Efrosian

Efrosians were a species of hardy and spiritual humanoids that resided on Efros Delta. They had a rich, unique culture that resisted years of Klingon occupation and even flourished as they became warp capable and began their exploration of the stars. It was their religion that kept them from giving up during their toughest times.

They were the first and possibly the only known species to have achieved warp before inventing a written language. Although Efrosians drew pictures and sometimes used pictograms, most forms of communication were through song and their libraries resembled most other species’ musical archives.

An alternate name for the Efrosians was the Deltan people, or Albino Deltans.

Physiology

Even Efrosians weren't 100% sure where they came from. Their method of keeping history, through songs, wasn't always accurate. The prevailing theory in science suggested that Efrosians evolved from an aquatic mammal, similar to the dolphin on Earth. It was believed that the planet’s rapidly freezing oceans forced the proto-Efrosians out of the water and onto land. There were also theories that said the Preservers transferred the Efrosians to their current planet shortly after they began to walk on two legs, a theory that ancient Efrosian mythology supported.

The average Efrosian had a copper skin tone, but the actual range of skin tones could vary from a dark, ruddy color to almost as white as the snow they walked. Males tended to have blonde or white hair, and females had darker browns and blacks, though the opposite was not unheard of. Both sexes preferred long hair, and both sexes were capable of growing facial hair. Traditionally, males grew long beards or mustaches and long fluffy eyebrows. Both males and females were short, the average for males being 5’ and females being 4’10”.

Efrosians had crests, similar to Klingons, but they tended to be more subtle. Patterns could be complex or simple, but those with Klingon ancestry would display more complex patterns. The cranial plating was meant to be extra protection for the skull.

Efrosian internal anatomy was mostly unremarkable except for a few traits. It was rumored that Efrosians had two stomachs, but this was untrue. Efrosians typically had one very large stomach that allowed them to eat more than the average humanoid. From there, most of the food an Efrosian ate either went to nourishing the body or creating blubber. Very little was left over. Blubber was a means to keep the body warm in the harsh cold of Efros Delta.

In order to maintain their immune system, an Efrosian had to eat at least three servings of Levithi nuts a day. The nuts were jam-packed with nutrients that performed various functions throughout the body, such as maintaining blood pressure and regulating the digestive system. The most important feature of Levithi nuts was their ability to strengthen an Efrosian's immune system. An Efrosian without the nuts would have varying symptoms and after a few days, he/she would experience constipation/diarrhea, nausea, heartburn, some shaking, and cramps. Typically, these were symptoms of withdrawal.

With a lowered immune system, he or she then started to show symptoms of one or more sicknesses. Most of these were not deadly on their own, but in tandem could cause death. Infections become very common. Most Efrosians responded to infections with the usual symptoms, and if in a warm environment, a fever.

Levithi sickness could be avoided with a steady supply of Levithi nuts, or the nutrients and oils contained in the nuts.

The average resting body temperature of an Efrosian was about 105F, and one was said to have a fever at 109. Fevers were rare, and most Efrosians responded poorly to fevers.

Most Efrosians had weak eyes and would go blind by middle age. Although it was perfectly preventable and fixable, Efrosian culture did not see blindness as a disability since most communication was aural. So not many Efrosians had their vision fixed. Some chose to wear special mechanical glasses to fix this and others relied on making clicking and whistling noises. Efrosian hearing and sense of smell made up for the poor eyesight.

Women carried a baby for seven or eight months average, and they usually gave birth at the end of seven months or the beginning of the eight months mark. Efrosian young grew very rapidly in the womb. Infants were often born with birth defects. Every infant was born without a properly functioning immune system. They relied on the Levithi oils in the mother’s breast milk to survive for the first few months. It was tradition to not name a child until their first year alive in case they died before then.

Efrosians had two vocal chords that allowed them to speak with a unique double voice.

Psychology

The harsh climate of Efros Delta necessitated a level of hospitality towards strangers that seemed disconcerting or creepy to other cultures. Conversation, even between strangers, involved very little personal space and lots of touching. Sharing your body heat was considered polite, sharing your home even more so. Efrosians were highly social and emotionally complex.

Sex was considered a social interaction or social obligation. It was a means of eliminating stress, something one did with a friend or many friends to kill time, improving social bonds, helping a female friend get pregnant if she wants children, etc. Flirting and openly admiring other people’s bodies was not only considered polite, but /not/ doing so (or not being sexually attracted to someone) was seen as rude or offensive. Most Efrosians who went through Starfleet Academy were given a talk about the social norms in the Federation just to prevent a mass flooding of sexual harassment claims. Sometimes, this led to an inability to say ‘no’ to unwanted advances.

Having gone through a worldwide struggle, Efrosians avoided fighting between villages. Even interpersonal conflicts were frowned upon. As a result, Efrosians tended to show dislike in passive aggressive ways

Perhaps the only true conflict Efros Delta purposely exacerbated was the one between the Federation and Efros Delta. The Efros religion was their identity, their culture, and their government. Losing their culture was a major concern among Efrosians of all ages. They disliked allowing strangers on their planet for anything other than trade. They were unabashedly xenophobic, private, and secretive when it came to non-Efrosians. It was believed that the Efrosian religion required rituals that were unacceptable by Federation standards, typically including child sacrifice and cannibalism, but since no non-Efrosian ever participated in these rituals without death, it was impossible to say. Consequences for spilling the beans were immediate exile and a bounty placed on one’s head, as well as an afterlife filled with eternal agony and suffering.

Uniquely, Efrosians that betrayed their culture were actually more likely to end their own lives or turn themselves in to their own government than they were to be killed by Efrosian officials. This sort of loyalty-to-the-death attitude to their government was a trait shared by Cardassian culture. Efros was one of only a handful of Federation races to display such overtly statist attitudes.

Language

The Efrosian language was notoriously hard to translate and speak. In order to speak it, one had to have either two vocal chords, or be trained in some form of throat singing. The main voice was slightly louder than the secondary voice and indicated tone and emotion. The secondary voice’s key in relation to the first voice’s determined the meaning of the word in question. “Fallan” with both voices on the same key, meant earth, soil, or dirt. The second voice one note higher than the main voice meant either a cave or a hole in the ground. A note higher meant that which nourished. A note lower meant infertile soil or permafrost. Two notes lower referred to an ecological biome, and so on.

Emphasis also determined the meaning of a word. Using “Fallan” with emphasis on the last syllable was a different word than “Fallan” with emphasis on the first. The former was soil, the latter was a word that referred to any material treasure.

Some words were also affected by how long the word was drawn out, whether the main or secondary voice went down or up throughout the word, the location of clicks in the word, and whether or not the singer droned their second voice.

Efrosians tended to speak all together instead of waiting for someone to finish speaking. Their brains processed multiple sources of speech at once without much difficulty. Efrosian speech tended to sound like whale song if sung by a good singer and like a giraffe giving birth to an elephant if sung by a bad one.

Efrosian naming conventions typically dictated that every Efrosian had three names. The first was an individual name, the second their mother's name, and the third was the name of the city, town, village, or province they were born in. It was considered impolite to use only the first name when addressing an Efrosian. Those born on ships and star bases would sometimes be named after either the mother's birthplace or the ship, resulting in odd names such as Mel-Tsulon-Starbase 137.

The universal translator had a mostly-complete database of the Efrosian language, but since Efrosian speech did not share the usual statement-response style of conversation that most races had, the UT sometimes failed to translate if more than one Efrosian was speaking at the same time.

The Efrosian language also contained a huge breadth of words that did not translate to Standard very well. These words were divided into two categories by Federation xenolinguists: contextual and non-contextual. The contextual category was mostly comprised of words that referred to religious doctrines and teachings. These words sometimes did translate, but had no real meaning in Standard unless given context. The non-contextual were words that simply had no analogue in Standard and were mostly made of names, words to describe emotions, certain sports-related terminology, and words that described snow, ice, and permafrost.

Home World

Efros Delta was also known by the name Efros, and less commonly, Efrosia. It was the fourth planet in the Flarset system and home to the humanoids commonly known as Efrosians. Its diameter was 14,373 Km. It had minimal axial tilt, an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and very little difference in climate throughout the planet. Although it was categorized as a class P planet, the end of its ice age made Efros a candidate for reclassification to either Class O or Class M. It had two moons, Erros and Uos. The two moons pulled on the planet throughout their orbits, causing tectonic disruption. This created plentiful geothermal energy. Most of the planet was icy, dotted with great glaciers and mountains. The equator, where most of the population resided, was water for most of the year. Although the last recorded land mass percentage was 36%, projections showed that, as the ice age ended and water levels rose, the percentage of land mass would drop to 10% or less.

The planet rotated around the Flarset star at an average 304.3 days per year with 29 hour days. Because of its minimal axial tilt, the planet experienced little seasonal change. Its two moons orbited Efros at two different speeds. Erros was larger and slower, and Uos smaller and faster. It was believed that the Flarset and its planets formed after a nearby white dwarf went supernova. The remains of the supernova were visible in the Efrosian night sky in some parts of the year as a large purple-green veil. There were seven total planets in the system, but only Efros lay in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone’.

It was theorized that early in Efros’s development, the planet made impact with multiple small asteroids and experienced an extreme amount of pull from its neighboring planets. The pressure created a volcanic, hot planet that began to cool as the other planets in the Flarset system migrated farther away from one another. Fossils from Efros’s early development were difficult to come by due to the entire planet being covered in mostly ice. What little fossils were discovered suggested that Efros once had seven times the biodiversity it eventually had, and most of it was aquatic. Some evidence suggested that Efrosians evolved from an aquatic mammal, but it was impossible to ignore the amount of evidence that suggested the planet was seeded by the Preservers.

It was difficult to pinpoint the exact beginning of Efros’s ice age by looking at Efros alone. By studying Flarset Four and Flarset Five, scientists were able to conclude that early in the solar system’s formation, a very large planetary object pulled the orbits of Flarset One, Two, Three, Efros, Flarset Four, Flarset five, Flarset Six, and Flarset Seven away from their star. All planets except for Flarset One experienced an ice age at about the same time. Millenia afterwards, the natural movement of Flarset around the center of its galaxy pulled the solar system away from the planetary object, which moved too slowly to keep up. The planet’s elliptical orbit meant it strayed from Flarset and began to wander on its own. Scientists eventually identified this historically important planet as Flarset Eight, a class R planet. As a result of the loss of Flarset Eight, planets One, Two, Three, Efros, Four, and Five slowly began moving closer to their sun. Six and Seven’s orbits were wobbly, and scientists predicted that in a few centuries they would begin to drift too.

The majority of Efros’s population lived around or on the watery equator, in huge cities frequently clumped together. The rest of Efros’s population resided in their traditional provinces, with boundaries decided by both geographical constraints and political conflict both ancient and recent. Each province was given a name, which was often the same as the largest town or village within the province. Some Efrosians chose to form living quarters deep within cave systems, but this was considered dangerous, unorthodox, and undesirable. Despite this, Efrosians who lived a mining lifestyle tended to be wealthy and had a higher quality of life than their rural counterparts. About 74% of the population was Efrosian, 11% Klingon, and 15% other or transient visitors.

Efros slowly began to warm up. The water level of the entire planet eventually rising. Because Efrosian life evolved and developed mostly during the Ice Age, this came as a calamity to the entire ecosystem of Efros. At the last recorded reading, the north and south poles had temperatures of -90C and were uninhabitable even by Efrosians. Most rural provinces were located around slightly warmer areas, varying between -30C to -10C during the day and -30C to -60C at night. The equators varied between 5C to 20C during the day, and -10C to 0C at night. Efros had many mountains with deep, intricate cave systems that extended many kilometers below the planet and were not fully explored. The valleys in between often had boreal forests with trees built to survive in constant snow. There were relatively large bodies of saltwater towards the center of the large landmass, divided into three large oceans whose official names were both incomprehensible and unpronounceable by most humanoids. Other ecosystems included tundra and ‘desert’ conditions. Most of Efros’s biodiversity was located in the very deep caves or very deep in the sea, though there were species that survived away from those relatively warm areas

(Note: All names, such as Flarset, Efros, etc. were an approximation. As the Efrosian language did not clearly translate over to Standard, they might not have been accurately represented by traditional names given. All planets in the Flarset system were given Efrosians names, but all except Efros were untranslatable and thus the name of the solar system and its proximity to the Flarset star were used to discriminate between planets. Flarset one orbited closest to its star, Flarset two was second closest, etc.)

Culture & Customs

Efrosian culture was never easy to write about. There were entire courses offered on the subject and even they weren't quite complete. It was best to envision Efrosian government, religion, and culture, all three of which could be referred to as 'Efros', and continue from there.

Efrosians were dedicated to their oral history, which tied in with their language. Song and oral history were important. They had either one very big epic song or several smaller ones that were their 'bible', which contained rules on how to live one's life. In general, Efrosians were happy to know other life existed and participated enthusiastically in educational and cultural exchange. However, they were secretive and guarded their religion and culture jealously. You were never at home on Efros if you were an Outsider. This was because after finding out that their religious beliefs were unacceptable in the eyes of most other races, Efrosians were faced with a choice: either drastically alter their religion or hide it.

Hiding it became easy enough to do, and the most obvious choice. Efros Delta was ruled by an oligarchy, with shaman-warriors presiding over communities. Because their government was technically a theocracy, altering the religion drastically could actually have caused a huge political upheaval that would see a lot of people losing esteemed positions. Although the common people probably didn't want to change in the face of their new contact with the outside world, it was more than likely the people in power made sure their religion would be kept secret by issuing new laws and new interpretations of old ones that disallowed sharing of culture and religion of Efros with other people.

However, what was and what was not considered banned to speak of to foreigners wasn't always clear. Some took it to mean that they should never even have foreigners on the planet. Some thought it meant keeping the spiritual aspect of the culture to themselves. The punishment for breaking this law was severe, though. Depending on the area, it could range from some really horrific, creative forms of torture, to just plain old death, and it almost always ended in going to the fiery, windy version of afterlife to suffer forever.

The most remarkable thing about the Efrosian culture was that when one broke the rules, spoken or unspoken, they were more than likely to carry out their own execution. The dedication to their own people was admirable to some, frightening to others.

What was known about the Efrosian culture was that they held nature in high regard. The health of their planet was always top priority. To Efrosians, animals were companions, and if one must kill an animal for meat, it was respectful to use every part of the animal for something. Likewise, death of Efrosians due to wildlife was seen as a natural and good way to die, even if it was sad. It was a way of repaying the cycle. Efrosians often offered up gifts to the spirits of certain animals, packs, plants, or ecosystems. Due to this particular belief, the recent global warming crisis on Efros was especially damaging to the Efrosian identity.

History

Long before Efros Delta became a Federation planet, Efrosians were just a relatively small population surviving on a frozen hunk of a planet. They worshipped spirits of nature and held a deep respect for their wildlife and ecosystem. They lived in tribes led by shaman-priestesses, and they occasionally fought among themselves. They developed recording and playback instruments for communication, developed large towns and even a city, and perfected the art of agriculture in greenhouses. Most importantly, the high mountain ranges that stretched across the planet were supposed to be full of rare and precious metals. Efros Delta was right on the edge of both Federation and Klingon territory. In the year 2278, the Vulcan crew of the USS Surak were the first to make contact with the Efrosians. Efros fell to the Klingons later that year.

The Klingons subjugated the people, as conquerors did, but they were more interested in the resources Efros had to offer. Klingons were tough, but they did not have the cold resistance or the expertise to find anything deep within the frozen mountain ranges. Efrosians were frequently harassed or corralled into mining operations, controlled by various houses.

Efrosians frequently formed rebellion groups and would launch brutal attacks on the Klingons and their resources. Where the Klingons were strong, Efrosians were on their home turf. It was ugly for both sides. Efrosians often brought back pieces of Klingon technology from battles as war trophies and as object of study. Klingon rule inadvertently improved Efrosian technology in this way. Before long, Efrosians began the first of their space travel adventures, and became warp capable when Razul-Xillin-Gensolli reverse-engineered a stolen craft from the Klingons.

At the end of the Four Years' War, in the mid 23rd century, the Klingons released many planets that were previously under their control to the Federation. Efros was one of those planets. Just as Efros became a Federation planet, the High Council on Qo'nos finally reviewed the crimes of the houses on Efros. Each of them were considered dishonorable and were forbidden from returning, which meant a small population of Klingons remained on Efros.

The culture of the Efrosians still experienced some shell shock many years later. At about the time the Klingons let go of Efros, the planet began to experience global warming. The ice age had ended. At the same time, they made contact with the Federation, which accelerated their technological progress. Because all this change was happening so fast, the culture began to experience a conservative whiplash. Although Efrosians generally welcomed technology with open arms, they also began to cling more stubbornly to their religion and culture, often reviving traditions that had not been practiced in ages. There was almost a constant distrust of everyone who was not Efrosian. In fact, there was a whole array of slightly offensive slang for anyone who was not Efrosian (and a whole slew of nasty words for Klingons).

Government & Military

The government of Efros was a theocratic oligarchy. There was a council of twelve Lamanes who acted in a manner similar to the Roman Catholic Pope, as figureheads and as leaders. Lamanes did not actually make new rulings, but they were the ones who officially announced them and distributed them. Typically, Lamanes would take new names upon their crowning.

Below the Lamanes were two groups of equal importance, or nearly so. They were the law-makers (the Kheyanar) and what was referred to as the House. Both groups could write laws, but the Kheyanar had to approve the writing of a law before it became canon. The Kheyanar could not write a law without consulting the House, and the House had to have a certain number of yes votes, otherwise a law would not pass. Also on this level were the publishing companies that actually distributed the Lamanes announcements, televised the House-Kheyanar debates, and provided non-biased coverage of all government goings-ons, such as civil and criminal lawsuits and public events. There were other organizations that organized and controled economic development, the military, the space program, etc., but ultimately major decisions were left to the House-Kheyanar

Those that made up the House were the Gothi. Gothi were priestess/shamen, Raice, and a Matriarch before they were crowned Gothi. Gothi represented groupings of provinces. Their territories were usually divided by geological features. The frequently spent time consulting with their Raice before heading to the capital to make laws based on the issues presented to them

Also at the level of the Gothi were the civil and criminal courts. Civil and criminal courts were actually a leftover from Klingon society, twisted to suit Efrosian needs. Civil and criminal cases that couldn't be resolved by one’s local government went there. Civil court was widely known among Efrosians to be the single most boring televised program known to Efros-kind. Since neither court actually received many cases, a single case could take a very long time.

A Raice had to be a Matriarch and shaman priestess before becoming a Raice. She traveled among all villages in her province and held a position similar to governor. Usually the job of creating or interpreting local law fell to her, though she held counsels of Matriarchs to advise her.

A Matriarch had to be a shaman-priestess before she became a Matriarch. She traveled among two or three villages to understand their needs and make requests on her villages’ behalf. She had the unique ability to absolve the sins of her people. The only other group of people who could do this was the Lamanes. Any organization that was found guilty of some crime or sin heinous enough not only went through criminal court or civil court, but had to answer to a court of Matriarchs. This was rare and considered scandalous. Individuals often came before a Matriarch to have their sins washed away.

Shaman Priestesses resided with their villagers and acted as the spiritual advisers and ritual leaders. In times of war and danger, she was often a field medic, a soldier, and a general. In between, she was also a midwife, babysitter, psychologist, family therapist, matchmaker, occasional chef, village diplomat, and chief wine-taster. They were much beloved by their people and held in high regard. It was a common superstition that shaman-priestesses held telepathic powers.

Shaman-Priestesses, Matriarchs, Raice, and Gothi were all female-only positions. About 80% of all other positions were also female. There were sociologists who argued that Efros was a Matriarchy, but most Efrosians didn't really understand or care for the concept.

Efros did not have a significant military, due to not having a very high population to begin with. What they did have could be considered reserves.

Technology

Efrosians were a warp capable species and had access to all the wonderful technologies that made the Federation great. Strangely enough, many rural villages only made do with a replicator, some precautionary shielding technology, and some medical technology, if that. They embraced technology, but distrusted the Federation and would rather build their own using Federation knowledge. Manufacturing was not a big industry on Efros, so Efrosians were left with high demand and low stock

Efrosians had tech to boast about, though. They had a defense grid set around their planet that appeared efficient enough to negate the need for a military. Efrosian-build ships were few and far between, but what was built was usually sturdy ships that could be dragged through hell and back and still be in one piece.

The most important technological development on Efros was their reliance geothermal energy. Stations located across the planet gathered energy with an efficiency rate not seen in Federation geothermal stations. Additionally, the greenhouse gases usually produced while drilling were collected and either sold or used.

Mythology

Efrosians did not like to share their mythology much. What was known was this;

Contrary to most creation myths, Efrosians were not originally created by their gods. The spirits created Efros and ruled it for a very long time without any one dominant life form. They reportedly could not get along well with one another. According to legend, Efrosians were brought to the planet by the Wise Ones, masters of the unknown. They were deposited on Efros with the mission to keep balance on the planet. The word ‘Efros’ literally meant a crucial balancing element or keystone. The story of how Efrosians were actually created varied, there were many songs that described the creation of Efrosians differently.

The main job of the Efrosians was to balance rule between the spirits. Spirits were more numerous than the stars themselves, but were all organized into four categories: land-dwellers, sky-dwellers, ocean-dwellers, and “those that creep”. All life on Efros was categorized in the same way; land-dwelling mammals, avians, all aquatic life, and any plant, insect, or fungus. Efrosians fell into none of those categories, but were tasked with the responsibility of keeping each domain and living in peace with the spirits and one another. Efrosians relied on numerous parables that were sung the way of lullabies and children’s songs to teach their young how to live.

Special Notes

Conservative Efrosians generally distrusted the Federation, despite relying on them for protection and development. The more liberal of Efrosians had a more welcoming attitude towards the Federation. Attitudes regarding the Federation underwent a cultural shift as more and more Efrosians realized their planet was warming and their current lifestyle would be forced to change. Many saw the Federation as the only hope Efros had to either combat their current melting crisis, or find a new home.