Altair

((Note to everyone: If you think anything is too overpowerful or mary sue-ish, talk to me about it so I can refine my ideas to contain less stupid. My forum name is Silvermistshadow, and don't be afraid to go ahead and make changes yourself while waiting for a reply.))

Pronounciation: Altair (alt-AIR) ((I have no idea where I place the emphasis. That's 'alt' as in 'alternate' and 'air' as in the stuff we breathe.))

Physical Description

The Altair appear mostly human, though their scales tend to make people think they are reptiles. The overlapping scales cover the entire outer surface of their body, the only hair on them exists entirely beneath the scales. The epidermis lies below, and is pale, but generally has a human-like complexion.

Their blood is orange, carrying a much higher oxygen concentration than human blood.

Their scales tend to be described as one color, however, they vary in shades across the body. The actual colors are diverse, covering most colors naturally found in the environment. Genetically, the colors blend, always being somewhere between the parents' colors. The only two completely recessive colors are black and white, these colors do not blend with the others or even with each other. Their eye colors are equally as diverse, covering just as much a range as their scales. The eye colors, much like the scales, blend genetically.

Due to the way the scales grow and develop, even ink-based tattoos do not last long. As well, piercings are often considered ugly; something that detracts from the natural beauty of a person.

Cultural Description

The Altair have always been a culture of knowledge. Even when they were a young species, they focused more on learning than competing with each other. This has resulted in a cooperative mindset that allows them to get along with most other species. They are curious, but not without caution. They believe knowledge must also be tempered with wisdom, and therefore do not share their secrets freely, but instead would lead along the same or similar paths to those that lead to themselves discovering the technology.

Every last adult member of the species is a scientist. No matter what the profession is, no matter how simple-minded it may seem to other cultures, the Altair are given the equivalent of college education for every job they plan on doing. Soldiers often know the physics involved with their weapons, the engineering that went into their design, and the other sciences necessary to survive in the field. Thus, an Altair is always highly educated by the time they leave the homeworld.

Their population has a very high (~92%) population of mages and psychics. Around 55% of the psychic population is also proficient with magic. Thus, their culture is used to both, and is not suspicious of psychics. Their mages learn to control their abilities through styles of martial arts tailored to a specific area of magic. Around 89% of their mages can either naturally use multiple areas of magic or start with one or a few and can learn others.

Either way, for them, magic is as much physical as it is mental. Psychics are trained similarly, training their bodies just as hard as their minds. Weak psychics and mages often opt to augment their abilities through implants, as do more powerful mages/psychics. The power increase is apparent for both, weak mages and psychics find their powers are more versatile and can be sustained for longer, while naturally powerful mages and psychics find they can use their abilities much more often and for longer.

Their system of government is wholly democratic; while they may choose people to advise the people on certain subjects they may not have focused on in education, they otherwise vote directly on any issue that comes up. Poverty is virtually unheard of, as their technology allows them to turn any amount of mass directly into other forms. Their cities coexist with nature, one cannot take one step in their cities without seeing hundreds of plant species, most native but others brought back from distant planets. The cities are very dense, building both above and below ground. Outside, vast forests remain untouched by civilization.

The currency they use both for internal and external trading is called a word that roughly translates as 'gram'. Generally, it is kept in units of protons, these protons can be later turned into useful matter or kept as is. There are roughly 6.022 x 10^23 protons in a gram, making it fairly close to Hydrogen when being used for currency. The poorest citizens on Vellus would be considered upper middle class on planets that have not achieved the same technology level. ((And because grams are apparently hard to think about as a currency, I have no actual value on pay or anything.))

Relationships are largely monogamous. Polyamorous marriages can happen, but are generally agreed upon by those involved beforehand. Homosexuality is not a problem, society is generally quite accepting. In general, the population tends toward polysexuality, a mindset in which people like different things about either gender. There is also no stigma around transgender individuals. Society also tends to be very accepting of different appearances. It is entirely possible for members of other species and cultures to become citizens.

Diet

Their scales require more calcium in the diet than humans, thus they are much more likely to eat the bones from animals. As well, their curious nature leads them to trying many different things from cultures they may find in the galaxy. They are omnivorous, eating both plants and animals to get their required nutrients. Their stomachs contain strong enzymes capable of rendering poisons, including alcohol, inert, as well as digesting materials typically left undigested by other species.

Homeland

The orange (K0V) star Asellus is orbited by seven planets, three of which are solid enough to land on. The other four are gas giants, naturally. The second planet is Vellus, which is the origin of the Altair species. The planet is covered in forests, many of them rainforests. Vellus is around 500% of the Eath's mass, and its moon is 0.107% of Earth's mass.

Special Abilities/Biology and stuff

In addition to the large magical and psychic population, the species as a whole can see far infrared light, often using it in their technology’s displays to make it more difficult for other species to steal their technology. This is not always active, they must consciously switch to this mode of vision. They come from a world with higher gravity than Earth’s (1.72g, not much higher) and thus are shorter overall, but stronger in some ways. They are adept climbers, having adapted from climbing the trees of their homeworld’s many forests to climbing the urban environments found on many worlds including their own. They can recover from any wound, provided they are not killed outright and they maintain proper nutrition the entire time. This includes regrowing limbs and organs, but not the entire head. While they do have some redundant systems in case of head trauma, they cannot survive entirely without their head, and enough damage will kill them outright.

Their bones are made to be light but strong, physically resembling the bones of birds, but are tougher than human bones. Because of the gravity on their world, their bodies must be capable of taking harder punishment from falls and other sources. Some parts of their bones contain metals such as titanium in addition to calcium, absorbed through some of the native plant life. Their scales are nearly as tough as the bones, but are lighter and patterned in such a way that force is distributed over a wide area, acting as a natural body armor. Their teeth are similar in shape and distribution to a human's, but are more resistant to corrosion.

Their hearing range goes from 5Hz to around 120KHz. The eardrum is less sensitive in the presence of loud noises, adjusting itself continuously to environmental conditions. Their sense of smell is roughly the same as a human's. Their eyesight has a limited ability to 'zoom in' on distant objects, capable of seeing an object as if it were 1.4x closer at will. In the dark they often use infrared vision.

Their vocal cords also have greater range, allowing them to speak in frequencies above or below the hearing ranges of other species. However, this does put a strain on the vocal cords and they cannot do so for very long.

Lifespan

Pregnancy lasts 11 months (as measured on Earth; all time estimates given here are similarly from Earth), after which the child is born awake and somewhat aware. A few hours afterward, the child can walk on their own and begins repeating simple sounds heard from their parents. A few days later, they can run and perform simple acrobatic actions. A few months in, the child can speak simple words. Nearly a year after birth, the child can speak hole sentences, perform more complicated actions, and often start learning to read. At six years, the child is mentally fully developed, but retains a child's ability to learn. In fact, the Altair retain a child's ability to learn for much of their life, their brains being much more malleable than those of some other species.

Due to the robust regeneration system of the species, they are known to live around 900 years, but rarely more than 950.

Religion

There is a widespread belief in some form of higher power, but many consider the ultimate form of enlightenment to be achieved within the self. Knowledge, tempered by wisdom, should be learned and kept safe, so that future generations may benefit from it.

Technology

To be honest, much of the technology on the Truth is fairly old. This is so that more recent, more powerful technology does not fall into the wrong hands. Listed here is Altair technology, as readable by someone with Level II access to classified information. ((I'll be keeping it to things that have or may appear.))

Small systems

The following technologies are either carriable or can be worn by one person.

Mk II Plasma Sidearm; The technology for this weapon is a little over 230 years old. However, the weapon is reliable and does not risk nearly as much chaos if reverse-engineered by another culture. Its battery has a standard charge of two hundred and fifty shots and recharges about one shot every 2 seconds. The fuel cell for the generator needs to be refilled around every 5000 shots. It has multiple settings. The stun setting emits a disruptive electrical field that can temporarily disable the peripheral nervous system, excluding essential functions. It uses about half the power of a normal shot. All other settings are based on temperature, the first setting above stun emits a red-orange bolt at about 2000K. The next setting is a yellow-white bolt at 5500K. The highest setting is a bright blue bolt at 11000K, this setting has the power drain of two shots.

Mk IV Collapsible Sword; This weapon, while considered archaic, is ideal in some situations. Its core is flexible, made out of relatively soft steel. The outside is an alloy of titanium (6% aluminum, 4% vanadium, 0.25% iron, 0.2% oxygen, and the remainder titanium) with a titanium nitride coating to increase edge retention. (Note: Gold color was considered distracting, photonic properties were changed to reflect a more grey color). The blade is manufactured in a zero-gravity environment for perfect alloy blending. The hilt is made similarly, but does retain the natural gold color of titanium nitride, and is not otherwise decorated. The blade folds for easy storage; the design is made specifically so that this does not reduce the blade's combat capabilities.

Mk V Personal Underarmor; This underarmor, made to work either alone or with the Mk X Combat Armor, consists of layers of a synthetic, flexible material with natural resistance against both blunt and bladed weapons. It defends against projectile weapons with layers of shear-thickening fluid between each layer and the next. This liquid thickens when hit with significant force in a short period, though it does not protect against slower attacks than its velocity threshold (~15km/s). The inner surface is designed to be comfortable, such that this armor can be worn for days without changing, even while sleeping. A portable computer can be attached to one of the forearms. Such computers are usually capable of some scientific analysis in the field, with some models capable of more than others, though the tradeoff is usually in other features, as the computer must be light enough to remain on the arm and not become uncomfortable.

Mk X Personal Combat Armor; This armor is highly protective. It is made of many individual pieces of tungsten carbide (among other metals and materials) that are controlled by a virtual intelligence. They predict attacks and find the best way to deflect them. This is, of course, if the attack breaks through the shield. The armor alone protects its wearer from temperature extremes of plus or minus 5000K, pressures of up to 22,060 kPa, and all known and many unknown toxic substances. The onboard virtual intelligence prevents any unknown substance from entering the controlled environment inside the armor before examining it with the onboard biochemical analysis unit to ensure it will not have dangerous interactions with its wearer's biology. The armor will automatically seal in the presence of dangerous temperatures, pressures or substances. The seal also mediates radiation, though it will warn its user if it detects radiation above its capabilities to absorb. These same properties allow it to passively resist and reflect psychic influence.

It augments the wearer's physical capabilities, increasing their strength, speed, reflexes and agility. Despite the apparent weight of the armor, the wearer often feels lighter than a feather for a while after first putting it on.

It contains a rebreather system, this along with its internal oxygen supply allows the user to survive in hostile environments for up to a week without external support. If there is available oxygen, even in the presence of toxic substances, it will filter this out of the environment to replenish its supplies. It contains a thruster system for both zero gravity and underwater operations. The fuel supply for this is fairly inert, and needs to be burned with a very specific oxidizer. The helmet allows the user to see in multiple spectrums, as well as analyze almost anything in the field. It contains a HUD that has multiple settings and adapts to the wearer's preferences.

Onboard matter fabricators, though relatively simple, can replicate food and drink for the user. In the absence of a safe environment in which to consume these, it will make the water and nutrients directly inside the wearer's stomach.

The shield system is not as strong as those contained on ships, however, the shields add to the capabilities of the suit to resist hostile environments and combat. The shields are capable of withstanding an additional 15000K, 45,000kPa, and protects the wearer from nearly any source of radiation. The shield is adaptive and automatically adjusts its faces such that weak points are never facing the enemy, allowing the shields to stand up much longer in combat. The shield actively resists psychic powers coming from outside the barrier.

Mk I Dark Energy Rifle: A relatively new technology, there are only two in the Truth's armory. The dark energy beam they emit creates an antimatter explosion when it hits solid or liquid matter. Due to their destructive power, they are rarely used except while on the surface of a planet. Plus they're rarely taken out of their cases.

Neural Implants: They come in many names, specifications and types. One thing that they do have in common is that they must be tuned and customized for each user's nervous system. Putting an implant designed for someone else or not tuned at all generally has one of two effects; either it does nothing, or it fries the nervous system of the user, rendering them either brain-dead or paralyzed. These implants have many uses, though the most common are for enhancing psychic and magic powers. They do this through many methods, usually employing several at once depending on how one uses their powers. These methods are all complicated and generally need a specialist to fully understand. Some methods include the learning and replication of the user's signals, taking some of the burden of concentration off of them. Different designs are used for mages, psychics and psychic mages, with different methods for each. They are resistant to tampering, whether physical, magical or psychic.