Aslan

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Aslan
Aslan.jpg
A typical Aslan male.
Base Information
Classification Carnivore/pouncer
Status Major Race
Locomotion Walker
Terrain Plains
Body Form
Confluence Semi-humanoid
Bio-Identenoid Felidoid
Size 2.0 meters
Weight 100 kg
Culture
Languages Trokh
Social Structure Balkanization
Technological Epoch TL:13-15
Psionic potential Low
Origin World
Homeworld location Kusyu (Dark Nebula 1226)
UWP
A876A76-E
StarportA Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel
Size8 Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g)
Atmosphere7 Standard (tainted)
Hydrographics6 Wet World 60%
PopulationA High (70 billion)
Government7 Balkanization
Law6 Moderate Law (no firearms except shotguns)
Tech LevelE High Stellar (anti-grav cities)
Primary Star G4 V D
Atmosphere Standard (tainted)
Off-world presence Yes
Zoetic individuals Yes
Source
Reference Aslan 1-40.
Canon Yes
Also see Aslan Hierate

The Aslan of Kusyu (Dark Nebula 1226) are a Major Race, of four-limbed, upright, bipedal, carnivore/pouncer, humanoid, and felidoid stock.

Their name for themselves is the Fteirle and their large interstellar empire is known as the Aslan Hierate. The earliest Terran explorers saw in them a vague resemblance to the Terran lion, and they have been described (by Terrans) as lion-like ever since, although there is very little true similarity. The derivation of the word Aslan is contested.

Physical sophontology

Fteirle stand roughly human-sized, averaging 2.0 meters in height and weighing 100 kg. Their primary diet is meat, with a preference for fresh raw meat. They prefer to inhabit worlds with a standard environment, with environmental ranges similar to Humaniti.

The Aslan hand has three fingers opposing one medially-placed thumb, and all have retractable claws. In addition, Aslan have a single highly specialized claw under each thumb; this dewclaw folds back jack-knife fashion into a horny covering in the base of the thumb and palm.

Fteirle have vision comparable to humans with a similar range of visible colors. The eyes are proportionately larger than Human eyes, and deeper set, with the vertical-slit pupils common to pouncing creatures. Hearing is slightly better than humans with a broader frequency range for hearing. Both sense of smell and touch are significantly better than humans.

There are two sexes: male and female, of which the most notable external difference is the male's increased size and more impressive mane. Females outnumber males by a ratio of 3 to 1.

The Aslan are a warrior race, proud, noble, and devoted to those in authority above them. Aslan employ a cultural rite of passage to mark the transition from childhood to adolescence or young adulthood.

NOTE: Aslan have extremely low psionic potential.

Archaeological sophontology

This species originated on Kuzu and developed intelligence. They are descended from four-limbed, upright, bipedal carnivore-pouncer stock originally adapted to a solitary arboreal existence.

Evolution

This species primarily developed intelligence in response to climate change. As the Aslan homeworld's thick forest lands were depleted, it forced the Aslan to become cooperative pack hunters on the grassy plains.

Major historical events timeline

A vast Aslan-dominated empire (the Aslan Hierate) lies to spinward and rimward of the Reavers' Deep, but Aslan themselves have ranged well beyond its borders, with many Ihatei settling on the independent worlds of the Deep and the Imperium.

Aslan have fought with the Imperium in the Aslan Border Wars.

Cultural sophontology

One Imperial scientist and observer of Aslan society, Professor Iacomus Konradsky of the Imperial University of Regina, once characterized Aslan customs and mores as "violently monocultural" with an explanation that while the Aslan frequently feud among themselves, they will quickly align forces to crush threats to their way of life.

The Aslan have a distinctive psychology that confuses many members of Humaniti. How can a race that is so quarrelsome and violently monocultural, at the same time, profess a love of peace, harmony, and love of nature? Some of it could be explained away by the difference between idealism and realpolitik within any culture, but the Aslan are still significantly different. Their code of honor and deeply held spiritual beliefs are certainly part of the answer to this enigma. Many are still trying to deeply understand the Aslan mindset.

While the Aslan interstellar society is a remarkably stable monoculture, that same culture is far from unified on many matters. Most Aslan reside in the Aslan Hierate, but many reside within the Third Imperium as Imperial Aslan. And a few are known to dwell within the Solomani Confederation as Solomani Aslan or elsewhere. All Aslan eventually find a deep psychological need to form Aslan Clans, send out Ihatei expeditions, and, to put it simply, be Aslan.

  • Please see Ihatei for more information.

Belief system and philosophy

Aslan have the following cultural beliefs

  • Gender- behavior roles
  • Formalized code of ethics
  • Highly ritualized social organization
  • Expectations of Intercivilizational Competition

Morality and ethics

A deep-seated territorial instinct causes the Aslan to have an inordinate (from a human standpoint) concern with land. For male Aslan, owning land is a major goal in life. An Aslan's stature is determined by the amount of land he (or her husband) controls, or by the amount of land owned by any higher lord the Aslan may be vassal to. The lowest classes of Aslan are landless, and provide the farmers, laborers, craftsmen, and factory workers. A holder of a large territory will often grant authority over it to vassals (usually sons, brothers, or male relatives by marriage) who administer the land in his name.

Aslan expect organized social groupings, a formal code of ethics, and overtly expressed civilizational competition. Thus the culture of the Hive Federation is very confusing and perhaps even antithetical to Aslan cultural folkways.

Aslan are very group-oriented. No Aslan in his right mind would turn away another of his own species except for in the case of great crimes. In connection with this group mentality, most Aslan have little need for privacy. They find humans strange in this manner. Aslan starship architecture emphasizes large open-aired common areas and few Aslan find private compartments necessary. Aslan tend to congregate and even sleep in small hunting groups. Females are more flexible and can operate individually much more easily than males.

The Aslan are motivated by land ownership and prestige within Aslan society. Due to these strong motivations, land ownership is the primary goal for most Aslan.

Expansionism

The Hierate is constantly expanding in any astrographical direction it can. Population pressure and the constant desire for more space pushes each clan to build colonization starships and escorting miltary forces to accompany them.

  • Please see Ihatei for more information.

Honor and Racial Pride

The Aslan have highly-developed codes of conduct that govern Aslan behavior. These customs are widespread with little dissent or challenges to the established culture.

Territoriality and Internal Conflicts

A deep-seated territorial instinct causes the Aslan to have an inordinate (from a human standpoint) concern with land. For male Aslan, owning land is a major goal in life. An Aslan's stature is determined by the amount of land he (or her husband) controls, or by the amount of land owned by any higher lord the Aslan may be vassal to. The lowest classes of Aslan are landless, and provide the farmers, laborers, craftsmen, and factory workers. A holder of a large territory will often grant authority over it to vassals (usually sons, brothers, or male relatives by marriage) who administer the land in his name.

Traditions

Aslan have a number of personal beliefs including:

  • Fteirle Polytheism (Deistic Ancestor Worship).
  • Honor
  • Kami of planetary nature and spacetime
  • Hero worship, especially onboard starships. Shrines.
  • Ancestor worship.
  • Nature worship.
  • Deep appreciation for uniqueness and high craftsmanship.

Aesthetics

This species holds the following values regarding art, architecture, ornamentation, etc.

  • Highly ornate (Aslan baroque)
  • Small individually crafted pieces of art
  • A value on uniqueness
  • A preference for organiform shapes
  • A disdain for right angles and cubism

Aslan of high means, will always customize their belongings with the highest quality materials available whether having their weapons inlaid with precious metals and inscriptions, their starships fitted out with luxurious and beautiful interiors, or building their homes in a state of grace and complementation with their environments. While the Aslan do build mighty cities and vast metropolises, the Aslan ideal is to live on a country estate surrounded by prime hunting land.

Linguistic sophontology

The Aslan language is known as Trokh and is spoken by nearly all Aslan. Few non-Aslan can claim to have mastered it. Difficult to pronounce, split into gender-specific dialects, and weighty with formalisms, it causes foreign speakers to open themselves to embarrassing blunders in conversation.

Societal sophontology

An individual Aslan is usually a member of a family of from two to twelve individuals under a patriarchal leader. Several families will combine into a pride with one family dominant. A number of prides form a clan, again with a top pride. Aside from military organizations and the ruling council (within the Hierate), the clan is the highest social-political organization among the Aslan.

The sexes have very different roles in Aslan society. Males (in all but the lowest classes) are concerned mostly with military operations, acquisition of territory, and political affairs. Females are concerned with trade, industry, and the accumulation of knowledge. Upper class males have little conception of money and are literally incapable of functioning in a technological society without aid, so they are thus seldom encountered without the supervision of a wife, mother, or other female relative or employer.

For instance, a typical Aslan mercenary unit will be organized by a wealthy married female, who will then assign its operation, for a share of the proceeds, to an unmarried female relative. The battle commander and most of the troops will be unmarried males (many of them also relatives) hired with the promise of land grants (and the opportunity to gain honor and reputation in combat); however, staff, operations, supply, and intelligence officers will generally be female.

Government and politics

The Aslan Hierate is the interstellar, multi-sector government of the many Aslan clans. Aslan society centers on the clan. Within the Hierate, the family structure of the Aslan and the governmental structure are the same. The Aslan term for their empire is Htoifteirlakht, translated as "the bountful lands ruled by the lords of honor".

Tlaukhu

A council of twenty-nine clan leaders chosen from amongst the most powerful clans performs the highest governmental functions. The Trokh name for this council is Tlaukhu, which has a literal translation of thirty-five (Aslan numbering is in base-8, this is 29 in base-10). Like Vland's Igsiirdi or old Terra's United Nations, the Aslan Tlaukhu stands as one of charted space's great political councils. While lacking true governmental power, the Tlaukhu exerts great force upon the politics of the Aslan Hierate.

Aslan Martial Forces & Space Navies

The extremely deadly nature of any combat between Aslan has led to a rigid, ritualized pattern of behavior designed to reduce conflict. Aslan are very polite, and while most have learned to be patient with non-Aslan, accidental fights still occur. Disputes between individuals are handled by the patriarchs; disputes between families are handled by the pride leader; disputes between prides are handled by the clan leader.

The tendency of Aslan society to cleave along clan, territorial, and expansionistic lines makes clan cooperation vital when facing larger space fleets from other sophonts and political groupings. To minimize or prevent unnecessary losses of materiel and men, Aslan conflicts are most often fought by ground forces. Aslan civil wars and conflict amongst the clans is far more common than many Aslan would like to admit.

The Fteirle don't distinguish between Navy, Scout, or Merchant Marines as the Third Imperium does. What Humans think of as spacegoing navies or space forces, the Aslan consider Clan Space Forces. As a generality, Aslan don't field quite as many combat hulls as a comparative human power because of the ritualistic nature of most Aslan martial conflict.

Aslan generally organize and build their starcraft along the following lines:

  • Aslan build purely-combat hulls as warships.
  • They build colonial Ihatei hulls for exploration and extrasolar settlement.
  • And nearly all of the remaining interstellar craft are built as merchant hulls.

Business and trade

The Aslan are not always known for researching and creating state-of-the-art technologies, or for being the most shrewd and profit-minded merchants, but the Aslan are well respected in nearly everything they do, whether from trade to war to technology.

Aslan merchants approach interstellar trade with the same passion as they approach war. Aslan corporations and trade organizations are known to range much of the galaxy seeking to accrue wealth and expand land holdings. The Aslan themselves take great pride in craftsmanship, artisanry, and quality of goods. While the Aslan conduct manufacturing in great quantities, the Aslan themselves most treasure artistry and artisanship. To the Aslan, a laser rifle mass-manufactured in an automated factory possesses much less inherent value than a hand-crafted laser rifle with inlaid ivory grips, a custom-made laser-tergeting device, etched scrollwork along the rifle casing, and the ideographic mark a master craftsman. In this way, the Aslan possess values similar to the Japanese Samurai of human world of Terra (Solomani Rim 1827).

Research and technology

Most Aslan worlds are TL–8 to TL–12 averaging TL–9 to TL–11. Although much of Aslan merchant fleet uses lower technology vessels. Additionally, many Aslan worlds use infrastructure considerably less advanced than the TL–9 to TL–10 standard set by the Tlaukhu. Aslan manufacturing and merchantry is divided by clan interests, but still maintain impressive levels of achievement. the Aslan, themselves, prefer an aesthetic based upon art.

Astrography

Aslan can be found throughout Charted Space although the majority of the greater population are located within these two supra-polities:

Sector Listing: 1105

Aslan are primarily located in the following sectors:

  1. Aeitle Sakh Sector AKA Reaver's Deep Sector
  2. Afawahisa Sector
  3. Ahkiweahi' Sector
  4. Aktifao Sector
  5. Ealiyasiyw Sector
  6. Eose'o Sector
  7. Esai'yo Sector
  8. Etakhasoa Sector
  9. Fahreahluis Sector
  10. Ftahtuak Sector AKA Ustral Quadrant Sector
  11. Ftaoiyekyu Sector
  12. Ftetlao' Sector AKA Hanstone Sector
  13. Heakhafaw Sector
  14. Hfiywitir Sector
  15. Hkakhaeaw Sector
  16. Hlakhoi Sector
  17. Hlaoirloahaurl Sector AKA Trojan Reach Sector
  18. I'aheako Sector AKA Dark Nebula Sector
  19. Iiyoihuakh Sector AKA Riftspan Reaches Sector
  20. Irlaftalea Sector
  21. Iwahfuah Sector
  22. Iyiyukhtoi Sector AKA Banners Sector
  23. Karleaya Sector
  24. Kefiykhta Sector
  25. Khiyhkokaeie Sector AKA Verge Sector
  26. Kyatulyare Sector AKA Iphigenaia Sector
  27. Lerlairlaii Sector AKA Beyond Sector
  28. Ohieraoi Sector
  29. Oleaiy'fte Sector AKA Canopus Sector
  30. Staihaia'yo Sector
  31. Tahahorol Sector AKA Holowon Sector
  32. Teahloarifu Sector
  33. Uistilrao Sector
  34. Waroatahe Sector
  35. Weasuirlaoa Sector AKA Touchstone Sector
  36. Yahehwe Sector

World Listing: 1105

Significant communities of Aslan are known to exist within the following systems and worlds:

200 of 909 World articles in Aslan
0836  •  A'eouya  •  A'kyehyoiw  •  A'yoeah  •  Aakhia  •  Aarlayaoa  •  Aauawoihriy  •  Aaya  •  Aayo  •  Abramo  •  Acis  •  Aeahaihluil  •  Aeasaorlais  •  Aeaw  •  Aehahr  •  Aeie  •  Aeirlyekheal  •  Aekhar  •  Aerin  •  Afeakter  •  Afihteihealr  •  Aftye  •  Ahaiehea  •  Ahaikhea  •  Ahetaowa  •  Ahhyoe  •  Ahlalria  •  Ahloe  •  Ahosoieireawa  •  Ahreah  •  Ahroaea  •  Ahyolyo  •  Aiahoih  •  Aiailr  •  Aiaiyal  •  Aiearye  •  Aieuataulor  •  Aihaowkhtirl  •  Aihhelo  •  Aihktiyuahkhei  •  Aihoalr  •  Aihoilrual  •  Aihtekhtea  •  Aihu  •  Aihuarouea  •  Aiiyea  •  Aikoutruaaii  •  Ailyuwftea  •  Aio  •  Aioaoa  •  Airiyrlyu'  •  Airliweiw  •  Aisaoaoeh  •  Aisaoawi  •  Aisaukh  •  Aisteaya  •  Aiui  •  Aiuiktiyr  •  Aiuite  •  Aiwaueil  •  Aiyar  •  Aiyeoi  •  Aiyi  •  Aiyostea  •  Akhuaao  •  Akhwohkyal  •  Akhwyahloarl  •  Akkilee  •  Akludu  •  Akoaft  •  Alaoyaah  •  Alausiy  •  Albe  •  Aleikhes  •  Alirar  •  Aliyaeakh  •  Alr  •  Alrhea  •  Alriyeaos  •  Alriyhkauwa  •  Altleaair  •  Aluiwi  •  Aoe  •  Aoeiah  •  Aoeilrau  •  Aoeye  •  Aohfeau  •  Aohh  •  Aoiei  •  Aoiyras  •  Aokah  •  Aoki  •  Aokta  •  Aolaiaw  •  Aolraaaleahaw  •  Aorlailakh  •  Aorlkaakh  •  Aosewa  •  Aowaih  •  Aowoiktes  •  Araulis  •  Areaarleih  •  Areaolrrealr  •  Areiha'is  •  Arjesh  •  Arleaya  •  Arlyasoi  •  Arsalreal  •  Asalah  •  Asati  •  Asea  •  Aseahya  •  Aseirl  •  Aseiwihokhso  •  Askyat  •  Asoieteal  •  Asoiiyshkaul  •  Asteltine  •  Asti  •  Astiyikho  •  Asulrea  •  Asyuh  •  Atiyr  •  Atluahe  •  Atryas  •  Atuakhtea  •  Au'aiyyee  •  Aufusyah  •  Auh Eirao  •  Auih  •  Auikali  •  Aukhtei  •  Aulhahhfelaas  •  Auliyleirl  •  Aulryakh  •  Auric  •  Ausiwuaeaai  •  Auwyu  •  Auyei  •  Aw  •  Awaweaw  •  Aweakhei  •  Awiyl  •  Awo  •  Ayayo  •  Ayayuou  •  Ayeweaar  •  Ayri  •  Baban  •  Belgard  •  Belizo  •  Birendar  •  Bolivar (Da 0240)  •  Brirvoy  •  Brufort  •  Chorus  •  Clan Home  •  Craw  •  Cunnonic  •  Darrian  •  Dashi  •  Delilah  •  Dentus  •  Ea  •  Ea  •  Ea Sailua  •  Eaaie  •  Eaaileishryaor  •  Eaalkhel  •  Eaalrhteir  •  Eaaoaies  •  Eaarwilhkaw  •  Eaausaarai  •  Eaealearl  •  Eaealeh  •  Eaeayaah  •  Eaeia  •  Eaesyoalea  •  Eafa  •  Eah  •  Eahaw  •  Eaheoil  •  Eahheilr  •  Eahiya  •  Eahwiyho  •  Eahyeai  •  Eakharlil  •  Eakhatryu  •  Eakhoi  •  Eakhta  •  Eakhyehiyye  •  Eakoi  •  Ealahre  •  Ealea  •  Ealelreaye  •  Ealhalria  •  Ealraowaw  •  Ealwealrtiw  •  Eao  •  Eaoyu  •  
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