Efrosian
From Star Trek: Gamma One
The following data is a combination of extremely non-Paramount-canon from two sources, a netbook used to build the Efrosian template and the 'Atreonid' info in the ST:Aliens sourcebook by Decipher -- the two are contradictory and the Star Trek: Gamma One blends the happy opposites.
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Racial Characteristics
Efrosians are tall, slender, dignified humanoids; the last of these is not an individual notion but a racial meme, as Efrosians value privacy and quiet serenity much as Vulcans and many Centaurans do, but take the outward appearance of this trait to an extreme degree as a point of cultural pride. An Efrosian cannot abide public spectacles, and some even go to the extreme of adopting an almost Vulcan demeanor of emotionlessness, though the overhwleming majority do not do so and consider public displays of emotion or affection to be acceptable so long as this is done in a dignified manner. Their skin color has a slight tawny-orange sheen to it, not so deep as a Dosi or a Ferengi, but clearly something a little deeper than a human 'tan'. They have high, furrowed foreheads, though not so deep or pronounced as true ridges like a Klingon or Ktarian, and as a race, Efrosians have hair that is uniformly white and most often grown long and swept back. This gives their males a leonine appearance, especially given that men almost always grow thick, long, droopy, mustache-like whiskers. Women also grow their hair long and sweep it back, but do not grow whiskers and take a wider range of hair styles that allow for things like spiraled buns, ponytails, etc. Some attribute this to the need for men, as the ancient hunters of Efrosian primitive society, to emulate their world's analogues of the saber-toothed tiger and other early cats by accentuating a ferocious, feline appearance.
They did evolve on both a social and physical level for this, with denser bodies (strong for their size) that do not require them to have as much surface area and so bleed off less heat -- while Efrosians tend towards tallness compared to many standard humanoid races, they are never massive, even when tall, and this gives them less muscle and skin area from which to waste body heat. This makes them compactly strong for their size. They have also developed an intuitive internal compass that allows them to know directions unerringly -- Efrosian geologists and structural engineers are prized for their abilities to help in mining complexes and subterranean explorations without fear that a Tricorder will malfunction or lose com-link to a ship in orbit or away team on the surface.
Homeworld
Efros is a frozen world, though not entirely -- still, it is cold enough that about 80 percent of it falls in ranges that would be considered subarctic at best, and the 20 percent that is merely temperate to subarctic most of the year long ago reached the Malthusian population cap, forcing Efrosians to revert back to tundra-friendly lifestyles, effectively evolving from ice age hunters to equatorial ranchers and back again. This all occurred long before modern terraforming technology was available to them, and now the social changes are too ingrained to be reversed.
Culture
Efrosians are widely considered to be as capable and cunning at arctic wilderness survival as Andorians, and sometimes even more so considering they lack many of the Andorian evolutionary adaptations to extreme cold. Like Andorians, they live in close communities -- unlike Andorians, these are not extended family or lodge communities, but simply villages in which private homes are placed closely together and everybody knows everybody. Some Efrosians have made efforts to live temporarily in Andorian lodges on starship postings, but almost always this fails after awhile because as lodges grow more familiar and boisterous, the reserved and private nature of the Efrosian causes inevitable intrusions on personal dignity. It does not help that in matters of religion, Efrosians continue to be close lipped even a hundred and twenty five years after joining the Federation -- no outsider has ever been given any first-hand account of Efrosian religious belief, and only second-hand or deduced information is available.
History
Efros made first contact with the Federation in 2248, prior to which the planet was ruled by a dozen noble families in an extended feudal society, contesting through combinations of military, diplomatic, economic, and technological means. First Contact jolted the Efrosians into joining the modern day -- within just a few years, their 12 noble families agreed to form an oligarchic republic of individual representative democracies, becoming a planet of 12 nation states with rich cultural backgrounds each fused to a noble family, but no longer legally bound to them. The nobility was actually revitalized by this as the sudden meritocratic wave of sentiment allowed each family to cast off its dead weight and become leaders again. Eteon tar-Chereos, known by the affectionate nickname 'Ra-Ghoratreii' much as Earth's Mohandas Gandhi was known as 'Mahatma' or 'Gandhiji', become the most famous 'ex-nobleman' of the 23rd century, serving as a duly elected provincial and nation-state leader on the homeworld before being elected as planetary president and resigning after one term to take up the position of his people's representative on the Federation Council; serving there for 20 years, he rose to the position of Federation President and directed the increased diplomacy with the Klingons which led directly to the Khitomer Accords.
Some of the noble families still active in off-world affairs and exploration are Chereos, Zatain, Paratan, Karoon, and Houtan; members of the house by blood rather than marriage or adoption (which need not be legal adoption, but can include, for example, sponsorship to Starfleet Academy) are entitled to use the prefix 'tar-' before their surname. Thus, a Starfleet officer who chose to attend the Academy with Karoon sponsorship and change his or her surname legally might be known as 'Eteon Karoon', while a blood descendant of the dynasty would be 'Thurian tar-Karoon'. Sponsored non-nobles are not required to change their name; this is just an example.
Lastly, it should be noted that Efrosians call themselves 'Atreonids' much as Terrans call themselves 'Humans' -- to some prickly Efrosians who wish to take offense, calling them an Efrosian is like calling a human, 'Earther'.
