The Crescent of Sapphira 

Summary:

The Crescents are a species in the Gamma quadrant. They are a fanatical religious race who have started a ritual cleansing. They believe in a deity called Saphira. It is believed by their leader that Saphira is or was a Founder. The Crescents are the first race created by the Founders but were later abandoned.

Special abilities:

Crescents are telepathic and are telekinetic in nature. This is not the case for all the Crescent. Not all of them are telekinetic or Telepathic. Some aren’t even either. This caused the current cast system in the species. They use their abilities to control their victims, and usually, their victims have no memories of an encounter with a crescent. This is often why they are considered a myth. Amilla De has a technological feature that allows her to suppress her people's mental abilities so she has total control over her people. This feature is only in the close presence of Amilla. That is why her people can use their powers when not in her presence and why Orson was able to use his powers on T'Meela. Amilla did reveal her secret to Orson.

Countering their telepathic and Telekinesis is their lack of physical strength. Most Elite Crescent aren’t even trained in martial arts. If other species were able to counter their mental abilities, they would be defenceless. 

Another weakness of the species is the bright light, mostly sunlight. Since the sun only shines 4 times fully a year, their bodies adapted to the darkness, this is why they cover their skin with clothes and their heads with hoodies and cloaks. And they wear sunglasses to protect their eyes against the sunlight. Doctor T’San developed a type of sunglasses for Orson that blocked out his telepathic abilities. He had a hard time on the base with the many thoughts coming in as voices, which were overwhelming to him. His species was able to block their own thoughts, but Orson never trained to block out others. The glasses help him protect his eyes and his mind. 

The Crescent are able to live even longer than the Vulcans. It’s unknown if they are immortal, as they can be killed, and aren’t immune to any new unknown viruses, and they can be lethal to the Crescent in some cases. It is possible how they handle viruses somewhat seems to be connected to their mental abilities and how strong it is present in the individual.

The oldest, currently known as the Crescent, is the Empress Amila. She is known to be 265 and still looks like she is 30. But it is assumed this is due to the genetic manipulation of the founders. The Crescent explain that they were gifted the youthful skin by Sapphira.  Murder and executions seem to be pretty normal. Amila is said to have survived as she keeps her people in check. She gained her position by killing her grandmother. 

Politics, culture and Religion:

Amilla De, as the oldest among her people, is believed to carry the spirit of Saphira and was therefore respected as the highest spiritual as well as political leader, also known as the high chieftain. Her suppressing device gives her total control over her people.

The Crescent is divided into tribes and each tribe consists of several families, also called sister families. The most powerful tribe is the Socra Tribe, Amilla is the chieftain of this tribe. Although males and females have equal rights, females are the dominant gender, and the males seem to enjoy this dominance they have. Females are often the heads of families and Tribes. Crescents have more than 1 mate, and it is the males that join other families and or tribes in matrimony. In one matrimony, a male is bonded to several females in a family. While a female is bonded with several males from several different families, they can be from different tribes. Bonding takes place when the male or female reaches the age of maturity.

The Crescent believe in a deity called Saphira, that's why they call themselves the Crescent of Saphira. Saphira is or was most likely a founder. The Crescent started a crusade which they called the cleansing. This entails the, often hostile, takeover of planets. Most prisoners taken are enslaved and subjugated to Sapphira. They are called the Crescent, due to the moon, or the 4 moons, near their planet, being the dominant light sources, and it is mostly night on their planet. Their sun is being blocked by a gas Giant. Only 4 times a year the Gas giant moves away enough to put the planet in sunlight. The planet is heated by the Gas Giant and the heat core of the planet. 

Family names are short, 2 letters only. I.e. De, Ae, Du, Le, Lo, Me, Ma, No,  etc... Families are not tribes. Tribes are a group of families together. The most powerful tribe is the Socra Tribe, and the main family is Amila’s family De. Kadja’s Ae family is a branch within the Socra Tribe. Kadja, therefore, was one of the likely candidates to marry Orson. And with Orson being announced to be the Crown Prince, Kadje knew her joining with Orson would surely replace the Ae’s De as the main family when Orson would take the crown from Amila. 

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