Data File Updated: Wednesday, May 30, 2012

There are only three members of the Loroi Alliance that have their own military fleets: the Loroi Union (better known as the Loroi Empire), the Nissek Hegemony, and the Historians. The Loroi Union, however, comprises nine distinct alien races under the protection and control of the Loroi military government.

The Loroi Union was created at the end of the Third Mannadi War in an attempt to avoid further conflict between the growing power of the Loroi and the other races of the region. It is a federal system whereby each member acts as a province and manages most local affairs, but is subject to federal authority. Each member does not have its own military (though each does have its own police & patrol forces), but rather subordinates itself to the Loroi military, which acts as an executive entity.

Race: Loroi
Affiliation: Union Member (Senior)
Biology: Loroi are slender, 150-180 cm tall, blue-skinned, elflike, telepathic bipedal creatures.
Notes: Though the Loroi are nominally just a member of the Union, both civilian and military Loroi authorities maintain almost complete control over nearly every aspect of Union affairs. Loroi delegates dominate the legislative Assembly itself, as the number of delegates for each province are proportional to population (and non-member subjugated aliens are counted as Loroi population for purposes of delegation). For this and other reasons, the Loroi Union is often referred to by foreign aliens, Union members, and even occasionally by the Loroi themselves as the Loroi Empire. See main article: Loroi.

Race: Neridi
Affiliation: Union Member
Biology: Neridi are small 80-100cm tall blue-skinned bipedal creatures. They have large disc-like yellow eyes, elongated heads and large floppy ears. Like several races in the region, Neridi are very similar to Loroi biochemically, but quite different genetically and physiologically.
Notes: The Neridi are the closest of the Loroi allies, and have been since before the Delrias War. Full members of the Union, Neridi have operated successfully and happily in the Loroi shadow as merchants and administrators. Neridi have thoroughly amalgamated into the culture of the Empire; they even use Loroi Trade as a primary language within their own borders. They are one of the few non-Loroi members to have colonized new worlds since the creation of the Union, and maintain a significant presence in the Seren sector (the sector of conflict with the Umiak). Next to the Loroi, the Neridi have suffered most of any member race from Umiak incursions during the current war.

Race: Barsam
Affiliation: Union Member
Appearance: Large (2.3m), powerfully built bipeds with tough, hairless leathery blue skin with white mottling. They have small yellow eyes with horizontally-slitted pupils, and their heads and limbs are festooned with bony spikes. They have digitigrade legs and a stubby vestigial tail. Barsam are another member of the same biochemical classification (Soia-liron) as the Loroi and Neridi. Barsam mature rapidly to adulthood and have robust self-healing attributes that allow them to recover quickly from injury.
Notes: The Barsam were an independent nation that voluntarily joined the Union at the end of the Third Mannadi War, even though they had no formal alliances or conflicts with any of the involved races. They have lived peacefully since, remaining a culturally distinct but loyal member of the Union. The Barsam have one of the few state-supported religions in the Union, and the Barsam Church often sends its troubadour-clerics on evangelical missions, especially to underdeveloped systems. In particular, Barsam missionaries are devoted to uplifting their Nibiren brothers. Although close allies of the Loroi, the Barsam are also a former warrior culture (though now nominally devoted to peace) and have a strong, independent spirit. A form of rivalry between the two races is sometimes apparent.

Race: Delrias
Affiliation: Subjugated Population
Biology: Large (2m), powerfully-built, bulky furred mammaloid bipeds. Delrias are directly related to the Morat, an Umiak client race in the up-arm Steppes; it is believed both groups descended from the same prehistoric ancestors. The Delrias are unusual among technological societies in that they continue to be exclusively and robustly carnivorous (while their Morat relatives are more slender omnivores). Four-eared and with taloned three-digit hands.
Notes: An ancient warrior culture, whose distant ancestors once commanded a galactic empire before even the time of the Soia, the Delrias were the first race to attack the Loroi and pay the price for failure. After losing a long series of hard-fought battles in space, the Delrias fell back to their own territory, depending on their strong martial traditions and physical prowess to be able to repel Loroi planetary invasions. However, the Delrias were utterly shocked to learn firsthand of the ruthless effectiveness of the Teidar and Mizol, the Loroi psionic warfare castes, and each planet fell quickly. Captured more or less intact, they have lived under Loroi occupation for 865 years. Although they are not permitted to govern their own affairs, they remain a distinct cultural unit, and out of respect the Loroi treat them as an honorary member of the Union, permitting them to send delegates and ambassadors to major functions (even though these delegates have no authority). Skilled craftsmen, the Delrias contribute quality production infrastructure to the war effort, particularly in the design and production of effective particle beam weapons.

Race: Pipolsid
Affiliation: Union Member
Biology: Fragile, radial-symmetry aquatic floaters.
Notes: The peaceful Pipolsid have been longtime Loroi allies, since before the days of the Mannadi wars. The delicate, semi-transparent Pipolsid require specialized life support to travel, as they cannot survive outside a liquid environment. They are nevertheless active members of the Union, have aquatic enclaves on many Union planets (including Taben, one of the Loroi Sister Worlds), and in particular contribute gifted, creative scientists to the Union. The Pipolsid are emotional, empathic creatures who, despite their radically different physical nature, assimilate easily into alien societies. This together with the relative ease with which Loroi telepaths can read Pipolsid thoughts has allowed a very close relationship between the Loroi and Pipolsid. Which is fortunate for the Loroi, since some key Union technologies (particularly drive systems) are largely the product of Pipolsid researchers.

Race: Golim
Affiliation: Union Member*
Biology: Squat (1m) hostile-environment quadrupeds.
Notes: Golim-chei, the Golim homeworld, is a "super-Earth," a terrestrial world of some six Earth masses, with high surface gravity and and a very dense, hot, corrosive, electrically active atmosphere. The remarkable Golim thrive in this hostile environment, and have developed a peaceful, if technologically "backward" society, by Union standards. Although technically a formal member of the Union, the Golim are in effect slaves to the Loroi, due to their extreme sensitivity to Loroi telepathy. Golim are so susceptible that one will be completely mesmerized and open to the will of any nearby Loroi, even if the Loroi is not consciously trying to influence the Golim. The Loroi for their part are embarrassed by this relationship, but the extreme Golim resistance to hostile environments make them invaluable workers, and they are one of the few alien races that are permitted to serve aboard Loroi warships. The loyal Golim, for their part, often actively seek out Loroi contact, as many view the resulting mesmerization as a transcendental experience. Nevertheless, the Loroi have gone so far as to create areas of the Golim homeworld that are entirely off-limits to Loroi, so as to keep a sort of "preserve" of free-thinking Golim.

Race: Mannadi
Affiliation: Subjugated Population (Quarantined)
Biology: Bipedal with a stooped posture, having clawed hands and feet, bald ghost-white pocked flesh, large glassy black eyes, a spiky mane and a wide mouth rimmed with sharp teeth.
Notes: In their day, the Mannadi were bold explorers and adventurers who had built a small interstellar sphere of influence. The Mannadi respected and feared the growing power of the Loroi Empire enough not to attack them directly, and even prompted a brief alliance between the two powers. Unfortunately, the Mannadi could never be content as ordinary members of the family of nations, and their ambition led them into continuing acts of aggression against the Neridi and Pipolsid that eventually drew them into direct conflict with the Loroi. Though never a true match for the Loroi Empire and her allies, the Mannadi nation fought tenaciously and effectively through a series of three bloody and bitter wars with the Loroi, in which the Mannadi made effective use of the remote location of their territory and the severe handicap placed on Loroi forces operating so far from friendly resupply. The Mannadi also had a degree of resistance to Loroi telepathy, which represented a further challenge to the Loroi. By the end of the third war the Loroi eventually occupied the Mannadi worlds, but there was little left of Mannadi infrastructure, and almost nothing left of Loroi patience. Mannadi telepathic resistance made Loroi occupation less effective than they were accustomed to, and when Mannadi insurgents bitterly fought the occupation, the Loroi started simply wiping them out. International outrage at these actions threatened to shatter the Loroi Alliance; only the formation of the Loroi Union ended the threat of a galaxy-wide war and spared the Mannadi from extinction. The Mannadi are not spoken of in Loroi society, and they are rarely seen outside their designated territory, which is quarantined. Mannadi space is the main gateway to the territory of the Historians, but few travel this path.

Race: Arekka
Affiliation: Partially-occupied Independent*
Biology: Tall and lanky tripeds, Arekka are covered with downy insulation that can be multicolored in a variety of patterns (which Arekka individuals devote a lot of attention to preening).
Notes: Generally considered to be strange, even by the most unusual of the other races, the Arekka were within the Mannadi sphere of influence and allied with the Mannadi against the Loroi in the last of the Mannadi wars, refusing to submit even after the Mannadi surrendered. Only the formation of the Union ended hostilities and prevented complete conquest by the Loroi. The Arekka currently are technically an independent government, but more than half their territory is still under Loroi military occupation, and even the unoccupied portion is under severe Loroi-imposed restrictions. The Arekka have repeatedly refused to join the Union, and would rather live with the technical title of independents, even under harsh restriction, than admit to bowing to Loroi dominion. On several occasions, the Loroi occupation has forcefully suppressed public Arekka movements for self-determination.

Race: Nibiren
Affiliation: Subjugated Population
Biology: Large bipeds.
Notes: The Nibiren are a pre-industrial, single-planet society discovered by a Loroi colonial team. Nibiren have a Stone Age hunter-gatherer tribal culture, though some have been taught basic agricultural skills by Barsam missionaries. The Nibiren very closely resemble the Barsam, though the two are not at all related genetically or biochemically; the Barsam share basic biochemistry with other Soia-liron genotypes, whereas the Nibiren are almost certainly a local evolutionary development of their native planet. This physical similarity in the face of genetic and biochemical diversity has puzzled modern Union anthropologists. Though there have never been formal hostilities between Nibiren and Loroi, the Loroi do not consider the Nibiren sophisticated enough for self-governance, and they are technically classified as an occupied population. The Barsam church maintains a strong presence on the Nibiren world.

Race: Nissek
Affiliation: Independent Ally
Biology: Squat (1.2-1.5m) tailed bipeds, reptilian in appearance. Notoriously high-energy. Though they are not exclusively carnivorous, the Nissek are infamous for their exotic dietary preferences, and have no taboos against eating intelligent creatures (or other Nissek).
History: In a long-ago conflict with the nefarious Mannadi, the Nissek were once technically at war with the Loroi, even though they were on opposite ends of the sector and Nissek ships never met Loroi ships in combat. At the time of the formation of the Union, the Nissek declined to join but agreed to trade relations and a military alliance. 
Notes: Nissek territory, known as the Hegemony, marks the rimward limit of the Loroi sphere of influence, far from the axis of conflict with the Umiak. The Nissek do maintain a substantial military fleet, but only rarely have ships been called away to fight on the distant Umiak front. The Nissek prefer to keep their forces local to defend their own territory against threats that have nothing to do with the Loroi, and for the most part the Loroi have been content to let them have their way. Indeed, the lack of trust between them is such that, even during some of the darkest hours of the Umiak War, the Loroi have kept a force near the Nissek border to keep an eye on them.

Race: Historians
Affiliation: Independent Ally
Biology: Tall (2.5-3m) pale, hairless, slender bipeds. Four manipulatory limbs (two major, two minor) in addition to the two ambulatory limbs.
Notes: The Historians are a very reclusive, high-tech race. Very little is known about them, as they do not permit even traders in their territory, and the Historians themselves rarely venture outside their own borders. Instead, the Historians send out Personality Constructs, which are "virtual" personalities designed to pilot ships and interact with aliens on the Historians' behalf. It is generally believed that the Historians were the first of the local species to resume starflight after the fall of the Soia Empire. Further, it is speculated that the Historians never lost much of their Soia-era technology or history. Historian vessels continue to crisscross the breadth of known space and beyond, but most of what they learn is kept to themselves. The Historians had remained neutral in the Umiak War until the Umiak unexpectedly invaded Historian space in 2139. Even as allies, the Historians would not agree to even limited sharing of technology with the Loroi until 2141, when it became clear the Loroi forces were on the verge of collapse.

Race: Pol
Affiliation: Historian Client Race
Biology: Large (8-10m) cetaceous marine swimmers.
Notes: The Pol are rumored to be the fourth known sentient Soia-liron species, but they exist entirely within the Historian dominion, and the Historians have refused access by nearly all Union researchers who have requested it. Sketchy information suggests that the Pol are highly intelligent, but are entirely without physical technology (as they lack physical manipulators). The Historians claim that they are protecting a vulnerable species from exploitation by others, but it is not clear why they have taken special interest in this case.