Xepolite
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Xepolites are a nomadic, spacefaring race that maintain extensive shipping endeavors across the Alpha Quadrant. Much like the Ferengi, their major concern is profit and they are devout free-trade supporters. They have no formal home or government, although most are associated with one or more "fleets" that are ran like corporations.
Physiology & Society
Xepolites are repto-humanoid in appearance, with blue-green to grayish mottled skin. Both their eyesockets and mouths are sunken into their faces. They have a vertical bulge atop a high, wide forehead and thick, black hair covering the back of the skull (some bald Xepolites have been seen, though). There are no outward appendages to indicate a nose or ears, only small holes. They do, however, have a strong, pronounced jaw.
Male Xepolites are normally taller than six-foot, while the females of the species rarely reach over five. Despite this, females usually do not exhibit the femininity of most species. They can and often do work as hard as the males, and enjoy activities usually associated with the male of a species. They can, in fact, tolerate pain and inebriation far better than the men.
Marriage and other social attachments play little into Xepolite society. The business of shipping and transporting is the driving force behind everything they do. Romantic "associations" exist, but there is nothing binding about them. The only stipulation seems to be that these associations must produce at least one off-spring before both parties can go their separate ways.
History
The origins of the Xepolite species is a mystery. Some anthropologists have theorized that they once inhabited the system around a A-class light blue star in the Bajor Sector that was decimated in the early 9th Century by a massive meteor storm. This star is even designated Xepolite in old Cardassian star charts. The system is mostly asteroids and other cosmic debris, making this assumption hard to prove. Other scientists believe they hailed from a system whose star went supernova and helped form the Badlands in the Alpha Quadrant. The Xepolites themselves do not seem to care either way; the only history they keep recorded are their business dealings with other species.
Throughout their history, these corporate-fleets have deemed themselves neutral in galactic events. However, Xepolites have no problem making latinum off the occassional war or rebellion. In the 24th century, these free traders often worked as intermediaries for the Cardassians, and many of the arrangements they were involved in were illegal. This included the smuggling of weapons to Cardassian colonists in the Demilitarized Zone.