Our Solar System: The Gollanir Civilization, of the Planet Cantoss
The Gollanir Civilization: The First Civilization of the Very Far Fekxtah
In consultation with, and approval from, the Guild Committee for the Proper Disposition and Dissemination of Historical Science Documents, we have chosen to include in this tome a short break from our descriptions of Oma’s planetary Fekxtah to provide information on a highly important finding of the ancient Elzheni Astronomers. As we have stated before, we report from the Elzheni texts not to affirm their truth, but rather to provide a rational summary of the assertions and claims put forth by these documents and their authors, the Elzheni Astronomers. Though a debate still continues among today’s scholars about the full veracity of their documents, it is agreed that the Elzheni possessed a compelling and keen understanding of the world of our home planet Ethem and of the greater world outside our own planet which, of course, includes the planetary system of which our home world, Ethem, is a part.
We ask only that our dear readers understand the diligence that the Guilds’ scientists have given to these ancient tomes of significance, and recognize our deep belief that only science can give us a true understanding of the world. Therefore, intelligent, rational investigations, even those whose conclusions may not be agreed to by all who study such domains of knowledge, must be included in our efforts to put the conclusions of all examinations into the hands of all who seek knowledge so that they may make their own conclusions.
That is our disclaimer and now we present some of the astounding (some would say “fanciful”) information included about this race of creatures.
The original home of the Gollanir was the innermost ocean level of Cantoss which was known as The Red Ocean because of the color of its waters and the reflections of the fires that burn across most of the ocean’s floor.
The Elzheni first came into contact with the Gollanir as they were building their Fekxtah Station #12 on the surface of Cantoss. The ancient texts note that, “As we were building the lower level of the new Fekxtah Station, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by more than a dozen objects floating a few feet above the surface of Cantoss. They appeared to us as bags filled with a thick, brown liquid which had something sloshing around inside it. We initially took them to be some kind of natural phenomenon that had bubbled out of cracks in the surface of the Fekxtah since they seemed to us to be no more than fluids encased in a six-foot tall gelatinous capsule. Upon closer examination, though, we discovered that each enclosure contained a living being, somewhat resembling an octopus, and that they seemed to be examining us.”
The texts went on to describe the details of this encounter. Each of the jelly-like globes contained a single occupant of the race that would become known to the Elzheni as the Gollanir. They had large heads with three bulbous eyes, a tough leathery skin, and a long even slit below the eyes for speaking and eating. They had two sets of tentacles; one set of four that were short (about one-and-a-half feet long) that were in constant use manipulating various protrusions inside their shells that controlled their movements and their inner environment. Then there was another set of 8-10 tentacles that swirled about in their container and would, at times, push out and extend their shell to be used like we use our arms for grasping, pulling or pushing.
Though it took some time, the Gollanir were eventually able to communicate with the Elzheni in the Elzheni language. The Elzheni Astronomers quickly came to understand that these creatures were spectacularly intelligent, and, to their surprise (and dismay) seemed more evolved than the Elzheni themselves. The Elzheni’s fear of this new race of creatures was dispelled when they discovered that the Gollanir had interest only in the other Very Far Fekxtah and had no interest in traveling any nearer to Oma than their home world of Cantoss took them.
The ancient text that describes interactions is voluminous since it includes both the history of interactions between themselves and the Gollanir Civilization over the course of several hundred years as well as detailed descriptions of Gollanir history, life, and their sciences. We will very briefly address each of these below.
Gollanir History
The Gollanir are a life form that goes back hundreds of thousands of years or, in the case of its predecessors, millions. They began as tiny creatures living near volcanic vents that were ubiquitous across the floor of the Red Ocean, which extended around the entire inner core of Cantoss.
Over eons the Gollanir grew ever more intelligent and capable. It was said that they started as a race with only two or three tentacles, but as time passed, and as need drove change, the number of their tentacles and the dexterity of each increased.
Living so close to the core of Cantoss, they were always exposed to the Fekxtah Energy Filaments, which will be described below. Over time they developed an affinity to these tendrils of force and began to study them and, eventually, to use them.
Eventually, the Gollanir learned how to control the Fekxtah Filaments, and, remarkably, discovered ways to travel along these filaments providing them a way to travel from one Fekxtah to another along these Energetic Tendrils that connected them.
Gollanir Life
In addition to the development of their remarkably deep scientific studies of the Fekxtah Filaments, the Gollanir also developed a sophisticated society. By the time the Elzheni first encountered this race of creatures, many thousands of years ago, there were millions of Gollanir who lived on Cantoss. Food was abundant and procreation was controlled so that their population size would never outrun their food supply.
Over the millenia, the Gollanir discovered natural passages between their own water kingdom deep in Cantoss to the other two water worlds under Cantoss’ surface. In addition, they constructed a number of tunnels that provided them with easy, fast access to the other layers of Cantoss, even to its surface. Of course, the Gollanir were accustomed to the immense pressure of the Red Ocean so deep inside the planet that they could not survive in the areas above their own. Being a resilient and inventive race, they developed strong spheres with tough, flexible skins that they could fill with their own waters and food. They called these spheres jellin capsules. The jellins maintained a constant pressure inside them so that the Gollanir were always enclosed in a welcoming and safe environment, and they gave the Gollanir the ability to travel widely about their own planet and to the other Very Far Planets.
Gollanir Science
The Gollanir have a connection with all of the Six Energies; however, they have a highly attuned affinity with a particular kind of Physic Energy known as Fekxtah Energy Filaments (aka Cosmic Sinews) which are an immensely powerful subtype of Physic Energy that connects the Fekxtah of the world to each other. The Sinews originate from deep within all living Fekxtah (e.g. suns, planets, moons, and even the winnomarn) and they manifest as invisible lines of force that draw Fektah toward each other and sometimes push them away.
As mentioned earlier the Gollanir had found a way to travel with the Fekxtah Filaments and could do so while contained in a jellin to keep them well-protected.
Over many thousands of years, the Gollanir explored the world of the Very Far Fekxtah and populated much of it. From these other Fekxtah worlds, they found new and interesting races of living beings, they gathered an enormous amount of knowledge about the Very Far Fekxtah, and so about Fekxtah generally, and they built an elaborate system for travel among all of the Fekxtah in these outer parts of Oma’s Family using the Fekxtah Filaments as their highway system.
There is brief mention in the final passages of the ancient texts that we were allowed to see that the Gollanir had not encountered any other race of creatures as intelligent and capable as themselves and they were very glad to have found one in the Elzheni. It seemed to provide them with a delightful new perspective on the world and with a completely different source of folk with whom to share the wonders and delights of exploring the world, especially what the Elzheni were able to tell them about the inner worlds of Oma’s Family.
Current scholarship believes that the Elzheni had extensive contact with this civilization and that they two races worked on many projects together, each sharing their knowledge with the other which added to their overall ability to explore the outer parts of Oma’s Family and beyond.
Current scholars believe that there exist many volumes written about the cooperation of these two folk and their many accomplishments, and we have approached the Heolas who control the ancient libraries, the libraries that the heola refer to as their mayamar.
Much to our chagrin the Guilds have not been provided access. To be accurate we will say that we approached many Heolas scholars and Mayam, even the illustrious heolas scholar, the Mayam (Protector of the Library) named Hemma. All we have approached have denied that such tomes exist. However, we believe, quite strongly, that the heola who control access to the ancient books have deliberately kept them from us. We would in particular welcome any comment from Hemma, who happens to be the mayam in charge of the great Desert Mayamar (Library) known as Hehhollow, as to the veracity of this statement. Much to our dismay we received no response to our repeated requests for his wisdom before publication of this work.