Tela

Flora and Fauna

Unlike most other planets in the galaxy, Tela has the unique trait of completely lacking any poisonous plant life (at least, nothing is poisonous to Telans). While there is a great variety of different biomes, Telans themselves are not suited for certain climates. The semidesert that extends to the midwestern coast is the most heavily populated, with the capital city built up the face of the coastal cliffs, bordered on one side by the ocean and on another by a large estuary. The subtropical swampy forests to the south are dominated by dangerous and persistent wildlife, and Telans tend to prefer dry ground, so the majority of the area is uninhabited and uncharted. In the tropical rainforests further to the east, though, there is a large estate where the Telan Huntresses (their version of military) are trained and housed. Some smaller tribes live in the foothills of the mountains to the north, but the cold weather can easily kill an unprepared Telan; these tribes are both hardy and somewhat isolationist, hunting large land creatures for food and hides.

Most of the terrestrial beasts of Tela are unappetizing, so few are hunted for food. Most of the more intelligent and dangerous land animals have either learned to stop sticking their nose where it hurts and trying to hunt Telabrians for food, or have moved on to other hunting grounds.The ocean life is vastly diverse and largely uncatalogued, seeing as long-distance sailing was never a necessity and swimming in deep water is practically a death sentence. The larger ocean predators are too immense to come too close to the shore, so it's relatively safe to swim so long as the individual stays within the warm coastal waters.

Culture

The society is largely matriarchal. Most of their political power and workforce consists of women, who are naturally slightly larger and typically more aggressive than the males of the species. Acceptable names for the people of the planet are Telan and Telabrian. Though the latter is more common, it is also technically incorrect. The misnomer stems from the Telan words Tela and bria, which together mean "people of Tela." Thus, the correct form would be Telabria, or, in English, Telan, meaning "one from Tela."

While there is a Matriarch that stands as the face of their species, she is more of an ambassador than a ruler. Rather than having a single deciding power, the highest political officials are actually a group of wise monks known simply as the Elders. They are a traditionally very spiritual race, and these spiritual leaders are a critical part of their politics and society. The Matriarch is something of a puppet ruler, parroting the decisions and decrees of the Elders and serving as both the Elders' mouthpiece and as moral support for the people. Everyone of Telan birth knows that she doesn't do any actual decision-making, but they revere her nonetheless. The Elders are considered the "mothers and fathers" of the species as a whole, and they think of every Telan citizen as their child. It's purposefully a very parent-child relationship, which ensures that their decisions are always geared toward the good of the people, and not their own selfish agendas. Any Elder that raises suspicions of being corrupt will be evaluated, and forced to step down.

Children are raised in communal temples tended by a special order of monks. These monks are usually male, but it isn't uncommon to see females in their ranks. When Telabrians lay their eggs, they bring them to the temple, and the monks care for them until they are old enough to wander around the town. This practice stemmed from ancient times, when children were hunted by the large carnivorous terrestrial beasts of prehistoric Tela; out of necessity, the children were kept in the temple in the center of town, which was a magnificent and durable structure that left no openings large enough for predators to enter. As they grow, children eventually start to leave the temple at longer intervals, mingling with the populace. They learn from the citizens of their town, picking up life lessons from any who will teach them. They may eventually become attached to an individual, or even a group of people. They will usually come to this person for moral support and advice, and often return to care for them in their old age.

Technology in the form of electronics doesn't really have a presence in Telan society. They never quite got the hang of harnessing electricity, and things such as motors and such have never been invented. Because of this, their transportation is heavily reliant on large, noticeably crocodilian beasts affectionately known as 'argos'. Argosallis is the largest of the two domesticated subspecies, used mostly as a pack animal and occasionally trained and ridden as a war-beast. Argovia is the general riding animal, used to get around town and travel long distances, although relatively slowly (they can sprint short distances, but this usually ejects the rider.) The ancestors of argos were revered as holy in ancient times, when they were much larger and capable of standing on their hind legs. Legend tells of enormous markedly intelligent argos that could speak their own language and sit back on their haunches. Carved likenesses of these ancient beasts can be seen in some of the older cities in the form of statues and reliefs on temples. It is believed by human scientists that these beings may have some connection with the -suchus collection of dinosaurs, the ancestors of modern crocodilians. It's often debated how this could be possible, but there are too many similarities to ignore, so there are always teams of human scientists studying argos on Tela. Many still worship the ancient argos, so there are usually Telan supervisors overseeing the research. The ancient argos are sometimes referred to as "The Smiling Ones," and they are usually portrayed as friendly and amiable creatures.

While Telabrians consider themselves to be peaceful, they did have a rather warlike past in the prehistoric era. They shun war as a society, and the few short modern wars they did entertain only lasted for a few weeks at most, with very few backers. Now that they have achieved relative peace, their military has grown much smaller, but more specialized. Telan Huntresses are a collection of the most talented and disciplined fighters on the planet, specialized with long-shafted spears; if they were a spacefaring species, they would likely be even more of a nightmare to tangle with. As of modern times, they serve as bodyguards for the Elders and the Matriarch.

Interstellar Relations

While many other races view Telan culture as largely tribal and relatively uncivilized, they are actually a surprisingly forward-thinking (albeit a bit pretentious) race. Their planet is classified as politically neutral, even though their planetary neighbours have placed their allegiance with the Galactic Coalition, and the planet houses several embassies from Coalition member species. They continue to be obstinate about remaining neutral, even though the political climate of their sector has begun to push them into alliance with the Coalition.

Several embassies exist on Tela, mostly along the western coast, where the majority of the largest cities are. While Telabrians haven't yet achieved space travel, and don't seem to be very interested in the idea, it's not exactly an alien concept to them. Offworlders are under strict orders not to interfere with the development of the planet, so things regarding technology that would not otherwise be invented on the planet are kept confidential. Of course, this can only be enforced so well, so most of the populace has at least heard of electronics and other modern technology. Offworlders may wander the cities at a whim, and it's not uncommon for them to be friends with the locals.

There is a sort of tense atmosphere between the Telabrian and Thegarian people, particularly over an ancient belief that Telans were once residents of Thega. The legend stems from stories of an ancient and powerful spacefaring culture on Thega that explored the galaxy for scarcely a hundred cycles before collapsing. Legend says that a group of Thegans settled Tela, were stranded after their society collapsed, then slowly became a completely different species altogether. This theory is dubious at best, considering Telans and Thegans are sufficiently genetically different that they can't interbreed, but there are also a handful of curious similarities that make even the staunchest of skeptics question the validity of these claims. Telans are known to sniff at the idea of them being an offshoot of Thegans, claiming the similarities are purely incidental. Most even find the claims distasteful, saying that Thegans are egotistical for thinking they are the origin of Telan sentient life. Thegans don't have such a strong adverse reaction to the theory, viewing it simply as an unproved scientific theory, nothing more.