Clarions come from the planet Clarion, a rocky planet with an unusually large atmospheric layer. The planet orbits a binary star system in the Aquila constellation, which puts them in frequent contact with the region’s other major power, the Altarians.

Adult Clarions will average between 4’ and 4’6” in overall height and typically float 2’-3’ off the ground, though they are able to levitate at much higher elevations if desired. The Clarion’s main body resembles a fish with a a short tail. They have six large fins, of which four have evolved into gas bladders filled with a mixture of methane and hydrogen gas (a byproduct of digestion) which gives them the ability to levitate. The front of their body tapers into a trunk with ends in a mouth ringed by small tentacles which function like lips. Between the base of the trunk and the first set of fins is a cluster of eight long ropey tentacles which branch at the ends to function as hands. Their eyes are set onto moveable stalks at the top of the “face” just above the four breathing tubes (which also houses the larynx). Along the sides of the Clarion and behind the bladders are jets which aid the Clarion in both propulsion and regulating their gas bladders. Clarions have a rubbery skin that most commonly appears in shades of red and orange, however blue and turquoise Clarions are not unheard of, rarer still are some Clarion phenotypes with white, translucent, and even bioluminescent skin.

Despite having some piscine features, Clarions are a species that is more biologically similar to earth siphonophores, which is more evident when looking at their internal biology: for one thing, they have a decentralized body plan, rather than one central organ, Clarions will have multiple smaller versions of that organ scattered around the body and networked together to operate as one singular organ, for example, Clarions have 6 hearts and 4 “brains”. This bizarre anatomy is a throwback to the ancient species that Clarions evolved from being a colony creature. Clarions also have cnidocyte cells all over their arms, hands, face, mouth-tentacles, and fins, these cells are only semi-voluntary (when relaxed the cnidocytes are inert, but when stressed the cnidocytes become armed, so it’s best to not touch an upset Clarion) while the potency of Clarion venom varies from person to person, symptoms of a Clarion sting can range from intense burning and nausea, to blisters, vomiting, and even full limb paralysis. Also, Clarions are hermaphrodites; Clarions reproduce by spawning into bodies of water alongside other Clarions (they can’t fertilize their own eggs).

Actually this is what lead to the development of Clarion civilization, ancient clarions discovered that by choosing to spawn in bodies of water that are closed off (lagoons, tide pools, lakes, etc…) they could better protect the eggs and ensure the safety of their infants (Clarions are fully aquatic for the first ten years of their life). This lead to the first communities, and in turn lead to the development of agriculture (so they didn’t need to venture too far from the spawning pools to hunt and forage), engineering (to further close off the pools from the original water source and establish spawning pools in places where natural pools didn’t exist), and so on and so forth.

Modern Clarions are still predominantly a closed-off and insular species, highly territorial and mistrustful of outsiders, they still do not have a unified government and internal conflicts between Clarion nations do still occur. Though nowadays Clarion nation states will compete more often in athletics and technological achievements than in bloody conflict (a big push right now is in the development of teleportation and inter dimensional travel). Clarion architecture and city planning is noted as having large outdoor areas and open interior floor plans that like to blur the line between “outside” and “inside”, mostly because claustrophobia is a common fear among Clarions, a trait that will carry over into their spacecraft designs.

With all this in mind it should come as no surprise that the Clarions have a rather tumultuous relationship with their nearest extraterrestrial neighbor, the Altarians. Despite being on nearly equal technological footing, Altarians see the Clarions as some kind of lost waif in need of guidance, sighting their divisive nature and lack of romantic expression as proof of their stance (never mind that a “divisive nature” is common among sapient species, and Clarions specifically don’t have romantic expressions because they are physically incapable of feeling lust or romance at all, they don’t reproduce that way). And for their part the Clarions generally have a low opinion of Altarians as well, seeing them collectively as lazy busy-bodies. This has lead to numerous incidents and conflicts between the two, though at the moment they seem to be quietly tolerating each other.

Officially, the only real interaction Clarions have had with earth started in 1954 when an alternative lifestyle cult established a secret commune in the Amazon jungle. However there is obscure and unverifiable records of a planetary survey occurring over a planet that sounds suspiciously similar to earth in what would’ve been the second century BC; but this could be just a coincidence.