Gelaan [May not Use]

The Gelaan are the ruling race of the Empire and are also the source of its military might in space. They possess the ability to twist time and space to create gates that allow instantaneous travel in between points within the universe, as well as the ability to calculate internally complex equations such as planetary drift with an instinct no other race can match. Their ability also extends to the power to manipulate matter at will, giving individual Gelaan the power to scour an entire planet of life in an instant or create the hull of one of their spaceships from the available materials without a need to find or extract the necessary elements. As a race they are universally ambitious and as an Empire they are endlessly acquisitive. As rulers they are often strangely light handed, unless provoked. Gelaan generally cut ties with their parents at age seven due to the psychological changes brought by the full awakening of self-awareness, including an instinctive distrust of fellow Gelaan, as well as a desire to destroy all others of their race they encounter. From that age on, they are taken for training, partly to teach them to control their reactions to their own kind and partly to give them the necessary knowledge and skills to choose their own path. Only one Gelaan in thirty survives the century-long training period, due to the harsh competition between the Gelaan youth and the frequent assassination attempts. It should be noted that the Gelaan were created by the Empire’s founder, the First Emperor, and are genetically his descendants. Gelaan cells replicate perfectly during mitosis, so the degradation that most races experience as part of the aging process does not happen to them, but elder Gelaan periodically disappear, upon reaching some kind of unknown point in their development. It is unclear as to what happens to them and no Gelaan has ventured to comment. Perhaps one of the most unique internal laws that bind the Gelaan is that no Gelaan may reproduce within their own race, and all Gelaan reproduction is done artificially, their genes combined with those of a donor from another race. Despite this, the Gelaan retain the same uniform appearance, and what - if anything - is added by the introduction of another race’s genes is unclear to outsiders. Adult Gelaan enter into Imperial service immediately upon the completion of their training, most commonly as part of the Imperial military. They frequently make alliances amongst one another and just as frequently betray and attempt to murder each other. An alliance between two Gelaan never possesses an element of trust, as a rule. If a Gelaan seeks companionship, it is always outside of their own kind, without exception. Perhaps for this reason, almost all Gelaan eventually seek the services of a member of the Companions Guild on a permanent basis.