Xlai
Anthologica Universe Atlas / Universes / Starway / Aliens / Xlai

Appearance



Xlai has the exact same body scheme as ngrau except that they look more spindly and less muscular.

At a glance a xlai looks like giant hairless dog. Unlike the ngrau, the xlai body is covered by less of a fur and more of hair with patterns similar to that of male humans. Xlai skin colour ranges from whitish, yellowish, redish, blackish with a patterned discolouration. The xlai measure at 2 to 2,5 meters from head to toe. However, since they walk on all four, a xlai's head is usually positionedslightly lower that of our universe's humans. An adult xlai may weight around 100 to 200 kilograms.

Xlai forelimbs end in a hand with three forward facing fingers and one opposable thumb. They alternate between fist-walking and palm walking, depending on the speed they want to achieve. Like their hands, xlai feet have four toes on them. Unlike their hands, their big toes are vestigial and aren't movable.

Biology



Like the majority of the species in the galaxy (baring human and the star jellies), the xlai's genetic carrier are strands of complex molecules that twist counterclockwise. Aside of their mirrored molecular make-up however, The xlai has disturbingly terran body structure. In fact, they have almost all the requirement to be classed as mammal. The only difference between xlai and terran mammals lies in their reproductive system.

All the xlai are completely hermaphrodite. While they can technically inseminate themselves, the incident rarely happens naturally since their ovulation and spermatogenesis cycle are mutually exclusive.

Family



Being hermaphrodite, the xlai does not have gender roles like in many other species.

Xlai have different concept about sex and marriage compared to ngrau. On one hand, they have no sexuality taboo as the ngrau. On the other hand, the xlai are married for life. It's not rare for a xlai to commit suicide some time after the death of their spouse.

Xlai closeness to their family are more similar to human (but not to the creepy extent that human does)

History



The largest problem in reconstructing xlai history is that they mostly records scientific findings. Those who are interested in keeping xlai political story are very biased to certain side and can;t be trusted.

Government



Like the ngrau the entire xlai civilization is an autocracy with a Sovereign at the apex. In practice, it's impossible to centralize the process of governing several billions of people spanning across hundreds of star systems, at least not with their current technology. Each xlai planet has their own local ruler who found their way into their position through various means. Some xlai planets are ruled by crazed despots and while some others have a functional representative democracy.

There are no other noble family than The Royal family. So they practices exogamy by marrying to commoner. Once every five years, a civilization wide contest are held to pick the consorts for royal family member who have passed their coming of age. The contest tests the candidates intelligence in a grueling standardized test. These contests are considered inviolable by the xlai and no one, not even the royal family member, is allowed to cheat or alter the result of the contest to their favour. In the course of xlai's history few member of royal family have been caught of doing such crime and they were summarily executed.

Due to this artificial selection, the royal family members are the pinnacles of their species' intelligence.