Xi'An
The Patient Observers
A civilization older than human agriculture. Patient, precise, unreadable, and, for the last century, our friends.
The Xi'An are ancient. They had interstellar flight when humans were inventing fire. Everything we know about them has been chosen by them to share.
For four centuries after first contact, the Xi'An Empire and the UEE were in a formal cold war, largely manufactured by Messer propaganda on the human side. When the Messers fell in 2792, Imperator Toi's first major diplomatic act was the Treaty of Goss, normalizing relations. The Xi'An accepted, exactly as they had quietly proposed forty years earlier.
Xi'An manufactured goods, ships, weapons, furniture, are prized throughout the UEE for unmatched craftsmanship. Aopoa, the dominant Xi'An starship manufacturer, makes every human fighter builder jealous.
Culture
Hierarchical, long-lived (a Xi'An centenarian is considered young), deliberate to the point of geological patience. Humor exists but is usually a decade in the setup.
Notable
- Average lifespan ~270 standard years
- Aopoa ship manufacturer produces the Khartu-al, San'tok.yāi, and more
- Xi'An language syntax is tonal and contextual, humans rarely achieve true fluency