Ibardokon

Homeworld: Jherebardem.

Climate/terrain: the Ibardokon generally prefer to build their cities and settlements in the crystalline mountains of their homeworld(which was heavily modified by the Ibardokon themselves shortly after they settled there). They thrive in any climate as long as they have access to water and the minerals and metals which their diet mostly consists of(with a small addition of meat and plant matter).

Mental abilities: in the time before they bond with a symbiote, and also while the symbiote is still developing, Ibardokon younglings are not terribly bright-- usually spending several years as little more than primitive predators in the lowlands. However, an Ibardokon with a fully developed symbiote far surpasses most other races in intelligence-- this due to the data and memories which are stored in the symbiote. But as their intelligence takes time to develop, the true intelligence of an Ibardokon will slowly increase with age and experience.

Special Abilities: all Ibardokon are able to connect to and access most types of computers. Since arriving in Zhiar, many Ibardokon have also developed a talent for telepathy, as well as a talent for true magic-- motly within the areas of electromancy and cryomancy.

Society: to the Ibardokon, life is something that should be enjoyed-- meaning that they are passionate lovers of art, music and not to forget food. Among the most social of the anicent races, they are always eager to accuire knowledge about other races and their culture, sometimes even going to extreme lenghts to gain what they want. Therefore it has also became custom for all young Ibardokon to be fostered to another race as soon as his or her symbiote is fully developed and give them full sapience, as this has been found to be a great way to learn about other races and their customs.
However, the Ibardokon are also known to be fiercely protective of their own knowledge and technology, believeing that none of the younger races are even close to ready to handle such things. Neither will they hesitate to react with violence if someone of another race tries to aquire something that doesn't belong to them from the Ibardokon-- in the rare cases where one of their ships has crashed or been shot down, the Ibardokon will always quickly arrive to reclaim it.
Among the most impressive ships of the Hahlan Alliance, Ibardokon ships are designed to resemble mixes of birds and winged insects or exotic flowers-- shimmering and glowing with light. The ships are also believed to be sapient and partly independent, some of the more complex ships sometimes being considered by the Ibardokon to be partners rather than servants.

Description: the most anicent race in the Hahlan Alliance, the Ibardokon started out as a race of six-limbed predators in the mountains of their original homeworld, looking like some weird cross of shark, lion and wasp. Equiped with tough hide and even stronger bone-plates at the head, neck and down the back, their colors are usually bright metallic-- the plates being several shades darker than the hide. Ibardokon have three pairs of legs, one of which can be used as arms-- capable of handling delicate tasks requiring a lot of dexterity. However, while they have mostly kept their basic form, the Ibardokon have modified themselves heavily-- while being basically carbon based, they have merged themselves with a symbiotic silicon-based lifeform engineered while the race was still relatively young.
Growing from the sides of the head, neck and back of its host, the symbiote forms dozens of long crystalline and transparent hairs or spines. As the symbiote is also connected to the brain of its host, all Ibardokons may use it to store vast amounts of data and momories within the silicone structures, the symbiote also being vital for the direct mental interface between a Ibardokon and its ship. The males are roughly 1.5-1.8 meters long and half a meter tall, while the females are 1.2-1.4 meters long and 0.5 meters tall, not including the long and razor-tipped tail.
Specific Physical Statistics.
Size at birth: 10-20 cm long(before pupating, a hatchling ibardokon looks like a large, armored larva with four pairs of legs. The color is usually a dirty grey).
Size at maturity: 1.2-1.8 meters long.
Time to maturity: 30-32 years(males maturing faster).
Natural lifespan: 200-230 years.

Combat: well aware of the fact that they are more than a match for any race within their own alliance as well as the Ring in terms of technology and in many cases also magic, the Ibardokon never attack without provocation or a good reason-- when all attempts at finding a civilized solution has failed. While they are powerfull enough to crush most enemies attacking them, they will always avoid harming a living being, instead disabling the enemy in non-lethal ways and sending them back home after installing certain mental blocks to make sure that the enemy troops won't attack again.

Race weaknesses: dependent on the silicon symbionts, a Ibardokon may turn feral or insane if the crystal structure is damaged in such a way that it cannot function properly, a heavily damaged symbiont will nearly always result in a swift death.