[Accepted] KingOfThePing's Last Infinity Stone: Unathi Application

[KingOfThePing]

BYOND Key: KingOfThePing

Character Names: 

Spoiler

Crossed out ones are either not played (anymore) but still remain for emotional reasons, played only a handful of times and are not "finished" yet or jokes for deadchat that are not played at all.

Species you are applying to play: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Brown-orangish (Sand coloured)

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes

 

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:

I think many know that I am quite intrigued, when it comes to (alien) social constructs, societies and the like. Past examples of me was an overly Queen loving Vaurca, a war refugee Tajara, as well as a medical doctor from the People's Republic of Adhomai. All these character concepts involved the society they came (or escaped) from and what problems and challenges this brings in their daily (work) life. Unathi are no exception and probably the strongest and, for me personally, the most important and interesting aspect of learning how to properly roleplay this species. On the wiki it is explained in great length, what social standings mean and in what way Unathi think and behave. It was a very interesting read and I wanted to be able to be a part of it.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

Unathi have interesting ways of interacting with others, their surroundings and how to express themselves. Respect and honour plays a major role for them, this directly affects how (and even to whom) they are talking. Properly or inproper wording can be the reason for an argument or even a fight. This also includes things as social standing and even basic things like what sex they are talking to. Cultural differences also have a way heavier impact to the personality of a Unathi than as, for example, a human. A good body language plays a major role, way more than humans. Playing a Unathi that is missing key parts of their culture, for example, an atheist one,  has a much heavier impact on how they (would) behave in different situations. It is much more noticable than an atheist human, for example. They have specific ways of expressing anger, distress or irritation. They even visibly react differently to the temperature of their surroundings. All in all, if you go the extra mile to roleplay it properly, keen eyes are able to tell how a Unathi is feeling or thinking, without them saying a word.

Character Name: Azuzhol Zuusk'ur

Please provide a short kind of long backstory for this character:

Early Years (2429-2437):

Spoiler

Azu, together with two siblings were hatched during the months of Versakh of 2429, in the city of S'th on Moghes. Growing up in the city meant enjoying many amenities. Azu and his two sisters also were quite lucky, being hatched into a merchant's family. Their father was the member of one of the cities merchant's guild, founded by their clan. They enjoyed a special privilege, their guild held a royal charter, which especially after the first contact was made, often gave them the edge over other guilds and clans. Even in Azu's early years, it was clear that his father had great expectations for him. As their family's only son he was naturally favoured over both his sisters, since he was supposed to follow the footsteps of his father, one day continuing his work in the guild. These expectations were a double-edged sword, coming with both benefits, but also duties, even in his younger years.

Care was put into his education a significant investment had been made, so he could be home-schooled, learning to read, write and the basics of arithmetic, laying the basics that were to be expanded upon during his teenage years. Azu was content with all of this. He showed great interest in the works of his father, being fascinated by the numbers, wares and what it meant to make a profit. Azu also liked to explore the streets, spending time at the docks of the city with his father, watching ships getting loaded and unloaded and paying attention to the bustling activity of the city.

Wartime (2437-2449):

Spoiler

When the aliens from space arrived on Moghes, Azu was too young to understand any of it and he did not really care about it. He did not see any of these aliens anyway, not until the shuttleport in S'th was constructed. Afterwards he was still too young to understand most of it, but he learned from his father that this all was a great opportunity for the guild, and thus the entire clan. His father was sure that this all can only lead to something good. No one could expect the disaster that manifested in the Contact War and no one was spared of it's consequences.

Many aspects of life changed dramatically, and Azu, as well as his sisters were again still too young to understand all of it. Everyday life began to change dramatically. Many clans began openly revolting against the Hegemony, Azu's clan was no exception. While the Royal Charter gave special rights - it also had it's drawbacks, mostly by limiting both profit, trading volume and the fact that the Hegemon always had the first pick, together with discounted prices which lead to displeasure inside the clan. S'th was spared of being obliterated by atomic destruction, the war did not stay north and north-west, the fallout was the first sign that things will never be as before. Suddenly Azu could not go outside anymore, he was forbidden to talk to former friends from some other clans. Many clansmen had to leave to fight a war Azu could not understand at first and never returned. The war lasted all his teenage years and it shows. Azu learned harsh lessons during the war, how to make due with limited ressources, who to trust and how to deal with dangerous situations. He also learned how to cope with loss, Azu lost one of his sisters, some months after the atomic exchange, due to the fallout. Devastated by this, the Sk'akh's Doctrines of Note helped him get over his loss, strongly believing that the soul of his sister is now a part of the Great Spirit. Throughout the wartime Azu regularly seeked spiritual guidance, which helped him get through his personal darkest times.

Post-War (2449-2455):

Spoiler

Everything comes to an end, eventually and so did the Contact War. The fact that Azu's clan, like many others, were on the losing end made him fear heavy, heavy retaliation from the Hegemon. Luckily for him, the fact that Moghes suffered heavily, many Unathi, his clansmen included, died and the Economy was utterly in ruins, may have prevented his clan from being eradicated. They even kept their Royal Charter, meaning they could and had to trade, helping to restore the once booming trading city of S'th. Years went by, things were slowly returning to relative normality. Azu spent most of his time working together with his father, slowly being prepared to take his place, as soon as the time for it was right. Yet the war changed Azu. He was not sure if he wanted all of this, affected by the war he wanted to leave Moghes, even if it was only for a while. He did not want to leave Moghes during the war, being marked as a refugee, he felt that he could not abandon his home, his clan, his family, what remains of it. But now he wanted to see more of the universe than just S'th. Every day he could see shuttles come and go, people embarking and disembarking and his wanderlust grew more and more. After finally talking about this matter with his father, he actually arranged something for Azu, being sent to Tau Ceti, with the intention to search for new trading partners and open up new markets and trading routes for his father and the clan.

In the early months of Kasavakh in 2455 Azu finally went to the stars, on a human bulk freighter, on it's long way to Tau Ceti. All he brought were some clothes, some money and explicit instructions from his father on what to look out for, when searching for new business partners so far away from home. Parting from his family was no big deal for him, he knew it was not for long and he knew he would be back soon.

The Grim Compact and Present Day (2455-2461):

Spoiler

Thinking back to what happend these years back Azu noticed he couldn't remember all too much about it. Maybe it was his way of coping with what he experienced back then, but  all he can still remember are the alarms, the panic and the shock, when the bulk freighter was rammed. It did not take long until he the boarding pirates found him and some other crew, trying to hide in the cargo hold. A stupid place to hide, in retrospective, what else would pirates be interested in than the cargo. Azu once again feared for his life but he was smart enough to not fight the Steel-Spirits. He and around half of the crew who also did the smart thing to not fight these pirates and were looking like they could be useful in the long run, ended up making the once in a lifetime choice. Prove themselves, taking a chance to live and join the Steel-Spirits or being held as hostages with little to no chance to ever be free again.

Azu knew the only way to get out of this alive was to take the offer and so he spent the past six years as part of the Grim-Crew on the cruiser Belisarius which became his new home, whenever he was not docked at the Malefaction or on leave on Ha’zana. Azu despised the situation he was in at first, but afterthe first year, accepted it, for his own sanity's sake. He tried to avoid direct contact as muc as possible, but he was not spared of the strict drills and training ever Steel-Spirit has to go through. Most of his everyday duties involved maintenance tasks, keeping the patchwork cruiser together, with the help of many other Grim-Crew. He accepted the Star Code and strictly obeyed it, as did most of the rest of the crew.

Finally, in 2461, after a series of unsuccessful raids the Belisarius was looking for worthwhile targets, far away from the Kaziti System, lurking in Tau Ceti's Romanovich Cloud. It took not too long to find a valuable bulk freighter, carrying ores from Biesel to who-knows-where. It didn't matter. The fight did not take long, but while boarding a fast response team of the TCFL showed up, showing Biesel's no-mercy-policy for pirates. During the following, short firefight the Belisarius was subsequently destroyed. The freighter, which Azu and the rest of the baording party was on, suffered a direct ram from the Belisarius, maybe as a last effort to deny the loot any potential others. Azu took this opportunity to board an escape pod to not only escape the dying ship, but also his life as a pirate.

Being picked up some time later, able to talk themself out of any trouble, they were brought down to Biesel's surface. Selling the belongings they had on them and thus with some money in their pocket they finally arrived in Tau Ceti, six years late. The first thought was to go back home, to Moghes, but after giving it a long consideration, Azu was too embarrased to to return home. At best, his family never heard about the pirate attack and assumed the freighter he was on as lost, at worst they did hear about it and assume he died during the attack. He is firmly convinced it is better this way. Knowing he has to make a living somehow, he was looking for different opportunities, until he decided to set foot in a NT recruitment office.

What do you like about this character?

Azuzhol or Azu for short, is "only" 32 years old, but has experienced a lot of shit times during his life. Being pressured early on to follow his father's footsteps, to the war he, for quite some time, was too young to even understand what was going on, to six years of piracy he never wanted but had to endure, since it was the only way to just not die, makes him a multifaceted character. He's not a dumb brute, he enjoyed a good education during his youth, but he has also seen and experienced what people do to survive, what he himself is capable of enduring when there is no other choice. What it means to lose something, or, in his case, someone to circumstances he has no influence over. He never gave himself up, his believes and principles keeping him afloat, rules and honor keeping his head up there. He lost a lot, has endured terrible times, twice, and is ready to start something new, somwhere new.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? Solid six out of ten.

Notes:

I wanted to post this twelve weeks ago. It has gone through /many/ iterations and has been reformatted a lot of times. I hope I have not overlooked fragments of older iterations still being in there and hope all sentences make sense. I had quite some troubles and one big brain thought process with the character's story and I am sure I did  get /something/ not right so please point out anything that's either stupid or is just wrong so I can correct it. The original story was easily double in length, especially the Grim Compact and Present Day portion but I felt like it was immense bloat and cut it down significantly. If anyone still wants it, yeet me a DM and I'll send it your way soon(tm).

 

e: I know I did not specifically pointed out which job Azu is going to be taking on the Aurora. I left this open on purpose, since I did not entirely decided on it yet. I can only say that it will be an entry level position, most likely Engineering Apprentice.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Marlon Phoenix
grammar and spelling

[StationCrab]

This one is a no-brainer for me from a player perspective, from a lore perspective I am not an expert but everything here looks interesting, and there is clearly a solid effort on the backstory. 

+1

 

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Hello!

I like the backstory, and I'm glad to see his background in the Grim Compact because this is the first whitelist app from this faction.

I just have a question about the final section and its consequences.

Is he still a citizen of the Hegemony or the Compact? Did he seek asylum in Tau Ceti and cut ties with the GC and the Hegemony? The ending leaves this part a bit vague, unless I missed something.

[KingOfThePing]

Hello,

reading the last section again, after letting it sit for a few days I absolutely agree with you that the ending leaves things a bit vague. It was the part that got cut down the most and I didn't really notice that. So to adress your question:
 

Spoiler

 

When Azu surrendered to the pirates and was basically forced to enlist in their ranks, after being brought to the Kaziti system he eventually became a proper citizen of the Compact (the wiki was a bit vague about this, but I assumed that the Compact, being a vessel to the Hegemony must have at least some forms of bureaucracy and report back certain things to the Hegemony).

Azu, after finally arriving on Biesel in the end, basically is a refugee. He did not want to return to Moghes (for reasons already said in the original post) but also did not, under any circumstances, return to the Grim Compact, since he was forced into piracy, not doing it out of enjoyment or anything like that and took the first opportunity to leave this behind him. So without any other place to go, he would most likely seek asylum in Tau Ceti, eventually becoming a proper citizen, since, in his eyes he has no other choice.

 

 

I hope this answers your question.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Hmmm..... I love it! Application accepted.