Jensai

Let me tell you something, son. When the Jensai walked in on the human race, we were standing over the body of the Skaald - an entire race, dead at human hands - with a smoking pistol in our hands, and the first thing out of their mouth was "I have confidence that it was done for a reason." They came to us at a time when we were brutalizing each other over a pocketful of worlds, and they said "You have the right to defend your people." I tell you, if the Jensai don't start showing some intolerance and soon, I'm going to get nervous.
- Attributed to an anonymous Core Systems Diplomatic Corps senior official speaking to an intern after a joint summit and several stiff drinks

The Jensai are a sentient humanoid race originating from Hydra Sector, and are the second intelligent race humanity has encountered - publicly, at least. Their mainworld is the planet Jensaara in Mu Hydra System, and their government - the Jensai Concordance - possesses three other systems in Hydra Sector. Their representative to the Core Systems Free Republic is Ambassador Shelanna.

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Ambassador Shelanna of the Jensai Concordance.

Biology

The gross physical similarity of the Jensai to humans is a matter for considerable debate in xenobiology circles, but as no information about Jensaara's biosphere has been made available to Core Systems scientists, the argument is largely speculative in nature. As far as empirical information goes, however, Jensai are humanoids of roughly 2.1 meters in average height and 40kg, distinguished from humans by their extremely pale, bluish-white skin, disproportionately long necks (easily 25-30cm in length) and slender, flexible limbs.

Based on interviews graciously offered by the Ambassador Shelanna and her diplomatic staff, more insights have recently been made into the Jensai biology. Their biological makeup is more alkaline than humans (mean pH of 8.3) and their remarkably low size-to-body-mass ratio is a result of an avianoid hollow bone structure. Of note is the relative lack of cartilaginous material in their bone structure - particularly in comparison to humans, their skull is a solid, internally reinforced structure capable of enduring far greater impact force to the front of the head than a human of comparable size.

What little information known about Jensai neurobiology comes from the continued study of Marcie Tana.

Points of Dispute

Despite several years of human-Jensai interaction, there have been no known sightings of a Jensai male - or at least, no sightings of Jensai markedly different from each other. Whether this is an indication of a cultural bias of keeping males out of the public spotlight, minimal sexual dimorphism, true hermaphroditism, or self-fertilization, no human scientist knows (and no Jensai is telling).

Another point of dispute is the Jensai's seeming penchant for finishing sentences - each others', and in many cases humans' too, or even knowing what someone is thinking. Again, there is no concrete proof that there is anything more special in place than an alert observer and a bright mind, but that has not stopped rumors that the Jensai are telepaths.

There is no scientific basis to any of these assertions. They are to be treated as pure speculation and rumor until proven otherwise.

History

Jensaara has held intelligent life for over nineteen millenia and had an unusually low amount of intercultural conflict, a point of much frustration for Core Systems xenologists. The Jensai's gentle nature is reflected in their almost lax colonization efforts - without overpopulation pressures to drive them, efforts to terraform nearby planets have gone slowly. The Jensai Concordance alleges that it detected human activity during the League's big push into Hydra Sector in the 2180s, but did not establish contact with the humans - in the guise of the Core Systems Free Republic - until October of 2487. Diplomatic relations have been amiable but limited since then, and information only trickles across the borders between nations and peoples.

The primary point of interest in Jensai history is the Unification War, a conflict taking place circa 12000 BC in Earth reckoning, where a minor ice age led to widespread unrest and famine and the splintering of their society. A Jensai tribe leader known to modern history as Alfedeyim (archaic Jensaaran hal-f'dhe-im, literally "Her-Hand-Harvests") led a campaign to stop the violence through any means and - at its conclusion - took the role of queen for the Jensai. The royal throne was abolished around 860AD, after years of gradual policy shifts, in favor of the current Concordance, but its legacy remains from the so-called royal clans, in practice taken from the nearest ancestor from Alfedeyim's original court.

Culture

The Jensai are intensely social and communal in nature. The concept of private space is almost unknown to them, and almost all their activities are done in public settings. Even outside their borders, citizens never travel in groups of less than five; diplomats and military frequently travel in larger groups. The one exception noted is the Jensai Seekers group, whose ships are potent and long-ranged but can bear only one or two individuals - who are nearly always carefully selected and trained individuals able to endure long trips in total isolation.

Within their own borders, theater and art are nearly universal pastimes, and Jensai cultural centers are marked by huge, sweeping plazas for vast crowds to gather and mingle - the company of others as much of an attraction as the event itself. In human territory, Jensai have been found to gravitate to shopping malls, convention centers, university grounds and other places of high foot traffic - none more so than the terminal of a busy spaceport.

The Jensai birth rate is apparently quite low, which makes them all the more doting and protective of the children they do have. The nurturing instinct is apparently so strong that caring for newborns and infants - or even mere proximity to them - is used as a form of therapy for emotional trauma.

Oddly enough, there seems to be no place in Jensai society for intoxicants or psychoactive drugs. This has proven to be a sticking point with Republic scientists since just in the limited biological data made available to human medicine, at least thirty regularly occuring intoxicants or psychoactive compounds have been identified in Jensaaran plants.

A word of warning for would-be hosts and hostesses: It seems that Jensai take offense at being offered alcoholic beverages. Carefully gleaned conversations indicate that they are highly sensitive to the smell of the ethanol in the beverage, and that it is a major decay product of Jensaaran bacteria. In short, offering alcohol to a Jensai is akin to giving a foreign dignitary a dead rat kebab.

Jensai in close contact with humans on a regular basis tend to speak Standard quite comfortably, and as such most humans never need to learn the Jensai tongue, but several examples on record of Jensai lapsing into their mother tongue in human company leave translators blushing. A particular epithet, bosha hamad, is generally bowdlerized as "I will not interact with you anymore," but can (and should) be interpreted as a sharp "fuck off!" Thankfully this is only rarely invoked, as they make good on their statement, completely ignoring any person they say the above to.

Jensai names are generally single, or rarely double-word constructs often either direct translations of or simple derivations from Jensaaran words and concepts. These names are very short, or have a diminution for informal, everyday use. In cases of formal address, the Jensai append the individual's clan; most Jensai can claim ancestry dating back to the court of the legendary Jensai queen Alfedeyim, and one's clan affiliation lies with the court member to whom the individual can draw the shortest number of generations. For example, the Ambassador Shelanna-of-Lehael claims nearest-ancestry with the queen's exchequer, Lehael, while the Seeker Jankhana-of-Jalii claims ancestry from the chamberlain Jalii.

Political Structure

The Jensai's government is known as the Concordance, and seems to be a parliamentary-based council structure with members based on merit. Detailed information on their proceedings are not possible as no Concordance session has been made accessible to humans, live or recorded. They govern only four worlds in their empire; their capitol world of Jensaara, Za-Ti, Mamaada and Nat-Aanoh, in the systems of Mu, Nu, Pi and Sigma Hydra, respectively. None of them has a strong industrial base, and as such most of the Jensai's equipment are handcrafted, painstakingly and often at length.

Military Strength

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As with many aspects of the Jensai, their military power is unknown. Core Systems analysts suspect them of being far more advanced technologically than the Core Systems, but the most obvious aspect of this advantage is in nonmilitary fields: agriculture, field theory, power generation, propulsion, etc. The one quasi-military ship seen most often, the Seeker Angelfish-class scout, is estimated to have rough combat parity with a Longbow-class gunship - though thankfully no such direct test has been made. The Jensai Archerfish-class gunship has been seen on occasion in CSFR territory, primarily in the form of Jensai Ambassador Shelanna's personal transport the Alfedeyim - though most of its true capacity remains a complete enigma.

In light of the Battle of Beacon, however, frightening new information has been gathered regarding the Jensai Self-Defense Fleet's capabilities, as one new class of ship (the Stingray-class frigate) has been identified and the effectiveness of this and the Archerfish gunship have been witnessed by Navy personnel. Two Jensai vessels massing less than two thousand tons total are believed to have destroyed almost thirty thousand tons of pirate vessels without support. The capabilities of Jensai boarding crews have also been demonstrated, with evidence that they have access to stealth suits and personal-scale plasma weapons smaller even than the Republic Marines' PGMP.

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