Vorlon

The Vorlons are one of the oldest sapient species of the Milky Way Galaxy and one of the two ancient races which decided to stay and influence the development of younger species; the other being the Shadows. When in the presence of other races, Vorlons often wear encounter suits. As such, few people have ever seen what a Vorlon really looks like. Since Vorlons are capable of surviving in an oxygen atmosphere, the suits are used entirely to hide their appearance.

Biology
A Vorlon's true appearance is that of a luminous, partly translucent, radially symmetrical multiped. Though they may appear insubstantial, they are in fact physical life-forms.

Due to their tampering with the development of many of the galaxy's younger species, Vorlons have appeared in the guise of divine beings, although their appearance can vary greatly depending on the species and individual's own history and mythology. This mass yet individualized hallucination is accomplished by way of actively projecting a telepathic image, which when used on a great number of people requires a significant effort for a Vorlon and can be a great strain. To most beings, this image takes the form of a being of light from their own cultural mythology. Some examples include the "Angels" and "Shalako spirits" of Earth cultures; Dro'shalla from the Drazi Kri Maru faith; G'Lan for Narns and Valeria from Minbari mythology.

The interpersonal sociology of the Vorlons seems to be dependent on their telepathy. All Vorlons appear to be connected telepathically, though to what extent their thoughts are shared or hidden remains a mystery. Vorlons who have their own ships also have a telepathic connection with those vessels. Very soon after the death of Kosh Naranek, the Vorlon High Command was aware of the tragedy. It is unknown whether they were made aware because of some telepathic bond or whether they were contacted by Kosh's ship who would have known immediately of its master's demise. The true extent of a Vorlon's telepathic abilities are unknown, however it has been known to have a strong influence when a person's mind is in an altered state, such as sleeping, dreaming, exhausted or in a heightened state of awareness. It is for this reason that their presence is often associated with visions and dream imagery.

Vorlons are known to have lived incredibly long lives, if not effectively immortal and have demonstrated telekinetic abilities, including self-propelled flight in a 1 standard gravity environment

Distant Past
The Vorlons first evolved from the Vorlon Homeworld, they were among the first species to develop sentience and become a space-faring civilization, In the distant past, the Vorlons attempted into reaching a higher plane of existence where they believed the souls existed and all life was founded. To accomplish this, the Vorlons poured all of their knowledge into creating a gateway to this dimension. After activating the gate, the vortex into Thirdspace was formed and the aliens within that realm came pouring out into their reality, intent on destroying all other forms of life not of their own. After much hardship, the Vorlons finally managed to push the enemy back, but one of the gateways was lost in Hyperspace where it was hidden from the Vorlons. They would encode some of their servants with an automated message to warn the younger races of the threat from the inhabitants of Thirdspace to prevent another incident. Over the past thousands of years, many of the First Ones moved out beyond the known regions of the galaxy to explore and to allow the younger species to evolve on their own. The Vorlons were one of those chosen to stay behind, to help with the guidance and development of the younger races. The other alien race that stayed was the Shadows. Although both races shared the same goal, they had wildly opposing philosophies of how species should grow and evolve. The Shadows believed that strength and growth came through conflict, and so they would start wars throughout the galaxy with the notion that those who survived would be stronger and better. While the Vorlons believed in strength and growth through order and discipline, not chaos. Though they tried to work together for a time, this philosophical difference led to bitterness between the two races for countless millennia, eventually escalating into all-out war.

Technology
Vorlon Technology is wildly unknown to many races, but they do possess organic-based technology with their vessels have a symbolic relationship with the Vorlon pilot. Vorlon encounter suits are equipped with a language translation device that transforms their unique language into a more common tongue. The Vorlon speech sounds like a sequence of overlapping musical tones, chirps and chimes. The physiological mechanism they have to make this sound is unknown.