Deltan

The Deltans are a humanoid species originating from the planet Delta IV, a lush planet with an very Earth-like climate. They are members of the United Federation of Planets.

Personality

Despite a long and illustrious membership in the Federation, Delta IV never achieved much prominence. In fact, many other Federation members maintain a distinct wariness towards Deltans. This does not stem from any fear of Deltan violence or destructiveness. In fact, the exact opposite is true. What they fear most are Deltan tendencies toward love and passion.

Deltans truly earned their designation as the Federation's most sexually advanced race, and outsiders regard tales of incredible physical rapture and emotional pain with trepidation. For Deltans, the connection between people during their most intimate moments holds a significance that nothing else can equal. The period of attraction, engagement, passion, climax and satiation brings people together physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Defenses drop, and a person's true self comes out. Deltans claim to love all their partners, because no other Federation Standard word appropriately describes the emotions that sex brings out.

Deltans take great pleasure and pride in sharing this emotion with one another and often describe themselves as loving many people. Among other Deltans, they are naturally outgoing and affectionate, freely expressing their emotions and taking great delight in caring about one another. They can exhibit such strong feelings for members of other races as well, though bitter experience taught them to treat "less-advanced" races with care. Not all people can handle the free nature of Deltan love. Time spent together can reach extreme levels of intensity and closeness. Unfortunately, Deltans learned that not everyone is ready for such relationships, nor are they ready to see their partners share such feelings with so many people.

As a result, Deltans who spend time in the company of other races learn to control their feelings and restrain their basic tendency toward openness. In fact, Deltans serving in Starfleet take oaths of celibacy to protect both themselves and other people. Not only do they seek to protect other people from the intensity of these couplings, but they also need to protect themselves from the pain they cause. Hurting other people via this most important act creates real grief and pain in Deltans.

The oath of celibacy proves to be a real burden for Deltans who take it. It cuts them off from their most important way of connecting with other people and the emotional support it provides. Deltans who take the oath find they have a hard time forming emotional bonds with others. Many Deltans cease all casual contact with other people in order to avoid any temptation to violate their vow. Others hide all their feelings, afraid that the slightest emotion might endanger themselves and others. Some Deltans find such sacrifice almost impossible, but others see it as strangely appealing.

Indeed, a number of sociologists say martyrdom runs through Deltan society. Sexuality makes up an essential part of their adult lives, with the emphasis being on how well they can please their partners. Some Deltans willingly deny their own pleasure in their quest to fulfill others. They focus so intently on pleasing whoever they are with that their own physical needs become secondary. Most Deltans feel this lessens the experience, however, and expect their partners to enjoy themselves as much as they do.

Physiology

Deltans bear a strong similarity to humans, though they have slighter frames. Most have little hair on their bodies or heads, though not all are bald. Some maintain a small layer of soft, short hair on their heads. Their skin colors run the same gamut as humans'. Deltans mature a little faster than humans, but they do not live as long. That is not their primary difference, however.

Deltans made sexuality the core of their culture years ago, but some observers say they had no choice. Their pheromone production is so active that those around them may become aroused without any understanding of why. Deltans cannot just turn this pheromone production on and off. It only begins when they themselves become at least somewhat excited. When Deltans group together, this pheromone production can build to the point where everyone around them becomes aware of it - and involved in it.

This does not only happen when Deltans become sexually aroused. Fear, anger and other strong emotions can spark it as well. These pheromones draw attention to the Deltan, and those who have already taken note of the Deltan become more interested, sometimes to the point of obsession. This is good when the Deltan plans on reciprocating but can turn dangerous otherwise.

Deltan pheromone production also magnifies the entire sexual act. As Deltans become more aroused, their pheromone production accelerates. Their partners soon find that this heightens their own sensitivity. The slightest touch turns into a symphony of pleasure, and a kiss feel like the focus of the entire world. Deltan sex tends to be both passionate and languid, with participants taking a long time to enjoy their partners' bodies and reactions.

Culture

Deltan culture tends to be highly cooperative, though at times their passions cause division and conflict. Some anthropologists speculate that their pheromone production developed to help spur cooperation, but note that it can also make Deltans extremely aggressive. Throughout their history, Deltans maintained strong social groups and ties. While conflicts split these group much like they did on Earth, Deltans rarely stooped to warfare - their naturally empathic nature made physical conflict painful for all parties.

Sports play a prominent role in Deltan like though some observers feel that sex is Delta IV's favorite team sport. Most sporting events take very little time, with individual athletic competitions like track and field holding the same popularity as team sports. The most popular game on the planet bears strong similarities to Earth soccer, though with more use of the hands.

Cooperation plays as large a role in other areas as it does in sports. Delta IV's industry and agriculture tend toward large projects handled by scores of people. Universities are also well-established, with hundreds of students taking classes together and joining in feverish discussions. Children, however, play little role in a Deltan's day-to-day life. Until they begin generating the pheromones that marke them as achieving adulthood, mature Deltans pay them little heed. Indeed, teachers and childcare professional often illustrate the Deltans martyrdom complex, since they spend so much time with those who cannot stimulate them the way adults can.

The arts also seem to emphasize the people's social nature, with plays, performances and music proving more popular than the visual arts or cinema. Holoprogramming, while available on Delta IV, never caught on here as much as it did throughout the rest of the Federation - possibly, because Deltan sensitivity to emotions and pheromones doesn't receive stimulation from holographic technology.

Because of their psionic abilities, Deltans are nearly emotionally transparent to one another. They can sense the pain and negative emotions caused by certain behaviors and tend to stay away from it. This has enabled them to bond more closely to one another than most species can, and possibly explains the lack of violence and war throughout their history. Thus the Deltans are a unified people, with a unified culture. Their empathy also allows them to deliver medical aid by absorbing and minimizing pain in humanoid life forms. They make excellent doctors and nurses and can provide a form of "mind-meld anesthesia" during emergency surgical procedures.

Most Deltans share a common language called Deltan, but many variations exist of it. In fact, many consider it bad form for people to use the same phrases and terms in business that they would use in bed. While they would use the same language, they speak in softer tones, using sweeter words and more emotive phrases. Deltans also use Federation Standard, although they find that the language lacks many subtexts and nuances. Deltan language typically includes heavy components of body language, and a Deltan will occasionally "read" someone by posture.

Deltan Sexuality

Most renowned for their sexual nature, Deltans consider themselves a highly sexually evolved species. They have no taboos regarding sexual behavior and find such constraints "backwards" and "uncivilized." Nevertheless, for the sake of amity, they do try to reign in their habits when among the less open species of the Federation and the galaxy at large. Indeed, many Deltans feel a strong sense of pity for species like humans who lack strong empathic ties and pheromones; the Deltans feel that such species are, in a sense, blind to the full depths of sexual communion.

A combination of genetics and environment shaped Deltan sexual behavior. Communities forming on islands or small landmasses had to work together with their limited space. Combing with natural empathy and the strong emotional bonds fostered through their own natural pheromones, the Deltans took quickly to cooperation, extended families and communal lifestyles without much conflict or competitiveness. Indeed, pleasing one's fellows became a key factor in helping oneself - any Deltan who felt sad, ill or lonely in a community immediately broadcast this discomfort to all nearby members, who naturally intervened to bring back a sense of well-being and interpersonal harmony. Sexuality, as a form of both closeness, physical euphoria and emotional bonding, was an outgrowth of such behaviors.

Sex also takes on an important role in politics. An old Earth saying has it that "politics makes strange bedfellows," but Deltans see nothing strange in political opponents sharing a bed. Indeed, they expect it. Many political deals have resulted from political adversaries spending an evening together, giving into their passions, and then working through the differences as they relax in each other's arms. This pillow talk is an excellent opportunity to understand another person's real hopes and fears.

Pillow talk represents another reason for the oath of celibacy. Deltans understand that this is a time of incredible closeness and use it to truly familiarize themselves with their partners. Other races do not use this period anywhere near as extensively as do the Deltans, and they often reveal more about themselves than they wanted. When Deltans act on this new knowledge, aliens often feel deeply betrayed. Since such close communion represents such an important part of Deltan communication, they do not find it easy to limit it with aliens.

The period after sex, whether it involves politicians or not, has attained storied prominence in Deltan society. While many cultures celebrate the events leading up to sex, be it seduction, the hunt, or something else, Deltans revel in the act itself and the time after. In fact, the period of relaxation that follows sex probably has more written about it than does any other aspect. This is a time for Deltans to create an intellectual closeness once the physical and emotional ones have been established. In face, an old Deltan proverb refers to foreplay as creating the emotional tie, sex the physical tie, afterplay the intellectual tie, and the whole experience the spiritual tie.

History

The 22nd century saw the formation of the Federation, an event in which the Deltans were not directly involved but in which they soon would follow suit. Early contacts with them came primarily through the Andorians, whose homeworld resides close to Delta Triciatu; for this reason, first contact between humans and Deltan proved quirky, as neither side was quite equipped for what to expect. First contact with the Deltans took place in 2141, when the Earth Cargo Service ship Horizon encountered them in the Beta Quadrant. During this period, the Deltans were able navigators exploring the nearby parts of the Quadrant, but still coming to terms with the fact that many races around them are comparatively emotionally dead.

Within forty years, they had established diplomatic ties to the Vulcans and Andorians. The Deltan Union joined the Federation in 2259, and Starfleet Academy saw its first Deltan cadet the following year. Deltans formed a stable base of the 23rd century Federation. Their numbers in Starfleet remain low, but quite a few opted to explore and see the galaxy. Many Deltans traveled outward to bring serenity and joy to other species.

By the 24th century, Deltan protocols with other species in the Federation were well established. The Oath of Celibacy was relaxed somewhat due to growing cultural exchange and understanding. Along with Betazoids, the Deltans were key in establishing the position of ship's counselor.

The horrors of war fortunately did not come home to the Deltans, but many of them keenly felt the pain of the conflict during the Dominion War. Strangely, the Deltans can empathize with the Founders; Deltans consider the Founders' "Great Link" to be a phenomenal extension of sexual intimacy, and hope to use this to foster some sort of common bond. The fact that the Founders are completely non-humanoid renders Deltan pheromones useless, though, and when Betazed fell to conquest, the Deltans realized that this was an enemy that could not be negotiated with. Deltan navigators served admirably on several Federation ships of the line, and over a dozen retired Starfleet personnel returned to service specifically to defend the Federation and her allies.

Reference(s)

• Bridges, Bill, et al. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 5: Aliens, Decipher, 2003. ISBN: 1582369070.