Social Scientific Data

Nirophians are Nature Worshippers. They revere Nature above all else and will not let any actions of intelligent beings such as themselves harm Nature. Technology is thus rigorously controlled; any technology or practices deemed harmful to Nature will be outlawed by religious edict, even if or though such a thing or method would greatly benefit Nirophians, either individually, as a regional power, or as a people. Any action which could result in modification of their environment is heavily vetted for direct environmental consequences and knock on effects; no drying out of wetlands, no u destruction of forests to clear land for people, and only minimal, very closely supervised logging practices, taking only what a slowly growing or static society needs to maintain itself. Agriculture is also carefully monitored. No chemical pesticides are allowed; only naturally developed and processed active ingredients are allowed.

Does this mean that, for a 1980s level of tech, the Nirophians will be a lot more advanced in the biosciences and genetics, or would even this aspect of treating Nature as a resource to be used and manipulated be banned? Perhaps pure research into better understanding nature will be encouraged – or at least not actively discouraged – but any kind of genetic modification is utterly forbidden as “playing god with Nature”?

The Silid flower is a sacred icon, prized in ancient times for its healing properties, treasured and guarded because of its rarity, and elevated to divine status as a symbol of Natural perfection by this sect, the One True Faith. With the horrific breakdown of their society 500 years ago and the ascendancy of this cult, the Silid is now a holy icon, a sacred cow, and the original guidelines for its care have become religious law. It only grows in certain locations under certain conditions, and has to be free of weeds. This adds to The Faith’s doctrines, wherein the weeds of intelligent society must be cleared away to leave the pure a chance to grow and attain perfection. They are like a Nature-skewed version of the Borg and their pursuit of the Omega Particle as “Perfection”. The weak are weeded out and discarded, used as resources only for the good of society.

The madrassahs courses and tests are designed to do this. Nature is perfection, and the Nirophian norm is seen as perfection in physical and mental form. Anyone who is physically disabled is automatically an Untouchable. Anyone displaying non- or “sub”-standard behaviour or mindsets are weeded out over 10 years of madrassah courses and learning. A battery of physical, emotional, psychological, and intellectual tests over ten years, from 4 to 14 are used to detect homosexuals, paedophiles and other “deviants”, and mental retardation, as well as just a complete and in-depth knowledge of The Faith that all Citizens must have to be an able member of society, where all Citizens must protect and revere Nature.

Planetary Data

For story purposes, Nirophia has a severe lack of useful ores which leads the Klingon occupation garrison to completely ignore the planet and its inhabitants. This logically infers their planet is metal-poor. If a planet is metal poor, it is less dense for its size. Therefore, the planet's gravity field is weaker. So, I'm going to make Nirophia about 1.25 times the size of Earth (diameter of approx. 16,000km) so that the increased size but lack of metals puts the surface gravity of the planet at only 0.77 of Earth (as opposed to say the 0.376g of Mars). This means the Nirophians are weaker than Humans, but also taller, in the 5- to 6-foot range as average (as opposed to the 5- to 6-foot average range for Humans). It also gives us close to standard gravity and everyone is not bounding around like Neil Armstrong on the Moon. Planetary Comparison Data (all values approximate):

Earth

Radius: 6,371 km

Diameter: 12,7422 km (2 * r)

Circumference: 40,010 km (Pi * d)

Surface Area: 509,805,891 km(2) (4 * pi * r * r)

Land:Water Ratio: 29.2:70.8

Land Surface Area: 148,863,320 km(2)

Water Surface Area: 360,942,571 km(2)

Gravity: 1g

Population (2308): 6,000,000,000

Nirophia

Radius: 7,964 km

Diameter: 15,928 km

Circumference: 50,012km

Surface Area: 796,621,717 km(2)

Land:Water Ratio: 36.8:63.2

Land Surface Area: 293,156,792 km(2)

Water Surface Area: 503,464,925 km(2)

Gravity: 0.77g

Population (2308): 7,000,000,000

Thus Nirophia has almost double the land surface area of Earth. As such, a population of around 7 billion would make the place positively pastoral and roomy; like Earth with only 3.4 billion in 1960.