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within the Web itself, they mostly by clandestine means, using "Agents" selected from the Greater (and, occasionally, Lesser) Races to act on their behalf. in general they act directly only when overwhelming force is required, such as to exclude the Kuradoqshe, or to excise Suldibrand.
it is known that the Eluthrai are of great intelligence: a 200pt IQ makes you a laughable simpleton in their eyes. it is estimated that the average individual has an IQ of 290, close to the theoretical maximum where organized intelligence dissolves into a sea of blinding psychosis. consequently, they are very conservative and cautious of new ideas; their culture emphasises skepticism and avoiding rash action.
early Eluthran history was extremely warlike, and they could have easily devastated the whole of the Reach in their fanatical pursuit of competing ideologies. however, a philosophical tradition emerged from the rubble of a particularly ruinous exchange that offered the correct tools for neutering the more dangerous aspects of their intelligence -- after the centuries proved its value, the Philosophers exterminated all the remaining Eluthrai who had not adopted their practices. it was a coldblooded but rational act of genocide: an individual Eluthra is intelligent enough to bootstrap an industrial civilization from first principles with a few years of effort. an entire civilization of them, devoid of self-control? that wasn't merely a threat to the Philosophers; it was a threat to the Galaxy entire.
the Eluthrai have a single common language, Eluthric, which they use in interstellar discourse and in the sciences. however, the different far-flung colonies have their own individual tongues as well. Eluthric has the largest vocabulary of any known language, with over twenty million words. an Eluthra who hasn't learned at least a million of them by adolescence is deemed slow.
they have developed very slowly since the Philosophers came to power, but were already so advanced that nobody is expected to exceed them any time soon.
Eluthran civilization is united under the rule of the Philosopher-King, an enlightened despot with unrestricted power, in a complex web of fealty and patronage collectively named the Corcordance of the Eluthrai. while the First Philosopher died tens of thousands of years ago, he had the foresight to prepare a successor to take his place in case of his assassination or ill-fortune. in all those years, power has changed hands only three times. the current Philosopher-King has ruled for eight thousand years.
Eluthrai have two genders, and dramatic dimorphism. their women are much more intelligent than their men, and proportionately more prone to psychosis. traditionally most of their societies were matriarchal -- with the brains and psionic brawn to overpower the males, there was very little that could keep the Clan-Queens from exerting their will. the First Philosopher recognized however that the lesser intelligence of men was useful, due to their stabler psyches, and proposed patriarchy as part of his solution. this was made possible through a previously obscure psionic technique known as quelling -- with enough intimate exposure to the soul of another, it becomes possible to negate their psionics, even if that psion is stronger.
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within the Web itself, they mostly by clandestine means, using "Agents" selected from the Greater (and, occasionally, Lesser) Races to act on their behalf. in general they act directly only when overwhelming force is required, such as to exclude the Kuradoqshe, or to excise Suldibrand.
it is known that the Eluthrai are of great intelligence: a 200pt IQ makes you a laughable simpleton in their eyes. it is estimated that the average individual has an IQ of 290, close to the theoretical maximum where organized intelligence dissolves into a sea of blinding psychosis. consequently, they are very conservative and cautious of new ideas; their culture emphasises skepticism and avoiding rash action.
early Eluthran history was extremely warlike, and they could have easily devastated the whole of the Reach in their fanatical pursuit of competing ideologies. however, a philosophical tradition emerged from the rubble of a particularly ruinous exchange that offered the correct tools for neutering the more dangerous aspects of their intelligence -- after the centuries proved its value, the Philosophers exterminated all the remaining Eluthrai who had not adopted their practices. it was a coldblooded but rational act of genocide: an individual Eluthra is intelligent enough to bootstrap an industrial civilization from first principles with a few years of effort. an entire civilization of them, devoid of self-control? that wasn't merely a threat to the Philosophers; it was a threat to the Galaxy entire.
the Eluthrai have a single common language, Iluthanna ("Eluthric" as the Crystal Sea calls it), which they use in interstellar discourse and in the sciences. however, the different far-flung colonies have their own individual tongues as well. Eluthric has the largest vocabulary of any known language, with over twenty million words. an Eluthra who hasn't learned at least a million of them by adolescence is deemed slow.
they have developed very slowly since the Philosophers came to power, but were already so advanced that nobody is expected to exceed them any time soon.
Eluthran civilization is united under the rule of the Philosopher-King, an enlightened despot with unrestricted power, in a complex web of fealty and patronage collectively named the Corcordance of the Eluthrai. while the First Philosopher died tens of thousands of years ago, he had the foresight to prepare a successor to take his place in case of his assassination or ill-fortune. in all those years, power has changed hands only three times. the current Philosopher-King has ruled for eight thousand years.
Eluthrai have two genders, and dramatic dimorphism. their women are much more intelligent than their men, and proportionately more prone to psychosis. traditionally most of their societies were matriarchal -- with the brains and psionic brawn to overpower the males, there was very little that could keep the Clan-Queens from exerting their will. the First Philosopher recognized however that the lesser intelligence of men was useful, due to their stabler psyches, and proposed patriarchy as part of his solution. this was made possible through a previously obscure psionic technique known as quelling -- with enough intimate exposure to the soul of another, it becomes possible to negate their psionics, even if that psion is stronger.
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