Torvalus- The Torvalus Speculators have, until their departure with the

other First Ones beyond the rim, devoted their long existences to endless bets
and wagers. They bet on pretty much anything you can think of, from which fly
will leave the ground first to which sentient species on a planet with multiple ones
will rise to dominance. As a result their technology has perfected stealth devices.
They don't want to risk their presence altering the outcome of a bet so they go to
extreme lengths to hide themselves from the Universe. Only Lorien, the Triad,
and the Walkers can easily penetrate Torvalus stealth technology.

Oh yes, the Torvalus are the only other First One species, along with the
Kirishiac, to never attain a non-corporeal form. This is suspected to be a result of
their less-than-introspective nature.

Torvalu, the home wold of the Ancient race known as the Torvalus, is entirely
covered in water. THe Torvalus themselves, appearing as nothing more than
large cilia-covered flatworms and are able to absorb energy directly from their
surroundings, and can exist for an extended period of time, even in the vacuum
of space. The cilia, through which the energy is absorbed, also serve as sensory
receptors and fine manipulators. Being less introspective then most of the other
First One races, they never evolved beyond into beings of energy. This was
never a problem for the Torvalus, since they were essentially immortal anyway,
and their physical form provided them with highly acute senses (much to the
chagrin of the Walkers [of Sigma 975]). The Torvalus are also highly psychic,
emphasizing, telekinetic and pyrokinetic (the ability to remotely affect the
molecular energy level of an object) abilities over the more common ESP skills,
although they still possess more capability than the most powerful young race
telepath.[ 1 ]

Mindriders- Eons ago, when the Mindriders first evolved beyond the
physical, they often gathered together in great groups. The free instantaneous
exchange of thoughts granted them by their immaterial forms was very attractive.
However, after centuries of traveling from group to group, all of teh Mindriders
knew each other intimately, and there was nothing left to discover from each
other.

Unique amongst the Ancients, the Mindriders were able to push their evolutionary
developement into beings of pure thought before they achieved Hyperspace
technology. They refer to the moment of ascendance as "the Great Birth," and
consider themselves to be an entirely different species from that which they were
before.

After the Great Birth, they quickly reached Hyperspace and the stars beyond
their native system, joining the galactic community as an enlightened race. They
were deeply philosophical, and anxious to learn all that they could from their
more experienced brothers. The Vorlons, their seniors by a narrow margin,
slighted the Mindriders once it was determined that they coulud not be
dominated. The Walkers were already off on their survey missions and nearly
impossible to find. They were finally able to find solace in the members of the
Triad, first seperatly and then eventually when the Aspects had unified.

They learned all that they could form the Transcendent Beings over a period of
thousands of millennia, and still yearned for more. Some moved Beyond the Rim.
Some sought enlightenment in the great mystery, death. Finally, the mind-hosting
experiment that would give their race the name by which we know them was
conceived. THey would seperated into small groups, and investigate all of the
races throughout the galaxy, joining together again every so often to exchange
information. It is in this manner that the Mindriders spent countless years.

The Mindriders were basically unaware fo the Kirishiac War until it was upon
them. Forced out of their experiment to defend their home planet and those races
they thought dearly of, they dealt with the Kirishiac decisively.

After the war, more and more Mindriders would leave Beyond the Rim every
year. In the last centuries before the last Shadow War, they would spend
increased amounts of time hidden deep in the psyches of alien races or back in
their cold, hollow spacecraft. They were distraught by the state of affairs in the
galactic community that they had so loved, and had been keeping to themselves
until Lorien called upon them

Triad- Ahhh, the Triad... Okay, there's two types of Ancients... Trancendental Beings
and Hyper-Evolved Beings. Lorien and the Triad are both Transcendentals. They came
into existence as beings of pure energy and never actually "evolved". The laws of
probability dictate that it IS possible for a species to suddenly coalesce out of the ether,
but the probability involved in near-infinitely low. So it's technically possible for that to
happen.

Hyper-Evolved Beings are all the other First Ones. They started out as lower life forms
and evolved like every other species until most, but not all, of the First Ones ascended to
a non-material form. The Kirishiac are one of the First One species that didn't make this
transition.

While the Vorlons and Shadows espouse philosophies of Order and Chaos, with Lorien
actually taking the Neutral position, the Triad ARE Order, Chaos, and Neutrality
Incarnate. For ages, they existed as separate beings, each one known as a Tri. Eventually
they united into their current form, the Triad. They're capable of separating still, but they
usually don't see a point in doing so.

They have no technology as you, I, or even the Vorlons and Shadows understand it. Out
of a sense of fair play and a wish to "teach" lesser creatures (to them, anything that isn't
themselves or Lorien and his people are "lesser creatures") lessons they create
matter/energy constructs that function as ships to fight when necessary. All their "ships"
and all the weapons on those ships are nothing more than a manifestation of the will and
power over reality that a Tri or the Triad United possesses.

The Tri's were born in the vacuum of space. The walkers and Shadows may have
had hyperspace technology before the Triad formed (before the three Tri's came
together, they were apart for a long time before that). The Tri's had different
ideologies (Order, Neutrality, Chaos) and so did not get along with eachother.
The Triad no longer have a birthrate (there have only ever been 3 of them, before
they formed the Triad there were three of them, during the Kirishiac war there
was only three of them and in modern day they are still called the Triad,
suggesting there are only three of them). So, yes of those with an actual
birthrate, only the Shadows are older than the Walkers (but "just by a smidge",
according to JMS. It says in Wars of the Ancients that Lorien and the Triad are
both older than the Shadows (In the Shadow section) and since the Walkers are
younger than the Shadows, they must be fourth.

Lorien is a transcendental being, the Triad also fall into this category. They were
born immortal, and capable of stellar and extra-dimensional travel without need
of a vessel. Able to create matter from drawing from their own life essence, the
limit of their power is simply their will. They are often referred to as LOrien's
people, since they all came into existance after him, and he guided them
personally and kept them as a family.

First way, transcendentals are beings who were born energy, ie Lorien, Triad.
Hyper-evolved is everyone else at a certain point. This includes those who
became energy, ie Shadows, Vorlons, eventually humans and Minbari, and those
who are very advanced but not energy, ie Kirishiac, Torvalus, eventually Narns
and Centauri.

The 2nd way, transcendentals are beings who are energy, Lorien, Shadows,
Vorlons, Jason Ironheart, eventually humans and Minbari, and hyper-evolved are
races who are incredibly advanced but still physical, Kirishiac, Torvalus, and
eventually Narns and Centauri.

The way I understand it, a Trascendental Being is one who becomes or is pure
psychic energy. Able to interpret and inflict changes in the basics of space, time,
and quantum mechanics (strings, quarks, whatever).

A Hyper Evolved being is a more specific term as it deals with those ancient
beings that were born both physically grounded and in possession of an
understanding and ability to use their pure psychic energy. I guess it is sort of like
Buddhism and Toaism. A Hyper Evolved being can become a Trascendental
Being mind you as can (eventually with the right technology and natural
evolution) a non Hyper-Evolved being. Realization through meditation apparently
does not mean transcendence though it certainly would help.
Kirshiac Lords-"Kirish is a large planetoid, several time the size of any of the
homeworlds of any of the current major races. It has a solid core, cold temperature,
extremely high gravitic constant, and an atmosphere so thick as to be almost liquid. The
lifeforms that evolved in such an environment are marvels of natural selection: multiple
redundant cardiopulmonary systems and cells arranged in complex lattice structures. The
dominant species, a race of seven meter tall, almost translucent race of bipeds, came to
call themselves the Kirishiac."

"The Kirishiac are the last of what can truly be called the Ancient Races. There were
many races to rise to power after them, but most all of those were manipulated by one of
the puppetmaster races."

"The Kirishiac have eight hearts spread throughout their bodies, the only way to pump
blood through limbs on such a high gravity world. This redundancy and the necessary
strength of their physiological systems made them highly resistant to most kinetic
weaponry, and due to their aggressive nature, they soon developed energy and chemical
armaments. Living under a united feudalistic government, the conquerors of Kirish soon
turned their sights to the sky."

"Leaving the planet turned out to be a major undertaking. Not only was it extremely
difficult to construct a vessel capable of breaching the high gravity of their world, but
also once they left they found that they had great problems existing in other atmospheres.
Kirish would have been deemed uninhabitable by any other race finding it, and it caused
its beings to thereby be unable to live anywhere else. To combat the structural problems
of space flight, they quickly developed gravitic technology and the ability to construct
vessels and buildings with extremely high strength to weight ratios."

"To protect their physical being when on other planets, it was necessary to encase
themselves in atmosphere suits able to reproduce the gravity and pressure of the home
world. Since they rarely went to a new planet for anything besides conquest, these suits
are not best described as encounter suits, but instead as powered body armor. Of course,
with powered body armor strong enough not to collapse upon itself in the harsh world of
Kirish, worn by seven meter tall warriors on a normal gravity world, the Kirishiac Lords
found all the nearby systems easily subjugated."

"Holding dominion over this empire was difficult for the Kirishiac, only due to the sheer
size of it. It could take hundreds of years to travel across the breadth of their domain.
Their scientists researched thousands of different drive systems until finally they
discovered Hyperspace."

"Upon reaching the galactic community, they were shocked to discover the Ancients. The
Walkers were already deeply involved in their quest to map and catalogue the universe.
The Vorlons and Shadows kept to themselves, and only the Torvalus (Dask-note: Torvalus
had the vertical "wing ship" at Coriana 6) still had any sort of expansionist policy within
their territory, but acting as guardians instead of conquerors. There were thousands of
developing races, struggling to survive, being completely ignored by these god-like
beings. Now that the Kirishiac had Hyperspace technology, they could surely rule them
all."

"For several thousand years, the Kirishiac expanded their empire, sometimes wiping out a
young race, but most times forcing them into slavery. The Triad (Dask-note: Triad had the
three-armed ship at Coriana 6 and second oldest species after Lorien and his people),
having long since resolved their inner conflicts, saw this and, taking pity on the lesser
species, begged the other Ancients for action."

"None of the others would get involved. Theirs had been a policy of isolationism. The
young races should be allowed to evolve at their own paces, free of interference from the
Ancients. The Triad argued that the Kirishiac were at the same level as the Ancients, and
therefore in their jurisdiction. The debate continued for eons until the Kirishiac made the
decision for them."

"Tired of respecting borders and avoiding sectors of space, the Kirishiac began
investigating other worlds to conquer. The Walkers, forever off on their scientific
missions, were never around to use the territory they demanded as sanctuary. Surely they
wouldn't even notice if a few systems were "borrowed"."

"Fortunately for the Kirishiac, the Walkers did not notice the infringement on their
territory, which only served to fuel the Kirishiac arrogance. They advanced their empire
through the Walker space until they bordered Vorlon territory. It was at this point that the
Vorlons contacted the Walkers directly. The Walkers were not pleased that the other
Ancients had sat by while the Kirishiac violated the millenia-old territorial boundaries,
not the first and certainly not the last offense that the Vorlons inflicted upon the Walkers'
sensibilities (Dask-note: ZOG!)."

"As the Walkers began the long process of recalling their ships from across all the
galaxies and dozens of dimensions, the Kirishiac made their second mistake. Although
the Shadows hadn't yet began their manipulations of the younger races, they had started
with their occasional, centuries-long cycles of hibernations. To the Kirishiac, this was an
open invitation, and soon the invasion of Shadow territory was underway."

"The Walkers, with the help of the Triad, traveled to Z'ha'dum and enlisted Lorien and the
few of his remaining people to help raise the Shadows from their slumber. The Ancients
hadn't fought a war in millenia, and this upstart race, whose technology was on par with
their own, was making it very difficult for the Ancients to keep to themselves any
longer."

"So the battle was joined. The Triad spearheaded every major offensive. Ever careful not
to simply overpower their enemy, they were interested in teaching the Kirishiac a lesson.
The Shadows and the Walkers were not so condescending. Eventually even the Vorlons
and Torvalus mobilized against the Kirishiac, and before they had realized it, the
Kirishiac were overwhelmed."
"It was impossible to hide from the Walkers, or to out-maneuver the Torvalus. When it
became evident to the degree of which the Triad was pulling its punches, the Lords of
Kirish finally admitted to defeat."

"As Lorien refused to stand in judgement against the Kirishiac, he directed that the other
Ancients should shoulder some of the blame. The isolationist policies of the past were
what had allowed this conflict to happen. They had sat behind their castle walls while the
Kirishiac developed technology to the point where they actually were a threat. It could
not be allowed to happen again."

"It was concluded that the Kirishiac entrance into the galactic community had come when
they were far too advanced to easily be manipulated or controlled. There had to be a way
to adjust the Technology Tree of the arising races. The Vorlons proposed that the level of
advancement needed to operate Hyperspace technology was orders of magnitude less
than that needed to invent it."

"This, amongst other reasons, caused the Vorlons to take it upon themselves to seed the
universe with jump gates. The Kirishiac War also proved to be a motivation for the
calculated manipulation of the younger races by the Shadows and the Vorlons, to prevent
the Ancients from ever being surprised again."

"From his vantage point on Z'ha'dum, Lorien frowned."

Additionally, there's this... from that same book...

"The Lords of Kirish were beaten back into their original territory, the area of space that
they occupied before their discovery of hyperspace, but they would not give up. Their
research and development departments were constantly striving to come up with new
weaponry, with the hope that, one day, they will be able to turn the tide of battle."

"In an effort to illustrate how techologically inferior the Kirishiac were, and how far they
would have to come to truly be a threat, the Walkers of Sigma 957 performed a simple
feat. A large fleet of Walker vessels, containing ten or twelve Travelers and many lesser-
class vessels, appeared in the middle of Kirishiac space without activating a single early
warning alarm. The Walkers then surrounded a large moon orbiting one of the Kirishiac's
largest colony planets. In a period of time too rapid for the Lords to respond to the
invaders, the Walkers activated their jump engines, and vanished into another dimension,
taking the moon with them."

"The results on the planet below were instantaneous. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
rocked he surface. The atmosphere, carefully formed over the centures, began to drift
away as the planet shifted its axis. The inhabitants were truly doomed."

"And then the Walkers put the moon back. The fleet reappeared and launched the moon
along a new orbit, the result of which restored the planetary balance and created a more
moderate climate. Finally aware of the level of technology their older brothers possessed,
the Kirishiac surrendered immediately."

Walkers of Sigma 957- The Walkers are the 4th Oldest race in
our galaxy. First was Lorien then the Triad followed by the Shadows and THEN
The Walkers. They started out as a large thick skinned creatures with poor
senses. Individually they posses more knowledge them some entire races. They
have a unending Thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn every aspect of the
Universe.

The Walkers never needed to developed tools, They can construct things
physically with there mind using Telekinetics. Building Machines and Computer's
Could be made easier with them however and this is where they found a need for
technology. The first discovery by the Walkers was the existence of other
dimensions. Some were permanent like ours... others disappeared in a Instant.
The first alternate dimension the walkers traveled too was what we call
THIRDSPACE. The creatures there were violent and more powerful telepathiclly
then The Walkers. Centuries of of peace talks Failed the walkers had to Map out
Thirdspace in secret.

The Second permanent Dimension the walkers discovered was Hyperspace.

They mapped hyperspace and all of is Storms and whirl pools in a very short
time.. This allowed them to travel to other dimensions and places in real space
they could not reach before. By the Time all of Hyperspace was Mapped The
Shadows had just carved a Empire out for themselves and the Vorlons had just
perfected space flight. NO other first one race had Hyperspace at this time. This
means that The Walkers Had discovered and mapped out Hyperspace before
any other first one race found out about it.

The walkers never had any real territory. they would go around and construct
ports from which they could launch expeditions from anywhere they liked. It did
not matter whose territory they were infringing upon. Eventually Lorien and the
Triad drew up Borders for all the first ones that would remain permanant. This
was to help avoid anykind of war.

When a walker Ship left to explore it would often not return for hundreds of
years... When it did it would deposit its information into one of 2 massive
databases. One of Sigma 957 the other a just a short distance away. The second
base was destroyed By a asteroid impact ( it was uninhabited) but all information
there was lost. The Walkers failed to forsee the event whats more is that the
Asteroid seemed to come from Vorlon space. The Walkers wanted to know why
didnt the Vorlons tell Them it was coming? This event would spur bad blood
between the walkers and the Vorlons for years to come. This event spurred the
walkers to come home more often... they opened relations with other first ones in
order to have a early warning system. this never worked as planned however.
The Walkers have precise documentation of the moment they evolved beyond
the physical. This information was one of the Factors of the Kirishiac invasion,
However the ease at which the Lords overtook Walker space more then made up
for the fact they could never find it.

Walker ships are designed for long range autonomous explore's. They are a
Flying Science lab. They have yet to ever build a warship and dont fit ANY
weapons to there ships. "But how do they fight?" you ask? Well they have sensor
equipment that is so powerful it can be used as weapons

Lightning Array: This is a long distance communicator used for Interdimension

Communications and across Universe's (its also the strongest weapon ever
published) it fires in 4 shots that can be combined for 1 massive Blow that could
destroy most first one ships in 1 shot.

Chromatic Pulse Driver: This is a sensor Suite used to study the fabric of space.
Any ship struck by one would take a Surge of electromagnetic damage. They can
also be used to analyze shields so the walkers can remodulate there sensors so
that shields become less effective and eventually useless.

Energy Draining Field: Every walker ship drains the energy of a ship it comes in
contact because of a Sensor suite that scans Matter on a molecular level... this
produce's a large negative field that disrupts electrical systems. or any system
that uses Non-kinetic energy:

Energy Draining Mine: this is a probe used to disable danger spacial anomalies
by disrupting its energy.

the Walkers have more then Just that... But thats a good overview

Here are some of there ships

Traveler: Capitol ship

WEAPONS: 1 Lightning array, 3 Chromatic pulse drivers
Armor: Heavy
Speed/Maneuver: Slow and Steady
Point Value: 5400
Fighters:12
Ancient

Pathfinder:Medium Ship (think Whitestar or a police ship)

Weapons: 1 Medium lighting Array, 1 energy Draining mine Launcher,1CPD
Armor:Medium/light
Speed/Maneuver:Slow And very Maneuverable
Point Value: 3150
Fighters:6
Ancient

Waymarker: Hvy Combat Vessal (Think Olympus Corvet)

Weapons: 2 Medium Arrays, 2 Chromatic Pulsars,4 Energy Draining Mines, 1
Electronic warfare detector,1 energy Draining Net
Armor: Medium/Heavy
Speed/Maneuver: Slow and VERY STEADY
Point Value: 2575
18 Fighters
Ancient

All walker ships can self repair and use a TransDimensional Drive(these were
just samples)

Walker Fighters arnt really fighters, they are unmanned Probes, They are VERY
FAST, VERY MANEUVERABLE, and each one is equipped With a Medium
lighting array that uses a combined fire mode ( its the strength of a Heavy Laser
Cannon used by Omegas) An din Addition to that they use a Lighter version of
the Chromatic pulse.In addition to that they are the only fighters that use
Electronic warfare. They are VERY deadly.

Yea they Use Transdimintional drives... They dont have a special "hyperdrive"
They use a engine that lets them enter alternate dimensions hyperspace is just
one of the many places they can go with it