Athalites

Considered cousins to the Xilon, this ancient species evolved simultaenously within the Aeradisphere during the Early Days, emerging as the dominant life form of the galaxy Alarahn. By the time both species had fully populated their respective galaxies, their two civilizations had taken very different paths.

Early on, the Athalites had united as a single force, with an elected monarch presiding over their interstellar affairs from the capitol planet of Athalia. Over time, they forged a strong and powerful society of peace and prosperity, with an emphasis on interplanetary equality, both amongst their own kind and towards the less evolved life forms that resided within their borders. Their culture rapidly became socially and intellectually superior to their Xilon neighbors who, in spite of fantastic biological and technological advancements, remained caught up in waves of devastating tribal warfare that threatened the existence of all life within Chrysalian, with the violence eventually beginning to spread beyond.

When efforts at diplomatic intervention failed and war became an unavoidable reality, many Athalites decided to leave the Aeradisphere, planning to return once the barbarians had wiped themselves out. Nearly half of the population of Alarahn joined the exodus, but the remaining half redoubled their efforts to protect the galaxy and as much of the Sphere as possible from the enemy's chaotic expansion.

A plasma-based quorec life form, the Athalites' physical appearance is characterized by dark gold skin of crystallic scales, light, colorful hair, burning black and pink eyes and thick, heavy wings. Similar to the Xilon, they live for nearly 40 lyren and stand on average at 25 - 30 feet tall, although they cannot expand or compress their form to the same extent. They have two hearts, no body hair, natal clefts, bellybuttons, nipples, birthmarks or external reproductive organs. Their biochemistry, while laurelian-based, is of a different variety than that of the Xilon. Rather than throxin, their primary composition is a nuclear substance called jzevelsa, which allows them to move through space in their own unique manner but does not sustain travel through time. However, they pioneered the most powerful time travel technology in the known worlds quite early on, making the need for throxin a moot point.

Unlike the Xilon, Athalites do have male and female sexes, and it is the females that bear children. In a similar fashion to their cousins, reproduction is accomplished by way of an energy exchange through touch, with the female gathering the necessary code from her partner's internal energy. Once conceived, the life force of the child grows within the host for up to three months before she releases a mist of jzevelsa through the scales of her skin, which swirl together to form a living infant.

As with the Xilon, Athalites have two sets of vocal chords, one in the throat and one that runs across the shoulders and neck, terminating in the upper chest near the hearts. Their language, a combination of powerful vibrations and echoing snake-like whispers, requires both sets of chords to be used at once.

When the Xilon did finally emerge from their dark ages, the leaders of the Alarahn empire reached out to their kin who had spread across the stars and who had grown comfortable in their own regions of space, and proposed a universal union of which all Athalites and those under their watch could be a part, while still operating as independent nations beyond the Sphere. In time, the Athalian monarchy also established relations with the prospering Xilon worlds and the two species became close allies, often joining forces to guide lower beings, avert cosmic catastrophes and keep the universe on track. Alien Species: Cepheids  >>