Irlixian
Irlixians are native to the Class M world of Irlix located in the Beta Quadrant.
They are a sentient humanoid race with purplish skin, markings and small, residual antlers which protrude from their cheek bones. the antlers are similar in appearance to those of Terran Gazelles, although considerably smaller.
The Irlixian culture remains mostly unexplored by the United Federation of Planets since their discovery in 2306 by the crew of the USS Champlain.
The planet's primary technological development seems to be similar to that of Earth around the mid 2100's. The planet is definately developed into the computer age, although these advancements are several centuries behind most Federation computers.
There has been no official contact with the planet by the UFP as it is only categorized as a Class E/F (Atomic/Space Age civilization on the Richter Scale of Cultural Development. One bizarre exception to the planet's technological condition seems to be the presence of a Warp Drive on the planet. The signature is very similar to that of a Federation starship, so much so that it is highly unlikely that the planet has not had some sort of contact with the Federation in the past. Therein lies the confusion. The planet was not recorded prior its discovery by the Champlain, although the crew of that vessel were unable to determine the exact origins of the warp signature that they had detected.
The planet does not possess a unified central government, instead governance is handled at the continental level. Currently there are four major governmental powers on the planet.
They are, The United Confederation of Mol, The Rhone Union (formerly the Gab Union), The Banok Empire and the Nuveric Republic. There is currently a suspected cold war between these powers as they strive for ideological and cultural dominance. It is because the planet does not possess a centralized planetary government that the United Federation of Planets has not yet made contact.
In 2413, a Federation Science vessel, the USS Bohrs reported the failure of a cloaking device, which led to an assault by an Irlixian starship. The Bohrs was forced down on the planet and her crew captured. The USS Rosenante was ordered to intervene.
It was later discovered that the Irlixians had, in fact been visited by one other Federation starship. In 2393, the USS Medea had crashed on that world under mysterious circumstances and the Irlixians had managed to salvage and retro-engineer a great many of the technological systems that had been aboard that vessel. The Irlixian most responsible for that accomplishment was Khoda Rhone, who later founded the Rhone Union and Khoda City. His singular dream was to rule a unified Irlix.
The Irlixians were first seen in the USS Champlain Mission The Hephasteus Principle and again later in the USS Rosenante mission The Gilded Man
