Designation: Bioengineered frontline specialists
Homeworld: Arelia-Prime (6th Galactic Ring)
Physiology: Heavily armoured crustaceans with chitinous exoskeletons and dual-layer respiratory systems
Special Trait: Regenerative muscle fibers and adaptive chitin density.
Known For: Shock troopers, defensive tactics, symbiotic diplomacy with Veyreni
Origins on Arelia-Prime
Arelia-Prime is an oceanic, high-pressure world shaped by tectonic upheaval and scorching storms. Life here evolved not for elegance but for survival. The Arelians are the apex product of this world, thick-limbed, armoured beings with exoskeletal ridges that double as natural armour plating. Their physiology includes secondary lungs designed to function in toxic or low-oxygen environments, making them ideal for hazardous deployment.
Arelian society originated in fortress-clades, structured collectives built into the sides of obsidian mountains that emerge from volcanoes on the ocean floor. Social standing was earned through martial excellence and communal defense, not personal wealth or conquest.
Evolution Through Purpose
Unlike many sentient races, the Arelians were bioengineered, not by external creators, but through directed evolution performed by early geneticist-warriors of their own species. These progenitors saw survival not as a gift, but a design to be perfected. Over millennia, this led to enhanced physical regeneration, reflex conditioning, and a refined sense of combat empathy, the ability to intuit battlefield intent from minimal cues. This bred a culture where strength was service. Arelians do not fight to dominate, but to protect those who cannot.
Symbiosis with the Veyreni
The first race to approach the Arelians were the Veyreni, and the resulting alliance became one of the most studied sociocultural bonds in galactic history.
The two races formed the Runa Compact, exchanging protection for knowledge. While the Arelians provided, defensive might,only matched by the Kreegar. The Veyreni offered insight, perception, and strategic planning. Over time, entire generations of Arelians became bond-paired with Veyreni Seers, forming two-part task units that blended brute strength and tactical foresight.
This relationship transformed Arelian culture. Fortress-clades incorporated libraries and observation domes. Combat arenas doubled as think tanks. Arelian warriors began studying philosophy, xenolinguistics, and even art, not as hobbies, but as disciplines of war.
Rites of Enduring Flame
Among the Arelians, death is not seen as an end, but a return, a dissolution of form back into potential. Their funerary rite, known as the Rites of Enduring Flame, is a sacred and solemn ceremony performed when an Arelian warrior or scholar falls.
The ceremony involves:
- The Ignis Pyre: A controlled biothermal blaze created using internal plasma vents or ceremonial torches, which slowly consumes the body in waves of color-matching flame, each hue representing a phase of the individual’s life and deeds.
- The Mantle Offering: Survivors place a piece of the fallen’s armor, etched with their final thoughts or last memory shard, into the fire, where it is crystallized into a memory core.
- The Final Vigil: A silent hour is held around the pyre, during which each mourner speaks a single truth about the deceased. These are not eulogies, but statements meant to anchor the fallen’s legacy in the collective consciousness.
To an Arelian, the greatest dishonor is to die forgotten. Thus, these rites are as much for the living as they are for the dead, a means of crystallizing legacy and preserving the identity of those who gave their lives in service, honor, or truth.
Ceremonial Verse (often whispered at the end):
“From Life to death, from breath to blaze. Your name endures. Your fire remains. We hold their courage. We carry their name. We do not forget.”
Role in the Galactic Council
The Arelians were not among the first Prime Races to achieve space travel, but they were among the most decisive in using it.
When the Galactic Council was founded, the Arelians were invited not as politicians, but as guardians of peace. Their neutrality, loyalty, and incorruptibility made them ideal enforcers of Council rulings. To this day, Arelian Honor-Legions are deployed in the most volatile systems to prevent war, secure diplomatic zones, and enforce interstellar law.
Their code of conduct is known as the Vorn Doctrine, a binding oath to defend the weak, honour alliances, and never strike first unless the balance is already broken.
Legacy
Arelians are often mischaracterized as brutes or shock troopers. In truth, they are philosopher-warriors—built by their own hands, for the purpose of preserving order in a galaxy on the edge.
Core Belief:
“To bear strength is not to use it. It is to hold it, so others do not have to.”
In every warzone, an Arelian shield may rise. In every courtroom, an Arelian oath may stand. And wherever the Runa Compact endures, so too does the legacy of a people who chose evolution not for dominance, but for duty.
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