Diaspar

Created by: Arthur C. Clarke "The City and the Stars", Garry Stahl
Appearance: Starbase 600 game "The search for Prince Nevermore"
Number of Members: 1 billion There are billions, but the population is controlled at this level.
Nature of Members: Highly designed 7 foot lemur with a shorter tail, and blue fur. The Diaspar have designed themselves away from evolution. Sex is for pleasure. The birth machine takes care of making babies, and recycling you when your 500 year lifespan is over. You will be born again to have a new life in 10,000 years or so. You can even arrange to change gender.
In the past and currently the Diaspar require high levels of UV light. On the suggestion of the Ane they are designing that out of their physical bodies while retaining the tolerance.
Organization: City
Government: Cyberorcacy -- Things are run by the efficient and mostly invisible central computer.
Culture: Pacifistic: They neither practice nor want anything to do with war. The people wish nothing more than to live love and learn. 
*Technology: Diaspar is a post galactic technology. They had warp drives and no place to go so they made their home world a park. Subspace telescopes told them of El Nanth, a place they could not reach. Now they have met the people that live there. 
Game Role: The life happening.
World Role: Yup.
Relative Influence: Minor
Public or Secret?: Public
Publicly Stated Goal: To seek the Joy in all things.
Relative Wealth: One star system, well used.
Race Advantages: Post galactic society. Their technology is astounding, save for warp drives. They kind of gave up on that. They can build decent DiLithium drives, but currently have none.
Special Abilities: The Diaspar are telepaths.
Race disadvantages: They Need high levels of UV light. Diaspar require three time the UV provided by yellow stars to stay healthy. they can travel with the right light but cannot live on a world that does not have it.
Relations:
*Federation: Cordial. The Federation is friendly if distant. They now have an Ane population and access to the Express. They are turning up on the El Nanth worlds. Bright, but they can handle it.
*Norg Republic: Cordual. The Norg have so far left them alone. They have other fish to fry in the terms of the Trantorinans knocking on the door. They would love some of that post galactic tech.
*Trantorian Empire: Vaguely aware of the place. The environment would be difficult to hold. Is ht other side of the Norg Republic, and hopelessly filled with kumbuya. It bothers them that the Federation got there first. They want that post galactic tech and will take it when they can.
Area of Operation: The Trans-Trantorian area
Headquarters Location: Diaspar (4.2/-35.35)
Public Face: Happy mostly naive people.
Notable Members: Glint of Dawn Light -- The first Diasparian spoken to as the birth machines came back to life.
History of the Race:Many millions of years ago the Diaspar evolved on this rare blue world. They got past the difficult spots and reached the age of warp drive. It was then they found out how rare blue worlds were, and how dependent they were on a level of ultraviolet light that would kill most races.
They turned their one world into a beautiful park. They developed technology to design better bodies and extend life. They moved sex from reproduction to pleasure and reproduction was handed by the machines. They entered a period of seeming endless summer.
But it was not. Like any curious creatures they needed new things. Ennui came for the whole of the race and not even knowing it they started to decline.
20,000 years ago a being came to their world. He brought them the gift of life. He retaught them the joy of living and creation. Their species and world were revitalized. Prince Nevermore brought them Joy. They had lived lives of smug safety and sameness. Nevermore brought the love of life as only one who knows it cannot last forever can know it. He gave them the means again to look outside themselves. Trapped on their world by the rarity of dwarf blue-white stars with class Mb worlds. He brought news of the outside galaxy that they had turned away from, looking ever inward. In their own words he rescued them from living death.
Then came the dark terror. A nebula would intersect their star system. Examination proved it would kill anything that lived on their planet. The machines where prepared, they would endue the dark terror, repair the world and reactivate the birth machines, reprogrammed to return the current residents as full adults. Then they retreated into the birth machines to the last.
The terror came and passed. The machines methodically restored the ecology, and the birth machines, hung.
Thus it remained for 3000 years unto the coming of the USS Crystal City looking into the Wanderer legend of Prince Nevermore. They fixed the glitch, and the Diaspar rejoined the Galaxy. Not just returned but joyous to learn that they had friends waiting for them.
Category:Races
Category:Trans-Trantorian
Category:Epiphany Trek
Category:Unfinished Articles