Difference between revisions of "Taerians"

Latest revision as of 11:58, 30 October 2008

A race with something of a tragic history, Taerians are human-appearing aliens originally from the northern section of the galaxy. While their strange ways of thinking and alternate forms of science and technology might make them seem to be quite an advanced race, most Taerian technology is functionally similar to Earth technology, perhaps slightly improved; their technology is certainly not as advanced as that of the Shen'ihr, for example, but Taerians have other advantages that make these differences negligible.

Taerians focus on what they refer to as Attunement and Ascension, two ideological pinnacles toward which they strive. Taerian lore holds that the universe itself wishes to destroy their race, and Taerians believe that by Attuning with the universe, they can avoid such a fate. As a whole, the race enjoys music greatly, which Taerians feel allow them to connect to the universe in its entirety. Attunement--connecting one's consciousness with a "universal being"-- is often sought through music. Despite their desires to find universal connection, modern Taerians are somewhat hostile toward other races, through a combination of their tragic pasts and the influence of a subrace of Taerians known as Bluds.

Physical Description

Taerians appear almost entirely human. They are smaller than humans, typically standing between five and a half and six feet in height and having slight frames and lean bodies. There is little difference in appearance between males and females; whereas humans can generally say that females are smaller than males, Taerians tend to be around the same size regardless of sex. Their skin ranges from extremely pale to golden or coppery sheens (of an actually metallic appearance, not simply a human "tan"), and their hair and eyes generally are either a shade of red or a gold, brass, or copper hue. Taerian fingers are elongated as compared to a human's, as are their toes, but their bodies are otherwise quite similar.

Perhaps because of their philosophies, which include a sense of universal connectedness and a lack of real individuality, Taerians do not age normally, and instead must actively force their bodies to grow older. As such, Taerians often live for hundreds of Earth years, as it is Taerian tradition to halt aging once adulthood is reached so that they might serve their society for as long as possible. Without aging themselves, however, Taerians eventually break down anyway; they will still die of "old age", even if they never age themselves past adulthood.

Taerian physical senses--sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch--are much more sensitive than in humans. Taerian food, as such, is generally seen as quite bland to human tastes, because Taerians require very little to stimulate their senses. Taerian music, when played aloud, is done so rather quietly, and Taerians themselves are typically soft-spoken.

All Taerians possess brains physically capable of psionic communication; telepathy is the preferred form of communication in Taerian society, partially because of their heightened sense of hearing.

Bluds are physically similar to Taerians except for a few minor changes. They tend to be larger than their Taerian counterparts, often standing around six feet in height while Taerians average several inches shorter, although they are still built slightly with lean frames. Blud hair and eye hues range from deep red into dark purples and even black, and their skin is typically pale, although the metallic tones are still possible.

Taerian Society

Taerians as a whole wish to live simply and humbly, and they have little care for materialistic wants. Their perception of everything is not of various objects scattered through space, but of series of independent acts; existence for Taerians is not spatial, but temporal. Their language has no true nouns, instead focusing on verbs and adjectives. There is no word for "sun", for example; instead, the Taerian language has words that would translate as "to sun" in English. Saying "The sun rose over the mountains" in Taerian would translate literally as "Upward behind the jagged-rising it sunned". Confusing things even further is that Taerian language presupposes idealist notions, and tends to form and refer to "poetic objects" that are composed of various verb-adjective combinations. Because of this, despite their complete lack of what humans would refer to as nouns, Taerians can speak of any infinite number of objects that would be forced to be described by nouns in human tongues. This is also partially why Taerians prefer telepathy to verbal communication; when encountering those who do not speak the Taerian language, mental imagery is often much more translatable than the poetic objects created by Taerian words.

Taerians do not have much in the way of government, although a council of those Taerians who have aged themselves the furthest and have the greatest life experience act as a ruling body in the rare instances one is needed. Taerian outlooks are typically somewhat pessimistic; their history is littered with tragedies, including those that came from within their own people. As such, modern Taerian society is splintered into two main camps, a peaceful group and a militaristic group. The peaceful group wishes to maintain a military simply as a defensive body, seeking to Attune and eventually Ascend to the universal consciousness. The militaristic group wishes to actively seek out those which might become threats to the Taerian people, a view which so far has not been acted upon. Most of the Spacelords, the Taerian military, belong to this offense-minded camp rather than wishing to act as peacekeepers and defenders.

Bluds, who were once seen as third-rate citizens of Taeria due to their own history, have recently become more accepted since the formation of Dutaeria and the regathering of the Taerian people. Many Bluds are gaining influence in Taerian society, pushing for the military camp due to their much less peaceful nature.

Origins and History

Taerian lore holds that they were created as a test race by the Kais, who were practicing their abilities of creation. Their lore also states that the Taerian people were meant to be killed off once they had served their purpose as a test of the Kais' abilities, and they refer to "plagues" that have been methods by which the universe sought to destroy their race. The first four of these plagues occurred when Taeria still existed and culminated in its destruction.

The first plague was an invasion by a spacefaring race known as the Yardaks, strange blob-like creatures that sought to devour the Taerian people. The Spacelords were first created in response to this invasion, managing to fend off the attack, but only after nearly three-quarters of Taeria's population had been killed.

The second plague was an astral bombardment of Taeria and its four moons; a massive meteor storm destroyed the third moon of Taeria and scarred the planet's surface severely, reducing its habitability drastically.

The third plague had a more prophetic appearance; each of the three suns that provided Taeria with light was eclipsed by one of the three remaining moons, and a Taerian known as Miyamoto was born. Miyamoto, trying to find a way to empower his people and stop the dire fate their lore predicted, caused a rift between dimensions, allowing shadowy demons to spill into Taeria, killing much of the populace and destroying most of the Taerian cities. Miyamoto was banished from the planet, though his actions were the preface to the creation of the Bluds, who are Taerians who have become tainted with otherworldly power.

The fourth plague was the actual destruction of Taeria itself. The Taerian collective consciousness, rooted in ideals rather than concrete nouns and objects, had formed an "ideal Taerian", an demigod-like entity known as Shin Strife. This entity actually roamed the galaxy, eventually landing on Earth and partaking in many of the events in that planet's history. Shin Strife's true purpose on Earth was to find the exiled Miyamoto, who was feared to be the source of another plague, but various events during the invasion of Zann and the Golems eventually caused Shin Strife to sacrifice himself to save Earth. When their ideal figure was destroyed, the Taerians realized that their planet itself had somehow become connected to the demigod, and, with the planet disintegrating now, the Taerians fled their homeworld, disappearing into space.

Eventually, a Taerian known as Davin Althimor reached the mystical state of Ascension sought by all Taerians, and, through a deal with the remaining essence of Shin Strife, Althimor sacrificed himself to create a new planet in the place of Taeria, a planet which itself sent out powerful signals to call the scattered Taerians to a new home.

Dutaeria

This new planet, Dutaeria, is very similar to Taeria itself, although it also bears greater resemblance to Earth than did its predecessor. Only a small populace exists on the planet, as many Taerians died or are still scattered across space. Many Bluds have returned, however; the ratio of Bluds to Taerians is much higher than it ever has been, as many Bluds, who see themselves as guardians for the Taerian race as Miyamoto tried to be, answered the beacon call of Dutaeria almost instantly.

OOC Information

Taerians and Bluds are a minor race originally created by Strife and currently controlled by Tiryst. They do not have an approved minor race ruleset and are mechanically identical to humans.