QIRE

Qire, as exonym (colloquial, no official term known)

Khu’y-Re El’tlekhune (The Great Expedition), as interstellar collective

THIS ARTICLE IS A STUMP | Last updated May 29th 2026

MINUTIA MIGHT GET CORRECTED AND BUILT UPON OVER TIME

COLLECTIVE SUMMARY

The Large Magellanic Cloud, the Expedition's home galaxy

Suspected of being a 10-20 million year old civilization, their arrival on the Milky Way and possibly other nearby galaxies can't be much older than 5 or 6 million years given fossil and archaeological records (right? RIGHT?). Known brief contact with early Earth hominids date to about 1.8 million years ago.

First contact with the Arrene (allegedly) around ~14,000 CE, as the original proposers of the Dominion accord. Humans theorize the Qire hadn't returned to the Orion Arm at all from 5,000-10,000 CE, during the Spark Veto era.

Joined the Dominion in 14,650 CE (0 AdF) as original signatary.

Origin

A long dead planet (?) somewhere in the Large Magellanic Cloud, ~100kly from Sol (inferred).

The Local Group (? Possible at present day, likely contained to within 500,000ly from the LMC), the entire Large Magellanic Cloud (allegedly, inferred), and an undisclosed fraction of the Milky Way. Prefer dark hot-house carbonic worlds around red dwarfs, but are comfortable within a wide range of temperatures and pressures.

Description

With six-sided radial symmetry, standing 9 to 15 feet tall and weighing 200 to 400kg, their body is a vertical barrel of dark, leathery hide, ridged like wet bark, capable of bending at a right angle to navigate small spaces.

The base consists of six tentacles for ambling locomotion, each ending in three webbed short claws, six pseudo-arms half the length of the tentacles are located in between the ‘legs’.

The midsection has posterior and anterior tentacles. The six posterior tentacles are thin and firm like steel cable, each branching in six appendages, and each one branching into six 'fingers' — each tip being able to be twisted at will, its total length compounding to about 4 feet. 

The anterior tentacles branch alike the posterior ones, but over 16 feet in length, possessing a thin leathery webbing connecting each branching, serrated at the edges, covered in iridescent purple-orange scales, which carry swirly and blotchy moiré patterns, this wing is capable of powered flight and retracting fully against the body. The wing patterns happen to strobe in mismatch with neural oscillation of most known species, causing intense discomfort.

The apex ends in six tentacles with sharp scales around a radula. At the external base of each tentacle, a retractable eye-stalk positions each peach-sized compound-eye carefully. Bioluminescent tendrils at the base of the “head” pulse with yellow-red light for visual communication.

Presumed carnivores, can regulate body temperature from ambient to the flashpoint of paper, vocalize with organometallic buzzes and hisses.

As far as Dominion history is concerned, the Qire as extremely paranoid of interacting with other civilizations and secretive about their affairs. They are attracted to pockets of alien life in the galaxy (?). Known advanced bioengineers. Definitely hostile to certain types of technological civilizations, seemingly uninterested or distant from the Dominion despite their constant audition.

Spacetravel

Rare in present time (?). Official Dominion vessels of hybrid origin use advanced A/M-AM drives for typical travel speeds of γ~10.

The Great Expedition's Elder Starships built over the LMC likely possess Bussard ramjet drives to achieve hyper-relativistic regimes (c minus 0.0001~0.000000001), observed A/M-AM drives used for braking out of cruise. Presumed capability for micro- black hole propulsion and reactionless photon drives as alternatives. Known to deploy relativistic kill vehicles at variable relativistic regimes to outstanding accuracy (?).

Relations

Largely neutral/hostile to foreign powers. Anti-social, curious. Seem to ignore technological civilizations below a certain threshold.

Tried to annihilate the Arrene upon first contact. Cautious on the edges of the Dominion.

Unknown fleet size. At least four Elder Starships stationed within the Dominion.

Unknown personnel size.

Unknown objectives and goals.

Unknown number of active friends or foes, at least two (?).

Uncertain civilization age and lifecycle.

Uncertain degree of historical interference.

OTHER LINKS

The Great Expedition (domain)

The Qiro-Arrene Wars (worldbuilding)