The Labyridean people (sometimes referred to as Lyrideans or Lyridians) are an offshoot of the Lyrisclensiae which have been present on Wanisin for approximately ten millennia. They have three major settlements, named Zemneite Vemprelía, Mídzúneitolla, and Zalíbolla by the Wanisinese, all of which are in remote, mountainous terrain. Not much is known about the Labyrideans as they have avoided most trade with the Wanisinese, regarding the customs of both the Hatel and the Egrekelai to be offensively primitive. Despite this cultural elitism, however, they are substantially inferior in technology to the Hatel owing to the circumstances of their arrival on Wanisin, which they call Maraga.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Labyridean presence on Wanisin was unintentional; the ship broke up in orbit, and early settlers in escape pods and shuttle-modules built the oldest settlements from salvaged debris that rained down on the planet as their craft broke up in the atmosphere. The craft most likely travelled from either the Hava Vortex, like the Rotomem did millennia later, or sneaked past the Tletkettoyi, possibly sustaining substantial damage in the process. Kwarkë is three jumps (Góhónzó - Hromo - Hava) away from the Vortex, and four (Góhónzó - Hromo - Wúntlo - Tletkars) from Thet, making the paths approximately comparable in distance. The exact age of this event and the identity of the ship or ships involved are debated.
Quite unlike modern Lyrisians, who generally retain a very pure human or elvish appearance, the Labyrideans are a throwback to a time when genetic experimentation was much more common among the people of the Trestúanarion. Most Labyrideans have feathery white wings inspired by doves or swans and decidedly feline features, potentially including the tails and ears of such creatures. Modern anthropologists believe this is an allusion to the sphinx as rendered in ancient Greek myth.
Labyrideans still possess the basic biological facilities of the Lyrisclensiae: a female-only species, mother-daughter knowledge and memory transfer mediated through epigenetic programming, enhanced lifespan, above-average stature and poor eyesight. However, because of the declining state of their technology, there has been a substantial degeneration over the ages of practical physical and engineering knowledge.
When the Labyrideans first came to Wanisin, the Lyrisclensiae possessed most of the technology they do now, most notably photonic crystal nanocomputing, lightspeed travel, interbrane breach drives, vertical memory transfer, and artificial sentience. The ship that brought them to Wanisin, 0.6.27 Enigma, was a conference city-ship, and records show its population as being in the vicinity of 37000 occupants at the time of its disappearance, not all of whom were Lyrisclensiae. There is evidence that the AI responsible for the upkeep of the ship, a Kardeshev type I Psyche also named Enigma, is directly culpable for the decline in both diversity and technological sophistication of the Labyrideans. The wreck of the ship was most likely abandoned prior to the settlement of the planet by the ekeli.
Sustainably-produced Labyridean technology has shown considerable degradation. Clonal cuttings of photonic crystal computers, which are allowed to grow unconstrained, represent the sole perpetuation of traditional Lyrisclensian means. Metallurgy is crude and comparable to Iron Age methods, with low-quality steels seemingly reinvented from first principles. Consequently, most structures are comprised of stone. It is theorised that Enigma, for unknown reasons, severely curtailed the normal engram inheritance process.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Labyridean presence on Wanisin was unintentional; the ship broke up in orbit, and early settlers in escape pods and shuttle-modules built the oldest settlements from salvaged debris that rained down on the planet as their craft broke up in the atmosphere. The craft most likely travelled from either the Hava Vortex, like the Rotomem did millennia later, or sneaked past the Tletkettoyi, possibly sustaining substantial damage in the process. Kwarkë is three jumps (Góhónzó - Hromo - Hava) away from the Vortex, and four (Góhónzó - Hromo - Wúntlo - Tletkars) from Thet, making the paths approximately comparable in distance. The exact age of this event and the identity of the ship or ships involved are debated.
Appearance and biology
Quite unlike modern Lyrisians, who generally retain a very pure human or elvish appearance, the Labyrideans are a throwback to a time when genetic experimentation was much more common among the people of the Trestúanarion. Most Labyrideans have feathery white wings inspired by doves or swans and decidedly feline features, potentially including the tails and ears of such creatures. Modern anthropologists believe this is an allusion to the sphinx as rendered in ancient Greek myth.
Labyrideans still possess the basic biological facilities of the Lyrisclensiae: a female-only species, mother-daughter knowledge and memory transfer mediated through epigenetic programming, enhanced lifespan, above-average stature and poor eyesight. However, because of the declining state of their technology, there has been a substantial degeneration over the ages of practical physical and engineering knowledge.
Technology
When the Labyrideans first came to Wanisin, the Lyrisclensiae possessed most of the technology they do now, most notably photonic crystal nanocomputing, lightspeed travel, interbrane breach drives, vertical memory transfer, and artificial sentience. The ship that brought them to Wanisin, 0.6.27 Enigma, was a conference city-ship, and records show its population as being in the vicinity of 37000 occupants at the time of its disappearance, not all of whom were Lyrisclensiae. There is evidence that the AI responsible for the upkeep of the ship, a Kardeshev type I Psyche also named Enigma, is directly culpable for the decline in both diversity and technological sophistication of the Labyrideans. The wreck of the ship was most likely abandoned prior to the settlement of the planet by the ekeli.
Sustainably-produced Labyridean technology has shown considerable degradation. Clonal cuttings of photonic crystal computers, which are allowed to grow unconstrained, represent the sole perpetuation of traditional Lyrisclensian means. Metallurgy is crude and comparable to Iron Age methods, with low-quality steels seemingly reinvented from first principles. Consequently, most structures are comprised of stone. It is theorised that Enigma, for unknown reasons, severely curtailed the normal engram inheritance process.
