Eleanor

The Elnore: The Oldest Known Civilization
     Vital Statistics
Species Name:        Elnore
Home World:            Elnore Prime
Type of Culture:        Representative Democracy
Classification:            Mammalian, Humanoid, Primate
Genders:            1 Male, 1 Female
Average Lifespan:        Approximately 6000 years, Earth Standard Calendar
Type of Diet:            Omnivorous
Method of Reproduction:    Viviparous, with post-natal lactation

     Overview
    The galaxy is full of civilizations that are so ancient that they seem to be eternal and unending.  This is an accurate description of the Elnore.  The Elnore are, for all intents and purposes, the oldest civilization known.  The Elnore are not the first civilization to arise in the galaxy, but they are quite old.  They are also among the longest lived species known.  This has given the Elnore the unique reputation for being the wisest people in the known galaxy.  The Great Library of Rivas is an extensive archive of secrets that have been forgotten by other Civilizations.  They are THE founders of the Galactic Alliance of Free Planets, and are often called upon to serve as mediators and peace makers.
     Origins
    The Elnore come from the planet Elnore Prime, located far inward from Earth, near the galactic core.  Their planet is an idyllic paradise.  Endless rolling hills, unbelievably beautiful forests, dazzling cities, and amazing mountains and valleys.  Elnore Prime is a world of long lifespans.  Nearly all life forms on this world are extremely long lived.  The Elnore star system is a system consisting of a single yellow main sequence star, and is orbited by five planets, of which Elnore Prime is the third.  The Elnore System is a mysterious system, as it is far older than any other star system in the galaxy.  The mystery of the Elnore system is its longevity.  The Elnore star is somehow renewing its stellar fuel.  This has allowed it to continue existing longer than other stars.  Astronomers have examined the star and determined that it is so old that it should have gone supernova, but remains a surprisingly young star.  Earth astronomers believe that the Elnore have invented a method of stellar renewal that has allowed them to ensure that their star lives far beyond its stellar lifetime.  However, the Elnore claim that their star is as long lived as they are.  The Elnore are open and friendly, but mysterious and secretive at the same time.


     Culture
    The Elnore are the oldest civilization known to still exist.  They are known to have outlived other civilizations.  In fact, they have existed for so long they have seen civilizations emerge, grow, prosper, and collapse.  Their long lives have made them a culture of people who take their time.  They are slow go grow and slow to change, but they have existed for so long that it is believed they have reached a point where they could not develop any further without making the theoretical transition from a corporeal race to a non-corporeal race, which is theoretically impossible.  The truth is the Elnore are simply so long lived that it is impossible to document their evolution.  They have arguably the most advanced technology, things that seem magical to other races.  To look at them and their technology, they seem more like the elves from fantasy stories than a technologically advanced race.
     Biology and Social Structure
    The Elnore are humanoid.  In fact, they are virtually human in their appearance, except for their ears.  The Elnore have long pointed ears.  They have been described as vaguely Scandinavian, tall, and slender.  They share all the same variety of possible appearances as the human race.  In fact, it has been discovered that the Elnore are biologically nearly identical to humans.  Genetic comparisons between humans and Elnore has shown that the biggest difference between the two are DNA sequences giving humans proportionately small, rounded ears, and a curious lack of the Elnore DNA sequences granting them longevity.  The Elnore have studied humans and determined that humans are an artificially created life form, based on the Elnore themselves.  They have determined that whoever created the human race, intentionally sequenced their DNA to shorten their lifespans to less then one percent of that of the Elnore.   The Elnore lifespan is their best known trait.  They don't reach adolescence until they are 100 years old, and have been known to live as long as three thousand years before going through the Elnore departure ritual, in which an Elnore declares that they are weary of life and depart, but as this ritual is extremely secret, no one outside the Elnore has ever seen what happens within it.  It should be noted that no Elnore has ever been known to die of old age.  It should be noted, that elnore can cross breed with humans.  The resulting child of such a union will suffer from a unique condition called “Genetic Resequencing Syndrome”.  Elnore DNA actively rewrites itself to remove genetic sequencing errors and damaged DNA.  In Genetic Resequencing Syndrome, an individual's DNA mistakes the few uniquely human DNA traits to be errors or damage to the DNA, and resequences it into purely elnore DNA.  While this condition is not painful, the individual does not suffer physically, it can lead to psychological problems, as the individual may come to think they are losing their humanity.  Over time, uniquely human traits, such as rounded ears, will develop into elnore traits.  These individuals will mature and age at a normal human rate of aging until around the age of twenty.  At this point all uniquely human DNA (which accounts for less than one percent of the individual's DNA) will have been entirely rewritten.  It is at this point that they are entirely elnore both physically and genetically.
    The Elnore are a society that takes a long time to do things.  Their long lives have given them the impression that they have plenty of time to do anything.  Their society can be best described as a more refined variation of human society.  However, where human society trends towards individuality and a curious predisposition toward selfishness, the Elnore society trend toward community and cooperation.  Elnore society centers around family, much like human society, but Elnore families tend to live together in huge family estates, which are the residence of vast extended families.  One key feature of elnore society is the fact that they do not believe in using contraceptives or birth control in any way.  Sexual intercourse is strictly unprotected among the elnore, as they revere life, and to them, using birth control or contraceptives would be a sin, as it would prevent God from blessing a woman with a baby.  A baby might be unplanned, but is NEVER unwanted.  This has led the elnore to develop the peculiar custom of using the terms “sire” and “father” as if they have different meanings.  Among the elnore, a “sire” is the man who conceived a baby, and as such is considered a loosely connected part of the mother's family.  A “father” is a man who raised a baby.  For most elnore, their father IS the man who conceived them.  However, it is quite common for an elnore to have both a sire and a father.  There are times when an elnore couple will seek to have a child sired by another man.  This is often done to cement an alliance between two families, or introduce new blood into their family, or even to show respect for the desired sire.  In the event that a woman loses her husband, but she has had child with another man, it is customary for her to become the concubine of that child's sire, but only if she has children that are not of adult age.  This includes any child the woman is carrying in her womb.  This is considered quite normal and acceptable.  Conversely, if a man, who has sired a child with a woman other than his wife, loses his wife, he may seek to be bound to the mother of the child he sired as a male companion, should the mother so desire it.  Once such an arrangement is established, should the other parent lose their spouse, the bound couple automatically become husband and wife.  For example, an elnore woman has a grown daughter by a man, then later marries a different man.  Years afterward, her husband is killed in an accident, but she is left carrying his baby.  Because she is still pregnant with her husband's baby, upon her husband's death, she becomes the concubine of her grown daughter's sire.  Then after she becomes the sire's concubine, HIS wife dies in an accident.  Upon the death of the sire's wife, the concubine becomes his wife.  The only elnore death ritual that is publicly known is the fact that they create “remembrance crystals” of their departed relatives.  A remembrance crystal is an oval crystal small enough to be enclosed in a hand, featuring some sort of ornament (usually the family crest) in the center.  The remembrance crystal creates a solid hologram of the departed relative, and features a complete copy of the individual, down to his or her knowledge and memories.  Remembrance crystals are typically kept in a shrine somewhere in a family estate, which is open to any who wish to use it.  However, it is not unusual for someone to keep the remembrance crystal of a relative that they were particularly close to.
    Elnore take their time doing most things, architecture is elaborately dwelt upon and scrutinized down to the finest detail before being constructed, and then the builders take their time to ensure that the entire job is done precisely right.  This is the work ethic they do with most things, every detail scrutinized, everything done precisely right, and the end result is a phenomenally beautiful, extremely durable product.  Learning and knowledge are most important to the Elnore and they can honestly boast the greatest, most extensive library of knowledge in the known galaxy.  Their planetary libraries contain so much information, things that other civilizations have forgotten, that access to them is carefully controlled.  The Elnore are glad to make their vast store of knowledge available to other races, but they are very careful to give other races what they need rather than what they want, as the Elnore believe that giving less developed races too much information can cause more problems than it solves.



ELNORE PRIME
    The planet Elnore Prime, located far inward from Earth, near the galactic core.  The planet is an idyllic paradise.  Endless rolling hills, unbelievably beautiful forests, dazzling cities, and amazing mountains and valleys.  Elnore Prime is a world of long lifespans.  Nearly all life forms on this world are extremely long lived.  The Elnore star system is a system consisting of a single yellow main sequence star, and is orbited by five planets, of which Elnore Prime is the third.  The Elnore System is a mysterious system, as it is far older than any other star system in the galaxy.  The mystery of the Elnore system is its longevity.  The Elnore star is somehow renewing its stellar fuel.  This has allowed it to continue existing longer than other stars.  Astronomers have examined the star and determined that it is so old that it should have gone supernova, but remains in young.  Earth astronomers believe that the Elnore have invented a method of stellar renewal that has allowed them to ensure that their star lives far beyond its stellar lifetime.  However, the Elnore claim that their star is as long lived as they are.

 

story by
Myles Edmundson