Mysteries and Oddities of the Universe

Crazy Alien Races:

Every First One race is monomaniacal on some topic. To a degree, each of the First Ones has insane hubris as a racial trait – it is rare for a race to find a reason for living (the key to a successful transition to a Fourth Age) and not be utterly convinced that its way is superior to all other paths in existence. The Vorlons take pride in their utter commitment to order, but the Shadows are – they must be – equally committed to the cause of chaos, as the Walkers are to exploration, the Mindriders to communication, the Palmans and some of their descendants to multiracial community building and so on.

The Analogue Worlds:

In a loose sense, most Class-M worlds are “parallel” worlds in that their climates are similar enough for a humanoid to breathe unaided, walk around without a space

suit (but perhaps with a parka), and probably find enough food and water to sustain life.

By definition, Class-M worlds have oceans and land masses, the air is breathable, and the biospheres rather similar to Earth or Alpha Centauri. Most Class-M planets look something like Earth from orbit, even if the shape of the land masses and oceans is much different. But some planets are more similar than others, and to these worlds specific labels are applied.

A few planets, much more similar to each other than the laws of chance would seem to account for, are formally recognized as “parallel worlds” by astro-geographers. By definition, a parallel world is one where the mass, size, atmosphere, material composition, and proportion of land to water on the planet are virtually identical, (i.e., less than 1% variation) to another known planet not in the same solar system

Note that a parallel world can have rather different geography and topography and still be rated as a parallel, as long as the proportion of land to water is the same.

A very small number of such “parallel worlds” are so nearly identical as to be rated as “analogue worlds”. An analogue world is an extreme example of a parallel. The

same criteria are applied, except analogue worlds are also extremely similar to each other geographically: land masses and oceans are virtually identical in shape, obviously the work of some higher power (as coincidence is just too impossible). Not just the substance of the worlds is parallel, but the form as well. Parallel and analogue worlds are sometimes inhabited, but more often not. In a small number of cases,

such worlds seem to have been “seeded” by a precursor species.

The mystery is this: how did such worlds come to be? While the existence of a few dozen “parallel” worlds with a galaxy of billions of planets seems (barely) plausible as a result of random chance, no natural phenomenon seems to account for the virtually identical analogue planets. Did some immensely powerful ancient species terraform these planets, or otherwise ensure that they would develop in this way?

No one knows.

The Ubiquity of Humanoid Life:

The vast majority of planets which have native life do not develop sentient species. Most planets habitable for carbon-based life host a variety of microbial species, plants, insects, aquatic life, and perhaps lower animal forms. A few even reach middle forms such as wolves, apes, or raptorial birds. Complex and intelligent, but non-sapient, animals are somewhat uncommon, and sapient life forms (able to change their world) are the rarest of all. Even so, if only 0.1% of Class-L/M/N planets develop sapient life forms, this still results in the existence of hundreds of sapient species within the territory of the Imperium. Most of these species are not technologically advanced and fall under the protection of the Prime Directive.

On Class-M planets with native sapient life, bipedal humanoid life forms acting as superpredators at the top of the food chain tend to be a rather common evolutionary outcome. Many of these species are biochemically similar to humans, though most are not directly related to humans genetically and evolved separately on their homeworlds. The point is not that humanity is something special, but rather that humanoids are actually not particularly special, at least as physical specimens. Similar planets tend to evolve similar forms of life, from bacteria all the way to bipedal sentient or sapient primates, according to this viewpoint. Many scientists accept

this naturalistic explanation, but others do not. Some believe that all humanoid life, even those not directly related to each other, show evidence of having been the result of DNA manipulation going back billions of years. This is a separate mystery from the undoubted “seeding” of species which has occurred in the Milky Way.

Klingon Aphrodisiacs:

Most cultures have urban legends or myths about herbs, drugs, or other substances that boost sexual desire. Few of these have any basis in reality, but one that does is K-rlhnan-ak-Toq’na, an herb family native to Qo'Nos and known in Imperium space as “Klingon aphrodisiacs.”The ground leaves of these plants produce a very strong boost in sexual desire for many species, including humans. A single one-gram dose will provide a virtually irresistible surge of lust for two hours. While this would seem to have obvious recreational benefits, the herb has no detectable flavor. As a result, unscrupulous individuals are known to give doses to unsuspecting victims, hidden

in food or drink, making it a potent date-rape drug.

The Old Kings:

The Old Kings dominated most of what is now the Klingon Empire, and the “eastern” two-thirds of the Federation,from about the year -Y500 through -Y25. A bit more is known about the Old Kings compared to the other “precursor” species, due to the fact that the Old Kings employed Klingons and other species (but not Humans from Earth) as “subject” or “worker races”. The Old Kings were very careful, however, in what they told the less advanced species, and surprisingly little is known about them.

No one is sure exactly where the Old Kings came from. Their “capital” was probably located somewhere in what is now the Klingon Empire or somewhere in human space, but the precise coordinates are unknown, and this was possibly not their true homeworld. The Old Kings were relatively peaceful, in that they preferred trade and diplomacy to conquest,but they were rather “alien” in their attitudes and were often not particularly friendly. Some species report that the Old Kings tutored them in higher technology and treated them well, while others believe that the Old Kings exploited them and treated them as definite inferiors. Some of the Old Kings reportedly engaged in medical experimentation on Subject Races, but this was not particularly common. There may have been more than one Old King faction,some more exploitive than others.

The Sol/Alpha Centauri/Vulcan neighborhood was on the outer edges of Old King territory. It is known that an Old King outpost was maintained at Zeta Reticuli, relatively near the Sol system. There were limited economic and diplomatic contacts with the Vulcans, but the Vulcans never learned much about the background of the Old Kings, who were reticent to share much. Descriptions of their appearances vary, but they do bear some resemblance to the stereotypical “grey aliens” of Earth’s UFO lore. It is suspected that they had conducted surveys on Earth for centuries, although it has never been conclusively proven that they contacted Earth governments directly. Officially,no Old King artifacts have been found on Earth, although conspiracy theorists (and a few legitimate researchers) dispute this (and many search for such artifacts). Millions of cheap books are sold every year describing the evidence for the “Old Kings” having been on Earth.

Where the Old Kings went after they vanished is not known. Officially, no one has seen an Old King since -Y25,although occasionally rumors will crop up that the Old Kings have returned, or a derelict Old King spacecraft has been recovered, or that the GIA has captured an Old King and is keeping the being (and others) in a secret facility somewhere. Old King artifacts are occasionally found, and any planet bearing signs of Old King presence is usually placed under research quarantine.