Data File Updated: Thursday, May 21, 2026

Warning: this is an incomplete work-progress entry that is currently just a cleaned-up pastiche of notes and forum posts, presented here for reference. Please pardon the mess.

Overview

The remarkable Golim thrive in the hostile environment of a dense "super-Earth" atmosphere, 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. Those Golim who work with outsiders and abroad rapidly adapt to modern technologies and technical work, but the traditionalists who remain in the homeworld refuges maintain a more primitive lifestyle.

Biology

Squat (1m) hostile-environment quadrupeds, walking on all fours but able to use their forelimbs as manipulators. Golim have smooth, hard flesh and small compact bodies that can withstand significant changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature. They have poor eyesight but excellent olfactory senses, and are also sensitive to electrical fields. They communicate through very high-pitched whale-like sounds emitted from breathing apertures on the trunk between the forelimbs. Their breathing and digestive systems are completely separated. They are omnivorous, feeding primarily on organisms that cluster around extreme temperature gradients, analogous to Earth's deep ocean hydrothermal vents.

Golim-chei (Homeworld)

Golim-chei is a super-Earth with a radius of approximately 1.73 Earth radii and surface gravity of about 2 g. For an average surface pressure of ~18 bar, local pressure swings from weather and electric storms range from 1–4 bar for typical or strong systems, with extreme events (massive electric storms or super-cell systems) capable of localized swings of 5–10 bar or more. Everyday weather might cause gentle 0.5–1 bar ripples, while a strong frontal system or thunderstorm complex could swing 2–4 bar. A truly massive electric super-storm or volcanic outgassing could produce dramatic localized drops of 5–10 bar as air is rapidly evacuated upward or compressed.

The atmosphere is primarily composed of CO₂ (60–85%), N₂ (10–30%), H₂O vapor (5–15%, variable and higher in humid regions), ammonia (NH₃, 1–8% or more locally), sulfur compounds (SO₂, H₂S, and sulfuric acid vapor/aerosols, 1–5%, highly variable), and trace gases including CH₄, noble gases, and various acids (HCl, HF) or metal vapors. The atmosphere is likely reducing or neutral, with low O₂. Sunlight is largely blocked at the surface, making the world dim or dark.

Flora, Fauna, and Ecology

Most native autotrophs are chemosynthetic (chemotrophs), harvesting chemical energy from disequilibria in the environment. Abundant raw material exists in the form of temperature gradients (geothermal vents, volcanic activity, atmospheric layers with strong vertical temperature differences, and stormy convection cells) and chemical gradients (CO₂, ammonia, sulfur compounds, water vapor, and minerals). Electrical activity from storms may drive additional atmospheric chemistry. Surface and subsurface niches include “lichen-like” mineral-stromatolite colonies, vent communities, cave systems, and subsurface aquifers that form vast, slow-growing “chemical gardens” or mats. These are the primary food sources harvested by the Golim.

The traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle revolves around harvesting these chemical “lichens” or the organisms that grow on them. Such growths can be cultivated to a limited extent, but not on a large scale, so the step to farming was never available. Higher trophic levels feed directly on the chemosynthetic mats or on the small animals that graze them. Any photosynthetic microbes or floaters in the upper atmosphere are a niche and very challenging biome due to the violent weather. Golim ecology is adapted to a chemically rich, electrically noisy environment where vision is secondary; they rely heavily on smell and electrical sensitivity.

Society and Culture

Golim society is primarily tribal hunter-gatherer with a relatively sophisticated culture that has advanced to pre-industrial levels. Specialists are supported because hunter-gathering is productive enough in the resource-rich environment. Traditionalists in the homeworld preserves maintain a more primitive lifestyle, while those who work with outsiders and abroad rapidly adapt to modern technologies and technical work. Cosmopolitan Golim seldom want to return to the preserve, and their teachings are usually not welcome there. Migration from the Golim-chei preserve tends to be one-way: out.

Golim have a sort of bifurcated culture. Those who live and work amongst the Loroi and other aliens are at the same technological level as the rest of the Union and exercise full Union membership. They are in nominal administrative control of a number of worlds in the anti-spinward portion of the Seren sector, unofficially known as “Golim territory” (though in practice these are under Loroi control). Native Golim society is not highly technically advanced, but Golim are fully sentient and easily learn technical skills, especially when taught by a Loroi. They have extreme environmental resistance, are unbothered by claustrophobic tight spaces, and are sensitive to electrical fields, making them ideal for work in hot, high-pressure spaces with limited visibility. They are used primarily in ships’ engineering staffs for work in and around fuel and heat management systems.

Golim can handle dramatic changes in pressure and temperature and can work in Loroi environments for short periods without environmental suits (though they find it very cold and uncomfortable). For long-term work they wear pressure suits. They walk on all fours but use their forelimbs as hands, with wide stubby fingers capable of technical tasks if not extremely fine manipulation. Their acute smell is centered in their four chin tendrils. They probably have whale-like blowholes situated on the chest between the forelimbs to shield the intakes from the constant drizzle of moisture in the Golim environment.

Golim communicate through very high-pitched ultrasonic speech that does not carry well in normal atmosphere. It is akin to whale sounds and comes from breathing orifices rather than the mouth. Fortunately, Loroi can read them easily and “translate” what they want to say. Some Golim engineers can write and understand Trade, but they have their own language at a very high frequency, barely audible to humans.

An ancient culture that could not see the sky would have very different mechanisms for telling time and tracking the date or seasons. They might have a very different sense of time. This might be an interesting characteristic for the Golim, as their super-Earth atmosphere probably blocked out the stars.

Union Affiliation and Relations with the Loroi

The anti-spinward section of the Seren sector unofficially known as the “Golim” sector consists mainly of worlds that are either unsuitable for large-scale Loroi habitation or already occupied by a native species. This section is unofficially designated as “Golim territory,” probably originally as some sort of diplomatic concession. A number of the systems (probably Golim-chei, Tugon and Lorag) are officially under Golim administration (which means they are actually under Loroi administration). Golim-chei is probably mineral rich due to its super-Earth status, and the Golim make ideal miners. The limited Loroi presence on Golim-chei is a mining colony, with its size and scope restricted by rule to keep the pool of native, unaffected Golim large and relatively distinct from the mine workers.

Golim are not trained animals; they are sentient beings fully capable of technical skills. Their telepathic sensitivity is so extreme that any Loroi can exert Mizol-like influence over Golim, sometimes without speech or touch or even necessarily intentionally trying to influence them. It is specifically because of this combination of total obedience, ease of communication, and extreme utility that Loroi tolerate civilian crewmembers aboard their warships. Golim are most comfortable staying in the hot, wet, high-pressure enclosures provided for them. They do not need specialized handlers.

The state of being mesmerized by a nearby Loroi is a highly pleasurable experience to the Golim individual. Some reject this experience and avoid it, but many seek it out and will accept nearly any work just to be in the presence of Loroi. This could be looked down upon (as it is by Golim traditionalists) as akin to drug addiction, but the Golim who pursue it view it as transcendental and mind-expanding, a chance to be in the presence of an ancient and exalted race, and a glimpse of the “deep mind” that connects all life. They are the ultimate Loroi fanboys and work without concern for compensation (Loroi pay them a salary but they have little use for it), often willing to endure difficult and uncomfortable conditions without much loss of morale, sometimes to the danger of self-harm. A Loroi may have to order an entranced Golim to return to its comfortable high-pressure enclosure and not to follow her around the ship as it feels compelled to do.

When the Golim joined the Union there was a special deal: their votes in the Assembly have the same “asterisk” as the occupied nations (not counting under many circumstances), since any Golim delegates would be under the telepathic sway of the Loroi delegates and would automatically vote for whatever the Loroi wanted. There has only been one addition to the Union since its formation, the Golim, and that was a special case. Some Golim do work for non-Loroi organizations, but they are much fewer in number. Aside from additional difficulties in communication, the bigger problem is motivation, morale, and compensation. Native Golim live in a very simple traditionalist hunter-gatherer society steeped in tradition and have very little interest in material goods or “progress.” What is more common for a non-Loroi organization is to set up a Golim mining or working enclave that operates mostly independently and trades its produce, allowing the Golim to maintain a more traditional lifestyle and community. Some work primarily for the benefit of the war effort and fear of Hierarchy control, some for prepared foods specifically designed to be irresistibly tasty to Golim, some for illicit drugs, and some for periodic visits from a Loroi (civilian expatriates most often being used for this purpose).

See also: Races of the Loroi Union and Allies