unathi [Accepted] jrphoenix303 Unathi Whitelist

[jrphoenix303]

BYOND Key: jrphoenix303

Character Names:

-          Chalk

-          Ka’Akaix’Graphe Zo’ra

-          Eotiima

-          Chiara Raszam

Species you are applying to play: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Gray (Albino)

Have you read our lore section's page on this species: Yes, almost all of them.

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

                At first, I found Unathi lore confusing, the way their clans and communes work was just a mystery I didn’t understand. After sitting down with a friend and looking over the lore pages, I’ve come to take an understanding to it that (just like my Vaurca whitelist) I thought I wouldn’t be able to get because it was “too complex for me”.

                I’ve taken an interest in the way it seems like all Unathi sort of begin with an opinion on one another from the start. It’s very different compared to humans, where acquaintances are neutral and are people you’ve yet to form an opinion on. Especially concerning Guwans, Aut’akh and Gawgaryn, there are some strongly-set precedence’s already in place for some members of these factions when being looked down upon by another of, for example, a member of the Hegemony.

                I want to play this race so that I can try to immerse myself in the culture better than as an outsider, and because (for the concern of my whitelist character) I don’t see a lot of Unathi in medical, so I thought I’d like to make my return to medical with a fresh character and a new experience.

                I’m interested in learning more of the Unathi culture and factions while actually being one, and experiencing what it’s like to not necessarily be top of the pecking order in any sort of sense inside the species in general.

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

Honour is a very, very important thing to nearly all Unathi. The way the clans work amongst one another, as well as every Unathi being originally borne of one, gives them a sense of belonging from birth. It feels like it can make it very difficult for any one specific person (e.g. a Guwan) to not participate in this system, as without it, your worth in the culture drops to nothing.

Additionally, the religion of a Unathi seems to take a strong hold over their opinions for the rest of their life even, as others such as Aut’akh or Guwans in general are looked down upon for their choices in life, even if they are not optional in some cases. It gives a unique way to have a perspective on any one other Unathi, as in some cases, different situation may NOT matter to the observer.

The cold blooded nature of a Unathi means that even small temperature drops can be lethal for them, compared to the better resistance of most other species. This is sort of the inverse of a Tajaran. I’ve seen humans take second looks at Unathi for being bundled up so much despite being on a temperature controlled station, and I find it another way that it alienates Unathi from humans.

Unathi come off as a species which is not so easy to befriend necessarily, but also one that when  befriended, are a powerful ally to have on your side. Humans just don’t seem to have quite the same level of loyalty and honour-based systems as a Unathi clan does.

Character Name: Ziehss Raishuar

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

                Ziehss is a Sinta born to one of the many Reclaimer groups, the Raishuars specifically. A female, she was given the duty growing up of learning to be a doctor. Her clan’s landcrawler had been coming into a rather concerningly frequent (which is still not too frequent) issue of having injuries on looting runs. Ziehss, henceforth referred to as Rai for ease of typing, has to grow up quick or get lost in the clan. She is a moderately rare Sinta born with an active albinism gene, and despite the toll it takes on her eyesight as she grows into an adult, she excels at her work, being very devoted towards it and making a good name for herself within the clan.

                As she grows into an adult, about age sixteen or seventeen, she comes to realize that her body is beginning to betray her. Her lungs are burning, her kidneys stinging. It only gets worse as time passes, and by the time she is twenty three, her eyesight has grown to be rather poor, extremely nearsighted and generally degrading to a point of needing to be rather close to the patient to clearly see them. As she settles in to sleep one night, she comes across an email addressed to her. It is concerning her stellar abilities that she’s written about on the net. Hephaestus wants to hire her to work onboard one of their facilities as a doctor. The one thing they don’t know, however, is that her body is failing her rapidly.

                A long back and forth happens with the representative and they finally give her a final, very good, offer: Sign a five year contract, and we will give you new eyes. You’ll earn a wage to be able to buy new organs as well. She struggles with this internally for weeks, but she already knew deep down that this was her ticket to staying alive, and actually prospering. She accepts, and after a couple weeks, eventually departs the landcrawler and is picked up by a Hepahestus shuttle.

                Stalling in the moment she considers turning back, but the contract has been signed and she has no choice. She accepts the eye surgery and wakes to a very different world than what she remembered. Finally able to see, she begins her five year stint with Hephaestus, but it’s not without incident.

                Against her wishes, she is deployed to an active injury site with heavy machinery. She gets caught in one of the machines while attempting to save the injured worker and it takes off her right arm – to her utter dismay, as she receives a Hephaestus replacement limb and is now very clearly not truly a follower of the Th’akh, and at best, is more of an Aut’akh now. Not that she wasn’t before, but now it’s clear for all to see. Her faith at this point begins to shift as she comes to terms with the prosthetic organs and limbs being a far better alternative to just rolling over and dying.

                During the five years, she obtains enough money to purchase prosthetic lungs and kidneys, solving her immediate life-threatening issues concerning her disease. As her contract nears its end she begins to send out applications to a specific Zavodskoi group which she has learned has a commune of Aut’akh nearby: The Luthien Pact. Zavodskoi offers a less than competitive wage, compared to Hephaestus’ offer of another five years, however Rai is desperate at this point to distance herself from the corporation which trapped her in the mindless cycle of fixing the same workplace injuries.

                Now at age twenty nine, she takes a contract from Zavodskoi and is met with a far more interesting place to work, and once which she enjoys to an extent due to the prescence of the commune which accepted her happily, and outfitted her with a proper aut’akh arm to replace the rather clunky Hephaestus limb she had to get used to prior. The workplace she is in is relatively neutral or positive towards aut'akh, and she fits in fine as a hatchling in the chaos that is a new work environment.

                Five years pass, and Rai is age thirty four. She has been working for and with Zavodskoi for a time without much incident at all, and she is transferred to the Aurora as the facility she is working on no longer needs her specifically.

What do you like about this character:

I’ve attempted to take the albinism aspect of a Unathi and play into it more as to the reason why she eventually converted to Aut’akh from her original Th’akh religion, because she finally came to terms with the fact that she did know she needed them, or she would be useless. As albinism can (in humans, this is extrapolation into a fictional universe I’m doing) affect more than just the eyes and skin in the severity of the disease (Hermansky Pudlak Syndrome specifically).

I took it forward into affecting her internal organs as well to an extent.  I’ve taken this to a moderate extent, in replacing her eyes, lungs and kidneys, and this allows me to both play into being fearful of ion weapons in general, which most Unathi wouldn’t be, as well as give her a sense of shame lingering in the back of her mind about having left her Reclaimer clan for it.

I find Rai to be an interesting character with a lot of deep-seated regret and anxiety concerning her status. Once simply just a unique member of her clan, she is now out in civilized space with other species with a mixed bag of aut’akh parts as well as a disease which makes her stand out.

She is dealing with the desire to be a Th’akh but also the immense knowledge of the Aut’akh from the commune, and is internally in turmoil between the knowledge that she can never be anything other than an Aut’akh in many people’s eyes anymore, no matter if they know her story or not.

How would you rate your role-playing ability:

An eight out of ten. I feel I’ve done well as both my whitelist characters, as I’ve received compliments and questions concerning them as well as made some friends. It feels like every whitelist I make, my characters get better and better.

Notes:

            I’m completely fine with editing anything if it doesn’t make sense or needs clarification.

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Haydizzle
Accepted

[whitewolftamer]

Seems like a really interesting character! I can appreciate the realism of your characters albinism not just being 'hehe funny bright' +1 from me

[DekserBecauseILostMyAccoun]

jrphoenix is an amazing roleplayer and someone I've interacted with a lot, each of their characters brings out a laugh and they're all believable. This characters story and background feels very real and I like the little details, +1 from the local lizard main.

Edited December 25, 2021 by DekserBecauseILostMyAccoun

[Zer0Winds]

Need more Aut'akh hipsters.

I do like the idea of an Aut'akh that... almost seems to regret even being Aut'akh? Its interesting. I like the idea they have going.

I do enjoy many of their characters, they tend to put an extreme amount of detail in them- hidden from view even that you can dig into and find out more about them. Subtle things they do that you later may realize yet didn't at the moment. Its a wonderful complexity in them. All this, to say +1

Edited December 25, 2021 by Zer0Winds
typo

[Marlon P.]

I like rhe character and you have a good story for her. I would only ask how she feels about the religious aspects of autakh and their rituals. Autakh are more than people who put on prosthetics; they have an entire theology around the body and its relationship with prosthetics. How did she experience those and how does she think of them? Is she convinced that the soul can survive metal?

[jrphoenix303]

6 hours ago, Marlon P. said:

[snip] they have an entire theology around the body and its relationship with prosthetics. How did she experience those and how does she think of them? Is she convinced that the soul can survive metal?

The overarching stressor with her is that she is now with the Luthien Pact commune, which is Aut'akh and Synthetics, while she is still also struggling with her old identity from back on her home planet. She doesn't want to change, but at the same time knows that she's doing better than ever now compared to the way she was living as a follower of Th'akh. So, to spoil her story a little, she's leaning heavily towards Aut'akh in the coming times and yes, does believe that she is not 'tainted' or 'impure' in any way by simply taking steps to keep herself alive in a Spur that's not always friendly to her.

 

Thanks for asking that, it was nice to think about

[Captain Gecko]

22 hours ago, jrphoenix303 said:

A lot of stuff

That's good! Another heretic More lizards is always good. I didn't get to roleplay much with you, but from what I've heard, beyond this thread, you're a quality writer and player so... Nice. but we're not here to discuss the roleplay, we're here to discuss your ability to understand lizard lore and play it!

I'll be honest though, this looks good so far! Just some questions:

- How does Rai feel about other crewmembers also having prosthetics? And most importantly other Sintas with prothetics?

- How does Rai feel about Sintas of other culture (Ouerean, Dominians, and other non-Moghean peoples) ?

- And finally how does she feel about the "dishonorable ones", Guwans and such, considering that she herself feels some shame for some of her actions (although not to the point of considering herself be the same as a Guwan thankfully) ?

- And finally, how does she feel/how would she act near Sintas of different faith, of Th’akh faith most importantly, but not just.

 

Yeah it's mostly questions about her feelies, but through our characters we quickly get an idea of one's mastering of the lore said character is supposed to be about.

Oh also...

22 hours ago, jrphoenix303 said:

...as she receives a Hephaestus replacement limb and is now very clearly not truly a follower of the Th’akh, and at best, is more of an Aut’akh now. Not that she wasn’t before...

So I get that she was a follower of Aut'akh before, butjust didn't get to "upgrade" herself? It's not a problem, faith isn't that important to Reclaimers, relatively speaking, It's just that it's not very clear, in Rai's story, what she faith she followed to begin with, if she followed any. Just point that out at the beginning of her story, that is all!

Edited December 25, 2021 by Captain Gecko

[jrphoenix303]

Okay, I'm going to try to answer these in the order you asked them. Apologies for all the tangents - I tried to let it flow naturally! It really occurs to me after writing this just how much religion impacts the Unathi culture. It'll be great to think about this more and try to develop an even deeper backstory!

2 hours ago, Captain Gecko said:

- How does Rai feel about other crewmembers also having prosthetics? And most importantly other Sintas with prothetics?

Rai, being a doctor first and foremost in her mind, strives to at the very least be neutral to all. It's not her place to make judgements when someone comes into the medbay. She may not have had a choice in the matter with her own internal organs and her arm, but she will not judge others for their choices while working. At least not to their faces.

To specifically answer the question, she does not feel one way or the other towards a crewmember with a prosthetic. As for a Sinta with a prosthetic, she is most likely going to first remember how she came to have her own prosthetic arm, and most likely end up showing some sort of curiosity as to "how did you get that?" rather than any sort of judgement. As she is struggling with her own identity in religion, between the more traditional 'soul-damaging' ideals of the Th'akh, and the new (to her) Aut'akh ideals she is being exposed to in the Zavodskoi commune of Aut'akh.

She would be likely to get more defensive than anything else when judged by a non aut'akh Sinta for her life choices. Thing is - while it's true that she could have refused the prosthetics, she would have lived a far shorter and far worse life. It's coming around to her in the past ten years or so since she recieved the (quite literal) new "lease" on life. She's begun to find it ridiculous that there's such heavy judgement towards taking steps to keep yourself alive.

To quote the wiki, "[Aut'akh shamans] tend to frown on those who refuse augmentation or prosthetic limb, seeing it as embracing weakness, temptation, and vice." Rai is beginning to believe this is the case - see previous paragraph. This plays a heavy hand in the conflict of her belief. It's like being a Dominian AI. It just doesn't work. You have to pick one or the other, but what do you do when you truly had no choice?

2 hours ago, Captain Gecko said:

- How does Rai feel about Sintas of other culture (Ouerean, Dominians, and other non-Moghean peoples) ?

To go down the list:
Seeing how Ouerean Sinta (or humans, or skrell) are typically Th'akh, she bears pretty much a similar view as stated above. She, spoilers for future possibilities depending on how she's treated in game, might end up beginning to somewhat resent the way that the non-Aut'akh pride themselves on their lack of robotic organs.

While she bears no ill will towards anyone, being a doctor and all, she wants to hopefully bring around to the Sinta on the Aurora if noone else, that the Aut'akh or even just the augmented in general are not soulless/contaminated freaks who deserve to be looked down upon.

As for Dominians, it sort of, again, falls into the general category of "anti-synthetic", whereas the beliefs that Rai is being exposed to as of now is entirely pro-synthetic pro-aut'akh. She feels torn, because she understands the power that honour holds, and that in taking the synthetic parts, she has very well destroyed any honour or respect she had at home on the landcrawler. "She did her job before getting new eyes, why couldn't she just continue?"

Non-Moghean peoples would typically be taken at face value. It's a big Spur out there. She is already an outlier by being albino, let alone visibly aut'akh. If she hadn't lost her arm, and wasn't visibly augmented, she might have taken a different path in life. Who knows what belief system a Sinta could have, if they are from somewhere other than Uueoa-Esa? Best to tread carefully, and take pride in her duties. Fortunately, there's a lot of other species out there who do not care or even enjoy synthetic parts, so she's sure to earn back her "honour" in some form. Maybe by getting known as a reliable doctor onboard the Aurora, she can establish that she's not someone to be looked down on.

2 hours ago, Captain Gecko said:

- And finally how does she feel about the "dishonorable ones", Guwans and such, considering that she herself feels some shame for some of her actions (although not to the point of considering herself be the same as a Guwan thankfully) ?

For Rai, she grew up on a landcrawler on Moghes, following the Th'akh faith. Now, she is a bizzare, conflicted mix of Th'akh and Aut'akh, struggling to figure out herself what she really is. The thought of becoming a Guwan crossed her mind, but she knew she could take comfort in the Aut'akh and their principles of Mador. She would never truly be completely ostracized for the choices she's made - she's only just become welcomed by the Aut'akh in what she did, anyway.

However, her opinion on Guwan holds fair to the "standard" opinion. Known for being criminals, ne'er-do-wells, she is typically intimidated by them and would not actively seek out one's company or advice unless desperate. Of course, that opinion is not set in stone, as her entire world was rocked not but ten years ago. She keeps an open mind, willing to learn, and cooperate with anyone who takes the first step towards holding out the handshake of a common ground.

Despite that, she currently is ambivalent about Guwans. To her, circumstances matter a lot. After all, if she were to blanket judge, she would have to blanket judge herself.

Yes, she feels shame for her past. She feels shame and dishonour for leaving her people, for abandoning them in her mind. In reality, they continued just fine without her, but she felt like she had a home there. She's yet to adjust to the recent times, even in these ten/eleven years or so since leaving Moghes, she feels alienated. So many new species, so many new adjustments, so much internal turmoil.

2 hours ago, Captain Gecko said:

- And finally, how does she feel/how would she act near Sintas of different faith, of Th’akh faith most importantly, but not just.

Honestly, I think I ended up answering this in the previous questions, but I will try to condense it into this section to make it more clear.

Having been originally Th'akh in the landcrawler, she feels a sense of longing deep inside to be able to embrace the religion she knew for twenty years again. She isn't stupid, though, and knows she's considered impure by most all of the Th'akh faithfuls. It pains her, and she bears a little bit of subservience towards those she knows are Th'akh. There's a small, so small nudge in her mind that says, "Maybe, if you do what they tell you, they might overlook your heresay. Or even, maybe even you could find a Th'akh shaman who doesn't mind prosthetics! Wouldn't that be nice? What if this Sinta is one of those? Better do what they say, maybe you'll get a foot in the door."

As for Sk'akh, she was never really exposed to it in a preached setting, and doesn't really know it extremely deeply. She knows it's the Izweski Nation's religion, and that it's mostly similar in beliefs towards prosthetics and synthetics. However, their stance on cloning interests her. No genemodding, sure, but what if some day Rai could be cloned? Who knows. It's just a thought in her mind.

The Si'akh frighten her. Despite her departure from Moghes, their very anti-prosthetic view simply turns her off of putting it to mind much at all. She's yet to see very many, if any followers of it in her time, but as far as she knows, it's simply bad news to be around a Si'akh follower.

As for the Aut'akh, it is the answer she gives when asked to her face what she believes in. She prefers not to answer, but nevertheless, situations have come up where someone was bold enough to restrict her from escaping the situation until they receive an answer. Her only regular religious exposure is of the Aut'akh on the commune she visits, and as such has started to turn her views as she's exposed to life somewhere other than Moghes or an industrial facility.

2 hours ago, Captain Gecko said:

So I get that she was a follower of Aut'akh before, butjust didn't get to "upgrade" herself? It's not a problem, faith isn't that important to Reclaimers, relatively speaking, It's just that it's not very clear, in Rai's story, what she faith she followed to begin with [snip]

Alright. Because the sentence about the hephaestus limb has seemed to bring up some questions, I'll clarify here.

She was a follower of the Th'akh before recieving her prosthetic limbs. That's what created the back-and-forth and hesitancy to take the offer from Hephaestus of "Five year contract, and get new eyes". However, despite receiving prosthetics, such as her eyes, lungs, and kidneys, she wasn't obviously augmented before.

On 24/12/2021 at 15:47, jrphoenix303 said:

as she receives a Hephaestus replacement limb and is now very clearly not truly a follower of the Th’akh, and at best, is more of an Aut’akh now. Not that she wasn’t before, but now it’s clear for all to see

So what I meant by this was that, on the hephaestus facility, they didn't offer her an aut'akh limb, simply a generic hephaestus arm on some sort of plan, probably. However, that marked the point where she could no longer hide that she was not fully organic. Therefore, it exposes her as not a true follower of the traditional Th'akh, and makes her come off as an Aut'akh if anything else.

After all the years pass and she goes to work with Zavod she gets an actual aut'akh limb because they work far better for medical things, plus she had been struggling with her religious beliefs for all that time and had started to tip the scales towards pro-prosthetic already.

 

I hope this answers your questions! I really enjoyed writing all this out.

Edited December 26, 2021 by jrphoenix303
changed the ending of a sentence. also holy cRAP I WROTE A LOT.

[Captain Gecko]

13 hours ago, jrphoenix303 said:

I hope this answers your questions! I really enjoyed writing all this out.

Yeah it does, that was... Pretty thorough!

So far I'm satisfied with everything, then.

[jrphoenix303]

Great, good to hear. Was there anything else I needed to clarify? Not entirely sure where to go from here.

[pictish20]

Memorable characters as Graphe and Chalk, and a friendly and supportive player.

 

A solid +1 from me, as far as feedback is concerned.

[SatinsPristOTD]

Had the pleasure of experiencing this player ICly and OOCly. They're great at character development, and a supportive player outside the game. I'd trust them with any whitelist.

+1

[Haydizzle]

Your application is solid, you answered your questions with grace, and people have vouched for you. I do not think I could deny you otherwise!

Your application is accepted. Do not hesitate to DM my deputies and I with any questions you may have.