Status : Coalition members
Vital Statistics (100% = average Human male) :
Height : 152 - 198 cm
Strength : 76 - 81 %
Lifespan : 97 styr
Mass : 45 kg
Endurance : 83 - 95 %
Visual Sensitivity : 164 %
Aural Range : 8 Hz - 23 kHz
Visual Resolution : 138 %
Aural Sensitivity : 125 %
Physical :
Physical :
The Galth are comfortable in standard environmental conditions. The head contains the major sensory organs - two eyes, a nose, and ears. The mouth is not in the head, but is instead at the base of the neck. The brain is beneath it in the upper torso.
Galth skin is grey in colour. They have no hair. Their hands are four fingered, and like the Turgrans they have two opposable thumbs on each hand. Their fingers are extremely long, approximately 20 centimetres each, and quad-jointed. The Galth are known for the dexterity of their fingers, and are in demand for any work involving this skill.
The torso and limbs of the Galth skeleton are essentially similar to, but smaller than, a Human skeleton. The main differences lie in the neck. This is composed of two ~23 cm bones jointed at the shoulders, skull, and midpoint. The lower and center joints are elbow type, allowing 170° rotational movement in one plane only. The upper joint is a ball and socket type, giving the head considerably freedom of movement. The neck can fold back along the spine, bringing the head into close contact with the shoulders and minimizing the height. Or it can straighten completely, adding 46 cm to the height.
Galth are naturally hermaphroditic, though rare cases of male or female Galth are known. It is possible for a Galth to fertilise its own eggs, producing offspring that are essentially clones of themselves. Such is not unknown although there are some cultural pressures against it, most likely stemming from the biological disadvantages of such a method. It takes 328 days to carry a Galth to term; multiple births are extremely rare amongst the Galth, and twins all but unknown.
Cultural :
The Galth are regarded as one of the most vivacious of the Coalition's members. They are extremely intelligent and inquisitive and are reknowned as keen explorers, artists, soldiers, scientists and engineers - it is said that whatever a Galth turns his or her hand to, they are both capable and determined to do it as well as possible. In some ways they are the driving force behind the Coalition itself; Galth are one of the more expansionist member groups, and have almost constantly pushed for everything to be bigger, newer faster and better. The Galth do not generally value the past, and are rarely interested in ancient monuments, buildings or works of art in the way that Humans are. There is also little value placed on rarity or other specialness; to most Galth, a sufficiently perfect copy of an original item is just as good as the original. As a result there is a large market in Galth cultural and artistic works, all of which they are happy to sell, and many Galth works are to be found in alien galleries and museums. Historically the Galth sold such treasures cheaply, but after a few decades of contact with aliens they became more savvy of the price which such things could fetch.
As mentioned, their long fingers and twin opposable thumbs make their hands extremely dexterous, and they have a reputation for being amongst the best in the Coalition at fine work with their hands. They are also, unfortunately, reknowned as being the best pickpockets and thieves.
For most of their history the Galth lived under a monarchist system. In 2756 an elected parliment was formed, but this had no real power and acted only in an advisory capacity. Over time the parliment became more and more critical of the government, and by 2762 open condemnation of the Monarch was common. The Monarch acted to close the parliment, resulting in a brief civil war in which the Monarch and most of the military were pitted against a popular rebellion. Although the monarch won the war in a matter of months, the need for modernisation and reform was accepted afterwards. Power gradually shifted to the Parliment over the next hundred years, until the Monarch held a largely ceremonial role. In 2877 the Monarchy was formally disestablished and an office of elected president was created to act as the head of state.
Galth tend to be highly active politically and enjoy heated debates. Riots are a semi-regular feature of the Galth parliment.
Galth family structure is somewhat simplified by the lack of gender. Single pair bonds are the commonest, but trio, quad and larger groups are common. In larger groups children are generally regarded as belonging to the entire family, and Galth who leave the family structure often leave children behind.
The Galth home planet is Ovirios.
