The Slan are a subterranean, eusocial species native to Thadek'ha. They perceive and understand their world entirely through the perception of sound. They have developed into a spacefaring society, and are one of the many client species of the Sh'daar.
Description[]
Anatomy[]
Slan are round, flattened creatures, shaped roughly like a hemisphere. They are roughly two meters tall and three meters wide. The body is ringed by around 60 tentacles, three of which are much longer than the rest and act as arms. Two prehensile stalks emerge from the top of the body, tipped with conical, fatty echolocation organs. A small photoreceptive organ, not quite an eye, sits directly on top of the body. Slan are typically a mottled brown in color.
Diet[]
Slan are stated to be carnivores, but their feeding methods are never described.
Reproduction[]
Only certain members of the species, likely a specific caste, are allowed to reproduce. Non-reproductive Slan do not appear to have a sex or gender and identify as "it."
Senses[]
Slan navigate exclusively via sonar. Their echolocation organs allow them to image the interior of objects as well as the exterior, like a form of "x-ray vision." Their sonar does not function in atmospheric pressures below 2-3 atm. They also have a photoreceptor on top of the body, but it is not a true eye. It only allows the Slan to distinguish light from darkness, and cannot resolve images.
Technology[]
The Slan possess an advanced spacefaring society powered by quantum tap technology. However, due to their blindness, they do not actually understand the nature of space and spaceflight, conceptualizing planets as large caves. This strongly indicates that they were given their technology by another species.
Spacecraft[]
Slan spacecraft are large, irregularly shaped vehicles, painted with random splotches of red, black, and green. They are equipped with gravitic technology, allowing them to warp spacetime into shields and to use an Alcubierre drive to reach faster-than-light speeds.
Weaponry[]
Slan use particle beams as anti-personnel weapons. Their ships are armed primarily with positronium beams, but also fire bursts of fusing hydrogen plasma.