If you've been keeping up with my blogs, then you'd know that I want to get rid of Maj. Well, I've finally decided to retcon it into something else entirely. This should only affect a handful of species: Vaikan, Estin, Eghos and Alkan.
Reason for the change[]
While okay with SFF Wiki, Maj as it is right now is just out of place in a setting where there's a lot of hard science. It falls under the category of Applied Phlebotinum. In the past, I abused it and said "Maj can do this" or "Maj can do that". But as I've been finding alternate, more plausible ways to explain some Vaikan tech, Maj is becoming more and more outdated. Combined with the fact that so few civilizations ever made use of it and that society isn't significantly different with or without it, it's better off being replaced with something else entirely.
What it is now[]
Well, Vaikan will still have Maj. Sort of. Rather, they just have the ability to create static electricity akin to an electric eel. This mechanism would be used to repel predators at close range, an evolutionary leftover when Vaikan were lower in the food chain.
Combined with their rapid healing and toxic saliva, the Vaikan would be balanced by upping the amount of calorie intake and hours of sleep (7000 calories and 15 hours per day). The near constant search for food certainly delayed their cultural advancement, although they would discover the power of electricity very early in their history.
As for the term "Maj", it's simply the Yallvus Talk word for magic. Until they learned how their electrical abilities worked, Vaikan thought it was magic. Thus, "Maj" would be nothing more than an artifact title.