The Alphanes were an ancient race of sentient beings who occupied a number of worlds at least one hundred millenia before humans settled in the same area. They used an advanced crystal-growing technology, of which only a few relics remained in the Post Diaspora era. Their books were holographic crystals that were activated using alternating current power. Kalpriades' Survey of the Alphane Worlds was a book about the planets once populated by the species.