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Glanced Esteem is one of the strangest civilisations encountered so far by representatives of the Imperial Combine. Although first contact took place between Elm Caden and what was loosely termed an 'ambassador' of Glanced Esteem, there is currently no formal relationship between the two societies. The meeting with Caden was arranged as a one-off event by the Lem Bataan scientist Irim Su.

What is known about Glanced Esteem comes largely from Irim Su, and the report filed by Caden.

Biology

The biology of Glanced Esteem has not been studied, and what little is known comes from the encounter between an 'ambassador' of the species and Elm Caden. It was made clear by Irim Su that "a minuscule part" of Glanced Esteem was presenting itself, implying that Glanced Esteem can break off parts of itself which can then work independently of the whole. It is not known for how long those smaller parts can remain isolated (→FSS).

The body of the 'ambassador' seen by Caden was made up of a matted, sheet-like network of glossy fibrils, which shivered and fluoresced in what appeared to be forms of communication. It was capable of moving around as a flowing mass, and was sustained in its own atmosphere, the composition of which was not revealed.

Irim Su stated that the Ton-Ta may be distantly related to Glanced Esteem, and suggested that life could once have been cross-seeded between their worlds. It can be inferred from that statement that the Ton-Ta homeworld is located in the same star system as the homeworld of Glanced Esteem.

Culture

Glanced Esteem is a society, a civilisation, and a species, but all three of those things are also a single individual. The entire civilisation is one life form, or that single life form constitutes a whole civilisation — it is not yet clear in exactly which way Glanced Esteem should be described.

Glanced Esteem has unusual thinking processes and communicates in an arcane and non-verbal fashion. To speak with it, several intermediaries are usually necessary. The closest species to Glanced Esteem is the Ton-Ta, and many individuals of that species are able to interpret Glanced Esteem's meanings. Further levels of intermediation are often required for outsiders to understand what is being communicated, since the Ton-Ta are also incapable of speaking.

The name Glanced Esteem gives itself can be voiced by some species as Nosserhukkesenmusseresenmaukkosseryoss, although since it does not communicate verbally itself, and two intermediaries must be used before any verbal content in any language at all can be interpreted from Glanced Esteem's communications, this voiced name can only be taken as a relatively arbitrary word.

What does seem clear is that Glanced Esteem is very old, very intelligent, and very alien. The entity is intolerant of younger and less developed species, appears to seek out life forms which engage in some kind of unified experience, and has an almost deliberately poor understanding of the concept of property. The civilisation as a whole is not only more advanced than the Lem Bataan, but also most of the many civilisations of which the Lem Bataan have knowledge.

​The society of Glanced Esteem is organised around a complex model of sophisticated ethics. Those who have regular contact with the civilisation are said to be frequently baffled by exactly what sophistication is at play, since the ethics applied rarely seem to fall in their favour.

Warnings given by Irim Su suggest that Glanced Esteem does not take offence well, and may respond to effrontery with sudden and definitive violence. Irim Su's advice for surviving an encounter with Glanced Esteem ran as follows:
​ 

• Do not speak unless it is indicated by the intermediary that you should do so,
• Do not attempt to address the ambassador by name or title,
• Refer to the ambassador only by the genderless and formal pronoun [ruhe],
• Should you need to use a possessive form, the intermediary will understand [ruhesin],
• Do not sully the words 'Glanced Esteem' by using them.

Also See:

• The Imperial Combine
• Glanced Esteem
• The Lem Bataan Confederation
• The Mastalekt
• The Rodori
• The Shaeld Hratha
• The Viskr Junta