The Answerin are a technologically advanced Minor Human Racefrom the world of Answerin in the Vland Secotr of the Third Imperium. Their home planet Answerin orbits a close binary system composed of a huge A7 II star and a main sequence G0 V star. The combined ultraviolet radiation output of this pair has stimulated massive melanin production. Like most minor human races, the physiological differences from Solomani-Vilani norm are slight. Rather, it is societal, cultural, and psychological differences that set the Answerin apart from the rest of Humaniti.
Given the lower gravity of Answerin, the humans from this race are somewhat taller than most. The average Answerin male is about 1.9 meters tall, and the average Answerin female is about 1.8 meters tall. This is an environmental rather than genetic feature. Males average about 75 kg, and females only slightly less than that. Because of lower gravity, their weight, however, is only two-thirds of that.
All Answerin have dark brown or black skin tones. Hair color is likewise dark, with wavy hair three times as likely as straight hair. Answerin faces are marked by slight epicanthic folds over their eyes as protection against the light of their twin suns. These folds give some individuals a squinting appearance, while others just seem tired.
Foremost and Answerin psychological traits is the belief that fear in any form, from sheer lack of confidence through anxiety to terror, is simply a disease of the mind. Fear has no ontological reality; rather, it is a corruption, a cancer on the usual and natural calmness of the human mind. Like any disease, then, fear must be eradicated to better the human condition.
Since fear attacks the rational faculties and renders one susceptible to error, this disease is the worst of all diseases. Many other illnesses also stem from fear. Thus, to eradicate fear means to eliminate a host of other human problems.
The Answerin place great stock in the human mind’s ability to overcome physical difficulties. Humaniti’s intelligence and rationality are what separate it from plants and animals. Fear clouds reason and makes one think improperly. The Answerin believe a calm and tranquil mind is capable of great feats. Pain and fatigue result from laxity of the mind. With proper training and mental discipline, anyone can overcome such merely physical ills. It is a weak will and undisciplined mind that separates common men from heroes. Conquering the frontiers of the human psyche, the Answerin believe, will enable them to better master themselves physically, and with that mastery comes freedom from the physical. This is how the Answerin view human happiness.
The Answerin, then, sometimes appear as very self-assured and smug to outsiders. They know that there is truly nothing to fear except fear itself. This makes it difficult for others to get along with Answerin. Their confidence can be overbearing, and more than a few Answerin are deemed by outsiders to be conceited and arrogant. This is really a poor interpretation; Answerin merely look at stressful situations with a rational detachment and conclude that nothing, least of all efficiency and success, is to be gained by giving into the corruption of the mind known as fear. By no means are the Answerin stoic. They display the full range of human emotion in the usual ways. Nothing akin to fear, however, means anything to them.
A curious result of this lack of fear is the lack of any developed religion as known on other human worlds. The Answerin do not need the comforting aspect common to many religions. Instead, they are quite content with an almost fatalistic view of the universe. The way things happen in the universe is judged to be quite proper and no amount of worrying will change that. Several philosophies take the place of religion, and reconcile Answerin to their place and fate in the universe. They all teach the idea that the mind is supreme and can affect matter for the better. Others usually find Answerin philosophical viewpoints rather bleak and cold.
Adrenaline Surges
The Answerin are renowned for their fighting skill. This dates back to the days of the Vilani Empire, when the Vilani used Answerin as shock troops and marines. This skill in fighting has two bases. First, the Answerin psychology is such that toughness and resistance to pain are commonplace among Answerin soldiers. Couple this with the discordant nature of Answerin nature generally, and one has a formidable fighting man.
However, the Answerin have another means by which to increase their fighting skill. Every Answerin can, at will, produce an adrenaline-like reaction in his or her bloodstream. Like most adrenaline reactions among humans, this surge allows the Answerin to gain better strength and dexterity to meet danger. Unlike normal adrenaline rushes, this results not from fear or danger since such is meaningless to the Answerin. This reaction produces effects far greater than normal adrenaline surges. An Answerin rush lasts about one standard minute. During that time the Answerin's strength, dexterity, and general endurance to pain increase prodigiously. He must rest after that minute, however, because the rush is tiring. Another surge cannot be willed until one standard hour has passed. The adrenaline rush is one of the keys to the deadliness of Answerin troops.
The exact origin of the ability is still open to debate. Some suggest that it is simply a naturally evolved ability. Since adrenaline rushes are usually associated with fear or danger, and the Answerin both disdain fear and have no animals large enough to cause them great danger, that theory is often discarded. Others point out that the ability is unique to the Answerin. As expected, the Ancients are often offered as a possible explanation. The Ancients, as far as is known, never used humans as soldiers. So why would they have geneered such an ability into the Answerin? Still, our knowledge about the Ancients is scant at best. We cannot disavow this possibility.
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