Aticius' Lizardhead Application do not steal

[Aticius]

BYOND Key: Aticius

Character Names: I don't have any, yet!

Species you are applying to play: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Dark Red, Dark Tan

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: All of them and then some. Please send help.

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: In complete truth; Aurora's Lore for Unathi is simply spectacular and I enjoy just how far it's strayed from the material I've become familiar with. A society torn apart because of the interactions of species far greater than them, while not being Yet-Another-Space-Tribal is super interesting, and just how *recently* the Contact War occurred means it's fresh in every Moghedian's mind. If they're alive, I guess. There's so much potential in the species.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Where to start, really? Obviously, physically, Unathi are tall reptillians without much in the way of sexual dimorphism, who hail from a once vibrant world that has become decimated from a nuclear war, leaving only a scant few places realistically habitable and the people shocked by the war- but a winner was decided in the aftermath, leading the Unathi to the stars. This, immediately, differentiates them from Humanity- Moghedians have wildly varying views on them, ranging from admiration, to complete revulsion and everything inbetween, to say nothing about biological differences.

To add onto this, the Unathi are extremely stratified culturally, arranging themselves into clans and castes, with very limited mobility save for unique cases. Guwan Outcasts and Women have it the worst- relegated to either menial tasks fitting for trophies, or even outright exile and exclusion from most of society for some crime or offense they might have committed. This large amount of stratification leads to a society bound not just by social norms, but through strict traditions that even nuclear war couldn't break, maintained by time-tested economic traditions that would seem backward to (most) of Humanity.

Character Name: Tzarka Ssarzi

Please provide a short longer than neccessary backstory for this character: Spoilered, for your convenience.

Spoiler

 

Tzarka is a Wastelander born in a po-dunk, unheard of village without a great history for her clan to claim, simply survivors in the horrid, irradiated sands of Moghes. Tzarka was one of a (presumably) small generation to be born only shortly before the end of the Contact War. To her, Punished Raids, Hunger, the click of a geiger counter are all just parts of her life. Stories about the greenery of Moghes and the life that once flourished where her scrap-village now stands are almost mythical to her and tales of those from the stars were legendary- until she saw the Stars.

Having been raised in the violent aftermath of the Contact War- and the ensuing chaos that came after, her Political stance is more even handed than might be expected; more concerned with survival than the bickering that caused the war, though she was undoubtedly raised by Traditionalists. Religiously, she's come to adopt what her clan at large follows- a far more conservative flavor of Th'akh, hammered by the teachings of wandering Fire Priests that used to visit her village- little more than some gangplanks and string lights admid the ruins of an abandoned city in the midst of a desert of radioactive ash. While the Ssarzi clan may have no great warriors to claim, nor great stories to remember (Atleast, none that matter now.), but the Sszari have adapted to the new reality of Moghes well, becoming proficient survivors in a city of ghosts. Vigilant watches for the weather, crudely sealed and air-filtered homes struggle to keep them alive in an irradiated city contaminated by atomic fire. Outside of their filtered homes, built in the standing and the structurally sound ruins, the Ssarzi are forced to wear homemade filter masks to avoid breathing in radioactive ash swept up by the harsh desert winds. Tzarka was born into this, as one of only a few of her clan's clutch that survived beyond early childhood. While her clan has been forced to become far more egalitarian given the direness of their situation (and, indeed, the difficulty of travel), her gender proved to be less of a barrier than most, but by no means meant she was off the hook. As soon as she was able to understand how her home works, and the dangers of her home, she was kept in the house as much as possible- keeping the house clean, the filters unclogged and an ear to the crude radio to listen when to seal the windows from impending ash storms. Without much access to other clans and trade, the Ssarzi, and the other clans in their small tribe are unable to use the traditional method of diona-based radiation cleansing, forcing their farms indoors, and careful procedures to keep their food (relatively) healthy. 

Shut indoors and with little to do beyond occasional trips out to ensure their makeshift fish tanks and algae farms were working as intended and that the moisture farmers were kept at the right temperature. Menial, albeit it far from typically womanly, work. This, naturally, lead the small Tzarka to tinkering and shrewd investigation of her surroundings, often inspecting and disassembling what she could around the ruins of her home and what salvage the scavengers would bring back, occasionally helping her father struggle to get things working again- somewhat to his ire, and somewhat to his thanks.

While being in a secluded, irradiated city kept them relatively safe, it was far from totally safe. Daring Punished attacks and Reclaimer Raids befell the small tribe occasionally. One to simply take their food and what valuables they had, the other to enforce their claim on the city, often employing "Dishonorable" tactics such as mines and spike strips to disable vehicles (and often, the drivers) around their well-charted home, often picking through the spoils themselves of anything they happened to be carrying- either to take apart for salvage, or simply to use. At first, those killed were respectfully allowed to be taken back, but soon burial tradition gave way to stark pragmatism- to much friction within the tribe.

Soon, Tzarka was a young adult, with as fair a health as one could expect from living in a radioactive crumbling ruin, and set to be wed to a separate clan within the Ashland Tribe of hers, but between the friction within her tribe, and the escalating Punished Raids, her tribe eventually shattered- and her clan abandoned their home with as much dried fish as they could carry and what pre-war valuables they had and set off into the sands, Wandering the sands with simply what was on their backs, roaming from village to village in hopes of finding passage or a new home. With their trinkets, radios and parts sold off for food, maps and more applicable tools, with not more than their daughter and food left over. To their luck, they eventually found a Reclaimer landcrawler to ferry them back to Hegemony territory eventually, in exchange for their expertise aboard the Crawler. From here, Tzarka eventually broke away from her parents- having seen enough of the hellscape that is Moghes, eventually being able to convince a smuggler to take her off-world and to the stars.

Now, she styles herself an immigrant to Biesel, working aboard the Aurora to, eventually, become a Citizen and call Tau Ceti her home.

 

What do you like about this character? Tzarka has so much potential I feel, and she can explore a unique perspective of the world Aurora takes place in, while not being an out and out cliche that the lore would want to pin on such a character.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? I like to think I'm decent, but I have no idea how I compare to Aurora regulars.

Notes: 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Aticius

[Kintsugi]

Aticius underrates himself when he describes his role-playing ability as only "decent" - Aticius is one of the most competent roleplayers I've ever encountered. And that's just his ability to play characters - When it comes to understanding and immersing himself in a piece of lore, he's highly capable of doing that, as well. I've never been disappointed or even merely satisfied by something he's done in the context of SS13 - be it playing a character, or writing lore, or what have you - He's always gone above and beyond, in my mind. My word probably doesn't mean much, because I'm new myself - but I think that he would be an excellent contribution to Aurora's Unathi community,

[MattAtlas]

I understand it must be a bit questionable for someone with no characters to apply for a species. Whether they should be accepted is up to the loredev, however, I can vouch to Aticius being an excellent roleplayer.

[NewOriginalSchwann]

While I also understand it's kind of questionable for somebody with no characters to apply for a species, and understand it is ultimately up to the lore dev, I can vouch for Aticius being an exceptional roleplayer. They played one of the best (if not the best) unathi I interacted with on Baystation12, and have always gone to great lengths to play believable characters. I am both eager and excited to see their take on unathi in Aurora's setting.

[Scheveningen]

OH HEY I REMEMBER YOU. you were like the only interesting unathi player on bay. It got tiring having to deal with generic white Marine/Navy snowclone goons all the time. I wish you luck with this app, tbh, it looks really good and demonstrates an understanding of the themes set here.

[geeves]

Having been a component of this application, as you've discussed many of the facets of Unathi lore with me to be sure you got it right, I'm convinced that you're in tip top shape to play an Unathi.

Your lack of characters don't concern me, your reputation from previous servers precedes you. The feedback was all good.

The application, as well, is using the new lore I wrote, and makes masterful work thereof, I am extremely happy about this.

Application Accepted, now I just need to get the Unathi maintainer to give you the whitelist. It should be done by the time you wake up. (maybe a bit later, cursed perms)