An Etrynarian clan crest. The black-winged bird is the sigil of House Avelle.
Etrynarians are a displaced population of Dolyahri. They are the descendants of fifty Dolyahri that were abducted from their world by slavers specializing in exotic species. They had spent months aboard the slaver ship by the time that they were rescued, and upon evaluation it was determined that they could not be returned to Dolyahr without the risk of significant cultural contamination. They were granted sanctuary in the form of Illan Minor, an icy moon not dissimilar to the climate of their homeworld. They established themselves there and took the name of Etrynarian, which translates to the ‘lost people.’
Physiology[]
Etrynarians are a vulcanoid species that evolved for the past fifty thousand years on a planet experiencing an ice age. They are particularly suited for arctic environments and experience discomfort in higher temperatures. A unique chemical composition causes their copper-based blood to take on a deeper blue shade rather than the green that manifests in most other vulcanoids. Due to this, their typically pale complexion has a blue undertone and appears grey in some lights. Their hair colors varies between white, silver, blue, and black.
Government[]
They are clan-based, with the eldest female of each family reigning as Matriarch and presiding over her kin as their leader. For matters that concern multiple or all of the houses, the matriarchs form a council and decide matters through a vote.
Customs[]
The Etrynarians hail from a warrior culture and many of their customs revolve around battle and survival, though the former tends to be more ceremonial for those that never venture forth from Illan Minor. They are renowned hunters, maintaining the practice long after achieving agriculture and animal domestication. Their society tends to be more or less egalitarian, but the highest deference is always given to the eldest female of each house, the Matriarch.
When the Matriarch decides that a woman in her house is old enough to be wed, a ceremony takes place where her suitors must prove their worth by besting her in ceremonial combat. While she cannot be forced to marry anyone based on their performance in battle, it is customary for the result to be decided beforehand (often based upon which suitor's family offered the most generous gift to the Matriarch) and for the bride to lose on purpose. Upon entering a marriage union, a bride does not join her husband's house or even live with him - instead, they remain with their own houses but are permitted to visit one another as desired.
Any children born of the union of two houses tend to be raised within the mother’s house. Upon reaching the age of fourteen and completing a rite of passage involving surviving on their own in the frozen woods for two weeks, they are given the option to choose between their parents houses. Once the choice is made they are tattooed with their house’s sigil - often upon the chin, neck, or forehead, depending upon the house.
They believe in a vast pantheon of gods relating to all the different aspects of existence. Typically an Etrynarian will choose a patron god that represents something of great importance to them, and this patron may change throughout their lifetimes.
Relations With the Federation[]
For many of the years since being established on Illan Minor the Etrynarian people were traumatized by what they had experienced, and were almost violently opposed to accepting any further Federation aid than what had already been given in granting them the moon. The Federation decided to take a ‘wait and see’ approach, maintaining a small research outpost nearby that had already been in use before allowing the displaced population to settle there.
For decades there was minimal contact until one of the local children, Talyse of House Avelle, began wandering closer to the station and eventually made covert contact against the wishes of her Matriarch. Her curiosity about the galaxy eventually lead to a confrontation with her Matriarch in which they came to a begrudging agreement, and she soon departed on a path that would eventually lead her to Starfleet.
A few decades later when Talyse retired from Starfleet and became the Matriarch herself, she opened up relations with the Federation. It remains an ongoing process but Etrynarians, although still exceptionally rare with a population under 400, are no longer a completely unheard of sight on other worlds nowadays.