Al'shaji

The Al'shaji are a nomadic race searching for their homeworld, living instead on the Journeyship.

Physical Appearance
Average Height: 5'10"                                            Average Lifespan: 40-3000 standard orbits

The Al'shaji are a bipedal race with what is described as "an abnormal amount of muscles", allowing for surprising speed and strength over most races. While the Al'shaji have roughly the same median weight of other bipedal species, the species has a much more narrow range, even though body type variation is present.They possess an internalized skeleton, but beyond that there isn't much standardization among the Al'shaji. The species is mammalian, and have longer hair on head and face.

Paler in color due to evolution on ships, their skin typically shows shades of blue or purple, with the occasional shade of green or white. Eyes are vibrant and reflective in coloration, and can be found in almost any color. Hair is kept clean and cut, most keep facial hair clean-shaven, but what hair colors are natural are unknown, as most of the species keep their hair dyed.

Al'shaji also possess the ability to augment and change their appearance due to a strange evolution that has seemingly allowed them to control some factors of their DNA code. Most changes leave them recognizable, but various changes have different impacts on how the changed is viewed by Al'shaji society. Generally changes increasing vibrancy of coloration are viewed positively, but the specifics vary. These changes are described by genealogists as "the changes of an entire species' evolution undergone in the span of a few moments". While most changes appear when prompted by circumstances and environment, changes can be sped up or induced by surgeries or other medical procedures. Some believe that these changes account for the variation in Al'shaji lifespan.

Tattoos are a cultural favorite, and have cultural significance, though this has yet to be clarified to any non-Al'shaji.

History
The Al'shaji have lost their homeworld, and no records remain of how or why. The only Al'shaji that can be found are the nine million of the race living aboard the Journeyship, and they travel the galaxy in search of home even as they conduct deals with the rest of the galaxy.

Government
The Al'shaji follow a four-tier class system headed by a council with its own interior hierarchy. The bottom tier is the Science Tier, which contains all creators and innovators of the Al'shaji. The Business Tier is the next step above the Science Tier, and members include all from merchants to utility workers, which control the ship economy and market. The Business Tier submits requests for stops in civilized locations to the Politician Tier, which, while the ruling class, is the second highest tier. The highest tier in Al'shaji society is the Paradise Tier, which contains what is considered to be the pinnacle of current evolution and genetic change. They are skilled artisans and athletes, the equivalent of celebrities in other nations.

There is another facet to the Al'shaji society, in the form of the exiles. Exiles are made routinely, and they are forever banished from the Journeyship, looked down upon and shunned by the rest of their race, and branded on their foreheads. The reasons for this are unknown by any but them.

The Politician Tier has a ruling council that is in turn responsible for the rest of the tier and the ship, though all of the government workers are put to work in different committees and on different projects. The ruling council sends a delegate to the Galactic Leadership, and determine where the Journeyship travels in accordance with the Nomadic Agreements.