Bahalthair
"Wayfarers",
"Dancers"
Physical
The Bahalthair are tall, standing 6 to 7 feet on average and
possessing a wide, naturally muscular frame. They have large,
flat heads that end in a short snout. They have a pair of
short, back-curved horns. Their entire body is densely covered
in short, coarse hair.
Culture (The Journey and the Dance)
In spite of their naturally intimidating exterior, the
Bahalthair are extremely mellow and spiritual. Their culture
is based on wandering, learning, and "being within the
moment". They will all at some point in their lives
perform their Journey, a solitary and initially aimless trip
during which they abandon their homes with nothing but the
clothes on their backs and wander until they somehow know its
time to return home. They will often wind up taking rides
off-planet in exchange for work or kindness and have developed
a reputation as the "Wayfarer" race. Their natural
strength and size allow them some security on their journeys
as does their highly advanced Dance.
The Dance is an extensive
series of controlled, fluid movements that is part martial
art, part meditation, and part dance. The Dance is learned
universally amongst the Bahalthair starting from an extremely
young age and partly is responsible for the race's nimbleness and concentration. Aspects of the Dance are incorporated in
individual religious meditation, in celebrations, in daily
exercise, and in self defence.
They aggressively share
knowledge among their own kind. They display very little
interest in developing or involving themselves in politics or
technologies that do not directly involve them, though they
are quick to adapt to the technologies of others when it suits
their immediate need. They make wide use of
biocomputers to
collectively database and organize what they learn on their
Journeys.
Political
Their homeworld, Bahalthair, is
primarily agricultural and seems almost backwater, seemingly a
bunch of big hairy thugs wandering around and living in simple
wooden family dwellings. Their communities center around a
Lucent, who is the community spiritual teacher, visionary, and
storyteller. The Lucents from each district gather once a
month and Lucents from all over the planet gather at least
every third month. Meetings can occur anytime at
the behest of a single Lucent, simply by requesting the
presence of the others. It's a very functional and effective system with
very low overhead, though unworkable for most other races.
Technology
They use a variety of advanced renewable
energy sources
including solar, wind farms, fuel cells, and bio-enhanced
composting. Their favoured form of transportation is walking,
though a variety of the most modern vehicles are at their
disposal when necessary. The life they live is the life they
choose: maintaining a simple, peaceful homeworld and
resisting any efforts to forcibly introduce more advanced technologies.
They have fairly abundant natural resources, exceptional
artists and artisans, and a single small manifestation of
Saturated Manifest Ataxia which bring a variety of scientists
and traders their world, bringing reasonable wealth.
Military
The Bahalthair maintain a small but very modern and well
trained military equipped with the most modern equipment. The
military is not a calling for the majority of Bahalthair but
the discipline, tactics, and humble service appeal very
strongly to some. The military is designed to maintain the
peace and stability of the Bahalthair way of life and to
prevent exploitation by outsiders.
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