The Antareans

The Antareans are a race I created based on a glimpse of a woman with purplish skin and golden hair in the background in the episode "Journey to Babel", as well as the few mentions of Antares in TOS. Basically, they are a well-balanced, versatile race, suited for PCs. Stats are as follows:

Attributes
Fitness 2 (5)
Strength +1
Coordination 2 (5)
Intellect 2 (5)
Presence 2 (5)
Empathy +1
Psi 0 (5)
Skills
Artistic Expression (Choose specialiation) 2 (3)
Culture (Antarean) 2 (3)
Diplomacy (Etiquette) 2 (3)
History (Antares Prime) 1 (2)
Language
Antarean 2
World Knowledge (Antares Prime) 1 (2)
Advantages/Disadvantages
Cultural Flexibility +1
Code of Honor (Extreme Politeness) -2

Racial Description: Antareans are purple-skinned, golden haired humanoids with a complex culture based on elaborate codes of courtesy. The Antarean homeworld orbits the double star Antares, with years lasting about 4 Earth centuries. It is very similar to Earth, with slightly higher gravity, slightly more water, and less axial tilt, producing a much less extreme climate. Still, all of the climates found on Earth can be found somewhere on Antares Prime.

As mentioned above, most Antareans have purple skin and golden hair, but other physical types do exist, with skin colors ranging from magenta to deep violet-black, hair ranging from white to copper-red, and eyes ranging from silver to dark violet, with gold and amber the most common. All Antarean coloring has a metallic tint rare in other humanoids. The higher gravity of Antares makes Antareans slightly shorter and stronger than Humans, on average.

Antareans live in joint family lineages, with inheritance traced through the female. Most lineages are in turn members of a caste, which determines how its members make their living, and supplies many types of social benefit, including insurance, education, and health care. There are thousands of castes, but they tend to be grouped into six broad classes: nobles, priests, scribes, merchants, farmers, and laborers.

Antarean history has included a long struggle for caste-equality, so that modern Antareans no longer distinguish "higher" and "lower" castes. Each city, district, and province on Antares Prime is governed by a council on which all local castes are represented. In order to get things done, the various castes must cooperate despite vast differences in customs, dialect, and, to some extent, religion between castes.

The result of this has been the development of elaborate codes of courtesy and social ritual. Most Antareans believe that by carefully adhering to their codes thay can minimize friction, cooperate efficiently, and so build prosperous communities. Disruptive change in technology and values is minimized and carefully controlled, with the result that Antarean society is famously stable, having changed little in thousands of years.

In the Federation, Antares Prime is famous for its colorful fahions, fine wines and brandies, and, most of all, its high quality consumer goods. These consumer goods have made Antares Prime into a major trade and manufacturing center. The famed Antarean stability has led many banks to locate on Antares Prime, turning it into a center of finance, as well.

Antarean characters in Star Fleet will tend to "by the book" officers who treat their fellow crew-members with strict courtesy. Antareans are also often found as diplomats and merchants. Antarean society is sufficiently diverse, however, that almost any type of Antarean character is possible.


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Slan agat!