[Accepted] Niennab's Unathi Application

[niennab]

BYOND Key: Niennab 

Character Names: Z.I. Provenance, Khadija Al-Ashab, Gulrez, Z.I. Brandon, IRU-Sentiment, Aubrey Piper, Flotsam and Finley Greyson. (I’ve had a few others but they didn’t pan out as successfully as the names here).

Species you are applying to play: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Brown

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: 

Having been floating around the server for about a year and a half before coming back in June, I believe that unlocking the Unathi whitelist is the key to continuing my interest in playing. Since Haydizzle became the maintainer back in the day and the Unathi team greatly improved the species from questionable beginnings, I have always been meaning to get my Unathi whitelist. Plus, I am excited to play something that differs greatly from a human in their mannerisms.

 

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

Beyond biological differences, Unathi differ from humans in that they are more than likely to have a closer relationship to living off of the land and feudal societies. Beyond more niche cases such as Vysoka and Dominia, Aurora-verse humans have largely ascended past the base struggle of simply being able to feed oneself.

Moreover whereas sex no longer dictates a large part of human culture across the Spur, for Unathi it is baked into their identity as a species. By having more roles dictated by sex, Unathi struggle with the divide wrought between traditionalism of a more simpler society while grappling with the larger conflict of space travel, technology and the greater universe as a whole. Simply put, Unathi were brought into the fold of space travel too early, resulting in the more obvious devastation to Moghes as well as the conflict of traditionalism in the face of expansion.

Moreover where humans largely have the worst parts of their history settled, or less egregious examples played out daily, Unathi have more recently been devastated by nuclear warfare on Moghes. This catastrophe had a shocking impact on them then but I’d also argue that Unathi are a people still struggling with the ‘fallout’ of such a conflict even today.

 

Character Name: Shiuz Gukuzan

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

Born beneath a canopy of riches and trade forever outside his reach, Shiuz was forever witness to the progressive, democratic luxuries of New Skalamar on Ouerean while struggling in its shadows. Born into poverty, his father mined the sands that provided the great artisans with the materials to weave beautiful glass sculptures.

On one fateful shift, the sands gave way on a higher ridge and a Sand Loader came crashing down, killing Shiuz’ father, Mizaruz. This event left Shiuz’ family without a stable source of income. Unable to provide for herself and her son, Kazali, Shiuz’ mother, was forced to relinquish her son to the care of an orphanage to survive. Shiuz was only 6 at the time.

Severed from his parents, made into a Guwan, and thrust into the care of the Gukuzan orphanage, Shiuz processed his grief the only way he knew how, by acting out. Never adopted, Shiuz was a rowdy child in his adolescence. Although treated favorably better than if he were placed in a Kuhwinla orphanage, Shiuz remained at odds with his caretakers and their attempts at instilling obedience in him. As the years stretched on and when Not’zar Izeweki’s edict in 2459 made it so that all orphans were no longer labeled as Guwan, Shiuz was faced with the potential of a future. As he continued to grow, his behavior mellowed out. Dejected but obedient, following his 17th birthday Shiuz was contracted out as a Shaft Miner through Hephaestus Industries and over the years, eventually found himself aboard the SCC Horizon.

Faced with an insurmountable debt, Shiuz finds himself toiling under the stars. No different from his father, Shiuz hopes that his future will amount to more than a passing name.

Shiuz follows the Sk’akh faith.

 

What do you like about this character?

Beyond what might seem like a simple character, I like that I am able to possibly dip into issues pertaining to honour and tradition surrounding masculinity as well as the nuances of what it means to have one's childhood robbed by conflict. Although Shiuz has mellowed out with time, I think there is something to be said for how that’d be reflected in an adult. What does thinking you are a Guwan for most of your life do to a person? Plus, I get to play a big ol’ lizard.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? 

I think I am a pretty good writer but I have the habit of my characters speaking in similar dialects or going through the same arcs on core concepts surrounding identity, death and personhood. Playing a new race may help me move away from these habits and diversify my writing.

Notes:

Spoiler

If only because someone snuck in a recipe into their whitelist app while I was a maintainer, I feel an obligation to do the same. Here is a recipe for Sujeonggwa, a Korean cinnamon punch.

35g ounces cinnamon sticks, rinsed 

50g ounces fresh ginger, skinned and thinly sliced. 

2 ½ cup brown sugar

11 cups water

Put the ginger into a large saucepan. Add 5.5 cups of water, close the lid, then boil it on medium heat for 40 mins. At the same time, put the cinnamon sticks into a separate large saucepan. Add 5.5 cups of water, close the lid, and boil it on medium heat for 40 mins.

After 40 mins, get another large saucepan ready (it should be large enough to hold the combined boiled water from step 1 and 2). Drain the boiled ginger and cinnamon sticks in turn through the sieve. (Discard the ginger and cinnamon sticks).

Add the sugar into the saucepan (from step 2) and boil it for 10 to 20 mins further on high heat (or until the sugar dissolves completely).

Cool down the punch for a couple of hours before you serve.

When you think it’s cool enough, you can serve it and enjoy! (If you are able to add the dried persimmon, put them into the drink at least 1 hour before you drink it, so it softens and releases the fruity flavour into the drink.)

Edited October 22, 2022 by Haydizzle
Accepted!

[ClemTheDuck]

Aubrey piper was one of the first characters i started properly interacting with when i joined Aurora. It took me a god damn long time to realise that at least three other characters who i also had interesting and positive interactions with were ALSO played by Nienna. Their characters are always full of depth with a lot of effort put into their mannerisms, backstories and behaviour. Im very excited to see how they play Unathi so very big +1 from me

[Kaizr]

NO WAY! Nienna becoming a lizard player!? REAL!?

Provenance & Gulrez are two amazing synthetic characters and Nienna is an awesome person overall. I can't begin to describe the amount depth behind their characters which makes each and every one of them unique and fun to engage with. A big old +1.5 from me!

[goolie]

Only GOOD can come from a Nienna Unathi character on the ship... I thought they already had the whitelist anyways! Big +1 from me because they're basically a staple of our community and every other whitelist they've had, they've used it to it's full potential!

 

[Haydizzle]

It's very nice to see you apply! And another recipe to add under my belt is always appreciated. I have a couple of questions for you.

How does Gukuzan's faith in Sk'akh affect his struggles?

How did he feel about the civil war between the Church of Sk'akh and the Hegemon?

[niennab]

Thank you to everyone's kind words on my application. It meant a lot to me and I appreciate it immensely.

12 hours ago, Haydizzle said:

It's very nice to see you apply! And another recipe to add under my belt is always appreciated. I have a couple of questions for you.

How does Gukuzan's faith in Sk'akh affect his struggles?

How did he feel about the civil war between the Church of Sk'akh and the Hegemon?

Curses, you found the recipe!

When it comes to Shiuz and the Sk’ahk religion, it by and large serves as a point of comfort for him. There is something inherently pleasant in knowing that his father is resting well in the Beastlands. However at the same time, there is a degree of struggle felt in the church’s belief surrounding one's fate. If everyone’s outcome in life is predetermined, what did his father’s life being cut short serve?

In regards to the civil war between the Hegemon and the Sk’ahk faith, is this pertaining to the recent events with the Iron Masks and the Iron Crusades?

At the start Shiuz would have felt a degree of questioning over the destruction of ancient temples, attacking villages and kidnapping, however he would have trusted that if High Priest Unzi was following the Warrior’s Code, then the outcome must be one that was Righteous and well-intended. However with the civil war coming to a close and the High Priest Unzi banished, Shiuz’s concerns would have shifted from the larger to the small. With all that was said and done, he’d begin to wonder as to whether Sinta like himself might experience discrimination for following the Sh’ahk faith in light of the recent conflict. Whether this would mean on a broader legal scale or the day-to-day between other Sinta.

[Captain Gecko]

Yes... YES... Lizards grow in NUMBERS! My turn to ask questions, then...

> What would Shiuz think of less... Traditional Unathi? I'm speaking of Dominians, Aut'akhs, Spacers/Pirates or simply Sinta that got really used and integrated in the the Biesellite/Corporate way of life. How would he treat them?

> The opposite, since Shiuz is Ouerean after all, what does he think of more traditional ones, mainly Moghean Unathi who remain much closer to the Hegemony?

> What does he think of Hephaestus? How does he feel about working for them?

[niennab]

32 minutes ago, Captain Gecko said:

Yes... YES... Lizards grow in NUMBERS! My turn to ask questions, then...

> What would Shiuz think of less... Traditional Unathi? I'm speaking of Dominians, Aut'akhs, Spacers/Pirates or simply Sinta that got really used and integrated in the the Biesellite/Corporate way of life. How would he treat them?

> The opposite, since Shiuz is Ouerean after all, what does he think of more traditional ones, mainly Moghean Unathi who remain much closer to the Hegemony?

> What does he think of Hephaestus? How does he feel about working for them?

Shiuz would likely be uncomfortable around less traditional Unathi, ranging from strained tolerance with the Dominians to general dislike of the Autahk. With Dominians, pirates and more corporate fairing Sinta it’d come from a place of general unfamiliarity and ignorance whereas with Autahk it’d be an issue of religion.

Shiuz would not think any ill will towards the Unathi on Moghes. Something I couldn’t fit in naturally in the original backstory was that his parents were originally refugees fleeing Moghes (presuming this doesn’t mess up my colour choice). So, in some sense he feels a loose kinship to Moghes culturally in a similar way that a second generation immigrant in our world might.

I think Shiuz would feel dejected indifference towards Hephaestus. There was little recourse or way out of his debt but through Hephaestus he is able to work that debt off and, I presume, treated with a smidge more workers rights than his father might have seen.

[4000daniel1]

Always had a good time playing with Gulrez, really neat character. I've no doubt more neat things will come if they're given an Unathi whitelist! 

 

+1

[niennab]

Can I get a verdict? @Haydizzle @Captain Gecko

[Haydizzle]

I'm terribly sorry about the delay! For anyone seeing this, feel free to Discord message me if the time on the app exceeds 3 days.

Your knowledge of the lore is wonderful and I've had excellent experiences roleplaying with you. I'm looking forward to hearing about your unathi characters on station! Application accepted, feel free to DM my deputies and I with any questions you have.