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The L´LORT Mi-Ma-Ti
Llort Civilization is young, only about 1,500 years old. Llorts live underground in elaborate, maze-like cities, as the surface of their home world of Vartas is a rocky and ill suited to most forms of life. It is generally agreed that it is a miracle that the Llort exist at all, given the hostile conditions on their home world, leading some to speculate that the Llort are not originally from the planet of Vartas. The Llort government is feudal in nature and feeds on the Llort's natural aggressive and independent nature. Power of a given family or individual is derived from a complex series of succession of allegiances, and whom ever holds the most power at any given time is known as the Mi-Ma-Ti and leads his/her province or territory. The allegiances, which give a Mi-Ma-Ti his/her authority, change constantly. Due to this fact, the Llort government is always in a state of turmoil, bordering on complete collapse. New Vegas presently has odds "12 to 1" on favorite that the Llort government will experience a complete collapse within the next 20 years, "3 to 1" by the end of the 23rd century. This internal strife also severely effects Interstellar alliances, the Llort known to break off trade agreements and suspend treaties at the drop of a hat, then re-adopt the abandoned treaties when a new Mi-Ma-Ti comes to power. This turmoil ridden form or thinking extends into ever facet of Llort life, including religion. It is not uncommon for a Llort to change religious beliefs several times in a single lifetime, as he/she adopts the religious beliefs of whom ever has power in the region a that time. There are great disparities in social class among the Llort. A small, elite rule less effected by the ever shifting and changing power base of the Llort Government. There is a fairly large middle class in Llort society, but the lower classes outnumber the combined elite and middle classes by almost eight to one. Skirmishes and wars between rival houses are frequent on the Llort home world, and as such military service is a popular profession and the soldiers enjoy the most steady of professions on Vartas. Men and woman are considered equal in Llort society, and while the Llort do have their own unique version of marriage, mating is usually little more than political dealings used to secure power and title. Llort are well known for having very strange social quirks. They are pack rats of a sort, collecting and maintaining vast holdings of trinkets and bobbles. This in of its self is not too odd, save for the fact the Llort often steal whatever they want. An object's value is of little consequence to a Llort, they simply take what they want because the like it or find it interesting. In Llort society, stealing is not considered a crime. If a Llort steals from another Llort and is caught, the burgled Llort simply asks for the return of his bobbles. The items are graciously returned and nothing more is said on the matter. Due to this odd social quirk, the Llort have earned them selves a reputation as thieves, a reputation that is very well deserved. Llort of course don't see anything wrong with taking what one wants, and continue to fail to understand why outsiders make such a big deal about theft. After all, items are not taken for profit, but just to be had. Current Babylon 5 military governor, Captain Elizabeth Lochly, can attest to this, as her undergarments have for some reason become a major item of desire among visiting Llort dignitaries and business men. Babylon 5 Chief of Security Zack Allan has arrested 27 Llort attempting to break into the Captain's quarters this years (2267) alone, and on eleven other occasions it would seem that the Llort have succeeded in acquiring their desired booty. While the Llort home world is often torn by war and internal strife, they are no major players in the realm of intergalactic warfare. Their feudal based government and fractured society have kept the Llort from uniting under a common flag, the Llort spending more time fighting one another rather than expand their empire. While heavily armored, Llort starships are slow and clunky, even by Earth Alliance and Narn standards. Their weapons are only barely adequate to planetary defense, Vartas' low strategic value is the only reason why the Llort have not been subject to invasion. Llort technology is surprisingly low, having only had interstellar flight for some 100 years and are still considered by most races to be only in the "Solar" technological range. Most of the advances in Llort technology are geared to the continued expansion of their mining operations and the construction of their underground cities. |
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