Delphoni

The Delphoni are a peaceful race in as much as they avoid conflict in their own way. They have the ability to mask the planets they own so other races cannot see them. This makes “hiding” themselves and their planets from invaders, but only as long as they are not actively pursuing expansion. The Delphoni planets become visible and navigable by others as their own ships come and go or if their own population on a given planet is not at a satisfactory level of happiness. Their ships have similar stealth ability but they must sacrifice half their normal travel speed and the ability to use weapons in the first phase of battle if they are discovered or choose to invade or attack other ships. If they choose to stay concealed they have the ability to influence the local enemy population in one of several ways with the impact mounting over several turns to a full effect. They can make it so the ground based weapons, defenses, or upgrades do not see nor respond to Delphoni ships actively invading them – so long as several turns of pacification are successfully executed before the invasion begins. At higher levels the Delphoni Heroes can be so influential that they are able to influence enemy ships not to fight at all for a particular battle – however to uphold the necessary illusion the Delphoni ship cannot attack at all as long as the illusion holds (this needs a roll to determine failure). As for defending their own successfully colonized planets the Delphon have the ability to conceal their presence and most of the natural resources from the scanners of other races. They have the ability breed at an exceptional rate and build large ships with little resources earlier in the game but this is offset in part my their low offensive yield as well as fleets capped at half that of other races at a similar stage of development (large fleets would become too easy to detect). Lastly their weaponless colonist ships have the unique ability to attach to unsuspecting explorers and travel along with them invisibly and as a free ride until they later attempt to detach undetected and begin colonization, invasion, or influence of the enemy population (this is detectable with a careful eye as it slows the ship they are attached to)

The Delphoni are a race of ancient shadow beings that not only have learned to effectively conceal themselves but the very resources they find and the worlds they occupy. They blend into their environment whatever that shall be much like a chameleon. Consuming less than brash races they are efficient and consume resources at a preferred rate. They spread slowly, carefully, but effectively through systems leaving an apparent absence of planets and life behind them as long as they are cautious and peaceful. Their natural ability to remain concealed has allowed them to survive violent times with only the most basic of technology. Following in the wake of more violent races they persevere, expand, and as they see it save the planets and their resources from the ravenous nature of other races. In trade the Delphoni use the sleight of hand and manipulation of what is seen to have advantage in trade (this can be detected and lead to no further trade). Since most of the illusion is managed through the appearance of exceptional trustworthiness the Delphoni conversely deal at a disadvantage with any race that they have had a single battle with or been caught cheating by.