Andorian
From Obsidian Fleet Database
The Andorians are a humanoid species from the moon Andoria, capital world of the Andorian Empire, which was a founding member of the United Federation of Planets.
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[edit] Physiology
Most Andorians have a distinctive blue skin and white or silver hair. A sub-species of Andorians known as the Aenar have white skin; unlike the blue Andorians, the Aenar are blind and telepathic. Andorians and Aenar are genetically compatible and can produce offspring.
Andorians have a higher metabolism than humans. Andorians are very susceptible to high temperatures, an Andorian can lose 10% of its body weight in as little as two days in climates approaching the boiling point of water.
Because of the unusual physiology of the Andorians, intravenous injection is impossible; instead a doctor must opt for inter-muscular injection.
[edit] Antennae
Andorians have on their heads two knobbed antennae which are used for balance. An Andorian is partially disabled and unable to fight immediately following the loss of an antenna, but is able to compensate within a day or so. The antenna itself can take up to nine months to regrow on its own, although the regeneration can be completed in around half that time with electrical stimulation and cranial massage therapy. The loss of an antenna is a humiliating experience for an Andorian to come to terms with.
These are highly sensitive, semi-rigid structures of muscle and cartilage, their tips containing directional hearing organs, the long-distance heat-sensing organs and the telepathic sensors which play an important part in the reproductive cycle. The antennae also express emotion, far more than do the facial muscles, and are the prime indicators of Andorian body language. They express polite interest by curving toward the object of attention, fear or excitement by standing rigid and quivering, weariness or depression by drooping, confusion or upset by wringing and lashing, sexual arousal by slow writhing, intoxication by wobbling unsteadily in different directions, and rage by pressing back against the skull. Andorians "kiss" by touching the tips of their antennae together. Antenna movement apparently expresses feelings as well. An Andorian will sometimes point their antennae at a potential mate to signify attraction. It is not known if this is a voluntary or involuntary response.
Because of the importance of the antennae, much of Andorian psychology revolves around these organs. Fear of damage to the antennae is deeper and more widespread than castration-anxiety in humans. Loss of antennae to an Andorian is the equivalent of deafness, muteness, castration and mutilation of the face to a human, and no Andorian will voluntarily survive such an injury.
Subsequently, the uninvited touching of the antennae is considered an unpardonable rudeness, and the threat of injury to antennae is legitimate grounds for assault and murder - as occasional, unfortunate incidents have shown. For example, in the famous tapestry The Assault on Yodina, one notes that Yodina is actually leaning toward the captor who has imprisoned her arms and away from the villainous baron who has clutched her left antenna. To the student of Andorian culture, it comes as no surprise that Yodina's relatives later tore the wicked baron into several pieces and fed the fragments to their hunting beasts before a cheering crowd.
Because of the telepathic organs and their relation to the reproductive process, the antennae are also considered proper sites for valuable jewellery, particularly gifts from friends, lovers and mates. The Andorian version of the wedding ring is worn on the left antenna rather than on a finger. To give an Andorian antenna-rings or antenna-bells is to make a gesture of great friendship, if not of courtship.
[edit] Society
Andorians are a militaristic warrior race. Service in the Andorian Imperial Guard was considered honorable and military ranks had a great influence on social reputations. However, Andorians never fight without reason, and deplore dishonesty, though they are capable of duplicity. Andorians consider their race to be deeply emotional and passionate, and although they are not known for their charity and have few sympathies they place a high value on family.
As a key member of the Federation, Andorian Ambassador Shras represented Andoria at the Babel Conference in 2268, at which it supported the admission of Coridan as a new member of the Federation.
In 2286, the Andorians held two seats in the Federation Council. An Andorian served on the ruling council of the pocket dimension Elysia, during the late 23rd century. It is unknown how long his species had been trapped in that universe.
[edit] Traditions and Culture
A crucial part of Andorian tradition is the so called ushaan, a code of honor demanding a duel to the death in which the combatants fight against each other with a ice miner's tool, the ushaan-tor. An enormous body of rules and regulations exists around this code of honor, summing up to 12,000 amendments. The Ushaan can be demanded by someone as a means of personal vengeance, e.g. to avenge a personal loss. However, there exists a right of substitution, allowing each combatant to put up a replacement for themselves. Furthermore, each married combatant can postpone a duel indefinitely, if there are no children to continue his claim. Additionally, the fight may be called off, if one combatant disables the other in way so he cannot continue the duel.
If a member of the Andorian Imperial Guard dies far from home, his or her companions carry a part of the body back to the ice of Andoria.
Andorian weddings are known to usually require groups of four people. Andorian females seem to have an equal position in Andorian society, being at least as capable soldiers as males.
Andorians also seem to have an artistic side, as Yanas Tigan, mother of Ezri Dax, imported hand-painted Andorian tiles for her Solarium in 2375. The Andorian Academy is considered by many to be the best art school in the Federation.
[edit] Complexity of the reproductive mechanism
The single most important feature of Andorian physiology is the complex reproductive mechanism. It can be said that Andorians explain the facts of life to their children in terms of the birds, the bees, the seahorses and the kangaroos. Yet for all its complexity, it is a tremendously efficient system - so efficient, in fact, that over-population has been a primary social problem throughout all recorded Andorian history.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the sex of an Andorian child at birth, with the result that children are raised without different treatment accorded by gender. This is one reason why Andorian society is completely ambiarchal. The child's genital organs remain dormant until first puberty, which starts at the approximate age of 12 and is completed by the age of l5, when s/he begins the neuter phase of adulthood. At this time, the sex of the individual first becomes apparent. The male possesses a retractable penis, subcutaneous testes, a uterus and a semi-extensible vagina; the female possesses a uterus and vagina which ends in a retractable ovipositor, a ventral pouch, and six breasts - flat and dormant in the neuter phase and arranged in pairs from chest to abdomen.
Since the sexual activity of neuters does not result in pregnancy, it is given little social importance and is described by the word "play" or "amusement". Neuters are allowed, if not encouraged, to experiment sexually in any way that interests them and are restricted by no taboos whatever. A neuter may "play" with its brothers, sisters, other relatives, friends, enemies, strangers and livestock; nobody cares, unless the activity results in physical injury, which is then treated as a simple case of assault. Although passionate, emotional involvement can form between playing neuters - and are celebrated in story and song - they are not considered in the same category with attachment to one's true mate. The resulting sexual liberality of neuters often puzzles outsiders and has led to some unfortunate misunderstandings.
Second puberty occurs when a neuter forms a serious emotional attachment to a neuter of the opposite sex and their normal empathic connection deepens into a full telepathic bond. This process, known as formal courtship, lasts several months, often a year and more. During this courtship, the telepathic bonding, by a method the Andorians are reluctant to reveal, causes physiological changes that bring on full fertility: development of the female's breasts and pouch, increased size and protrusion of the male's testes and the production of gametes. From the time of the first symptoms of change, the couple is considered betrothed, and they may marry at any time before the final bonding. Final bonding consists of male's-penis to female's-vagina mating between a male with distended testes and a female with distended breasts, while both are in full telepathic rapport for the first time, and results in first pregnancy.
In a "true" mating, the fertilized zygote divides into two to eight sub-zygotes, which then grow in the female's womb for 3.7 standard months. Here they develop into eggs, which are approximately the size and shape of large baseballs, having elastic, gold shells. At the end of this stage, the parents perform a second form of mating in which the female deposits her eggs, through her ovipositor, in the uterus of the male. The eggs remain here for an additional 3.6 months, absorbing fluid through the shells and increasing embryo growth under the slightly higher body temperature of the male. At the end of this time, the shells are broken by the fetuses and reabsorbed by the male's body, and the fetuses are then deposited in the female's pouch, where they remain for an additional 3.2 months, gaining their final growth. They obtain nourishment during this period by means of two hollow, bony protrusions (called pouch-fangs) located in their double navels, with which they pierce a large blood vessel running vertically through the posterior wall of the pouch, thus plugging their circulatory systems into the mother's.
It is not uncommon for females in pouch-pregnancy to have voracious appetites, especially if they are also carrying another litter in the primary womb - and doubly so if they are also nursing still another litter at the same time. For this reason, the Andorian fertility goddess is often described as The Great Devourer, or The Inspiration of Livestock Raids. Understandably she is usually depicted as the wife of the war god.
In the interests of keeping the couple together, the mating bond causes physical changes in the nervous system so that bonded individuals cease to have sexual interest in any save their mates, and literally cannot perform a fertile mating with anyone else. "Adultery" is an unknown concept among Andorians. "Illegitimacy" is barely possible (not counting the purely social disgrace of failing to undergo the formal marriage ceremony before the final bonding) and is extremely difficult. It consists of a female obtaining an egg which is not hers and introducing it into her husband's womb during the second form of mating. This is considered a horrid disgrace and the usual punishment is death for both members of the couple - the female for having deceived her mate and the male for having been so thoroughly deceived (which implies unbearable stupidity and imperfection of the telepathic bond).
There is no divorce among Andorians; the marriage bond lasts for life, and the death of one partner usually causes death for the other. This is especially true if the death of one partner occurs by violence; the resulting telepathic shock causes sudden and severe stress to the heart, often resulting in fatal coronary occlusion. A widowed Andorian who survives the initial shock is still prey to psychic disorientation, endocrine imbalance and savage psychological depression; these are often sufficient to cause the widowed partner to "lay doon and dee" in a fashion familiar to any observer of telepathic and semi-telepathic races. A widowed Andorian who does survive the breaking of the bond reverts to neuter phase and never becomes fertile again. There are so many well known ballads about this subject that it would be pointless to quote from them, and it is not surprising: that sentimental human ballads about lovers dying of a "broken heart" are quite popular on Andor.
