unathi [Accepted] boutta go lizard mode - RustingWithYou Unathi Application

[RustingWithYou]

BYOND Key: RustingWithYou

Character Names: Casimir Tilton, Nekhii San-Khol

Species you are applying for: Unathi

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: RGB 68, 33, 0, hex #442100

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

 

Why do you wish to play this specific race?:

I find the Unathi lore very interesting - having what's effectively a post-apocalyptic feudal society in the midst of the corporate hellscape wonderful capitalist utopia that the humans of the Orion Spur live in makes for an interesting cultural contrast. I also find the Unathi relationships with other species to be interesting, especially compared to some other servers where every species except humans largely exists in a vacuum - reading about the relationships between Unathi and Diona especially was what motivated me to apply for the species - however, the Dominian Unathi and the ties between the Hegemony and the K'lax hive also are points of Unathi lore that I find interesting. 

The Contact War and specifically the Wasteland also got me interested in the species, particularly the way that each of the Unathi faiths responded to it - as well as the new religions born out of the nuclear war such as the Si'akh and Aut'akh faiths. A 3 a.m. rabbit hole led to reading deeply about the tribes of the Wasteland, and to the inspiration for this application and for my character concept.

 

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

Aside from the obvious (being terrifying lizard people), the core of what makes Unathi different is cultural. To the average Sinta, clan, family and honor come first and foremost. Unathi society has very strict gender roles - to the point of being ingrained within their language, with the words for "warrior" and "male", as well as "healer" and "female" being synonymous. Aside from matters of gender and personal honor, faith plays much more of a role across all levels of Unathi society than in human civilisation, with most institutional religious power in the Hegemony being concentrated in the hands (claws?) of the Sk'akh faith. Playing an Unathi requires consideration of a character's relationship with their clan, family and honor - whether they live by the ancient warrior code or a more practical sense of honor, or whether they find themselves dishonored entirely - and considering how they react when it comes to matters of honor or interacting with Guwan, for instance.

The Contact War is also very much within living Unathi memory - considering which side an Unathi found themselves on and how the nuclear exchange changed their way of living is a core part of almost any Unathi character - there's not a lizard in the Orion Spur who wasn't in some way effected by the War, even those born after it ended. 

As a whole, Unathi are a species characterised by old wounds - the Contact War left Moghes a broken ruin of what it once was, and the Sinta are very much still marked by the struggle of keeping to their traditions in the much larger universe that they've found themselves in. 

 

Character Name: 

Azkohi (Izrahasa) Dorviza, Xenobotanist
(I've been told that some Unathi who join other clans keep their former clan name as a middle name, but I'm not 100% certain if that still applies. I can get rid of it if it's not kosher)

 

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

Azkohi was not born into the Clan Dorviza. Hatched in the year 2418, he was part of the Izrahasa clan, one of the many minor clans that rejected the Izweski Hegemony, and by the time the Contact War had begun in earnest he was old enough to fight as a warrior beneath the banner of the newly-formed Traditionalist Coalition. He very much bought into the beliefs of the Traditionalists fully - that the Izweski would bring the death of Sinta honor and tradition, puppeteered by their alien masters to see Moghes brought to ruin. The beginning of nuclear war between the two powers saw that change, as Moghes was desolated by no hands other than the Sinta's themselves. As fire rained from the sky over the battlefield, by what he would call some kindness of the spirits, he managed to survive. Survival, however, was far from simple - he found himself wounded, bleeding from the stump of an arm and choking on the fallout that had blackened the sky.

Slowly, painstakingly, he dragged himself past the ruins of the dead, before passing out from blood loss. It was pure luck, or the favor of the Zyola that saved him on that day, as refugees of the Dorviza, fleeing the atomic war, found him bleeding on that ruined battlefield. Even before the War ended, the Dorviza were known for their skill at healing, but not even they could restore a severed arm to life. A warrior without a sword arm, Azkohi found himself, for the first time since he was a hatchling, without clan or purpose. Though he does not remember much of the agonized days he spent on the cusp of death, he remembers praying to the zo'zyola to grant him death, and let him see his clan once more. However, his wish would not be granted. 

Azkohi stayed with the Dorviza, for a time. A Sinta without clan or purpose, but still clinging to his honor - refusing to take the path of the Guwan. Eventually, he found himself studying the herbalists of the Dorviza, out of a desire to at least be useful to the only people that he had. Eventually, he found a kind of peace in that work - even if the radioactive dirt of the Wasteland was less than ideal for working with. This too would change, however, when he first encountered a Diona gestalt. The strange abilities of the gestalt astounded him - how it consumed the radiation of the Wasteland, allowing life to struggle there once more. For the first time, he began to consider that Moghes was not doomed. He formed a friendship with the gestalt, and eventually found a small cluster of nymphs to aid him in his travels - forming a makeshift arm and restoring what he had lost years ago. The warrior had his sword arm back, but found the desire to fight other Unathi fading - while he was willing to fight in defense, he saw a new war being raged - a war against what the Unathi had done to themselves, a war against the desolation they had brought to their world. 

He threw himself further into the studies of Dorviza herbalism, quickly growing practiced at it. Eventually, he found himself welcomed as a member of the clan - an honor he still did not feel he deserved. And so, as the Wasteland stabilised further, he thought on ways he could repay his new clan for the kindness they had taken on a dying warrior - an opportunity that would come to him from the same aliens that he'd once raged against ever laying a finger on Moghes. The scientists of Zavodskoi Interstellar's genetics branch were interested in the flora of Moghes, both pre-Contact War and how it had mutated since, and the Dorviza remained known as the greatest herbalists of the Wasteland. When they came to seek recruits, Azkohi threw himself at the opportunity - seeking to study the plants of alien worlds, and hopefully give something back to the people who had given him so much. His education as a xenobotanist took some time, but eventually he found himself dispatched to the SCCV Horizon, where he is eager to continue his work. 

 

What do you like about this character?

This character was largely inspired by reading about the Unathi-Diona relationship. I like playing older characters, and I wanted to explore the impact that the Contact War had on an Unathi who lived through it, and someone who was all the more invested in restoring Moghes by his own memories of what it was like before the nuclear war. I also liked the idea of the diona nymph prostheses, and I wanted to create a character who viewed their nymph prosthetic as something near-sacred, which has a deep impact on them beyond what an ordinary mechanical limb might have. Also, the Zavodskoi labcoats look sick as hell. 

 

How would you rate your roleplaying ability?

Maybe an 8/10 on a good day? It's a difficult thing to objectively assess, but I'd consider myself to be a good roleplayer.

 

Notes: attached is a picture of a lizard for your consideration. look at him go

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Haydizzle
Accepted!

[Captain Gecko]

Oki doki! Character is interesting, but I see no mentions of faith! Spirituality is very important to most Unathi, more than with any other species I believe, and I see no mentions of it here... So, tell me about Azkohi faith, and how he sees it, how he sees faith as a concept more generally.

 

On 08/11/2022 at 10:18, RustingWithYou said:

Notes: attached is a picture of a lizard for your consideration. look at him go

Also cool lizard.

[RustingWithYou]

Azkohi is a rather traditional follower of Th'akh, as he has been since he was young. His faith is very important to him, especially now - he finds himself especially drawn to the elements relating to growth and new life. He holds to the worship of the Court of Stars, and feels a particular affinity for the Zyola Aosr, known as the Vibrant Druid, believing the Dionae of the Wasteland and by extension his own arm to be his blessing on the restoration of Moghes.

He's definitely had crises of faith in the past, especially after the Contact War and in his time wandering with the Dorviza after the bombs fell - he believed that some wicked zo'zyola was tormenting him by letting him linger in such a state, rather than granting him an honorable death on the battlefield. As he studied herbalism, and bonded with his arm, however, he came to see it differently - that the spirits had aided him in his survival, that he might do something to help in repairing the devastation that the Contact War had wrought. Now, he'd view his faith as a central part of his life - a reminder that Moghes may be burned, but it is not yet dead, and that the spirit-gods of the homeworld still watch over the Sinta and their efforts to restore it.

He makes regular offerings to the spirits of the Izrahasa clan, and will likely have some kind of item of worship or shrine set up to appease their spirits, who he hopes watch over him still, even so far from Moghes. 

As for other faiths, he doesn't view the Aut'akh as dangerous or evil, necessarily. He thinks of them as more of a tragic cautionary tale, brought about by nuclear fire - Sinta who mutilate their own souls out of misguided faith. He is mistrustful of the Sk'akh, a lingering trait of his Traditionalist background - he views the Church as an Izweski corruption of the ancient ways of Th'akh, meant to let them centralise their own power. He views followers of Sk'akh as misguided, but not actively endangering their own souls in the same way as the Aut'akh. He views the Si'akh with scorn, though some measure of empathy for the scars of the Contact War - though he views Juzida Si'akh as a naked opportunist, preying on the souls of those scarred by the War to try and set himself up as a king over Moghes. 

 

[Haydizzle]

Thank you for showing interest in unathi! I like your character as well as the answers to the questions, in addition to Gecko's question as well.

I'm accepting this application. Feel free to DM my deputies and I here or on Discord with any questions you may have. Happy hunting!