“The Capruans...have an impressive understanding of priority, finishing important tasks quickly, but taking their time for anything else. My new Capruan officer resequenced our NPGs in ten minutes, but he still hasn’t finished that 500-piece puzzle I gave him. I asked what was taking so long and he answered he was having too much fun.” -Sadiq Baqri, Captain of the Freedom Endeavor
Capruans (Ka-Parah) are the first intelligent alien species discovered by the Human race, and together with Humanity, the Ounda, and the Kal-Krons, are co-members of the Interstellar Alliance of Ikiru. They are known for their altruistic nature, sprawling tight-knit families, and rich culture of art, theater, and literature. Their military traditions are highly individualistic, placing high value on heroic leaders and acts of valor, organized more around ideals than regimental discipline. Their Order of Peacekeepers and the Midnight Guard are often compared to the Knights or Shogun of ancient Earth. They are often referred to as “the warrior bards of the galaxy.”
Capruans are native to the world Abaya, a moon in orbit of a Jovian gas giant planet with a highly unusual day-night cycle. Similar to life at the poles of Earth, nights and days on the Capruan homeworld last for periods of weeks and months, creating dramatic extremes in the evolution of native life. Like many other animals on their planet, Capruans typically sleep less than three hours a day, but depend on occasional periods of hibernation that last for 2 to 3 weeks. As a result, dreams and the need to protect “the dreamers” have become cornerstone elements of their culture, and given rise to their beliefs that the dream world is in fact another realm as real as the waking world. It was their early invention of Muon-Catalyzed Fusion (commonly known as Cold Fusion) that allowed their culture to overcome the intense extremes of heat and cold on their planet and begin advancing toward an enlightened culture. Capruans tend toward cooperation and consensus, and as a result have strongly influenced the lofty democratic ideals of the Starleap Mission Charter.
“Abaya is an alien place. Fields of gray grass, each swaying with a bioluminescent orange tip. Trees as big as redwoods with silver glowing trickles of light that run down through the milky bark like rivers in dry earth. All the while there was the gas giant overhead, like a spherical silent hurricane of reds and greens and browns. Then when the sun went down, the giant seemed to glow with auroras unlike anything we’ve ever seen, shimmering light across its surface. No wonder the Capruans believe in a world of dreams, for their world is like one.” -Contained in a communicae sent back to earth from the first human delegation to Abaya.
In 2095, Capruans received a faster-than-light radio signal and discovered they were not alone in the universe. This represented first contact with an intelligent alien species for both Humans and Capruans, and became the foundation for a cooperative interstellar pact. The two species proved naturally complimentary. Where Humans had discovered null-energy and its ability to affect spacetime, Capruans were masters of cold and hot fusion technology. And while humans had an ambitious drive for rapid advancement and bold action, Capruans brought a natural talent for diplomacy and practical ideals. This allowed them to codevelop antimattter technology, and later, faster than light travel. In the century since, Capruans and Humans have co-founded the Interstellar Alliance of Ikiru, a diplomatic alliance that fosters free trade, ethical colonization, and mutual defense. However, in recent decades, wars, political disagreements, and the recent morphoplast rampancy pandemic have caused peaceful relations to fray. Some Capruan movements have expressed concerns that Humans are displaying a natural tendency toward political dominance and may be gaining undue influence over Abaya. Some believe the Alliance is on the verge of collapsing.