Glurone

Male Glurone
Glurone
Political Information
Quadrant:	Gamma Quadrant
Affiliation:	Glurone Commonwealth
Development Stage:	Warp Capable
Biological Information
Genders:	2
Template:Species

Appearance

Glurones are burly and furry mammalian humanoids of varying height (ranging approximately 1.8 to 2.2 meters in height on average). Their faces are wide-set and vaguely comparable to Earth’s Neanderthals, though with a far wider jaw span and an inset nose. Their skin tone is marbled in varying natural patterns, though it’s mostly obscured by thick pelage over most of the body. The pelagial colors were homogeneously distinctive in times past before the Unification of Clans, but in the modern era most Glurones bear two or more hues in reflection of their multicultural status. Aside from rare scholars within their minority priest caste, most Glurones fail to identify the heritage of one color over another. Overall, the only ostensible value given to fur and skin color is gender, with males generally bearing earth tones and females exhibiting more bright and vibrant ones, though variations and exceptions are not unheard of. Most Glurones are naturally resistant to most elemental hazards and common diseases. As such, Glurones seldom wear clothing outside of insignia or utilitarian accessories.

Government

The Glurone Commonwealth is a warp-capable civilization made up of warring Glurone clans which banded together long ago for common defense and commerce in the face of repeated incursions from the distant Dominion. Each Commonwealth fief world (formerly clan-world) is ruled over by a Chancellor (formerly chieftain) and defended by a Warden (formerly warchief). Collectively the Chancellors comprise a unicameral governing body called the Chancery. The strongest Chancellor is entitled Lord Chancellor and leads the Chancery. The right hand and sometimes rival of the Lord Chancellor is the Lord Marshal who is also the commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth fleets. Each fleet is commanded by a junior Marshal who may also double as the Warden of a world in service to a Chancellor. In this way the Commonwealth worlds remain autonomous yet unified.

Culture

Glurones are very war-like and feel very self-conscious about it. They corral their combative tendencies through obscure and quasi-arbitrary codes of conduct designed around social obligation. Around the time of Unification, many scholars introduced the concept of distraint to legalize and regulate what would otherwise be defined as piracy. Without a legitimate debt, there can be no seizure of resources.

Chieftains-turned-Chancellors brutally enforced the new policy in the name of the fledgling Commonwealth, lest Glurone infighting continue to weaken them in the face of a looming Dominion invasion which never fully came.

Though they never fully went to war against the Dominion, there was an unintended cultural phenomenon of the new development which led to a rapid onset of behavioral modification. Rash and violent Glurones found themselves at odds with the state. Might no longer made right, at least not for the average citizen. No longer could feuds be settled in unlicensed civil wars between clan leaders, for the consequence would be sudden forfeiture of property by the Chancery which would be disbursed to fund and equip the Commonwealth fleets. Upstart chieftains quickly learned to settle into their new roles as quasi-civilized Chancellors. A simple aristocracy soon formed around the new form of debt trade, including an agency of inquisitors (an enforcement arm of the minority priest caste) who regulated and enforced the prohibition against unsanctioned brutality.

Technology

The Glurones became warp-capable around the time of Unification, primarily as a result of reverse-engineering captured Jem’Hadar vessels. In the thousand years since, their current technology has long since deviated from conventional Dominion propulsion systems to stand apart in design.

Power systems are less efficient than some other interstellar races. This is likely due to smaller power needs, e.g., their installations and ships do not utilize climate control beyond basic life support. Rather than energy-based weapons, Glurones are naturally inclined toward biological sciences which they have weaponized to great effect. In fact, it was a lethal biological agent which deterred the initial Dominion incursion. A notable exception would be their sonic weapons, which include not only projectiles but also a trademark melee weapon (similar to a Māori patu, save that the sonic enhancement allows it a degree of force similar to a jackhammer).

Military

The Glucone Commonwealth Fleet maintains a simple rank structure modeled after the original clan warbands:

• Lord Marshal
• Marshal (may stand in as a Chancellor)
• Warden (commands either planet or ship; frontier outposts may have a Warden stand in as a Chancellor for that outpost only--no Chancery authority)
• Knight (officer -- numbered by Grade in place of rank, e.g., Third Knight outranks First Knight but not Fifth Knight)
• Levy (enlisted--divided by either “Major” or “Minor” with no ranks in between)