Post by Kuhblam on Apr 13, 2011 20:37:28 GMT -5
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
Species Name: Telcontar
Species Type: Metallic Humanoid
Planet of Origin: Xerus'Al
Average Maximum Age:
>>Male: 800
>>Female: 850
Age of Maturation: 200
Average Height:
>>Male: 6'1"
>>Female: 5'10"
Average Weight:
>>Male: 160-210 lb.
>>Female: 100-150 lb.
Number of limbs and Type:
- 2x Arms Humanoid
- 2x Legs Humanoid
- 1x Head
Notable biological features:
Skin:
The first thing someone notices upon seeing a Telcontar is there skin. It shimmers with a silvery sheen not characteristic of many species in the galaxy. But when one looks closely, they see the true evolutionary and creative genius of the Telcontar: upon examination, the skin of the Telcontar is bursting with what appears to be stars, galaxies, nebulas, constellations, gas giants, etc. If the universe were painted on a living canvas, the end result would be the Telcontar. As a species, they have no direct conscious control over the randomness of their skin. However, it is known that this is the result of hyper advanced pigmentation glands that are constantly mutating and transforming at the genetic level. When a Telcontar dies, the wondrous splendor of its skin winks out and becomes a cool midnight shade like the emptiness of space.
As they enter into various states, a Telcontar's skin can change its overall hue to match its emotions and they might even begin to glow a bit. Here is a list and guide to how they might be feeling. Depending on the severity of what is happening, the change in discoloration and aura can be ever so slight to noticeably full blown and attracting large amounts of attention.
- Silver: Normal
- Silver-Light Blue: Happy, Joyous, Equivalent of Smiling
- Silver-Red: Angry, Depressed, Confused (Very Rare)
- Silver-Gold: Intensely Focused, Calm Mind (Force-Users only)
- Silver-Lime Green: Sick, Not Feeling Well, Tired
- Silver-Sage Green: In a Terminal Illness (Nebula Effect N/A, Other Diseases)
Communication:
One of the most distinct features of the Telcontar by far is how they communicate. Having evolved an ability to communicate telepathically over time from their already enhanced sensory abilities, the Telcontar slowly overtime gained this ability during the earliest phases of their sentient civilization. All Telcontar, similar to the Draethos, have the ability to communicate telepathically to any species within five-hundred meters of their person. Concurrently, however, they cannot invade the thoughts or manipulate another sentient's mind; this ability is strictly relegated to communicating with other people. This talent is most powerful when conversing with other Telcontar, and weakest when encountering a new acquaintance; thus, the clarity and punctuation gets clearer with familiarity. Force-sensitivty and accordingly various levels of attunement to the Force do not affect this ability as it is inherently unique to the Telcontar as a species.
The Telcontar do have a set of vocal cords located in their larynx, but evolution has caused them to become fairly underdeveloped from general misuse as telepathic communication is favored; thus communicating in this fashion can be...difficult. It should be noted that they are quite easily able to understand the linguistics of other species and pick them up relatively fast given the time and resources to learn. It is not uncommon to find an uncommon Telcontar with a wide range of languages, which makes sense given their desire for knowledge and the minute pleasure they gain from learning in general. As a Telcontar learns another language, he is able to communicate in this dialect telepathically as well. If Telcontar were more common in the galaxy and not so exotic, they would very easily find work as talented translators and diplomats for any galactic entity willing to hire them.
Vision:
All Telcontar lack eyes, which is very unsettling to most who have never seen one of their species. To making up for this short-coming, all Telcontar use Force Sight, which is not species specific like their telepathic communication abilities and is fairly common with force-utilizing orders like the Jedi. Telcontar rely on this ability in order to orient themselves and "see"; as a force-sensitive species, the ability is taught by elders to the young to overcome their natural blindness. Curiously, the Peristriate region of the occipital lobe that processes color and movement in coordination with sight is underdeveloped to a degree. Naturally this can cause some difficulties in orienting one's self and balance, but as time progresses most Telcontar become more experienced and easily overcome these issues. Attempts to integrate cybernetics into Telcontar (i.e. robotic eyes) have all failed thus far, and a lack of subjects (specifically willing ones) for testing has caused a stand-still in this field of science.
Force Sensitivity:
All Telcontar are intensely force sensitive, regardless of occupation and age at any point. Before the Telcontar were spread to essentially the four corners of the galaxy plus a few extra, the most powerfully attuned of these force-sensitives were trained to be adjutants, or independent judges and law enforcement officials who operated individually and served to keep the peace in their local cities on Xerus'Al. However, as crime was naturally rare and the Telcontar were a peaceful race by nature, these adjutants were rarely called upon and never judged on anything but the most base and minute of disputes between other Telcontar. Adjutants received rigorous intellectual training so as to ensure they always made the right call and were highly regarded as wise and intelligent. The leader of this enforcer order was the Chief Adjutant, and held a place on the six-person council that governed society.
In general, females are more force-sensitive than males although powerful males were not very uncommon; in fact, a small minority of those males and some females left Xerus'Al to seek other philosophies on this "energy field" and a few ended up studying the Jedi Order and its historical opponent, the Sith Order; their children would most commonly join the Jedi and grow up to be Archivists, Historians, Artisans and Consulars. Those males and females that remained on Xerus'Al who did not become adjutants were commonly chosen to be sages and teach the religion and history of their race to young ones in the university system on planet. Midi-chlorian counts of the lowest Telcontar are generally above-average if equating to a general candidate for Jedi training but range upwards to rival even some powerful Jedi Masters; of course, midi-chlorian count does not equate to skill and mastery by any means.
The Nebula Effect:
One of the many unique things about the Telcontar is the Nebula Effect, or "Wink-out Effect" as they like to put it to outsiders trying to study and observe their species. It's a degenerative nervous disease that affects all Telcontar, but only when they experience a prolonged period of isolation from others of their species emulating severe loneliness (the effect takes place over several centuries). The Telcontar feed much of their mental strength from the telepathic connections and pathways they make from communicating with other Telcontar, who as a general rule of thumb are an introverted social species (meaning they are sociable within their own ranks but not to outsiders by nature). The synapses multiply, jump from person to person, and bind/connect the species together as whole. This clears their minds, brings better clarity to their Force Sight, allows to them to study and retain knowledge better, etc.
When they lack interaction with other Telcontar after about a century or so, the Nebula Effect begins a very slow and slightly unexplainable degeneration of a Telcontar's motor and neural ability. Furthermore, it also dulls and eventually cuts off their natural connection to the Force, essentially removing their Force-Sensitivity over time. It's an extremely slow process, as the Telcontar are long-lived and resilient, but takes place regardless. Cases have also been reported of elderly Telcontar coming down the Nebula Effect despite still living in communities full of their own species, suggesting this is something that eventually comes to every member of the species. The ultimate end leaves a Telcontar in a motionless comatose state where his or her body literally withers away. Unfortunately, the Nebula Effect can start at any time beginning with birth; the Telcontar constantly need that telepathic connection to members of their own species.
The effect takes it name from the tell-tale way it behaves on the metallic skin of a Telcontar. Typically, a Telcontar's skin is bursting with what appears to be a reflection of multiple galaxies, nebulas, stars, gas giants, etc. When the Nebula Effect begins to take effect, the very initial symptom is the winking out or "death" of stars on the hands and feet. As the case becomes more severe starting in latter stages (two-three centuries in), whole nebulas and galaxies disappear from a Telcontar's skin, leaving nothing but the empty blackness of "space." The silvery-hue outline of a Telcontar begins to revert to a dull grey and they have trouble maintaining their telepathic connection to even the most basic of non-sentient lifeforms. Eventually, everything is gone: the lustrous wonder of the Telcontar has permanently faded away and they literally die of loneliness.
Currently, every surviving Telcontar will contract the Nebula Effect at one point or another. However, a few circumstances can delay or revert the symptoms. A Telcontar can create a strong emotional connection a person or any group of persons of non-Telcontar ancestry (i.e. humans, perhaps) and prevent degeneration by a few centuries. If they manage to rejoin a community of their own, the process can be stopped entirely although the Telcontar in question can never fully be returned to their original state of living. Generally, the Nebula Effect is most common in very extremely isolated Telcontar. Ironically, the Nebula Effect was never a common issue until the death of Kareth'Itan and the billions of Telcontar on Xerus'Al. Presumably, their deaths caused such a rift in the surviving Telcontar that there was not enough of their number left to sustain the level of telepathic inter-species connection that they were used to.
Culture:
Religion:
Although the dissolution of Telcontar society has resulted in a lack of traditions being passed down from generation to generation, the resident diaspora spread throughout the galaxy still have elders, and these elders still teach the old ways of creation and science existing in harmony. However, elders are few and far between, and the story of how their species came to wink out of existence has caused many to reject the old ways of how the Telcontar came to operate on Xerus'Al; the notion of conformity to the ideal that they believed in their religion and advanced in science but that the former could never be touched by the latter. Most Telcontar are now agonistic or atheistic, and their former belief in the union of faith and reason working together has been visibly shaken. A cultural rejection of religion by the young has rooted itself permanently and is most likely not just a "trend."
Whilst still on Xerus'Al, an established university system taught in addition to science and technological engineering the closest things the Telcontar had to a religion of what has generally been accepted by the people as their origin. The Telcontar believe they are descended from the stars, that the first of their people originated or emigrated from the cold dark beyond their home world and came to settle on its lush green surface. A preconceived notion that they were literally created from the birth of the system's star Kareth'Itan itself is merely religious speculation of course, as they actually evolved from aquatic lifeforms adapted from life in space, but the Telcontar can dream; it's something they've always been rather good at. When a Telcontar passed on due to natural causes, it was believed his soul returns to Kareth'Itan, that which originally gave life but who sustains itself from the energy absorbed from each new soul.
As stated, these were generally accepted truths before the death of Kareth'Itan and the subsequent destruction of Xerus'Al and all life in the system caused a cultural rejection in outright disbelief of what had happened. Accordingly, most Telcontar are as previously mentioned agnostic or atheistic; those (or he/she) that have joined the Jedi Order have permanently adopted their concept of the Force and how it operates in regards to life, science, etc.
Pursuit of Knowledge and Growth:
In Telcontar society, the most admired were not the warriors nor the government officials nor the most wealthy. Rather, they were the inventors, the engineers, the historical scholars, the artists. It was and still is in some degrees a civilization based around intellectual growth and the betterment of the race as a whole. Adjutants, although talented warriors when need be, were judges and mediators at heart. The Telcontar were not a war-like race, and thus did not give respect to those rare few amongst their number who pursued solely martial paths. The celebrities accordingly were those who unlocked the secrets of the universe, that knew but also understood. In fact, being related to a Telcontar who gained pleasure from negative emotions and war-like adrenaline was considered an embarrassment.
A central part of Telcontar society was the debate floor. Two parties of opposing philosophies would often come together, sending their brightest to conduct dialogue and discussion over whatever topic they so chose: the matters of creation, expansion or isolationism, whether some great historical decision by an Adjutant was indeed the right choice or why it wasn't. These debates were often televised live on holos and recorded, and placed for all to review in universities and in the great library of Ulic'Maranas deep in the northern reaches of Xerus'Al upper latitudes. All Telcontar were allowed unlimited access, and Jedi and the Sullustan traders were permitted to view these recording and even watch the debates live from time to time; this was a generally encouraged behavior.
Intertwining Isolationism and Exploration:
From the first time it encountered the Sullustans and the Jedi Order until the Kareth'Itan Supernova that destroyed Xerus'Al, the high council at the top of Telcontar hierarchy maintained a policy of isolation from galactic affairs as soon it was discovered, albeit unsurprisingly, that they were not alone in the galaxy. Outsiders beyond the two types mentioned above were generally not permitted to land on the planet, and very rarely was an exception made for anyone. The Telcontar highly regarded their society as uncorrupted from outside influences, and felt like the probing of foreigners would do irreparable damage to their civilization in the long run. They were self-sustaining and doing perfectly fine on their own, and found the gifts and offers of the corporations rather dull and useless.
In stark contrast, however, the Telcontar government highly encouraged the study of outsiders for the benefit of their own civilization. They were hungry for knowledge about the galaxy, but wanted to learn and grow on their own. Small expeditions were well-funded and sent to visit and learn about the culture and history of other planets; some of their earliest visits were to Sullust, Dac (Mon Calamari), and Kuat where they could observe the tremendous shipyards developed by the "aliens." Larger expeditions were funded to create small colonies in uninhabited regions of space using newly gained starcharts and trade routes learned of from the Sullustans and Jedi. When the Xerus'Al system was destroyed, these colonies and traveling expeditions would be the only thin lifeline preventing extinction for the Telcontar.
Family and Naming:
The typical family size for Telcontar is two parents and six children. Why so many children? The purpose is quite clear: repopulation. Despite having made great progress from what their numbers used to be, there is still a clear desire amongst the species to forget and rebuild as quickly as possible. Since Telcontar lose the gift of fertility around the age of 300, but mature at 200, there is but a short time span in which Telcontar adults can build a stable life on their own and then rear young. It should be noted, however, that women have an equal if not higher position in Telcontar society and are not baby-making machines. The choice of most women to not enter into family life for a brief period of time and instead pursue other options at this critical age range hurts the reproductive viability of the species.
All last names follow the general convention [Word]'[Word]. The longer the first word, the higher the parent's position in society was. The second word being shortened also has the same effect. These names can adjust depending on how someone is portrayed in society. A warrior on Erebor'Taal might be free to take this occupation as he pleases, but the ruling council of elders will strike letters from his name or half a word entirely (a very great shame). Telcontar civilization is not a society of conformists, but it does have standards and those who do not contribute to furthering the species are simply detrimental. On the flip side, great deeds such as blazing new hyperspace routes for the colony or compiling an encyclopedia on galactic flora of some type will attract the council's attention to honor the individual in an opposite effect. Your last name is everything: the first name is irrelevant to standing.
It should be noted this naming convention does not apply to the colonies on which the Telcontar reside; they are named for their environments.
Government:
Pre-Disaster Organization:
The Telcontar have had a history of good government. Originally, there was a council of the six most wisest and knowledgeable Telcontar from across the planet that was the highest form of government. Three of these were male, and three of these were female; one was always the Chief Adjutant, and all six served life terms upon appointment. When one of the elders died, another could only be nominated to his or her position by a majority of the council itself, and their nomination would only be approved via a unanimous vote from the current five at the time. Although it was generally common for these council members to be of advanced age, it was not impossible for a younger Telcontar of exceptional ability to be named to one of the seats. The youngest Telcontar ever to have been named to this high council was 400, showing there was no preference for elder Telcontar.
Below this planetary council were numerous other circles, all six-person in number. These councils could be found in every city of the Telcontar, and were usually concerned with things such as education, transportation and all things domestic. In each city, a tower, or Circle as it was known, could be found that housed any Adjutants in the area. Since Adjutants tended to roam and judged as need be, the population of these towers were always changing except for the Head Adjutant charged with that specific city who also ran the tower. Because they fulfilled the role of police and had a paramilitary-styling towards them, conventional police and military were noticeably absent. In a naturally non-violent society isolated from outsiders, the Adjutants were the only things really required to ensure order.
Government sponsored programs were generally associated with the advancement of spacefaring technology and university research. The Telcontar achieved spacefaring capability very quickly, as they had a unified government that consistently focused on bettering society as a whole while ignoring the capital temptations of weapons research and sales. This is not to say they did not develop weapons; the Telcontar recognized the threat of outsides species. However, the government did not allow the legal export of Telcontar technology in the form of weapons to aliens species that had made contact with them. The government's official platform in order to legitimate a religious society based around science was the advocation of a union of faith and reason.
Post-Disaster Organization:
After the destruction of Kareth'Itan and the failure of the high council to properly evacuate much of the species, the Telcontar as an organized technologically advanced civilization have seized to exist. Thousands of years of work and peaceful society were obliterated in the blink of an eye as the system's mother star eventually exploded and winked out along the lives of some several billion of the galaxy's brightest and soon-to-be brightest. The Adjutants, the university system, each and every council; everything was gone and there were nothing but some several hundred Telcontar and some outside explorers with eye-witness accounts to prove that the species had ever existed.
Now, the Telcontar are but a fraction of themselves. They are the diaspora, spread out amongst the galaxy on various mini-colonies in the Outer Rim and Unknown Regions. The only thing that has prevented the extinction of their species due to lack of numbers is their longevity; being so long-lived, they have managed to continue to reproduce continually in the hopes of rebuilding their once great and honorable civilization to glory. Some stick close to home, while others take a gamble in galactic society. Others, isolated from their own kind, have struggled and searched in vain for other Telcontar over hundreds of years as they exhaust themselves and pass away in the darkness. Still, there is a general hope that one day, things will become better and that the fragments of their species can be pieced back together into a unified society once more.
Existing Telcontar Colonies:
Currently, there are four primary Telcontar colonies, all very spread out and apart from one another. Apart from galactic travelers, these are the only places one can look for and succesfully find the Telcontar. They are:
- Erebor'Taal, located on the fringes of the Tingel Arm bordering Wild Space
- Opac'Vensu, located inside the Deep Core near the center of the galaxy
- Astral'Astra, located in the Outer Rim Territories along Hydian Way
- Roc'Natar, located in the Unknown Regions
Erebor'Taal is the second largest of these colonies, although the word 'large' can be misleading. It was established before the destruction of Xerus'Al and has existed peacefully for some time. This colony is generally moderate and has tried to a degree to preserve tradition as much as possible: knowledge, discovery, creativity, but also the stories of creation. A very large library emulating Ulic'Maranas was erected eons ago and is still very much active. Planet-side travel for visitors is strictly prohibited but the colony maintains good relations with the Sullustans, just as Xerus'Al did back in the old days. Otherwise, off-worlders are just that: off world. A small, but highly advanced shipyard is currently in activation.
Opac'Vensu is the smallest of the four colonies and is by far the oldest. It has only been recently discovered by the Galactic Republic (ironic considering its location) and is not well known. A plague struck the planet 150 years ago and wiped out three quarters of the Telcontar present, decimating the future generations that would sustain the population; ever since, those who remain have been fighting a losing battle. Very few Telcontar born here ever leave, and if they do they are not welcome back; leaders recognize the need to populate and see "dream-chasers" as detrimental to the welfare of the community. It should be noted that most Telcontar here are suffering advanced stages of the Nebula Effect as a result of a dwindling, inbred population.
Astral'Astra is the jewel of the Telcontar colonies as far as wealth goes. Located along the Hydian Way, it has taken a liberal approach and has opened its doors to outsiders; thus, the planet (which is rather small) is reaching its carrying capacity but is flourishing from trade. However, opening up to the galaxy has seen the increased need for protection; following the path of a warrior is not so shameful as it once was and historians, inventors, etc. are inversely far less common. Rather, most Telcontar here are merchants and businessman, middle-class folk; in addition, Basic is the universal language favored over Telcontar. Astral'Astra maintains good relations with the Jedi Order; any Telcontar prospects for the latter would come from here most likely.
Roc'Natar is the last of the four colonies. Not much is known about it; a small population of say two hundred, living on a frigid icy planet with a single space-port which allows one off-world visit per standard galactic year. They generally keep to themselves, but here's the catch: they are unaware of the existence of the other three Telcontar colonies that are currently active. As such, they believe they alone are what remains of their species. The restriction of travel to their settlement prevents the flow of information which might reveal to them the true state concerning their specie's survival.
History:
The Telcontar can trace their earliest history to Xerus'Al, the planet where they evolved as well as the namesake of the system. Located in Wild Space, Xerus'Al was the only planet for thousands upon millions of light years; a single bright star, which came to be known as Kareth'Itan, was their single source of heat and light. It was an old star at the time, burning brighter and brighter each day. However, this was far from the minds of the primitive Telcontar, who arrived on the planet as a species of space-faring, non-sentient animals who had initially lived off asteroids for minerals (much similar to Exogorths in terms of life-style except on a smaller scale). These creatures came to reside in the oceans of Xerus'Al as aquatic omnivores leaning towards the consumption of vegetation before evolving into the modern Telcontar as the galaxy knows them now.
Telcontar society evolved rather rapidly, taking only one and a half centuries to surpass the Stone and Industrial technological levels and skipping the Feudal government stage almost entirely. In keeping with their stereotype, the Telcontar were an industrious and engineering people who enjoyed the passage of stories about their creation but also loved to create and tinker and adjust as necessary. The Atomic stage came quickly as well and was only dominant for but a brief century before the Telcontar began to develop repulsorlift technology and devices powered by newer and more clean forms of energy. Thus, technological advancement came at an incredibly rapid rate for the Telcontar.
Within four hundred years of gaining sentience, the Telcontar had developed spacefaring capability and very nearly had unlocked the secrets of hyperspace. The civilization was at an all-time peak; university systems dedicated to the disciplines of engineering, computer systems, history, art and humanities, etc. It was around this time that the six-person high council came into being, three males and three females. The martial police force that had originally been developed was disbanded in favor of a more free-form system: the Adjutants, wise marshals who could operate as jury, judge, and metaphorical executioner in some situations as need be. An emphasis began to be placed on the expansion and upraising of Telcontar society as a whole; modern civilization for the species was developing.
It was about this time that the Telcontar became acquainted for the first time with outsiders, specifically Sullustan traders making their way from the Outer Rim towards the fringes of galactic civilization at that time. A chance misdirection in their navigational computer had sent them to Xerus'Al instead of Terminus and the sights they beheld were wondrous: a fully sentient, space-faring species bordering on building hyperspace technology with the most illustrous skin they had ever beheld. Contact was established with the peaceful race, and the Telcontar, not entirely surprised to have found a whole new race with news of thousands more out there, made the conscious decision that these aliens would be allowed to exchange goods and technology with them. However, with the exclusion of this particular matter they would settle for an isolationist stance; the Telcontar had no need for whatever possible trouble lay in the galactic scene.
As per their trade agreement, the Telcontar exchanged knowledge of their species and access planet side for experimental technologies (namely hyperspace capable engines and software) with the Sullustans. They also began sending adventurous numbers of their own back with the Sullustans to observe and report back on their findings. In time, Telcontar ships were making the jump to Coruscant and other Core Worlds to examine the wide biodiversity present. Still, they never let go of their isolationist policies; Xerus'Al's location was kept a secret as per an agreement with the Sullustan government and it's coordinates were eventually lost to time irregardless anyhow. The galaxy now knew about these awe-inspiring creatures, but the Telcontar always made sure to leave little traces of their species behind. Peace and caution were the name of the game; the Telcontar were curious but not stupid.
The Jedi Order eventually made pinpointed the location of the planet, but this actually turned out to be a good thing; knowledge and calmness of emotion were something the two sides shared in high regard, and Jedi Masters were keen to converse with the elders of the Telcontar on their knowledge of "the energy field" as the latter simply knew it. The presence of the Jedi and their good will served to soften the disposition of the elders who still maintained isolationism, but the planet still refused to join the Galactic Republic or formally open up its planet to general outsiders. A small Jedi praxeum was established for the training of Telcontar Jedi, but never grew to larger than a few dozen students due to the lingering philosophies of the old ways. Still, the Jedi's perception of the Force mingled well with the peace-loving and rational/logical personalities of the Telcontar.
Telcontar civilization continued to grow in leaps and bounds; experimental hypermatter reactors, bigger and better starships, increased knowledge of what they now knew as "the Force." It seemed as if everything was progressing as it should for. But one fatal flaw had been overlooked in all the scientific studies and advancement of the Telcontar: the age and size of Kareth'Itan, the mother star of the system who was billions of years old and just about to ready to die. Oddly and ironically enough, no high-ranking Telcontar had ever ordered studies into the gas giant to ensure its stability, and this was a serious oversight. Kareth'Itan was sacred, and it was believed that the old and venerable star would be present until the end of time. Any inquiries into it were strictly prohibited by the high council with a religious fervor very rarely found for the species..
Eventually, the massive star simply ran out of helium to fuse; it had reached the end of its lifespan. A supernova erupted without warning, engulfing Xerus'Al and killing everyone on the planet. The surface of the once lush and fertile world was wracked with toxic material and pollution, and its lands were cracked and bloodied with the remains of what had been an incredible civilization. What remained of the species was but a few thousand males and females spread out between budding colonies spread few and far between; as the life forces on their home world winked out, each and every one of them felt as if their heart had been ripped out and their mind torn asunder. With one swift disaster, the Telcontar had been reduced to a soon-to-be extinct species.
To this day, the Telcontar still number in the low hundreds. Longevity has enabled to them to have extended time to reproduce, but the road to recovery is long and they have no means with which to terraform their now dead and lifeless planet. They are the diaspora: separated, unable to find each other, and worst of all lonely. The name of the game for them now to is to adapt. A small number have joined the Jedi Order over the years, and yet others have ventured into the Unknown Regions in search of a new home amongst the stars. Still, some cling to the old way of life of knowledge, ingenuity, but with the addition of survival while others reject the stories of their species' creation, believing a faith in accepted knowledge and proof to have been the cause for their downfall. Only time will tell how the story of their once magnificent race plays out in the end.