Zener

Name: Zener
Dice: 14D
Dexterity: 3D+1 / 5D+1
Knowledge: 2D / 4D
Mechanical: 3D / 5D
Perception: 1D+1 / 3D+1
Strength: 1D+2 / 3D+2
Technical: 2D / 4D

Move: 10 / 12
Size: 1.5 - 2.0 meters
Weight: 50 - 120 kg
Life Span: Unknown

Special Abilities:

• Zener are excellent surgeons and technicians – when character points are awarded, a Zener receives two extra points which can only be spent on the Medical, Technical or Knowledge skills.

Description: A cold race of technicians and scholars, the Zener are devoted to the cause of evolution. They conduct ceaseless experiments in confl ict and death, putting cities and worlds to the torch with the same easured calm that they irradiate ant colonies and test-tubes of bacteria. The Zener are responsible for maintaining much of the Shadows’ organic technology and for preparing subjects for implantation in ships and other systems that require living controllers.

The Zener consider themselves scholars; in truth, they are little more than tools. Much of their ability to maintain and use Shadow technology comes from the Shadows themselves. While the Zener are very good at conducting experiments and recording data, their ability to make progress or actually learn anything is severely limited.

Like the Drakh, the Zener have no homeworld. They are dependant on the Drakh for transport, but dislike space travel. The Zener prefer to dwell in cloaked space stations in isolated systems, where they can conduct their cruel science in peace. They are genderless and propagate their race through cloning.

Following the departure of the Shadows, many of the Zener succumbed to despair and ennui, and simply died. The survivors attached themselves to another, stronger race such as the Drakh or Humanity, hoping to continue their work.

Personality: Limited. The Zener think of themselves as pure scientists and believe that emotion is an unnecessary distraction from the purity of investigative cruelty. The Zener have practised brutal and thorough eugenics and thought control policies in the past, to ensure that any Zener who deviated from this belief was utterly expunged from the race. While these policies succeeded in bringing complete unity
to the Zener, it also removed almost all creativity and drive from the race.

Physical Description: The Zener resemble the Streib or Vree, being rather similar to the classic ‘grey’ conception of aliens. They have bulbous heads and black eyes, as well as small, nimble hands adept at wielding scalpels and probes.

The Zener have been altered by the Shadows to make them better technicians. Much of the Zeners’ understanding of technology comes from Shadow brain implants, similar to those used by the Techno-Mages, which allow the Zener to use and maintain organic technology without understanding the underlying principles. Much of their knowledge is actually artifi cial instinct.

Relations: The Zener will work with – or on – almost any race. They were close allies of the Drakh, but are distrusted by many of the other servants of the darkness, as the clinical approach of the Zener is at odds with the more passionate, mythical beliefs of the other servants of the Shadows. The Zener have dealt with Humanity in the past, converting the renegade telepaths provided by the Psi Corps into suitable weapons components. They also worked on the Omega-X destroyers used by President Clark and a few Zener are still held by EarthForce’s black science division.

Systems: The Zener’s spindly research stations are virtually impossible to detect; they are normally located in orbit around obscure Rim worlds but can be found anywhere the Drakh motherships go. It is likely that as the Drakh move into Centauri space, the Zener will follow them.

Beliefs: The Zener are devoted to science and specifi cally the study of evolution. Their original goal was to comprehend and distil all the processes of evolution, documenting all the pressures and conditions that a race must adapt to. Their ultimate goal was to bypass the tiresome million years of watching and guiding the Younger Races towards their destiny of becoming transcended races and just making a transcended, super-evolved race from scratch. Whether the Shadows actually supported this project, or if the Zener came up with this grandiose plan on their own is unknown. They have yet to get beyond step one of this project, the cataloguing of pain and confl ict types, and it is unlikely they ever will.

Language: The Zener speak a curious high-pitched language similar to that of the Shadows and indeed, it is likely they developed this tongue in imitation of their masters. They use translator devices to speak to other races.

Names: The Zener naming structure is rather complex, and seems to be mostly numeric. A Zener is referred to by its genetic clone line and by number (Dac-443, Jro-6754 and so on), with extra honorific titles being added on the end to mark signifi cant discoveries or accomplishments.

Starfarers: The Zener have few starfarers of their own, preferring to get other races to transport them from place to place. The only Zener found outside one of their space stations are likely technicians attached to some Shadow outpost.

Source:

• The Babylon 5 Project: Shadow Servants (Surgeons)
• Babylon 5 Darkness & Light Sourcebook (pages 115-116)
• thedemonapostle