Ly-Cilph
Encyclopedia
In The Night's Dawn Trilogy
, the Ly-Cilph are an alien race that evolved on an unnamed moon
orbiting a gas giant
planet
. The unstable nature of the Ly-Cilph's homeworld's orbit meant that every nine years, the moon was consumed by violent storms. Millennia of evolution meant that even while the Ly-Cilph's corporeal bodies were destroyed, they transcended to a state of higher existence.
.
When the orbit of the moon causes the nine-year cycle to end, and storms to begin spreading across the planet, the Ly-Cilph stop whatever they are doing, and anchor themselves to the ground. Nodes grow from their skin, and drop to the ground like fruit. A flash of radiation from the gas giant kills their corporeal bodies, but also provides their minds with enough energy to transcend
and become non-corporeal. The freed Ly-Cilph minds drift up into orbit of their home, and then set out to discover the universe.
and engineering
are practically unknown to them, as are pursuits that require tools, such as computer science
and archaeology
. On the other hand, sciences like mathematics
, physics
, and astronomy
are quite highly developed.
The primary goal of the Ly-Cilph is to gain knowledge. For this reason, their entire lifetimes, as well as the time after their transcendence, are spent learning and exploring. After they transcend, most Ly-Cilph travel throughout the universe, observing other civilisations and phenomena. This is primarily a solitary exercise, as the Ly-Cilph are usually unable and uninterested in directly altering or affecting events in the universe. An exception to this was in 2611, when a Ly-Cilph inadvertently opened a transdimensional portal on the human colony
world of Lalonde.
The Night's Dawn Trilogy
British author Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy consists of three science fiction novels: The Reality Dysfunction , The Neutronium Alchemist , and The Naked God...
, the Ly-Cilph are an alien race that evolved on an unnamed moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
orbiting a gas giant
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
. The unstable nature of the Ly-Cilph's homeworld's orbit meant that every nine years, the moon was consumed by violent storms. Millennia of evolution meant that even while the Ly-Cilph's corporeal bodies were destroyed, they transcended to a state of higher existence.
Biology
The Ly-Cilph begin their lives in a fish-like form, swimming in the shallow pools of their homeworld. After three years in this form, they lose their tails, and develop a snail-like skirt. They emerge onto the land, and feed upon "nodes", biological time capsules left behind by previous generations of Ly-Cilph. When they consume these nodes, not only do they gain the vast understanding of their ancestors, but the telepathic centres of their brain are stimulated, allowing them to communicate with other Ly-Cilph. Prior to consuming these nodes, the Ly-Cilph do not possess sentienceSentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
.
When the orbit of the moon causes the nine-year cycle to end, and storms to begin spreading across the planet, the Ly-Cilph stop whatever they are doing, and anchor themselves to the ground. Nodes grow from their skin, and drop to the ground like fruit. A flash of radiation from the gas giant kills their corporeal bodies, but also provides their minds with enough energy to transcend
Transcendence (philosophy)
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the word's literal meaning , of climbing or going beyond, albeit with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages...
and become non-corporeal. The freed Ly-Cilph minds drift up into orbit of their home, and then set out to discover the universe.
Culture
Due to the impermanent landscape of their home, the Ly-Cilph do not build structures or tools of any kind. Arts and Sciences such as architectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
are practically unknown to them, as are pursuits that require tools, such as computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
. On the other hand, sciences like mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
are quite highly developed.
The primary goal of the Ly-Cilph is to gain knowledge. For this reason, their entire lifetimes, as well as the time after their transcendence, are spent learning and exploring. After they transcend, most Ly-Cilph travel throughout the universe, observing other civilisations and phenomena. This is primarily a solitary exercise, as the Ly-Cilph are usually unable and uninterested in directly altering or affecting events in the universe. An exception to this was in 2611, when a Ly-Cilph inadvertently opened a transdimensional portal on the human colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
world of Lalonde.