Overview
The Auril ('Aw-rill') is a minor, winged bipedal species currently occupying the Daedal system at the far end of the Perseus arm. The Aurils, as a people, are primarily focused on perfectionism, conformity and obedience to authority. Their homeworld -- Aura, nicknamed "Sanctum" by most humans, is a tropical, low-gravity, dense-atmosphere world with vast canyons that have since been filled and turned into lakes dotting the landscape. The entire system, barring a complicated exception, has mostly been colonized or utilized for resources. Their technological and military advancement, as a whole, is akin to most other major species, but little specific data is publicly available due to their conservative nature. The species as a whole has been insular and unwilling to expand beyond the local system due to a variety of factors. In spite of this, the system is known for being a bustling center of commerce, in particular genetic modifications, which serves as its main source of export.
System
The Daedal system hosts a single star, named 'Ra' by the Aurils, with five distinct planets with numerous satellites:
- Drema, "Shadow" -- host planet of the Dremachir, and closest to Ra. A desert-ridden, dusty hellworld with glowing, orange lakes of sulphur-rich sludge dotting the landscape. It is under official jurisdiction and control of the core Auril forces, but its re-colonization is in a tumultuous, stagnated state. Nicknamed "Infernum" by most humans.
- Foedum, "Fog" -- third planet out, a venus-like, atmospherically dense planet. It has an established, floating colony and is a core source of commerce internally and externally.
- Gelu, "Ice" -- fourth planet by distance, a massive ice giant with a thin atmosphere. With few resources available besides the ice, it only has a singular research outpost, a limited military presence and a network of mining and refinery plantations.
- Enlus, "Smoke" -- fifth, final known planet -- a colorful, two-ringed gas giant. Despite its distance from the star, it has a surprisingly brief 'year'. Due to this, it has the second densest navy presence, with several orbiting stations, and the core customs checkpoint for any incoming ships.
Biology
The common Auril shares a lot of common appearance traits with a Human -- two eyes, two ears, similar hair. However, as soon as one turns their eyes inward, the facade soon fall aparts -- the internal organ structure of Auril, their weight distribution and their senses are completely different and often varies depending on the individual.
Auril have had a long history of genetic modification, at first to adapt to the changing climate of their homeworld, then to adapt among the different atmospheres of their colonies, and finally to simply adhere to or express oneself within the accepted social standard. This has resulted in the aforementioned unsettling gradient of appearances, with varying wings, amount of pupils, mucus-covered skin, bioluminescence and other variations based on the region, role and established reputation of the individual among their peers.
The most populous caste, Aurin, rarely deviates from 150 cm to 180 cm (5' to 6') in height, with little distinct difference between the genders, barring inter-species, or inter-caste breeding.
Due to all these factors, the lifespan of an unmodified, regular Auril reaches upward of 150 years, with further modifications reaching up to 250. At that point, Elders are given a choice to opt into mechanical shells akin to MMIs to continue fulfilling their duties, depending on the merit of the individual.
Reproduction wise, the Auril do not lay eggs. They are essentially winged mammals, and the females carry their children for around 20 months, with full bodily maturity and fertility, achieved by age 25.
Castes
With the widespread usage of genemods, the people have formed distinct castes based on the regions, and duties, fulfilled by the people, with more traits shared among them than others. Two members of the same caste will generally provide the same offspring, but any caste member, especially Aurin, can choose additional genetic treatments to shape themselves towards the chosen specialty.
Praesidus -- "Protectors". One of the core Auril castes populating the armed forces, navy, and all civil policing sectors. They are often told apart by being on the higher end of the height and physicality spectrum, often standing out even among other Auril. Glowing eyes, and often bio-luminescent parts of their bodies further give them apparent presence and visibility at night. Multiple pupils are not uncommon, as are skin modifications. Their wingspan is often one of the widest, to support their own and equipment weight. Beyond the visual, they are often exemplified with higher levels of willpower and discipline. This group in particular, due to the nature of their duties, has a distaste for aesthetic genetic modifications, often opting for none at all during their lifespan, as any form of deception, especially among the branches of protectors, is considered incredibly taboo. Not particularly large in numbers, but key to the species as a whole.
Incanus -- "Enlightened". The researchers, educators, genetic and medical professionals. They are often distinguished by multiple pupils within their eyeballs, allowing for several visible points of focus, which is particularly useful in study, analysis and when one is surrounded by monitors. However, that is the only commonly shared trait, as beyond that, they may have a variety of modifications to best adapt to their specific field, or location. They are often found to be leaner and shorter than most Auril, mostly due to slow atrophy of their muscles due to natural lack of use, given their natural duties, however no one stops an Incani from maintaining their form. These are the fewest in number, and often seen as the aristocracy.
Aurin -- Its namesake coming from both the species and the planet, it is the most common ethnicity, displaying no particular distinct traits and each individual often having several genetic modifications used for aesthetic self-expression. Multiple wings, varying skin colors, ears and proportions. While they are the most populous, they are in fact not the 'public face' of the species as far as diplomacy, trade or even tourism is concerned, as most of external communications are done with Praesidi or Incani, who both have distinctly disciplined approaches to communication, compared to the far more mediated, common Auril.
Vilicus -- "Overseers". The core caste in charge of maintaining and working the various automated and manual industry sectors. They are the only group often seen with various mechanical augmentations. Due to the generally reclusive and physical nature of their work they have a tendency to be less adherent to the formalities of the social spaces. Their physical nature varies, but a keypoint is the replacement of their wings with a mechanical counterpart, allowing them to easily navigate the smokey, windy and otherwise air-disrupted factory sectors. Modestly sized in numbers, they are a core part of the industrial part of the species, often found employed on the colonies along with Aurini.
History
Colonization and Exploration
The actual records concerning this stage are scattered, missing and nowadays written in old, dead languages of varying Auril nations. What is certain, is that the Aurils had independently developed subspace travel and had begun colonizing their system around 1900. Contrary to popular assumptions, the first colony was on Foedum, followed by Enlus. This is due to the fact that at the time Drema was undergoing a geological flooding event, covering it in orange, toxic wastewater that was deemed too much of a challenge. Only almost a century later, around 2003 after the entire system-wide infrastructure had been expanded, did the planet become adequately hospitable. Genetic modification research also peaked around this time, helmed by a specific nation known as Pragma, fully cementing the intent to colonize Drema, followed by an assembly of a massive colonization fleet, being sent out into a nearby system, confident in the ability to adapt to a large variety of environments.
The overall state of the Aura and its people was not too dissimilar to that of humanity -- varying nations, some warring with each other, with little cohesive global unity or solidarity, with few unions existing across the globe. To avoid economic turmoil in the generally unstable global scene, several such unions had already begun using various AI assistants for the aid in managing internal and external commerce.
The Invasion
Only several years later, before the navy forces were able to fully recover from the cost of the fleet, a wandering Vox arkship entered the system, and, after beating through the space defenses, proceeded to invade the single most populated planet -- Aura. Although Vox were not expecting winged monkeys with similar hit-and-run tactics of their own, the ununified, individual forces of each nation were overwhelmed. With most of the planet getting slowly looted and taken over, the remaining nations unified in combined forces, but the lack of coherent communication, differing arms and levels of technology proved it difficult to mount any reasonable defenses outside of designated strongholds, or cities. One such capital city belonged to the Pragma nation, which, due to being the core distributor of genemods had the most homogenised military force and was able to maintain the largest perimeter. Some individuals tried to shuttle themselves and evacuate to Drema, slipping past the planetary blockade. The Vox did not stay for long, as wars of attrition nor sieges interested them, so they simply looted most of the built infrastructure and left.
Drema, while being picked up by scans of the Vox, soon proved to be 'Far too skrek' to be worth the effort of invading -- considering it's extremely harsh environment and excellent terrain for guerilla warfare. After just a few prodding scouting parties reported on the conditions, and there being very little visible livable presence, it was left alone, after the colony's hangars were looted, leaving them effectively stranded.
The Arbitration
With the looting, or destruction of significant portions of the infrastructure on the planet, the immediate famine, and crisis following it forced the existing post-war strongholds to ration their resources and defend from the various looter gangs that formed over the years. Pragma, being one of the most stable and intact, served as a natural target for both refugees and such gangs. With no intention of starving themselves out, and realising there is no hope of providing for everyone, the nation turned to pragmatism -- the aforementioned AI system, preserved during the war and already built for resource redistribution had enough data on most citizens to deem them fit, or not, for being allowed in. This process was named "The Arbitration", and is still considered to be incredibly cruel by most galactic historians. The records of the following decades to century have been, perhaps deliberately, made scarce by the Aura capitol city archivists.
Drema, along with the other colonies, faced massive supply issues. With the severely damaged fleet not able to supply them, and there being nothing to supply them with from the core world, the colonies starved. Enlus and Foedum both starved out or left to Aura or Drema shortly after, lacking any concrete self-sufficient resources. Drema, however, having had enough infrastructure and a key self-sustainable gene-mod facility built already, went under an intense, chaotic period of adaptation.
Rebuilding
The next cohesive records, following the Arbitration, date back to around 2134, with the Pragma along with one other prominent nation, left unnamed, being left populated. Most others were reserved to survive in self-sustaining, small pockets in the landscape, though some untouched settlements and other holdouts remained. Pragma, at this point having deemed itself the planetary government, began rebuilding the vast networks of infrastructure, centering from its capital of the same name. Expanding the AI's capabilities, maintaining a cohesive, genetically modified military force while also having most records necessary preserved, it proved to be a slow, but certain process, aided by the then-named Arbitrator. Within two centuries the planet-nation fully stabilized, slowly gaining the face it has today, with the only exception -- the "Undesirables". Before Drema, they were kept and maintained as a labor, and imprisoned within Aura, which overtime, given the strict nature of the new government, began to grow in number to a concerning degree.
Contact was re-established with Drema about a century ago, around mid 2100s but every decade or so a completely new group, or individual was responsible for maintaining interplanetary contact. Surprisingly, Drema also had its own fleet, and a substantial amount of commerce going through it, which naturally aided the re-growing economy of Aura, but their navy was still not ready for a full system-wide resurgence yet.
The Dremachir
By the year 2400, the Auril fleet officially made physical contact with Drema, or at least one of the closest city-states. The state of the Drema, at that point, was surprising, considering the harsh landscape -- several prominent, massive city-states dotting the landscape, with vast deserts in-between, with other prominent strongholds focused around natural resource sources. The genemodding facility had long since been disassembled and rebuilt in each city-state. The planet itself was a surprisingly bustling center of commerce, each city-state finding itself specialized in certain fields. The people, however, in the reformed Aurils' eyes were beyond recognition -- with generally blackened skin, horns, hooves and various other mutations adorning each 'Auril', they were soon given the moniker 'Dremachir' -- "The corrupted of Drema". Despite this, the initial impressions were not hostile, with the Council willing to diplomatically re-integrate the society into the fold, but few to none of the city-states were interested in arbitrary, forced vassalization and sudden, strict laws.
Whether the first shot was fired by a rogue Dremachir vessel, or by the Auril forces, it is still debated, but nevertheless, in 2403 the official Dremachir war began. It lasted two decades, and while the Aurils had stronger and more focused forces, it was an extremely attritional war for the Aurils. The presence of broader galactic financial interests allowed the Dremachir to hire mercenaries, which kept harassing the Auril fleet, and the natural sandy, cave-ridden terrain of the land made guerilla and ambush warfare the norm. On top of this, taking over any individual settlement, or city-state faced stiff resistance from within, as although each Dremachir nation held little respect for one another, they all had a mutual hatred of the invader. Despite Aurils taking a decent foothold of an entire city-state, which they managed to secure and stabilize, the war proved far too burdensome for both sides, and a strenuous peace deal was achieved. Drema recognizes Aura as the official ruling government, but maintains individual state freedoms, and accepts the undesirables of the Auril population. The Dremachir representatives agreed, and the blockade was lifted.
Current Day
Over the next century, the state of affairs has stabilized, with both Drema and Aurils maintaining individual navies and Drema growing even larger as an odd commercial, and service hotspot. With consistent deportation of undesirables, Aura has maintained its stability, having re-spread to its system under the ever-aging guidance of the Arbitrator. On paper, Dremachir have full citizenship rights to every part of the Daedal system, as do the Aurils, but volunteer expats are rare, and often struggle to fit in, suffering from natural prejudice due to their way of life, and appearance. Despite this, given the merit-based system, there are still few prominent, and even respected, Dremachir within Auril society.
Culture
Mentality
The Auril mentality is one of obedience to law, authority and respecting established social norms and often sheer dedication to their duty, as doing it well and standing out among your peers is often rewarded. Due to the general meritocratic system, the social pressure of being perfect has left Aurils with an overall stronger willpower and stress tolerance. In their eyes, how they act is how most others should act, coming from the natural pride of their own people. Vices, promiscuity and most features that were adopted by the Dremachir specifically are considered shunned -- unnecessary distractions from your own duties, and the betterment of their own kind.
However, not everyone is up to the task. Be it philosophically, mentally, or even physically, many have chosen to oppose the doctrines and ideals, seeking higher expressive freedoms. Be it as a rebellious teenager or as a more sophisticated adult -- through debate, or appearance -- but thus far such movements have been few and unsuccessful, as the best example locally available of such expanded freedoms is the Drema -- which is too far in the extreme, and anything less is seen as simply unnecessary. Due to this, and the fact that criminal behavior can result in expulsion, or worse -- prison in Auril-controlled Drema, many choose to simply leave, and find themselves in other fringes of the galaxy, forging their own fate.
On the personal level, one may find the Auril to be keenly long-term focused in their thought processes and decisions, which has emerged naturally due to how their homeworld operates. This can result in some Auril appearing aloof, or even misguided in leadership positions, as thinking long-term during an emergency can lead to controversial decisions.
Naming Conventions
Every individual in Auril society lacks a distinct last name -- instead it is replaced by a title, often denoting a minor, or major, accomplishment they have already achieved, or even lack of one -- "The Unfulfilled". Speaking of someone without using their main, or one, of their titles is considered the equivalent of saying "Yeah what's up, cunt [first name]" at your local president in their office. The titles often define the pride of the individual, so to strip them of it is to strip them of their identity and life achievements, which is considered incredibly disrespectful and is reserved to only trusted, casual settings -- among family and close friends.
Tourism
There are two things certain about Daedal, one of them is the shuttles being on time, the other isn't your wallet.
-Tourist, John Forms, Enlus's 5th Customs checkpoint.
The Auril are universally regarded as "sticklers" or "winged scarecrows" due to being precise and diligent when it comes to any visitors, particularly ones heading for Drema. Inspections are thorough, both when entering and leaving, as are document reviews.
While this naturally takes a "long ass time", there are certain benefits -- as the incoming vessel must be inspected and made sure to be airborne-ready for the atmospheres within the system, the pilots get a full list of issues found with the ship, essentially for free. For a fee, if the pilot agrees, the ship can be hauled off for repairs during their stay, while the pilots are to use the vast public transport system available within the system.
Beyond this, the system has a rather popular, and expensive, tourist attraction, from the generally aesthetically pleasing capital cities with long, vast towers to the almost comically contrasting gutters of Drema, there are certainly a lot to see and experience, but at a price, as the system is regarded as one of the more expensive ones to tour, at least outside of the Dremachir cities, as the Auril are fully willing to profit off of the lust and curiosity of the common galactic people, who are eager to seek out either end of the system.
Recognition
Titles are generally issued by the Ministry of Recognition, as are general commendations. Any Auril that performs their duty exceptionally well, does something noteworthy or simply maintains a consistent, meritful performance can be recommended by their higher ups for a commendation, which are generally known as "Marks of Duty Fulfilled Justly". These Marks are added to their record, and, if preferred, can be denoted on the person. This is dependent on preference, and their duties, and can range from stripes on clothing, medals, to physical body tattoos.
This higher-stakes environment resulted in people dedicated to their own duty in plain and simple mindsets, but also contributed to an aura of manipulation and underhandedness among the layers of society, as people seeking higher recognition, or others' titles are sometimes willing to commit to sabotage, or outright deception. Fraud being a high crime makes outright theft of work inherently risky, but pettiness was never outlawed.
Governance
The Auril government is composed of the core Council, named Synodus, along with a supermassive AI named, somewhat aptly, "Arbitrator", or, "Arby", for those who think less of it. The Synodus itself is composed of multiple individuals that have provided exceptional merit to the Auril society. From a masterpiece of art, to an innovation or discovery in sciences, military or logistical achievements. The Council by itself is the supreme authority -- judicial, executive, legislative and military, going by human equivalents, but has delegated itself to multiple ministries, often choosing to simply issue directives which are then followed through down the chain. Every member is selected for life, based on a "Merit Index" calculated by the Arbitrator.
The Arbitrator itself has been around for at least centuries, and inaccessible to anyone but the qualified Incani, which themselves are selected by the Arbitrator. Its directives were formed during the rebuilding of Auril society, serving as the main assistant and advisor in maintaining the varying economical, at-the-time political and logistical elements in governing a planetary nation. While some see the AI as an inherently flawed, risky endeavor -- the results are hard to argue against, as the current state of Aura is quite stable and sufficient to sustain the existing, core population. This, however, is the result of many long-term pragmatic decisions suggested by the Arbitrator and followed through by the Council, many of which seemed faulty and bordering on rebellion-inciting at the time, and due to the exploitation of Drema as both a source of resources and a suitable location for the expulsion of the undesirables, or "The Chir"
Due to its age, or perhaps simply a lack of processing power, the time it takes for it to make suggestions has increased exponentially. Facing the reality of either needing to rely on a new model, built and maintained by someone new, or relying on themselves for decision making entirely. The Council has thus far been extremely hesitant to expand beyond the local system, with the Arbitrator, even in its slow pace, suggesting to ensure the stability of Drema before any expansion outward.
Cities, Landmarks and Locations of note
The combined multi-planetary Auril empire holds quite a few notable locations, stations and cities. This list is by no means complete, especially since several sectors of Aura are forbidden from being visited by tourists. On Aura
- The Capital of Sanctum -- a vast megalopolis, resting atop, and now expanded far beyond, a vast canyon. It is the center of the government and usually the only location that can be visited by tourists outside of specific landmarks. Every major faction has some sort of establishment here -- even if they are not based from it. It is the base of the Roaming Guard -- known as the 'Enduring Fortress', the very defensive formation that fended off the Vox centuries ago, now turned into a vast palace, its many curved towers peaking up to, and above the clouds.
- The Valley of Memorance -- As the name implies, it is a country-sized valley, long since populated with a large network of towns and villages with a river running across -- the Aere, which is what the cities are known as. They stand out, as the architecture is one of the few remaining examples of pre-Arbitration, as it was a renowned monastery and flight school -- children were taught how to fly there, as the valley's walls proved a natural goal to reach and its ground -- a natural cushion. Nowadays, however, it serves as the core center of education and the Fiduciaries vaults. A tall, monumental and ornate tower sits in the center of it. Repurposed from ancient times and turned into their base, it's known as 'The Great Eye'. The Loquacious Estate, notably, has no presence there, as the Fiduciaries tend to report everything diligently themselves internally, and hold very little tolerance for the flowery embellishments of the reporters.
- Peak of Archon -- A city built atop a notable formation of a cliff, as the view from it appears to be split in three ways -- one of greenery and forests, stretching towards the heart of Aura -- Sanctum, the large Islands of Grimoir on the opposite side -- an archipelago that pre-Arbitration was a cohesive island, one known for underground expansive cities, was turned into a crater. The giant space proved useful for all sorts of dumping grounds, given Sanctum's intent to expand and the relative proximity. It has since been filled in, buried and flooded. The islands are only inhabited by religious groups. And finally, in the center of the view, the shimmering, amethyst ocean -- The Great.
In this time, it is the capital of the Loquacious Estate, and the main source from which their various agents and reports converge in and out of -- as the peak served to be an excellent location to reach most of the planet, as needed. The Fiduciaries seem to have a more extensive presence there, compared to most other cities.
Population Crisis
During the initial Rebuilding, the Auril populus was keen on larger-sized families to ensure the survival of their offspring. However, this was seen as undesirable to the Council and varying population control measures were enacted overtime, ranging from single-child incentivizing policies to tightening the threshold for expulsion among other measures. Overtime, this has proven to be effective, to the point the Auril population had begun to decline in growth, and reach a stable level, and surpass it. This has resulted in roughly 1/20 children born on Aura staying for a majority part of their life.
As it stands right now, the Aurils are facing a long-term drain of population, given a lack of change in the next century or so. Most critics, including the Council, have recognized this, but no official reform has been enacted yet, as the ruling is pending the Arbitrator's assessment and suggestion.
Genemods
Genemods are a defining aspect of the Aura population. So much so that the government offers sponsorships to Auril couples that have been deemed meritful enough, allowing their pregnancy to be entirely curated and ensure the conceived child is free of any genetic defects, and is born with the tendency towards the preferred caste of their parents. Such children also receive easier access to aesthetic genemods.
Any Auril conceived outside of such a sponsorship, however, are considered blind pregnancies, with little active support offered to them. Should the child be born with a limiting factor, or a disability, and the parents are unable to provide treatment for them, they are simply left to mingle among the rest of the population, often failing to persevere and, thus, see themselves leave or be made to leave.
Otherwise, Genetic mods are one of key exports out of the entire Daedal system, Auril-made ones, while limited in scope, and options, being lauded and known for extremely high quality, compatibility and very small chance of any failure, and an eye-gouging price-tag.
Language
The Enochian humful tunes are signature to most Auril, as it is the sole native tongue spoken at this time, barring various dialects across the regions and groups. It has many quirks that make it odd for humans and other species to adapt, if they are not familiar with inherent formality.
The title-oriented nature of the language causes issues when one tries to apply it to other parts of the galaxy, where no Ministry of Recognition exists. However, most 'lefties' (read: Aurils that have "left") have adapted to this by simply coming up with a casual impromptu title to most individuals they work with. It can range from anything like "Chef Ben the Burrito Savant" to, "Ivan the Just Arbitrator" or anything deemed fitting. The alternative, of course, is to twist their own tongue and try to get used to the conventions of other cultures, or to simply not speak the tongue at all.
Prejudice
The Auril over the years of their Rebuilding -- due to Arbitrator's natural bias towards the pre-established Auril features, developed a strong sense of judgement of one another. If you are not stationed on one of the colonies, or are part of the castes, modifying yourself beyond the standard in aesthetics can lead to prejudice. This includes, particularly, anything shared with the "Chir" -- corrupted, this includes horns, tails, hooves, snouts, featherless wings and often promiscuous expansions to various bodily features and needless prosthetics. While generally not a cause for expulsion, having these will certainly make one have a tougher time in the core colonies.
Factions, groups and people
Despite the apparent homogeny in culture and appearance, the people are anything but in their thought and beliefs. None of these factions or groups are exclusive to the point no members would be seen outside of the local Daedal system.
The Roaming Guard
The planetary police force, while under the direct purview of the military, is in its own nearly independent body spread across the entire system. With each colony, city and particularly Drema having its own distinct branches of the Guard. Mostly composed of Praesidus, or Aurin willing to undertake therapy to become more Praesidus-like. On Drema in particular, due to the naturally unstable weather conditions most of the operators are expected to have their wings removed and replaced with mechanical counterparts or equally augmented to allow for consistent flight. Despite their need to uphold the Auril Code and Law, they act far more as mediators of conflict and general civil servants. They have been regarded as biased and prejudicial against certain castes and groups, but such rumors are quickly quelled by the news networks.
The Loquacious Estate
A singular family that was originally allowed into Pragma during the Arbitration due to being the main coordinators of the nation's news network. Now turned planet-sized, the singular family is still enduring, each one of the family members who gets to be in charge of the network being titled as "The Eternally Loquacious", due to them consistently inheriting and performing well within their duties. Unsurprisingly, the news network is incredibly pro-government and pro-Arbitrator, who itself has deemed every new member as the most suitable for the position. Talkative, charismatic, and at this point plentiful in numbers they are distinguished by a singular tattoo stretching from their nose to their lips, which glows with a unique, and hard to obtain, golden glint, and changes color based on the tone of voice spoken. They were, and still occasionally are, accused of being corrupt or otherwise influencing or cheating the Arbitrator, given the fact they have established a lineage in such an environment.
The Unwavering Fiduciaries
A particular group that operates scarcely across the entire system, and outside of it. The Unwavering Fiduciaries are tasked with being responsible for documenting, recording and archiving all notable political happenings. Mostly composed of Vilicus and Incanus in near equal parts, they operate as parts of various escorts and as guests in any happenings or ceremonies. Keen to simply linger in the background and record everything. In spite of the rather technologically advanced nature of the Auril, the odd tradition of documenting everything by hand -- on parchment, using a transmitting quill that records a digital backup on the fly has been a carried over tradition. This, in turn, has resulted in vast parchment-based archives being kept and maintained by the same group. Although seemingly a relic, their archives have thus far been key in arbitrating new directions and gauging efficacy of various policies. Beyond that, the members of this particular group are often incredibly keen on remembering every slight -- in fact they often literally keep their own tomes of deeds, or misdeeds, to remember of individuals that concern them.
The Fool's Belief in a System Unsound
The name, while originating through simple happenstance of being the key phrase used by the group's creator -- a prominent critic of the entire nation-wide system. The self-labelled 'Fools', using the title as a satirical retort to being called as such, believe that the system has thus far only lead to a weakened, diluted nation that has curbed itself from expanding culturally, artistically, and even economically, and that the Arbitrator is nothing but a tool that should have never been given as much trust and power as it was. Despite their rather extreme views, they are not persecuted by the system, in fact the Guard has specific directives, now decades-old, not to do anything to them, barring actual breaking of the law. However, even in spite of a lack of a direct persecution they often do not linger on the homeworld for long -- the fundamental belief in hating where you live lends itself to being expunged, or leaving on your own.
The Dissolvers A sub-group, "The Dissolvers", who, rather than believing in fundamental extreme change to the entire system-wide governance, held beliefs that the Council is to be blamed for following the Arbitrator and has been petitioning for the disbanding of such a group, instead letting the entire system be governed by a democratically elective collective, rather than one made due to conceived, potentially skewed 'merit'. Be it through sheer coincidence, or insidious planning, the leader of the Dissolvers, who happened to be a popular artist, was recommended and selected for the Council. Their reign was noted for having significant reform regarding permissable art and aesthetic genemods -- allowing far greater expression of self among the population, however no dissolution proposals were made by them to the public's knowledge.
The Aurichirs
As the name implies, they are corrupted Auril -- often born or self-made with various "corruptions" that are akin to the Dremachir, or alternatively, Dremachir who have gained full citizenship within Daedal system. They tend to stick together and form their own groups among the cities and colonies of the Auril -- shunned by most, it makes it difficult to find non-assigned work and adapting to such positions is often cumbersome. Despite this, the system itself, barring mutations that render you too extreme, has very little bias and the Guard, Fiduciaries and even the Council has seen notable Aurichirs within their folds.
The Pundit's Ponderance of Potential
PPP, made out of literal pure spite of the FBSU, they are a half-satirical group of Auril that believe that the Arbitrator is not only a boon to the species, but should be left entirely in charge of the system and its people -- after all, logical computing cannot be corrupted nearly as easily as any individual. At first, the group was, while seen as a bit weird, was lauded and given varying levels of privileges. However, despite being pro-government and Arbitrator to the point of advocating and regarding them with near-worshipping zeal, the less-than-obviously satirical members of this group are currently persecuted. This is due to the fact that some political groups, particularly of Drema origin, took interest in infiltrating the group and turning it into a terrorist cell, resulting in various sabotage attempts of the inner and outer Auril logistics during a heightened period of tension between Aura and Drema.
The Unshackled
Essentially a religious cult, tiny in number but prominent in displays of endurance. They hold a fundamental belief in 'Salvation through deprivation.'. Their ideal of perfectionism consisting of depriving oneself of any and all vices, needs and, very importantly, constant challenge -- they are unshackled from the vices of the world, so to speak. Every single member undergoes an enchaining process -- chains, almost as heavy as their bodies are cuffed to them and left to be dragged behind them. Each enchaining process comes with a set of genetic therapies that allow the body to not only support the chains but to also be deprived of water and food for longer periods of time. The exact nature of such genemods are unknown, with some theorizing it may be less than natural, given the chains are inscribed with various runes and are made of a specific, publically unknown material. Regardless of all this, many members of the Unshackled eventually gain the appearance of an incredibly well-toned individual. When, if, they loose their shackles, the general body type remains, but they quickly become far less able to sustain their form and require food and water like anyone would expect of someone of such a stature.
Employment under Nanotrasen
Yes, him wearing a hardhat backwards is technically against the regulations, and no, I don't care.
-Regulation Affairs Agent, John Forms aboard the NSB Volcanus.
In spite of Nanotrasen only having reasonable access to exiles, voluntary or otherwise, they are often viewed as reliable, hard-working employees, with little issues integrating with the different levels of technology and culture, barring more extremes. They are also known for being underhanded, manipulative and generally prideful. This is not a constant, and naturally dependent on the individual -- after all, they already left, making them undesirable in Daedal, or Daedal undesirable to them.
Rumors and Speculation
What became of the original Pragma leaders?
Where is the lost colonization fleet?
Why have the Dremachir not been subdued yet?
The Arbitrator is actually an MMI network.
The Auril landed on Sol thousands of years ago?
They shun sex because their reproductive organs have been made unsatisfactory.
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Author: FreeStylaLT
Galactic Species
| |
| Common Species | Humans, Synthetics, Skrell, Tajara, Teshari, Unathi |
| Uncommon Species | Akula, Alraune, Auril, Dremachir, Naramadi, Zaddat, Dnin-Nepids |
| Whitelisted Species | Adherent, Dionea, Phoronids, Proteans, Shadekin, Vox, Xenochimera, Xenohybrids |
| Misc Species & Data | Minor Races, Scori, Changelings |