[Accepted] Lent23 Unathi Application

[Lent23]

BYOND Key: Lent23
Character Names: Sophia Cynthai, Gabriel Freeman
Species you are applying to play: Unathi
What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): Red & Black
Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time reading about Unathi the past few days.

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question.

Why do you wish to play this specific race: Unathi are the most interesting race to me. Their sense of honor and duty is incredible, and their inward societal desire to be strong warriors really speaks to me. Honestly, I'm just interested in playing Unathi because they're simply an interesting race. I want to help push forward the ideals by playing a Unathi character as they're supposed to be played (having read the lore and junk!)

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Their actions, ideals, and mannerisms are all different. My character, a Unathi Noble from Moghes, grew up in a very specific environment, where he had a lot of privilege, and was simply raised differently than, say, a human would have been. Most humans don't get raised in a feudal system with nobles and servants, per say, As for their mannerisms, they have different queues when they have specific emotions. Unathi under stress might thwap their tails against the ground to release a bit of energy. They call other Sinta by their clan name if they're not friendly with them, preferring to get more specific with their description if there are multiple of the same clan rather than just calling eachother by their birth names. Guwan are absolutely disgusting beings that are the lowest of the low and interacting with them will bring you down to their level in the traditional eyes of the Sinta.

Mechanically speaking, Unathi have a few interesting quirks. They hit harder with their attacks, they're more resistant to heat and less resistant to cold, they hiss their S's when speaking basic, they can't drink traditional alcohol (ethanol I think?) but they have their own Unathi alcohol that they can drink (The bar serves it!), they can devour small creatures like monkeys using a devour command (and can also eat dangerous creatures like carp, and also I think spiders?) and they have to eat meat!

Character Name: Kresshi Szi'ha'nor
Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs.

On the eastern edge of the Moghean Sea, a walled city lies between two mountains. Battlements scale up the sides of the mountains, and a giant castle rests on the western mountain. This castle belongs to the Szi'ha'nor clan. Blood descendants of the Kres'ha'nor clan, and one of the dozen clans that were split from the death of Kresshi Kres'ha'nor. Ruled by Szai, the first son of Kresshi, the Szi'ha'nor clan thrived in their traditional mountain home. Over the ages, the Szi'ha'nor clan held a respected iron grip on Baandr. Through shrewd diplomacy and selective marriages, the Szi'ha'nor have been able to keep control of Baandr, even after the collapse of the first hegemony, through the second hegemony, and now into the third hegemony.

Our story comes to the current-day Baandr, where the Szi'ha'nor continue to rule. Lord Szai Szi'ha'nor XXXIII, a tall, diplomatically shrewd ruler, looks down upon his three sons. Lord-heir Szai, first born of Szai XXIII, was raised from birth to be the perfect leader. Trained with weapons as soon as he could hold them, showed the intricacies of court politics as soon as he could speak, taught history of his predecessors successes and failures as soon as he could learn. Tall, muscular, and deep blue-scaled, Lord-heir Szai was regarded as the mythical SInta who would bring greatness to the Ha'nor people. This Sinta is not who this story is about.

We shift our gaze to a slightly smaller Sinta standing beside him. Black scales with streaks of red cover his body. Huge, ram-like horns rest on his slightly lowered head, almost as if they were dragging his head to the ground. He was never quite as skilled as his older brother. He was never the Promised Sinta. He was never the deep blue Szai that his brother was. This was Kresshi. Named after the common binding of all Ha'nor houses, Kresshi was the disappointing son. Even his younger brother was able to grasp concepts like combat and diplomacy better than him. No matter what, Kresshi would be the hard-working but never-excelling Sinta of his family.

"Today is the day that we announce your leave, Kresshi," Lord Szai XXXIII had said,

Kresshi solemnly bowed his head to his father's words.

"You're boarding the next ship off Moghes, and you're heading for Tau Ceti."

Kresshi knew what this meant. He was being sent off to work with humans. He never did see the appeal of humans like his father did. His father welcomed them with open arms to work in the laboratories under their castle. Baandr used to be such a nice place.

"You'll be representing us, Kresshi. You're the Ha'nor representative in Tau Ceti."

The words were so strange to him. "Me," he thought. "Representing the clan."

"My words do not properly express how excited I am at the idea of you representing us in Tau Ceti, my son." Lord Szai said.

The words were empty in his head. He knew what this was. An unofficial exile. No Ha'nor had ever before been given the title of Guwan, and Szai XXXIII was determined not to have his son be the first to have that title placed upon him - especially not a Szi'ha'nor.

"You'll be given a small retainer of Sinta to bring with you. They'll serve you in life, and are incredibly loyal to our clan."

The only person Kresshi cared about was Zasiel, his right-claw-sinta. The one he grew up with. They both knew that one of them was simply a servant, but Kresshi knew that he would never let anything bad happen to his best friend. The rest were basic Sinta that his father wanted to get rid of. A chef that sometimes cooks the wrong food, a bodyguard that was seen with one of the lesser lord's wives, a few various courtiers that had slighted nobles or looked at their daughters the wrong way. A rag-tag group of fuck-ups. That's all they were sending.

"Thank you, father. It is an honor to serve the Szi'ha'nor in such a manner."

A rag-tag group of fuck-ups that would become family, heading to Tau Ceti together. This was the beginning of their new tale.

What do you like about this character?

Honestly, as I wrote more backstory for him, I just wanted to play him more and more. I wrote a whole bunch of character details for Kresshi and background information for the Szi'ha'nor, Ha'nor, and Baandr. I just got so involved with writing his character, and I'm so excited at the idea of playing him.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? 8.5. There are definitely people that are better than me, but I am not a stranger to roleplay.

Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQXUgz7RxOsFIMwzDPmaur89C5Rb5-a7wTLh1nrqR3x4OlWmXJAHE2bhmOqtQp7WONlioGAUDyJfD09/pub

This is a document I've been working on with Ziy for the background information of the Szi'ha'nor and Baandr.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Senpai Jackboot

[MelodicVoid]

Though I can't speak too much as to the lore, I believe it should be noted with in your application about the mechanical differences for how this species is different from humans. For example the speech mannerism or less cold resistance as well as the others. 

[DeadLantern]

I'd like to see more in the "what make this species different". You list a few things, and a few things that might relate to your character. You also say that they have different mannerisms... That is vague. Describe those different mannerisms and actions.

Other than that the story is unique. You see a lot of exile Unathi applications and characters, but this is a strange spin on it. But there are a few flaws.

The character's "perfect" brother would not be "perfect" if he was blue. Being blue is insanely weird and you don't want a weird guy ruling everything. You don't even want a blue heir. 

You also don't want to remove heirs. Ever. I would believe casting away this character if perhaps they were female. This is a heavily patriarchal society, and even if that heir is short, deaf, and blind, you better keep him.

So there are a few flaws with this story. I'd recommend switching the colors of the two sons. And then your character proving his worthlessness more. You need to prove to us (and the king) that that heir is completely unfit to be an heir and will cause more trouble than good if he stays here. 

When you address these points, I'll look at this app again.

[Lent23]

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I'd like to see more in the "what make this species different". You list a few things, and a few things that might relate to your character. You also say that they have different mannerisms... That is vague. Describe those different mannerisms and actions.

I'll get to adding more right away.

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The character's "perfect" brother would not be "perfect" if he was blue. Being blue is insanely weird and you don't want a weird guy ruling everything. You don't even want a blue heir.

This was going to be more of a myth passed down in ha'nor culture, specifically Szi'ha'nor, but I understand the concern.

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You also don't want to remove heirs. Ever. I would believe casting away this character if perhaps they were female. This is a heavily patriarchal society, and even if that heir is short, deaf, and blind, you better keep him.

So there are a few flaws with this story. I'd recommend switching the colors of the two sons. And then your character proving his worthlessness more. You need to prove to us (and the king) that that heir is completely unfit to be an heir and will cause more trouble than good if he stays here. 

The idea that he's being removed from the line of succession and removed from the area is meant to be Kresshi's opinion, and not an actual fact. Lord Szai is genuinely happy for Kresshi, his second-born son, to be given an opportunity to work in Tau Ceti and represent their family in a different system. The thing with being sent to Tau Ceti as a Szi'ha'nor and not as a Guwan that Kresshi doesn't understand is that he's always welcome back. If anything ever happened and the line of succession fell on him, he would be brought back to Baandr as the lord. He's not being exiled, he just doesn't like where his path is going, per say. I really tried to get his sarcastic/pessimistic attitude across in the dialogue.

There's nothing actually wrong with Kresshi, but he has a pretty low opinion of himself, and isn't the biggest fan of humans.

[zyymurgy]

I've been working with Lent on the concept for this Clan and have been greatly enjoying what he's brought to the table. He's got some good ideas and is on board with most of the things which make Unathi different from other species. I've already got plans to play as one of this character's servants.

The thing about Blue Heirs is that within this Clan it's prophesied that the True Blood of Kings is expressed by blue scales, since Kresshi Kres'ha'nor's First Concubine was a blue lady and passed this down to the Bloodlines of her three sons. (Bloodlines are a bit of a big deal for this clan.)

I also think it's perfectly reasonable to, when you have many heirs, use the "extra" ones as political tools. So sending one of your sons to Tau Ceti to make a name for himself among the aliens seems reasonable enough to me... since it's not "exile" even though the character may perceive it that way.

So needless to say this has my heavy plus one.

[DeadLantern]

I understand the deal with sending the heir out. That makes sense. I am still not on board for the blue scale thing. Yes, it's apparently in the mythos for this clan that blue scales = good. Why would that king choose his concubine to be blue? A man with strange likes no doubt, and he still had children with this concubine even if it may defile his bloodline? Surely, people didn't revere blue scales before that time.

I don't know. But I like the other parts of the app.

 

[Lent23]

2 minutes ago, DeadLantern said:

I understand the deal with sending the heir out. That makes sense. I am still not on board for the blue scale thing. Yes, it's apparently in the mythos for this clan that blue scales = good. Why would that king choose his concubine to be blue? A man with strange likes no doubt, and he still had children with this concubine even if it may defile his bloodline? Surely, people didn't revere blue scales before that time.

I don't know. But I like the other parts of the app.

 

The original blue-scaled woman that make dark blue scales so revered for the Ha'nor is the Empress of the Night, a figure who saved the life of Tryazali Kres'ha'nor. The story goes that he owed her a life-debt and went out to save her daughter from slavery by a nobleman in S'th, and ended up marrying the Empress' daughter. Tryazali is also credited as the founder of the first hegemony, the Kres'ha'nor Hegemony.

No sons have ever been blue before this, and it was simply a legend passed down that a blue prince would lead to great things for the Ha'nor people. Sinta in the area have begun to whisper about what will become of the great prince. Perhaps he'll spark the fourth hegemony and bring Ha'nor Sinta to the forefront of Moghean Politics and Power. _{Probably not, but people like to hope.}

[zyymurgy]

I see my lad has linked the doc we've worked on, so this is something to observe with regard to the 'blue heir' question.

(It may also be worth mentioning that the extended document is going to be worked on further for a Lore Canonization App as well.)

Edited February 17, 2019 by zyymurgy
info

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Getting to this tomorrow, sorry for the delay.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The unwanted younger brother of a much cooler and respected older sibling is an underappreciated trope within Unathi that I do not see often.

A noble taking an azure concubine makes sense. They are weird, but they are exotic - prizes and trophies to be treated well and shown off, but without being given respect as an individual by others.

Noble clans are also fine having legends about their great legacies and prophecies - it's very much fitting in the general romantic themes Unathi have in their culture and society.

Application accepted!