Noremok

The oldest of the space faring races to come from the Andromedan Reserve, the Noremok (Commonly referred to as Nor’ or some cases “Librarians”) hail from a super-Earth like planet name Danarah. The exact location of their home system is a closely guarded secret that is kept amongst the most trusted members of their society, which has mostly moved to the edge of the Andromedan Reserve. Having long since spread out amongst the stars, creating a formidable empire, they prefer to think of it as a territory they’ve sworn to protect from outsider tampering. The species began their expansion prior to discovering FTL travel or even communication, settling for living colony ships that the inhabitants would live comfortably in for sometimes over 1000 years. As the Noremok can live naturally for several hundred years, the desire for FTL travel was not as pressing an issue for the species, but came to them in due time.

While the Noremok were quite aware of their sentient neighbors, most had barely learned how to harness fire by the time the Nor’ had opened their first major route to another star system. Noremok history details how several species grew and advanced over time, while purportedly never making direct contact with the observed species. When the species became proficient with Warp Drives, the Nor’ remained content to sit back and enjoy watching their neighbors mature, but would make visits to the planet and even sometimes making arrangements with government organizations and corporations. When the Nor’ did finally master faster FTL travel with the discovery of Quantum Tunneling, involvement with another species remained about the same. Though it isn’t uncommon for a Nor’ to settle on an alien system, they will almost confine themselves to a life of seclusion in vast library like buildings where they keep collected knowledge of whatever interests them…hence the nickname “Librarian”.

Many Noremok do not feel a particular attachment to not only material goods, but also the concept of home. The pursuit of knowledge and adventure is by far one of the most powerful driving factors of the Nor’ mind-set, leaving the nest, or place of birth as soon as they become bored with their local surroundings. Depriving a Nor’ new information over long periods of time can cause them to go insane as their minds become stagnant, the condition is similar to stir craziness, becoming quite irritable and many cases violent and destructive. After recovering, from this temporary mental illness, a Nor’ will lose interest in most things, and usually spend much time roaming from planet to planet until finding a new subject of study. During the times of slower FTL travel, the Nor' would take to cryostasis hibernation, shortening their trips and keeping their minds fresh, when they were awake on the ships, there was usually much news and information to sift through as life continued without them.

Physiology


Not much is known about Noremok physiology, their bodies are  one of the many things the species doesn’t openly discuss with outsiders. There are certain properties that are known from simple observation, the most prominent being their lifespan, which averages between 800 and 900 Earth years. Appearance-wise, the Nor’ are often times related to the Barn Owls of Earth, sharing a similar evolutionary path as the Earth creatures. Characteristics that are common between the two dissimilar species are the feathers patterns, claw like feet, sensory perception. The distinct turns of the alternate evolution led to a more humanoid existence, bipedal movement at the sacrifice of flight, giving live birth to their young and the incredible heights they can grow to, with most Nor’ reaching 10ft tall during their lifetime.



Communication goes beyond just the exchange of formed words, a  lesser known physiological trait of the Noremok is the ability to “mind-meld”, their flesh gives off a very miniscule but powerful pheromone, that directly effects the body and mind connection. The pheromones trick both subject’s brain’s into matching certain neural states (down to a quantum level), essentially opening a channel for shared consciousness. Depending on the time spent melding (coupled with the specific strengths of the pheromones), the effects can be as simple as emotional understanding of current moods to absolute loss of one’s self as the two minds merge together. The latter being a very rare occurrence that requires excessively long periods of exposure. This mind-melding ability is crucial to growing Noremok, as their language is excessively difficult to learn, their young literally absorb thoughts and knowledge, from their parents (this creates very strong family bonds).



Social Behaviors


The societal standards for a Nor’ is both refined and bizarre, they feel the need to hide themselves from other sentient beings that might judge them. Calling the Noremok shy and introverted is almost an understatement of their outward attitude, their behavior borders on being antisocial. Having existed in a galactic civilization for a long time and needing to mingle with other species to further their goals, Nor’ fashion and accepted styles have led way to robes that cover most of the body, save for their lower legs, feet and hands (shoes are almost non-existent in Nor’ culture, but leg wraps and gloves are somewhat common). Ranging from simple constructions that are more function over form, to elegant designs that are sought to be replic ated by fashion designers from different empires, the Noremok robe has become synonymous with the species.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none">Noremok language is very binary in nature, similar in nature to machine code logic, there are truths and untruths, creating a system that to outsiders appears to be overly formal and specific, often compared to "tongues". While Nor' can understand the concept of lying, they are mostly incapable of telling a lie due to the very straight forward way their speech logic is formed, when preferring to keep a secret, they will either not speak at all or try and deflect the topic. Otherwise, if a Nor' feels comfortable about discussing the matter at hand, they will speak very matter of factly, There is also a myriad of slang, slurs, curses, and generally socially unacceptable words and phrases that the Nor' try to avoid and are easily offended by. Similarly, it is very rare for a Nor' to become angry enough to use negative words towards anyone, even more rare is their ability to kill another being out of dislike, hatred, or anger. Though a naturally very proficient hunter killers, they consider life to be special and will try to refrain from harming others themselves, more cunning Nor' will likely hire assistance in such issues. Upon encountering the much more conniving Zetans, the Noremok established a special schooling system for select candidates called, Warlocks, to intereact with outsiders.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language: EN">Amongst themselves, they can tolerate each other better than most other species as they share the same desires and understandings, but will go out of their way to avoid those that have the same studies and interests. With outsiders, relationships are even more strained, as impatient, loud, ill-mannered and even overly inquisitive individuals do not mesh with the Noremok mind-set. Despite these peeves, many Nor’ will try to get along with a person if they seem interesting enough or are viable candidates for providing valuable and sought after information. In terms of keeping the information they seek, while Nor' have very good memory (which can be detr imental in some cases), they are avid about record keeping, books, digital archives, their hoarding knows no bounds. The only exception is the use of neural enhancements for memory expansion, in general, any kind of neural enhancement is frowned upon, but expansion of one's memory is an extreme cultural taboo. This disdain for dangerous technology extends into general life for the Nor', having seen the destruction that came from the Centauri Federation, the Nor' began treating advanced machines as a threat, especially when coupled with organics.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none">Large recreational activities are rather limited within their culture, as the Noremok do no wholly appreciate loud noises, crowds, or potentially physically dangerous sports, their culture is rather docile and calm with the things they do. Games are focused on mental aptitude, the physical ones are more based on demonstrating the abilities of the body through contest, even music is calm and concerts are relaxed. Interestingly, musicians are placed very high on the social pyramid, as music is a form of creation, the Noremok greatly revere those that create (which helps lend to their disinterest in non-creative spotlight activities). One of the more popular events within the Noremok empire is "debate combat" on socio-political issues and philosophy, as the language allows for listeners to fully understand the meaning behind the words and concepts, the objective is to win the support of the audience and to try and make the opponent see your point of view.

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Government, Spirituality, and Economy
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"> Officially ruled by a timocracy, the Noremok government promotes their most knowledgeable citizens to positions of power, with most star systems almost being independent from the overall empire. These star systems fall under the governance of appointed officials, whom report back to the home system council. Their official territory is treated more as a nature preserve, planets with sentient species are left alone and observed from safety, while the life-baring worlds without were happily settled. Even in a galactic politicalscape, they try to remain uninvolved with most affairs, taking a neutral stance to things that don’t directly affect them.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"> In trying to remain neutral with their efforts, religion and spirituality has been almost done away with by the time their primitive tribes started discovering one another. Though they do not believe in the fairytales of supernatural spirits and the like, Noremok take great interest in learning about such topics…so much so, that there are cults that have been known to be formed in order to track down and quantify every detail of the stories (usually ending in success and great acclaim or terrible disaster for those involved). With such knowledge and secrets being prized by certain groups, it becomes a sometimes desperate attempt to silence the Nor’ from performing the research, either through bribes or assassination. Many Nor’ cannot be easily bribed or threatened to stop researching something that interests them, remaining silent afterwards though is a more common occurrence, as hoarding destructive information is almost a universal craze for the species.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"> Information is a legal form of currency for the Noremok, though it is a very fluid system that is a more one-on-one negotiation in practice. As taxes are a part of their economic system, it is encouraged that any exchanges include some manner currency or material item. This system of exchange is not generally practiced with outsiders as the exchange of information is a very precise matter to the Nor’ and unless one is familiar with the Nor’lingo and standards for classifying the value of information there is little to no hope of understanding it. Information trading isn't the only questionable practice that often times get the Nor' into trouble, the Nor' do not consider non-mentally destructive recreatonal drugs to be illegal, though it is devious in the eyes of the galactic community. With their vast knowledge of drug production, (from grown plants and herbs to complex chemical concoctions) the biggest economic boon to be found behind closed doors is the sale of military grade combat boosters, which are in high-demand through both legal and illegal channels.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none">As a mostly artisan civilization. putting great time and effort into creating beautifully intricate goods is important to them, but they also understand the need for interchangeability and compatability. The Nor' developed a commons system that is applied to almost all crafting trades, greatly reducing the cost of salable products, and making maintenance easier...at least within the Noremok territory, artisan apprenticeship is common, most crafters being eager to spread their knowledge and techniques.

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Military
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"> As the Noremok are very protective of their nature-reserve-like territory, they have amassed one of the largest fleets of the Orion cluster and supply a majority of the ships for the Allied Orion Navy. Prior to contact with the Saric'Tau, the Nor’ served almost all positions of the military, as the much more combat oriented Sar' began to fill in lower ranking positions, the Nor' presence within their military became that of leadership. With intellect being their greatest weapon, Nor’ prefer to command the battles rather than fight them…fortunately, given the good relations they share with other species and the proficiency of which they operate their fighting forces, they very rarely have to put their destructive forces to use.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none">The current field operators that the Nor' do employ are the most elite commandos to come from the empire, both able to lead with smarts and take on almost any enemy through their fighting prowess. The bulk of their military might comes from recruiting members of the Sar' warrior caste families, while they cannot compare to the Nor' in terms of visual and auditorial sensory abilities, the Sar' make up for it with this with an acute sense of smell, along with their physical prowess and agility.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none">Throughout Nor' history though, there have been very few wars, thanks in part to their attempts at neutrality and the use of a form of debate combat. Many conflicts have been resolved by words alone, applying logic and strong emotions, Noremok customs forces those involved with the war of words to continue ad nauseam until only one remains. There are strict rules that aim to keep the events logical and meaningful, those who resort to underhanded tactics effectively forfeit.