of trade and territory agreements known as the Dragon Accords.

Though the Spaetor discovered the Slingshot Drive long before the other races, the destruction of their homeword set them back enough that their technology is equal to any of the other races in the current timeframe. This is due primarily to the Spaetor focus on colonizing their planet and growing the population rather than technological acheivements. Nearly 450 years after they first began to colonize Lalunae, the Spaetor number approximately 1 1/2 billion. Though they are thriving in their new home, the Spaetor have not forgotten how close they came to annihilation and many still wonder if they have truly escaped the Aernooern.

The politics of the Spaetor people

The Spaetor are governed by a democracy. All key government roles including the President, the Legislators and the Justices are elected officials. The President serves for one term of 6 years. The Legislators, 1 for each of the 200 provinces, can serve an unlimited number of 2 year terms as long as they can be reelected. The eleven Justices of The Court are elected for life.

The provinces are roughly equal in size due to structured colonial development. The provincial governments are headed by a Governor, a legislative body whose size is determined by population, and a Provicial Court of 5 Justices. Term legnths are identical to the plantary government.

Each city has an elected mayor and a city council of 5-11 people (depending on the size of the city). The council is the legislative body of the city. The Mayor and the Council all serve 4 year terms and can be reelected indefinately. Local Judges are appointed by the Mayor and Council, but must be confirmed by the Provincial Legislature. Once confirmed, the Local Judges can only be dismissed by the Provincial Court as they are essentially an extension of that system.