Majipoor
Majipoor is a planet much larger than the Earth, but made of much lighter stuff. It has been settled by humans, Ghayrogs, Skandars, Vroons, Liimen, Hjorts and other alien races for many thousands of years. These races live in an unstable truce with the shape-changing aboriginal inhabitants of the planet, the Piurivar. The planet is ruled by an unusual tetrarchy: the Coronal rules in a highly visible and symbolic manner from his palace atop Castle Mount; the previous Coronal retires to become the Pontifex, the head of the bureaucracy in an underground Labyrinth; the Coronal's mother becomes the Lady of the Isle of Sleep, promoting the morals of Majipoor by sending dreams to its inhabitants; while the mysterious King of Dreams on the distant continent of Suvrael punishes wrongdoers by visiting them with nightmares. The post of King of Dreams is created at the end of King of Dreams, while Valentine Pontifex ends with the creation of a fifth Power, representing the Piurivar.
It is referenced that Majipoor receives the occasional starship, but is generally considered a backwater planet. Metals of all sorts are scarce, since the planet has a very light crust. Technology is both pervasive and rare at the same time. For example, draft animals are used for farming and transport, but the animals used (called "mounts") were genetically created in the distant past. Many great engineering works are referenced, but these were created in the past also. Many modern technologies, such as TV and Radio, seem to be nonexistent or of very limited use. The average Majipooran lives a peasant lifestyle, and agriculture is a common occupation.
Aborigines
There are three native intelligent species on Majipoor: piurivars, forest-brethren, and sea dragons. Piurivars inhabited all continents of the planet before humans had arrived about 14000 years prior to the conventional “present time”, but turned out to be less fit in competition with more numerous and technologically superior invaders. Forest-brethren are very primitive tribe of aborigines of tropical rainforest of central Zimroel, biologically not related (or related very distantly) to piurivars. Intelligence of the sea dragons — giant aquatic mammals looking similar to whales — was not generally known until the time of Lord Valentine; until then sea dragons were considered not-intelligent animals and hunted for meat, hides and other commodities.
Piurivars
Piurivars (autonym, also metamorphs or shapeshifters) before colonization were the dominant intelligent beings on the planet, whose civilization originates in ages well before human arrival. In its natural form a piurivar is a slender long-legged humanoid with pale greenish skin, very sharp cheekbones, small bumps of nose, and slanted eyes without pupils. Their skin contains cells able to change its color and texture, and their bones are “not jointed like those of other races”; thanks to these features piurivars are able to change their outlook and shape in very wide range and keep the changes during considerable time. This amazing ability of piurivars allows them to create from their own body almost identical copies of other persons or animals, which are quite convincing and can be told from the original only by subtle differences in behavior, habits, speech or in other indirect methods. For example, in the story “The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter” there was a metamorph who imitated a young woman and even had intimate relations with a hermit artist who settled in the jungles of Zimroel close to piurivar reservation. Ability of piurivars to imitate other beings is limited only by their physical size; for example a piurivar cannot imitate a vroon because vroons are considerably less in size than humans or piurivars.
Other Majipoor’s intelligent inhabitants are hostile and suspicious to piurivares and tend to avoid contacts with them. Piurivars themselves also live apart from the others and seldom leave their reservation, though this is not forbidden. Their culture, traditions, and beliefs are mysterious, and their ways and purposes incomprehensible for the rest of Majipoor inhabitants, who, however, are not interested in them too much.
Forest brethren
Forest brethren are a primitive aboriginal tribe of rainforests in central Zimroel, a distinct biological species that evolved on Majipoor independently from piurivars. They have generally monkey-like outlook, but are hairless. Similar to some of Earth’s monkeys, they have prehensile tails and live arboreal life, descending to ground only rarely. Unlike the monkeys, forest brethren are undoubtedly intelligent beings, they possess own language and religious beliefs (worshipping dvikka-trees) and use tools and weapons (particularly, poisoned arrows), though their material culture is very primitive. Forest brethren are hunters and gatherers and live in tropical rainforest from time immemorial. Despite of forest brethren’s intelligence piurivars hunt them as game animals; their meat is considered a delicacy by piurivars, and in addition they are sacrificed during piurivar traditional religious ceremonies. Whether such relationship between two native intelligent species of the planet existed from the ancient times or was formed only after piurivars resettlement in the reservation, is not known, like many other things of planet’s pre-colonial history. There is no mention of forest brethren’s population outside Zimroel.
Sea dragons
Sea dragons are gigantic aquatic mammals, whose intelligence was not generally known until the time described in “Valentine Pontifex”; throughout much of human history on Majipoor they have been hunted and killed from ships as whales on Earth.
Sea dragons are egg-laying mammals, but unlike Earth’s platypus their eggs are developed and hatched inside the body; calves emerge full-formed and able to swim and are fed with milk. According to hunters’ evidences a dragon may have size up to 100 m (300 ft) and probably grows during all its lifetime which can reach hundreds of years. They are called “dragons” because of giant wing-like fins, but sea dragons cannot fly. They are omnivorous, but prefer plant food — floating sargasso sea-weeds, which cover wide stretches of the outer Great Sea. Gigantic teeth and tusks of sea dragons are probably used only during mating season to fight rival males.
For all their lifetime sea dragons are migrating along the permanent migration route which girds the entire planet. This route runs between Suvrael and Zimroel on the west, then bends north and runs along the east coast of Zimroel up to the Isle of Sleep. Bending round the Isle, the dragons navigate southward, where they come between Alhanroel and Suvrael and leave the Inner Sea for the outer ocean on the east. It takes several decades for a sea dragon to circumnavigate the entire planet, but there are several great herds of dragons in the ocean which migrate separately along the same route, and due to that dragons pass inhabited coasts each year. Dragons’ route is most close to the coast near the Piliplok on the east coast of Zimroel. Piliplok harbors the great hunting fleet and is the planetary center of trade in sea dragon meat and other produces from them. The government of Majipoor issues quotas for sea dragon hunting to preserve the population.
Practically every part of a sea dragon body was used in one or another way in industry and economy. For example, dragon bone was used in construction owing to its being extraordinary strong (stronger than steel) and much more easily accessible on a planet so poor in metals as Majipoor; from sea dragon eggs medicaments were produced. The milk of sea dragon — powerful aphrodisiac — was prized as rare and astonishingly expensive delicacy.
Even before human arrival sea dragons were scared animals of piurivars who called them “water-kings”. One of the central and the most painful event in the pre-colonization piurivar history was sacrificing of two sea dragons in spiritual capital of piurivars Velalizier. Piurivars believe that invasion of Majipoor from space was divine punishment for this sacrilegious act.
In “Valentine Pontifex” it becomes known that sea dragons are exceptionally powerful telepaths, and that piurivars use them as biological transponders and amplifiers of telepathic signals to communicate mentally with their agents throughout Majipoor. In the end of the novel Valentine, the former Coronal which became Pontifex, using his own telepathic abilities and a magical artifact (dragon’s tooth) comes to contact with one of the water-kings and gets known about intelligence of this biological species. This dragon also tells Valentine that water-kings that were sacrificed by piurivares in ancient times, voluntary allowed them to do so, and that dragons do not regard this action as crime or sacrilege; they also do not object Majipoorian hunting them, because they are convinced that this is a natural process and “one of the facets of the Whole”. Dragons consider themselves gods of Majipoor.
Immigrant races
Humans
Humans are the most numerous Majipoor inhabitants. It was humans who first arrived to Majipoor and founded colony some 14000 years ago; other intelligent races settled on the planet much later, about 9000 years ago. Humans spread to all three continents and dominate virtually everywhere they live, though there are regions and localities where other races constitute majority of population. Only humans occupy positions of supreme rulers of the planet; they also hold the majority of regional and local governing positions.
In multi-specific Majipoorian society differences between human races (in the “narrow” sense of the term) are not significant anymore. Within human population of Majipoor all phenological types, wide variety of skin shades and eyes and hair colors can be found that had been known on Earth, as well as an assortment of mixed and transitional variations, but these distinctions are not of any social importance.
Skandars
Skandars are large, powerful, hairy beings about 2.5 m (7.6 feet) tall having general outlook of a bear. They have two pairs of arms and are known for their strength, quick reaction and coordination. They descend from some cold planet and are often uncomfortable on tropical Majipoor, though they are not given to complain. Their fur ranges in color from various shades of light-blue through shades of gray to pure white.
Ghayrogs
Ghayrogs are race of intelligent reptile-looking humanoids. They have scaly skin and snaky hair which slowly moves and coils as that of gorgon Medusa; forked tongue incessantly pops up from the mouth, as in Earth lizards and snakes; hair and tongue movements are unconscious and reflect owner’s emotional state. Odors that ghayrogs emit (often unpleasant for humans), also are uncontrolled emotional indicators and serve as a mean of non-verbal communication between individuals. Despite of superficial resemblance to reptiles, biologically ghayrogs are warm-blooded mammals; although they lay eggs, which are developed in special incubators afterwards, after hatching their kids are fed by female with milk from mammary glands (of which she has several pairs).
Ghayrogs do not have daily period of sleep; instead they sleep once a year during two or three months. Because their lifecycle is incompatible with the rest of Majipoor inhabitants, ghayrogs are more often to create racially homogenous settlements, though this is forbidden by Majipoor laws.
Vroons
Vroons are small (under 1 m [3 ft] tall) octopus-like beings with long tentacles and sturdy beak in place of mouth. Vroons are natural telepaths and telekinetics; some of them improve their natural abilities by special training and becomes practicing wizards.
Liimens
Liimens are short humanoids of uncertain biological origin, with flat “hammer-like” head, three eyes and seven bony fingers on each hand. They are generally employed as unqualified manual laborers, farm or mine workers, street vendors and hawkers. They are considered dullish and simple-minded by other races of Majipoor.
Hjorts
Hjorts are frog-like beings of plump shape and bulging eyes. Often they decorate their pebbly gray skin with spots of color. Hjorts are known with their abilities to accounting, bookkeeping, and financial calculations; due to that they are disproportionately well represented in lower levels of state bureaucracy.
Su-Suheris
Su-Suheris are mysterious race of two-headed beings. They are much less populous than the other races, and because of that they still are exotic in many regions of the planet. Su-Suheris are taller than average, they are thin and skinny beings with pale blue skin. Su-Suheris always have hyphenated names, with one name for each of their heads.
Others
Despite of comparative isolation of Majipoor from the rest of the Galaxy interstellar communications have never been broken altogether; there is a spaceport in Alhanroel, and members of other races from off world do occasionally visit the planet. In “Lord Prestimion” colony of a few hundreds extra-planet visitors is mentioned to exist in Sippulghar city in the southern Alhanroel; maybe the spaceport is situated somewhere close to it, though its location is never indicated directly.
“Lord Valentine’s Castle” mentions one of such visitors — Khun, who came from Kianimot, a stellar system relatively close to Majipoor. Khun is a humanoid with dark-blue skin, large mournful purple eyes, wide mouth with thin lips, long legs and exceptionally dexterous hands; he is presumably a typical representative of intelligent inhabitants of his world.
However, there is no mention of anything considerable immigration from outside the planet after Lord Melikand had initially invited members of six alien races to settle on Majipoor some 9000 years ago. It is possible that outside migration is strictly regulated or even forbidden by the government, though there is no direct mention of such policy either. There is also no mention of emigration, not even space journey to other planet by any of Majipoor inhabitants. Majipur itself apparently does not possess space fleet, even interplanetary, and Majipoorians are not interested in space altogether.
Majipoor is a planet much larger than the Earth, but made of much lighter stuff. It has been settled by humans, Ghayrogs, Skandars, Vroons, Liimen, Hjorts and other alien races for many thousands of years. These races live in an unstable truce with the shape-changing aboriginal inhabitants of the planet, the Piurivar. The planet is ruled by an unusual tetrarchy: the Coronal rules in a highly visible and symbolic manner from his palace atop Castle Mount; the previous Coronal retires to become the Pontifex, the head of the bureaucracy in an underground Labyrinth; the Coronal's mother becomes the Lady of the Isle of Sleep, promoting the morals of Majipoor by sending dreams to its inhabitants; while the mysterious King of Dreams on the distant continent of Suvrael punishes wrongdoers by visiting them with nightmares. The post of King of Dreams is created at the end of King of Dreams, while Valentine Pontifex ends with the creation of a fifth Power, representing the Piurivar.
It is referenced that Majipoor receives the occasional starship, but is generally considered a backwater planet. Metals of all sorts are scarce, since the planet has a very light crust. Technology is both pervasive and rare at the same time. For example, draft animals are used for farming and transport, but the animals used (called "mounts") were genetically created in the distant past. Many great engineering works are referenced, but these were created in the past also. Many modern technologies, such as TV and Radio, seem to be nonexistent or of very limited use. The average Majipooran lives a peasant lifestyle, and agriculture is a common occupation.
Aborigines
There are three native intelligent species on Majipoor: piurivars, forest-brethren, and sea dragons. Piurivars inhabited all continents of the planet before humans had arrived about 14000 years prior to the conventional “present time”, but turned out to be less fit in competition with more numerous and technologically superior invaders. Forest-brethren are very primitive tribe of aborigines of tropical rainforest of central Zimroel, biologically not related (or related very distantly) to piurivars. Intelligence of the sea dragons — giant aquatic mammals looking similar to whales — was not generally known until the time of Lord Valentine; until then sea dragons were considered not-intelligent animals and hunted for meat, hides and other commodities.
Piurivars
Piurivars (autonym, also metamorphs or shapeshifters) before colonization were the dominant intelligent beings on the planet, whose civilization originates in ages well before human arrival. In its natural form a piurivar is a slender long-legged humanoid with pale greenish skin, very sharp cheekbones, small bumps of nose, and slanted eyes without pupils. Their skin contains cells able to change its color and texture, and their bones are “not jointed like those of other races”; thanks to these features piurivars are able to change their outlook and shape in very wide range and keep the changes during considerable time. This amazing ability of piurivars allows them to create from their own body almost identical copies of other persons or animals, which are quite convincing and can be told from the original only by subtle differences in behavior, habits, speech or in other indirect methods. For example, in the story “The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter” there was a metamorph who imitated a young woman and even had intimate relations with a hermit artist who settled in the jungles of Zimroel close to piurivar reservation. Ability of piurivars to imitate other beings is limited only by their physical size; for example a piurivar cannot imitate a vroon because vroons are considerably less in size than humans or piurivars.
Other Majipoor’s intelligent inhabitants are hostile and suspicious to piurivares and tend to avoid contacts with them. Piurivars themselves also live apart from the others and seldom leave their reservation, though this is not forbidden. Their culture, traditions, and beliefs are mysterious, and their ways and purposes incomprehensible for the rest of Majipoor inhabitants, who, however, are not interested in them too much.
Forest brethren
Forest brethren are a primitive aboriginal tribe of rainforests in central Zimroel, a distinct biological species that evolved on Majipoor independently from piurivars. They have generally monkey-like outlook, but are hairless. Similar to some of Earth’s monkeys, they have prehensile tails and live arboreal life, descending to ground only rarely. Unlike the monkeys, forest brethren are undoubtedly intelligent beings, they possess own language and religious beliefs (worshipping dvikka-trees) and use tools and weapons (particularly, poisoned arrows), though their material culture is very primitive. Forest brethren are hunters and gatherers and live in tropical rainforest from time immemorial. Despite of forest brethren’s intelligence piurivars hunt them as game animals; their meat is considered a delicacy by piurivars, and in addition they are sacrificed during piurivar traditional religious ceremonies. Whether such relationship between two native intelligent species of the planet existed from the ancient times or was formed only after piurivars resettlement in the reservation, is not known, like many other things of planet’s pre-colonial history. There is no mention of forest brethren’s population outside Zimroel.
Sea dragons
Sea dragons are gigantic aquatic mammals, whose intelligence was not generally known until the time described in “Valentine Pontifex”; throughout much of human history on Majipoor they have been hunted and killed from ships as whales on Earth.
Sea dragons are egg-laying mammals, but unlike Earth’s platypus their eggs are developed and hatched inside the body; calves emerge full-formed and able to swim and are fed with milk. According to hunters’ evidences a dragon may have size up to 100 m (300 ft) and probably grows during all its lifetime which can reach hundreds of years. They are called “dragons” because of giant wing-like fins, but sea dragons cannot fly. They are omnivorous, but prefer plant food — floating sargasso sea-weeds, which cover wide stretches of the outer Great Sea. Gigantic teeth and tusks of sea dragons are probably used only during mating season to fight rival males.
For all their lifetime sea dragons are migrating along the permanent migration route which girds the entire planet. This route runs between Suvrael and Zimroel on the west, then bends north and runs along the east coast of Zimroel up to the Isle of Sleep. Bending round the Isle, the dragons navigate southward, where they come between Alhanroel and Suvrael and leave the Inner Sea for the outer ocean on the east. It takes several decades for a sea dragon to circumnavigate the entire planet, but there are several great herds of dragons in the ocean which migrate separately along the same route, and due to that dragons pass inhabited coasts each year. Dragons’ route is most close to the coast near the Piliplok on the east coast of Zimroel. Piliplok harbors the great hunting fleet and is the planetary center of trade in sea dragon meat and other produces from them. The government of Majipoor issues quotas for sea dragon hunting to preserve the population.
Practically every part of a sea dragon body was used in one or another way in industry and economy. For example, dragon bone was used in construction owing to its being extraordinary strong (stronger than steel) and much more easily accessible on a planet so poor in metals as Majipoor; from sea dragon eggs medicaments were produced. The milk of sea dragon — powerful aphrodisiac — was prized as rare and astonishingly expensive delicacy.
Even before human arrival sea dragons were scared animals of piurivars who called them “water-kings”. One of the central and the most painful event in the pre-colonization piurivar history was sacrificing of two sea dragons in spiritual capital of piurivars Velalizier. Piurivars believe that invasion of Majipoor from space was divine punishment for this sacrilegious act.
In “Valentine Pontifex” it becomes known that sea dragons are exceptionally powerful telepaths, and that piurivars use them as biological transponders and amplifiers of telepathic signals to communicate mentally with their agents throughout Majipoor. In the end of the novel Valentine, the former Coronal which became Pontifex, using his own telepathic abilities and a magical artifact (dragon’s tooth) comes to contact with one of the water-kings and gets known about intelligence of this biological species. This dragon also tells Valentine that water-kings that were sacrificed by piurivares in ancient times, voluntary allowed them to do so, and that dragons do not regard this action as crime or sacrilege; they also do not object Majipoorian hunting them, because they are convinced that this is a natural process and “one of the facets of the Whole”. Dragons consider themselves gods of Majipoor.
Immigrant races
Humans
Humans are the most numerous Majipoor inhabitants. It was humans who first arrived to Majipoor and founded colony some 14000 years ago; other intelligent races settled on the planet much later, about 9000 years ago. Humans spread to all three continents and dominate virtually everywhere they live, though there are regions and localities where other races constitute majority of population. Only humans occupy positions of supreme rulers of the planet; they also hold the majority of regional and local governing positions.
In multi-specific Majipoorian society differences between human races (in the “narrow” sense of the term) are not significant anymore. Within human population of Majipoor all phenological types, wide variety of skin shades and eyes and hair colors can be found that had been known on Earth, as well as an assortment of mixed and transitional variations, but these distinctions are not of any social importance.
Skandars
Skandars are large, powerful, hairy beings about 2.5 m (7.6 feet) tall having general outlook of a bear. They have two pairs of arms and are known for their strength, quick reaction and coordination. They descend from some cold planet and are often uncomfortable on tropical Majipoor, though they are not given to complain. Their fur ranges in color from various shades of light-blue through shades of gray to pure white.
Ghayrogs
Ghayrogs are race of intelligent reptile-looking humanoids. They have scaly skin and snaky hair which slowly moves and coils as that of gorgon Medusa; forked tongue incessantly pops up from the mouth, as in Earth lizards and snakes; hair and tongue movements are unconscious and reflect owner’s emotional state. Odors that ghayrogs emit (often unpleasant for humans), also are uncontrolled emotional indicators and serve as a mean of non-verbal communication between individuals. Despite of superficial resemblance to reptiles, biologically ghayrogs are warm-blooded mammals; although they lay eggs, which are developed in special incubators afterwards, after hatching their kids are fed by female with milk from mammary glands (of which she has several pairs).
Ghayrogs do not have daily period of sleep; instead they sleep once a year during two or three months. Because their lifecycle is incompatible with the rest of Majipoor inhabitants, ghayrogs are more often to create racially homogenous settlements, though this is forbidden by Majipoor laws.
Vroons
Vroons are small (under 1 m [3 ft] tall) octopus-like beings with long tentacles and sturdy beak in place of mouth. Vroons are natural telepaths and telekinetics; some of them improve their natural abilities by special training and becomes practicing wizards.
Liimens
Liimens are short humanoids of uncertain biological origin, with flat “hammer-like” head, three eyes and seven bony fingers on each hand. They are generally employed as unqualified manual laborers, farm or mine workers, street vendors and hawkers. They are considered dullish and simple-minded by other races of Majipoor.
Hjorts
Hjorts are frog-like beings of plump shape and bulging eyes. Often they decorate their pebbly gray skin with spots of color. Hjorts are known with their abilities to accounting, bookkeeping, and financial calculations; due to that they are disproportionately well represented in lower levels of state bureaucracy.
Su-Suheris
Su-Suheris are mysterious race of two-headed beings. They are much less populous than the other races, and because of that they still are exotic in many regions of the planet. Su-Suheris are taller than average, they are thin and skinny beings with pale blue skin. Su-Suheris always have hyphenated names, with one name for each of their heads.
Others
Despite of comparative isolation of Majipoor from the rest of the Galaxy interstellar communications have never been broken altogether; there is a spaceport in Alhanroel, and members of other races from off world do occasionally visit the planet. In “Lord Prestimion” colony of a few hundreds extra-planet visitors is mentioned to exist in Sippulghar city in the southern Alhanroel; maybe the spaceport is situated somewhere close to it, though its location is never indicated directly.
“Lord Valentine’s Castle” mentions one of such visitors — Khun, who came from Kianimot, a stellar system relatively close to Majipoor. Khun is a humanoid with dark-blue skin, large mournful purple eyes, wide mouth with thin lips, long legs and exceptionally dexterous hands; he is presumably a typical representative of intelligent inhabitants of his world.
However, there is no mention of anything considerable immigration from outside the planet after Lord Melikand had initially invited members of six alien races to settle on Majipoor some 9000 years ago. It is possible that outside migration is strictly regulated or even forbidden by the government, though there is no direct mention of such policy either. There is also no mention of emigration, not even space journey to other planet by any of Majipoor inhabitants. Majipur itself apparently does not possess space fleet, even interplanetary, and Majipoorians are not interested in space altogether.
The stories of Majipoor are written by Robert Silverberg. Read them, they are great books.
