Hlanssai
Hlanssai are tall, averaging just over two metres but very light and slender of build, rarely massing more than 55-60kg. The race is homeothermic, bisexual and viviparous, producing one or two young after an eight-month gestation period. Hlanssai bodies are half covered with a silky, glossy yellow fur and they seldom bother with clothing. Their most striking visual feature is the head, with its two large eyes and two even larger ears. The former are sensitive to a range of frequencies extending into the ultraviolet; the external flaps of the latter serve to detect thermal radiation and air currents with considerable efficiency, as well as focussing sound into a highly efficient inner ear. The race’s hands have three three-jointed fingers and a stubby, unjointed ‘thumb’ each; their feet are similar and can provide grip, especially when climbing.
HISTORY
The Hlanssai evolved on Vrirhlanz, in the Vargr Extents (B657721-7), a planet not wholly unlike Terra. Their ancestors were intermittent/gatherer types, adapted for a semi-nocturnal existence in moderately forested areas. This species already possessed a fair level of intelligence when tectonic shifts created a land bridge between two continents, allowing a large number of different, and frequently dangerous, species to invade the proto-Hlanssai’s home environment. The resulting evolutionary pressure encouraged flexible, intelligent behaviour but this was only part of the result. New dangers confronting the Hlanssai demanded the ability to perceive situations quickly and in detail, and an awareness of all possible subtleties. The race already possessed the acute senses of the sometime night-dweller; evolution now enhanced these to exceptional levels. Hlanssai intelligence was the product of the need to analyse and comprehend sensory inputs; Hlanssai psychology is therefore oriented overwhelmingly towards immediate sensory awareness and possible responses. Likewise, the species’ philosophies are sensualistic, frequently dismissive of the long term and notoriously sybaritic and hedonistic.
A Hlanssai will usually respond to a situation as it occurs with little regard for long-term consequences, which often means their reactions are dramatic or even excessive. This is not to say that Hlanssai are psychopathic or vicious; they are capable of personal loyalty and affection and their capacity for empathy is quite phenomenal, howeverenduring trust is alien to them.
SOCIETY
Hlanssai culture had achieved a kind of static equilibrium when the race was first contacted by the Vargr and has changed only slightly since. Hlanssai psychology dictates that complex, rigid social systems and longrange planning are impossible and even familial or tribal bonds are weak. Balancing this, the species’ tendency towards cooperation in the face of immediate danger is powerful. The result is a system of administration by self-interested cliques and participant democracy, which appears anarchic to most outsiders but is entirely acceptable to most Hlanssai. A Hlanssai who finds the current situation unacceptable usually either forms their own clique or takes to demagogic politics.
Personal violence and theft are quite common but represent a sufficient immediate personal danger to trigger the cooperation instinct. Larger scale organisation for long-term aims is rare, only occurring when unusually capable and charismatic Hlanssai perceive a particularly strong racial need and persuade others to work together to meet it. Normally, the Vargr have poor relations with minor races within their territory but the Hlanssai are an exception. The species’ immense versatility, subtlety and talent for empathy enables them to persuade others of their usefulness, and Hlanssai social scientists, servants, traders and spies have travelled virtually everywhere that the Vargr have gone – in some cases beyond.
The Vargr generally regard the Hlanssai as useful, dangerous and fortunately weak; the Hlanssai regard the Vargr as graceless and unsubtle, yet interesting and useful. Beyond the Vargr Extents, Hlanssai are widely seen as enigmatic, unstable, intelligent and interesting; Hlanssai attitudes toward other races vary but generally involve curiosity mixed with ironic humour.
A final important concept to note when dealing with Hlanssai is that of N’tarronth and its converse, N’tarronchii’a; a further consequence of Hlanssai sensualism. N’tarronth is usually translated as ‘shaping’ or ‘manufacturing’ but it can best be expressed in human terms as ‘imposing arbitrary form upon the universe’. Hlanssai are acutely aware of the distinction between the natural and artificial, and regard one of the most important aspects of individual behaviour to be the extent to which a being accepts external reality and acts within existing limitations. A being who rejects things-as-they-are and seeks to shape reality to their will is or displays N’tarronth; a being who takes a passive, accepting view is N’tarronchii’a.
Despite the fact that other races view them as mercurial and unstable, Hlanssai tend – by their own standards at least – to be highly consistent in being either N’tarronchii’a or N’tarronth. They regard an inability to choose between the two modes of behaviour as decidedly odd, comparable with a refusal to eat or drink. This does not imply any question of good or evil in Hlanssai terms; it is simply a matter of normal sentient behaviour. In general, music, applied science, law, manufacturing industry and exploration are classed as N’tarronth, whereas mathematics, figurative art and hedonism are N’tarronchii’a. To the Hlanssai, therefore, most other races tend towards N’tarronth but display an odd tendency to mix elements of N’tarronchii’a. In other words, Hlanssai understand other species as little as other species understand Hlanssai.
HLANSSAI TRAVELLERS
Hlanssai may be encountered throughout Eden and in a wide variety of circumstances. Many are afflicted with wanderlust, becoming roving artists, entertainers, animal-handlers or adventurers. A strong disinclination to settle anywhere for long – and an inability to remain on good terms with one employer for extended periods – keeps them on the move.
A Hlanssai will usually respond to a situation as it occurs with little regard for long-term consequences, which often means their reactions are dramatic or even excessive. This is not to say that Hlanssai are psychopathic or vicious; they are capable of personal loyalty and affection and their capacity for empathy is quite phenomenal, howeverenduring trust is alien to them.
SOCIETY
Hlanssai culture had achieved a kind of static equilibrium when the race was first contacted by the Vargr and has changed only slightly since. Hlanssai psychology dictates that complex, rigid social systems and longrange planning are impossible and even familial or tribal bonds are weak. Balancing this, the species’ tendency towards cooperation in the face of immediate danger is powerful. The result is a system of administration by self-interested cliques and participant democracy, which appears anarchic to most outsiders but is entirely acceptable to most Hlanssai. A Hlanssai who finds the current situation unacceptable usually either forms their own clique or takes to demagogic politics.
Personal violence and theft are quite common but represent a sufficient immediate personal danger to trigger the cooperation instinct. Larger scale organisation for long-term aims is rare, only occurring when unusually capable and charismatic Hlanssai perceive a particularly strong racial need and persuade others to work together to meet it. Normally, the Vargr have poor relations with minor races within their territory but the Hlanssai are an exception. The species’ immense versatility, subtlety and talent for empathy enables them to persuade others of their usefulness, and Hlanssai social scientists, servants, traders and spies have travelled virtually everywhere that the Vargr have gone – in some cases beyond.
The Vargr generally regard the Hlanssai as useful, dangerous and fortunately weak; the Hlanssai regard the Vargr as graceless and unsubtle, yet interesting and useful. Beyond the Vargr Extents, Hlanssai are widely seen as enigmatic, unstable, intelligent and interesting; Hlanssai attitudes toward other races vary but generally involve curiosity mixed with ironic humour.
A final important concept to note when dealing with Hlanssai is that of N’tarronth and its converse, N’tarronchii’a; a further consequence of Hlanssai sensualism. N’tarronth is usually translated as ‘shaping’ or ‘manufacturing’ but it can best be expressed in human terms as ‘imposing arbitrary form upon the universe’. Hlanssai are acutely aware of the distinction between the natural and artificial, and regard one of the most important aspects of individual behaviour to be the extent to which a being accepts external reality and acts within existing limitations. A being who rejects things-as-they-are and seeks to shape reality to their will is or displays N’tarronth; a being who takes a passive, accepting view is N’tarronchii’a.
Despite the fact that other races view them as mercurial and unstable, Hlanssai tend – by their own standards at least – to be highly consistent in being either N’tarronchii’a or N’tarronth. They regard an inability to choose between the two modes of behaviour as decidedly odd, comparable with a refusal to eat or drink. This does not imply any question of good or evil in Hlanssai terms; it is simply a matter of normal sentient behaviour. In general, music, applied science, law, manufacturing industry and exploration are classed as N’tarronth, whereas mathematics, figurative art and hedonism are N’tarronchii’a. To the Hlanssai, therefore, most other races tend towards N’tarronth but display an odd tendency to mix elements of N’tarronchii’a. In other words, Hlanssai understand other species as little as other species understand Hlanssai.
HLANSSAI TRAVELLERS
Hlanssai may be encountered throughout Eden and in a wide variety of circumstances. Many are afflicted with wanderlust, becoming roving artists, entertainers, animal-handlers or adventurers. A strong disinclination to settle anywhere for long – and an inability to remain on good terms with one employer for extended periods – keeps them on the move.
Hlanssai Travellers have the following modifiers applied to their characteristics:
STR -2, DEX +2, EDU -2
SOC is always treated as 5 in alien societies but position in Hlanssai society is determined on 1D+4.
Traits
Hlanssai Travellers all possess one of the following traits:
N’tarronth: This Hlanssai is the sort to impose their will upon the universe and likely has a technical inclination. They gain DM+2 on all checks rolled to make things happen, such as persuading someone to do something or building a device to carry out a necessary function.
N’tarronchii’a: This Hlanssai goes with the flow of the universe and has an inclination towards arts and sciences that explain mysteries of the cosmos. The Hlanssai gains DM+2 on all checks dealing with comprehension, such as understanding someone else’s motivations or expressing the gravitational forces around a star in mathematical form.
Careers
Hlanssai outside their traditional social environment can enter any career but suffer DM-6 to enlist or advance in military careers. DM-3 is applied to enlist and advance in careers within major corporations (such as merchant marine or corporate agent).
STR -2, DEX +2, EDU -2
SOC is always treated as 5 in alien societies but position in Hlanssai society is determined on 1D+4.
Traits
Hlanssai Travellers all possess one of the following traits:
N’tarronth: This Hlanssai is the sort to impose their will upon the universe and likely has a technical inclination. They gain DM+2 on all checks rolled to make things happen, such as persuading someone to do something or building a device to carry out a necessary function.
N’tarronchii’a: This Hlanssai goes with the flow of the universe and has an inclination towards arts and sciences that explain mysteries of the cosmos. The Hlanssai gains DM+2 on all checks dealing with comprehension, such as understanding someone else’s motivations or expressing the gravitational forces around a star in mathematical form.
Careers
Hlanssai outside their traditional social environment can enter any career but suffer DM-6 to enlist or advance in military careers. DM-3 is applied to enlist and advance in careers within major corporations (such as merchant marine or corporate agent).
Comments