Vegans
Intelligent minor race originating on Muan Gwi ( Vega / Solomani Rim 1717). They were named by Solomani humans after the bright star near their homeworld. Vegans are upright, bipedal, and bilaterally symmetrical, averaging 2.2m in height. They are bisexual, homeothermic oxygen breathers with an average lifespan of over 200 years. Because of their low-gravity origin, they are physically quite weak, and are unable to live on high-gravity worlds.

Vegans are roughly humanoidal. Their head serves as braincase, and does not turn. A hood-like fleshy structure covers the head, and contains two eyes, covered by a single transparent eyelid-like structure. This is a polarized light filter, protecting the eyes from glare and also from windblown dust. The eyes can see into the infrared. Auditory organs are located in a collar-like structure around the neck. The mouth is a vertical slit in the upper thoracic region; two mandibles are located inside the upper chest, and grid food between their opposing sets of teeth. Where the forearm and hand would be on a human, Vegans have three tentacles to serve as manipulative organs. Their legs end in broad, splayed feet, which prevent them from sinking onto soft sand. The urogenital opening is a vertical slit located ventrally in the lower abdomen. There are no external differences between the sexes. Vegans are designed to radiate heat as necessary through regulating blood flow to their skin, obviating the need for sweating.

The Vegans received the jump drive about -6000 from Vilani-influenced traders, and colonised several nearby worlds before being absorbed into the First Imperium in -4404. They were severely restricted under Vilani rule, as were all races who resisted being intergrated into Vilani culture. Thus, they welcomed Terran victory in the Interstellar Wars and the advent of the Rule of Man. The Vegan Polity prospered under the Rule of Man and survived the Long Night largely intact. However, it was broken into individual planetary states by the Third Imperium, in accordance with Imperial policy: non-humans were treated as full citizens, but no interworld governments were allowed.

The creation of the Solomani Autonomous Region in 704 again restricted the Vegans. Human colonies were founded on most worlds to maintain Solomani influence there, and Solomani governors were installed on all Vegan worlds. After the Solomani Rim War, the Vegan Autonomous District was formed as a counterweight to the Solomani Confederation .

Vegan society is divided into hundreds of different tuhuir, which might be roughly translated as culture, philosophy, or tao. Each tuhuir has its own customs and traditions, and its own interpretation of the proper way to live. The civil service which governs the District is a tuhuir which oversees and mediates amoung all the other tuhuir. Although rare, heretical and rebellious tuhuir do exist. Archeology shows that tuhuir were once separate societies, each associated with a particular people and geographic location, like countries on ancient Earth. Now, however, they are mixed together in complex patterns. Tuhuir are not hereditary; when a Vegan nears sexual maturity, he or she enters a period of search, which may last for many years. Eventually the individual chooses a tuhuir; once made, the choice is for life. In practice, about 50% of Vegans choose the tuhuir of their parents; abour 0.5% find that they enjoy the search as a way of life and never join a tuhuir.

(SUPP-10, 1108; SUPP-11, 1107; MT-ENCYC, 1120)

(From Traveller Library Data)

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