[ACCEPTED] SSSSherman SSSSeeks Honour

[The7thLain]

BYOND Key: TheBurninSherman

Character Names:

Nasrin Bose, Engineer (Hepht)

Augustina Negrescu, Surgeon

Karolina Bezdnova, Scientist (Zavod)

Merjan Enver, Curator

Umbra SSU #4.262-C, Bartender

Song Sun, Chief Medical Officer

IRU-Dauphine, Forensic Technician (Idris)

Species you are applying to play: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character?: Sand brown

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

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

I want to explore the culture and history of the Unathi through roleplay, as despite being involved with lore rather heavily, I am not too familiar with Unathi and I find them very interesting and unique in not only culture and history which is something I want to explore.

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

Not only are Unathi very different in terms of mechanics from humans, with different things that can be used for valid hunting, but also in mindset. Everything must be taken into account not how it affects the individual, but how it affects the clan of the character and how it affects the character in relation to Th’akh, Sk’akh, and the spirits around them. Unathi have a very big, spiritual perspective that I think no other races on the Aurora share.

Character Name: Raan Zesi’lozso 

Born to a Si’akh peasant family in the wastelands of Moghes, Raan was always one to make the most out of whatever surprises were thrown his way. For most of his childhood and adolescence, Raan roamed around the blasted wastelands of Moghes, herding Azkrazal and helping run supplies about the region with his small clan around a small camp operated by the Vihnmes Clan. As perhaps expected, life was not easy for him. Working the blasted earth with his clan, moving with the Azkrazal, and seeing firsthand the horrors other Unathi were capable of, all made him grow up fast and learn what his life might be. After turning 15 however, there were grumblings in the clan. The Zesi’lozso clan elders met to address a growing concern among the clansfolk: grazing land was at a premium in the wasteland, and the lands that Clan Zesi’lozso had used for their livelihood had continued to degrade and decay in the fallout-laced environment, and so it was decided that the clan would migrate from their ancestral home to the nearby city of Imas’hi.

Soon enough after nearly a year of preparation, they had indeed moved, and while work was hard to come by, Raan found work under the auspices of a local guild lord, an old contact the Zesi’lozso clan made while helping move cargo for the the Vihmnes Clan, who accepted the servitude and labour of the clan in exchange for provisions of continued food and water. What Raan was to do now was help deliver and move packages around to the city, delivering to its massively spiking population. He was to carry things from one place to another, a simple and hard, if honest way of work. It was on this job though where Raan truly learned about the faith he was brought up with.

For much of his life, Si’akh was all that he knew. Sure he would perhaps meet those in the Th’akh whenever he went to camp and helped move supplies, but there was never anyone in his clan that wasn’t Si’akh, he never had to live with other sorts of people. But now, living in a place with so many new and different kinds of people, his eyes were opened to the people of Sk’akh and Th’akh, and he learned of their ways. More so though, he felt discrimination at their hands. To these people, Si’akh, his way of life as he was brought up, was little more than some fanatical cult. He couldn’t agree less with these things, but even so, his duty to his clan, his family, came first in all things so he made the decision to simply bear the burden of exclusion and discrimination.

After working this job for a few years, a job that mostly consisted of being a porter and hauling around crates or baskets from house to house, the lord that so kindly accepted the Zesi’lozso Clan perhaps but half a decade or so ago, decided that now was his chance to make a fine profit for himself and his clan. He consulted Hephaestus and struck an old, familiar deal with them: peasant labour for money. Raan was one chosen for such a deal, his experience in moving things and keeping track of prices for the things he moved made him an ideal choice for his lord, and so soon, he found himself moving and sorting things not in a tunic, but in a Hephaestus uniform on some far-flung space station. As a contractor, working for another company, NanoTrasen. Because, after all, why would Hephaestus send a Sinta anywhere other than somewhere that needed someone strong, or at least, that is what Raan was told.

Even as he works now, Raan’s heart still is on Moghes. He knows that one day he will probably return there, either in this life, or the next, but he does not let this distract him from what he must do now. His duty is to his clan to represent them honourably, to his lord, who provided for his clan, to work diligently, and to himself to break free from this cursed cycle and seek Sk’akh’s forgiveness. Hopefully, through honest work of moving things from one place to another place, he can indeed achieve these things.

What do you like about this character?

I like that Raan is somewhat simple, at a glance, but has the potential to have much more lying beneath the surface. He follows a very traditional sort of existence, all aside from his faith, Si’akh, which is anything but traditional. Even so though, he works and lives with this ideal in mind, that he will one day find forgiveness in Sk’akh and find his own paradise. He is serious and hardworking, but not cold, and values companionship. He is a man with many stories to tell of his life both in the wasteland and seeing the parts of the great, growing city of Imas’hi.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

I’m more than competent but always have room for improvement.

Notes: NA

Edited February 27, 2021 by Haydizzle

[niennab]

I am unable to comment on the lore content of the application however I am certain Sherman can handle anything. Sherman has incredibly creative, well-rounded and nuanced characters that both do something unique with the lore while not being lore-breaking. A billion +1s all the way.

[DeadLantern]

A fine application, your lore content seems good, we always need more level-headed Si'akh faithful. I'll ask you a few questions about the character.

1. What does Raan think about the late S'kresti and his conversion to Si'akh? Expanding on this question, what does Raan think about the Hegemony as a whole? Growing up in the Wasteland, seeing the horrors of the war and the Traditionalist influences in the Touched Lands--are the Hegemonics invaders or a nation trying to keep the peace? S'kresti, an aberration to the Hegemon or a true king?

2. What does Raan think about the other religions? You say that he is discriminated by Sk'akh and Th'akh which is true, but what does he feel about the religions and their practices? Heretics that must be wiped out? What of the anarchistic Aut'akh?

3. What does Raan think of the lords that rule over his clan, and the concept of nobility as a whole? 

These questions delve deep into some of the important themes in Unathi lore, so I'm just testing out your overall interpretation and knowledge of the lore. Otherwise, you portray an excellent portrait of Unathi lore in your character.

[Haydizzle]

A well-done application by my metric. Raan has a good backstory and flow of events. The above questions are solid, but to chime in my own of personal curiosity: do you think Raan's time away from Moghes would see him slip up in his practice of faith, such as drinking soda and eating cooked meat?

I look forward to your replies!

[The7thLain]

11 hours ago, DeadLantern said:

1. What does Raan think about the late S'kresti and his conversion to Si'akh? Expanding on this question, what does Raan think about the Hegemony as a whole? Growing up in the Wasteland, seeing the horrors of the war and the Traditionalist influences in the Touched Lands--are the Hegemonics invaders or a nation trying to keep the peace? S'kresti, an aberration to the Hegemon or a true king?

2. What does Raan think about the other religions? You say that he is discriminated by Sk'akh and Th'akh which is true, but what does he feel about the religions and their practices? Heretics that must be wiped out? What of the anarchistic Aut'akh?

3. What does Raan think of the lords that rule over his clan, and the concept of nobility as a whole? 

1. In Raan's eyes, he sees S'kresti as the right man for the wrong time, beset by traitors not only to the faith of Si'akh, the true faith, but also traitors to his country. Raan believes that a king should be respected and revered, and not usurped as S'kresti was. Despite Raan's witnessing of the horrors wrought by unchecked traditionalism, it is also that traditionalism that has held his clan together, following the hierarchy of roles and the like. To Raan, the Hegemony can be a place where Si'akh can be welcome, as while he was indeed discriminated against, he also met a growing community of Si'akh, much like himself. Traditionalism brought damnation onto society, but it was not a societal traditionalism that did this in his mind, but a spiritual issue where those in power only considered their power in relation to themselves and their own wants, and not in relation to the wants of the most powerful being of all, Sk'akh, and as such, the Contact War was S'kakh's wrath.

2. Raan's opinion of Th'akh and Sk'akh are somewhat similar. While he believes they are heretical, he does not think that they are irredeemable. Those in Sk'akh after all, are very much like his own religion in a few ways, they worship the same god, and have many similar principles, though they have yet to accept the truth of Sk'akh's punishment. Th'akh, he believes will not stand the test of time, and was fundamentally shattered and put on the backfoot after the Contact War. He believes that Th'akh will inevitably decline, as evidenced by the growing influx of new converts to Si'akh and Sk'akh, as more Sinta understand how ignoring Sk'akh has destoyed the world around them. The Aut'akh however, are beyond help. They violate so many standards and rules of Sk'akh's will that he believes they are unable to be redeemed and must be left to starve to death in the wastes, or if they leave their communes and try to spread their utter heresy, made to rejoin the cycle of death and rebirth in the wastelands of Moghes by force.

3. Nobility to Raan is something that is necessary, albeit not really for him, as he was born into the labouring class of society. He believes that there needs to be structure and hierarchy, otherwise society would fall apart into "lawless," abhorrent, godless communes like those of the Aut'akh. While they may not always treat him the best, given his position in society, Raan was raised to believe that the clan should be placed before just one Sinta, for the clergy in the clan know what S'kakh wants most, and the more Sinta there are together, the more they can care for one another and help each other reach forgiveness. He thinks the lords of his clan did a good thing in moving from their ancestral homelands, as it got his people and himself even, consistent food and water instead of the other reality of starving to death in the wastes. After all, its not like he will never return to the lands he once called home, unless he can earn Sk'akh's forgiveness in this life, that is.

11 hours ago, Haydizzle said:

A well-done application by my metric. Raan has a good backstory and flow of events. The above questions are solid, but to chime in my own of personal curiosity: do you think Raan's time away from Moghes would see him slip up in his practice of faith, such as drinking soda and eating cooked meat?

I think this is ultimately up to environmental pressures, actually. While Raan is involved with his faith, he is still a pragmatist, and will do what he must to survive as he and his clan did in the wasteland. While Sk'akh has a scornful attitude to the Unathi, Sk'akh also forgives should a Sinta prove themselves worthy of it. Raan knows that he must do what his clan sent him here to do, and he will do his best to do well by his Si'akh faith while in Tau Ceti. That being said, if its between starving himself and staying true to the faith, he would probably, with great regret, feed himself then pray for forgiveness later.

Edited February 27, 2021 by TheBurninSherman

[DeadLantern]

These answers show a very good understanding of the lore. I'm sure you'll get the whitelist!

[Haydizzle]

I like your answers, especially on Raan's view on hierarchy.

Your application is accepted. Good luck on station!