MELI
The Meli are the inhabitants of Melus, the first planet in the Melus system.
The Federation first encountered the Meli in 2417 when, on the search for Captain Samuel Bishop, the system was flagged up as a point of interest, having traced a "Sacred Band" warp trail into the system. Upon their arrival, they found that the planet was home to a civilisation that was on the brink of a catastrophic event; overpopulation. They also found "Sacred Band" bases set up all over the planet, primed to release a deadly chemical. Fearing the worst, the SAR Taskforce beamed down to one of the bases in an attempt to prevent the base from disappearing and to stop the release of the chemical. On the former point, they succeeded. On the latter, they failed, and the chemical was released all over the planet. This chemical did not cause the mass extinction that the Taskforce had expected, rather, it seemed to chemically render parts of the population infertile, so as to prevent further population growth.
In addition to this, Captain Alistair Nimitz covertly aided their shuttle in their attempts to colonise their moon, Tyrus. This success led them into a new scientific age, where they were able to move from their planet and colonise others, preventing a large war and aiding their overpopulation crisis.
Full AAR: Investigation of POI 3
Appearance and Biology
The Meli are remarkably similar to humans, though they have a few differences. They tend to be bigger and bulkier than humans, as well having more hair than their human counterparts; it is more likely than not that you will see males sport large beards and long hair. Females too are more likely to have their hair long, rather than short.
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| An example of a Meli Male | An example of a Meli Female |
The Meli also have larger respiratory organs to aid breathing in the thinner atmosphere. They have smaller but stronger hearts which beat at an average of 150-200 beats per minute when at rest. They have smaller brains, which have three lobes instead of two.
The Meli used to live on average, for about 40 Earth years, although recent advances in medicine have seen the average rise to over 100 years. Both males and females are able to reproduce their entire lives. A Meli female's menstruation cycle lasts for two weeks. The Meli reproduce in the same way as humans do, with pregnancies lasting for 4-5 months. After this, a child matures quickly and reaches adulthood by the age of 10.
History, Politics and Culture
Meli Culture is one that has changed very rapidly over the last few centuries. Originally nomadic, Meli tribes fought for survival. However, when the Meli entered their Iron Age, the temperature on the planet warmed. This allowed for an abundance of materials and food, which facilitated the growth of cities and empires. The largest which prevailed beyond the Iron Age were called the Grandua, the Ustina and the Kaybara Empires, with each empire gradually growing to stretch over each of the three large landmasses. However, instead of butting heads, these empires lived in peaceful coexistence with the other throughout their medieval age. With the absence of war, the empires bypassed the Renaisannce and much of the Enlightenment age. Given the lack of war between the empires, a populist movement called the Free Nations Movement arose almost simultaneously between the three empires. Following a bloodless coup, the empires shattered into smaller nations. Although this self-determination was at first welcome, it was hampered by the lack of unity amongst the nations. Before things could devolve into chaos, the Free Nations Movement evolved into a World Nation Movement. Each Nation would elect a representative who would pick a World Minister. The World Minister would decide the agenda for the world for a term of 5 years before re-election.
What made the system work, was the unity amongst nations. Unselfish, each nation would work for the betterment of her people and help provide for the betterment of the nation. The World Nation would work to make sure each nation was able to play her part in the system and to provide the much-needed unity for growth. This system worked and was untested until the population crisis. The success in the development of medicine and science more than doubled the lifespan of the Meli. In addition to their polygamous culture and rapid birthrates, this pushed the population to the brink. The World Nation realised this problem and began to push the boundaries of science to develop space technologies in order to spread into the stars. Whilst the attempt at spacefaring was a noble one, it was wrought with inaccuracies due to speed. Meanwhile, the World Nation had to begin to impose strict laws on nations, curtailing freedoms, in order to suppress the birthrate. This did not go down well within the nations, and unrest began to boil over, with the fear of war looming over the Meli's heads. War was something that the Meli had not seen in centuries.
Technological Development
Through the use of the World Nation, the Meli's technological development has been rapid and focused. However, to say this was a new phenomenon would be inaccurate; ever since the formation of the three Empires and the advent of peace, the Meli have been able to focus solely on scientific advancement, even more so when the printing press was invented in the early Iron age period. Information and collaboration were able to happen on a worldwide scale, with ideas being able to spread quickly. This was only compounded by the breakthroughs in the field of electricity, in what would have been the early Renaissance period.
The World Nation built upon this idea of shared ownership and shared information. Had the population crisis not have occurred, it is likely that the Meli would have developed a successful space program only a few years after they did; perhaps they would have discovered FTL travel along with their first steps into space.
The Tyrus Space Program would have been the last attempt at solving the Meli overpopulation problem peacefully, however. When the M.W.N. Sanctuary, a spacecraft similar to Earth's own Space Shuttles, encountered an engine problem in orbit around Tyrus, nations started to band together in secret underground factions, ready to commit genocide if needed to save themselves. However, when the Sanctuary was able somehow, to fix their engine problem and deploy Tyrus Base Alpha, it heralded a new age for the Meli. It was around this time when the birth rate halved, though there has been no explanation as to why.
The Meli are scientifically very advanced, with medical advancement being on par with 23rd Century Federation knowledge. Engineering technology seems to be a little less developed when it comes to spacecraft, having had to speed through the development phase due to their overpopulation crisis. Militarily, there has been little development, other than the development of energy ballistics (the Meli had never discovered explosives). Even this is crude, with weapons akin to Earth age muskets.
Religion
The Meli are pantheistic. There have been many forms of Deity that have been worshipped, but three main deities are as follows:
- Jerus - Deity of Knowledge
- Lipla - Deity of Love
- Olo - Deity of Unity and Justice
The fourth (unofficial) deity is said to be that of evil, and is who was blamed for the Population Crisis:
- Vixtrix - All that is Evil
Deities are not overtly worshipped but are respected by acts which they represent; to worship Jerus, you would strive to achieve knowledge, to worship Lipla, you would strive to love and procreate, and to worship Olo, you would be good and kind.
Religion also instilled a form of morality into the Meli. Acts which did the opposite of worship would be frowned upon. Transgressors would stand trial and be sentenced to rehabilitation, depending on what the act was.
References: Template adapted from Legacy Cloud's Olelian Race