Characters / Eldraeverse

Sophont Species

Eldrae

The main focus of the majority of the stories and the titular "space elves in space." Descended from very extensively-modified humans brought to their homeworld by Precursors.

• The Ageless: They don't age after reaching maturity; a fair number were millennia old when they invented Brain Uploading.
• Alien Blood: Their blood is indigo due to adopting the oxygen-transfer mechanism of their world's "bluelife".
• Bizarre Alien Psychology: The Precursors edited out their "primate status hierarchy" instincts and set their brains to constant mania, among other alterations, which combine to incline them to a set of Blue-and-Orange Morality as illustrated here
• Electronic Telepathy: Eldrae brains contain organic radio transmitters.
• Lightworlder: Their homeworld has a gravity of .94g, and they tend to be between 6 and 8 feet tall.
• Mind over Matter: Due to the Precursors inserting self-replicating nanocyte vector-control effectors into their biology.
• Space Elves: Pointed ears, average 6'8" to 7'8" in height, naturally ageless.
• Transplanted Humans: Though they've been modified to the point that they're barely recognizable as such.

Dar-Bandal

The first species uplifted by the Eldrae, from the bandal, their homeworld's analogue to dogs.

• Canine Companion: Bandal are associated with the eikone of loyalty, which was one of the reasons why they were chosen for uplift before any other species the eldrae domesticated.
• Dire Beast: Bandals have some dire wolf in them.
• Dogs Are Dumb: Very much averted, even before uplift most bandal breeds were bred for intelligence.
• Uplifted Animal: The first species the eldrae uplifted.

Galari

A race of living crystals.

• Silicon-Based Life: Technically a carbon-silicon hybrid; the intelligent silicon crystals live in symbiosis with carbon-based pseudonanoviruses that reshape them.

Kaeth

A pseudosaurian species from a high-metal planet.

• Alien Blood: Looks like mercury thanks to the heavy metals.
• Death World: Their homeworld, Paltraeth, used to be covered with a Hungry Jungle full of creatures at least as tough as the kaeth themselves. Then an asteroid impact stripped the jungles and part of the atmosphere away, leaving it a barren wasteland. The kaeth much prefer it that way.
• Had to Be Sharp: On account of their homeworld.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: They have a bit of a stereotype of being such, but while they do have disproportionate representation in the Imperial Legions it would be a disservice to reduce them to such.
• Spare Body Parts: Quite a few of them.

Kalatri

The founding species of the Voniensa Republic, four-armed pseudomammals with a psychology oddly close to human.

• Bizarre Alien Psychology: The closest thing to an aversion in this setting, the average kalatri is almost as ludic, xenophobic, and group-conforming as the average human.
• Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: The "major arms" have three-fingered hands and used for tasks requiring strength, while the minor arms have six-fingered hands for fine dexterity.

Polities

Empire of the Star

The dominant eldrae polity and the superpower of the Associated Worlds.

• Democracy Is Bad: Their forebears concluded that representative democracy at least was a dumb idea, although there are a fair number of direct democracies and other forms of governance within the Empire. The Imperial government itself is a constitutional diarchy with an emperor and empress and a senate chosen by sortition.
• Galactic Superpower: Zig-zagged, they only control a few hundred systems among the ten thousand of the Associated Worlds, but they technologically and economically punch far above their weight class.
• Generican Empire: Intentionally chosen over something like "Eldraeic Imperium" to avoid sounding like they were planning to annex the whole homeworld (though they eventually did), or like a bunch of race-obsessed jerks once they encountered other species.
• Hegemonic Empire: They much prefer to memetically "seduce" (or corrupt) other polities into voluntarily joining them.
• One Nation Under Copyright: Started as a merger of several private law providers that expanded into infrastructure and stopped kidding themselves about not being a government. Becoming a full citizen still requires the purchase of a share in the Empire (hence why they're specifically citizen-shareholders).

Voniensa Republic

The largest single polity in the known universe, despite its characteristic bio-conservatism, claiming 8,000 systems.

• The Federation: Intended as a bit of a Take That! to the Federation of Star Trek.
• Low Culture, High Tech: The Empire was wondering how they managed stargate technology for a long time. During the Core War it was discovered that the Republic had found a Precursor weylforge and used it to build their gates with little to no idea of how it worked, and the reason for the War was obtaining a replacement after it finally broke.
• No Transhumanism Allowed: Digital intelligences, both AI and uploaded biosapient brains, lack rights in their territory. Genetic or cybernetic augmentations are heavily restricted too.
• Space Cold War: With the Empire and by extension the entire Associated Worlds, with occasional "hot" outbreaks - most recently and notably, the Core War.

Minor Polities

Magen Corporate

A corporation established by Renegade eldrae plutarchs who abandoned the idea of enlightened self-interest in order to make money by whatever short-sighted sociopathic means possible.

• Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain: Magen, their throneworld, tends towards rainy weather.
• Expendable Clone: A large portion of the population are clones purpose-bred as corporate assets.
• Humanity Is Divided: One of the more notable eldraic polities outside the Empire.
• One Nation Under Copyright: A much more dystopian version than the Empire.

Theomachy of Galia

• Fantastic Racism: For some bizarre reason they consider any species that walks on six legs to be an unholy abomination.
• Scary Dogmatic Aliens: Of the religious crusader type, but fortunately lacking anything close to the Empire's technology or the Republic's numbers.
• We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: Shameless slavers.