Ancient

Introduction
The Ancients, also known as the Relay Builders or Anquietas in their language, were those Alterans who left their home galaxy for the Milky Way. They are one of the most advanced races known to have existed, and are considered on of the progenitors of Humanity. They are best known as the builders of the second-generation Mass Relays. Most of them have were wiped out in the Ancient-Reaper War around 800,000 BCE, however some did Ascended to a higher plane of existence with near infinite knowledge and power.

Telepathic Capabilities
Over the tens of millions of years of their existence, the Ancients gradually evolved to become much more advanced than baseline Humans, and the neurological makeup of the Ancients was much more complex than that of the average human. As their brains further evolved, their intelligence and capacity to store knowledge greatly increased, allowing them to develop some of the most advanced technology encountered thus far.

Towards the end of their evolutionary development, but still before they ascended, they also developed various advanced mental powers including extraordinary sensory abilities, the ability to heal others with a touch, partial Telepathy, and powerful Telekinesis.

Within their genetic makeup was a particular gene, the so-called Ancient Technology Activation gene, used to activate and interact with some of their more sensitive technology. It is still unknown if the gene was naturally occurring within the Ancients' physiology, or the result of genetic manipulation.

Ascension
Eventually, some Ancients became able to separate from their physical bodies and live eternally as pure energy on a higher plane of existence with an infinitely increased capacity for knowledge, wisdom and unfathomable power including the ability to destroy entire armies and space fleets with a mere thought.

Culture
The Ancients are well known for their belief in free will and will go to great lengths to ensure that others are allowed to make their own decisions without outside interference.

Cultural Dogma
The Ancients believed in science, reason, and logic. Knowledge and enlightenment were fundamental to their world view. They believed that the universe was to be studied, and that scientific experimentation was essential to gaining understanding. Most importantly, the Ancients believed in free will. They believed that the right to choose whatever a person wants to believe is more important than anything else. This has been to their detriment, however, as it has been that very belief in free will that forces them to respect the rights of the Ori in believing their fanaticism. They also believed that they did not have the right to restrict the freedom of the followers of Origin to believe in the Ori by "brainwashing" the true nature of the Ori into their followers for much the same reasons.

Society
Despite being an advanced, industrialized society, the Ancients seemed to have a preference for stone structures enriched with Naquadah for strength while in the Milky Way. They were also known for writing information on stone tablets.

It is not known why this was, however it seems that any other source of technology would have proven useless because they would also have to be on the same level of tech to even extract that information. Naquadah enriched Stone, it seems is their preferred storage because of its ability to stay intact for millions of years while paper would degrade and anything tech based would require a power source that would eventually become depleted.

Technology
By the time their civilization fell, the Ancients had gathered more knowledge than any other race. Even now, that knowledge is far superior to that of the Interstellar Coalition.

Noted for its massive redundancies and the extensive use of Control crystals, Ancient technology is the most resilient ever seen, remaining intact for thousands of years without even minor signs of deterioration or decrease in performance.

Of all their technological creations the second-generation Mass Relays are their most famous, but they have developed devices as diverse and complicated as flying cities, advanced healing devices, beaming technology, zero-point power sources, inter-galactic FTL communication devices, seek-and-destroy projectiles and even genetic manipulation devices.

As a safeguard, most Ancient technology requires the presence of the Ancient Technology Activation gene to use, but in a large number of instances the gene is only required to activate it. In such cases, once active anyone can use the technology, regardless of whether or not they possess the gene. The only times the ATA gene is required for continuous use is in important and potentially dangerous pieces of technology, such as the Control chair.

Territory

 * Terra
 * Proclarush Taonas
 * Dakara
 * Valos Cor