The Exhibition (PM to join)

Name: Iinorai Raani

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Species: Shiina (Shiinei plural, Shiinan adjective)

Appearance: Shiinei are a tall, lithely-built humanoid species standing between 170 and 210 centimeters that, at a glance, most assume to be reptilian. Their faces bear passing resemblances to raptors, though they are far smoother and aerodynamic with forward-facing eyes. Yet, these are not reptiles, but rather some distant evolution of avians complete with a crop and slightly lighter bones. They have normal nostrils, but they also have long “song mouths” along the sides of their upper snout nearly the width of a human mouth. Their mouths are long, but their teeth indicate an omnivorous diet. Their eyes are vaguely feline with slit pupils that widen greatly and reflect the light when shone on—though the coloration is far more vibrant and glimmers vibrantly. They have two long knif-shaped ears alongside their heads and several long, narrow spines atop their head which bend back sharply like grass in a hurricane. Their skin is smooth as a human’s but has a faint glisten and is typically solid red, sometimes orange or gold with albinos being silver. Their spines are darker colors of their skin. Their legs are triple jointed like a dog’s and they have long, eel-like tails which they can wag about or use for balance. Their hands have three fingers and two thumbs, one on each side, while their feet have the same arrangement but with the big toes pointed backwards for better grip. They have climbing claws on their hands and feet. Males and females are virtually identical visually with fairly feminine curves, genital sheaths, and no breasts; in general the only easy way to tell which one is which is when the females go into heat and start panting. They have very flexible joints and are comfortable crawling on all fours for purpose of climbing trees or avoiding being buffeted by the wind (though they prefer standing up).
--Raani is a deep red coloration with dark red (almost black) spines and gold eyes. He is about average height and slightly heavier in build than most of his kind.

Height: 193cm or 6’4”

Weight: 160lbs or 72.5kg

Skin color: Red

Eye color: Gold

Senses:
--Hearing: 3
--Sight: 3
--Smell: 2
--Taste: 2
--Touch: 2

Psionic:
--Telepathy: 3
--Telekinesis: 0
--Resistance: 1

Species Abilities: Shiinei are excellent climbers and are frighteningly fast runners in short bursts, the fastest recorded reaching 60MpH / 96Kph (most can manage 35MpH / 56KpH). That said, their strength is rather lacking. Additionally, their telepathy is peculiar in that it is almost entirely done in song. What’s more, their core language has equal parts normal voice work and telepathy. This doesn’t make understanding their words difficult for highly resistant species, but it does make reading their emotions a bit more difficult, as their faces don’t have much emotion. Also, rather than typical mental projection, they perform their telepathy through “song mouths,” organs which allow them to precisely control and direct their telepathy—if this is damaged, they become “mute.” Similarly, their spines are their ‘song ears,’ which are the only part of their body which can receive telepathic messages—if this is damaged, they become “deaf.”

Number of Kinsmen: Seven, with another Eight of an aquatic sister species (though their relationship is a little shaky).

Technological Level: Space Age, though low population density.

Native Biome: Wind Plains

Restricted Zones: Tundra, Taiga, Alpine (at higher levels, low is fine), Freshwater Aquatic, Ocean, Deep Sea, Aerial. Thermal is unpleasant but perfectly doable.

Culture: Shiinan culture is very much focused on their “clans,” though that word doesn’t mean blood relations like it does for humans. A clan is essentially a polygamous marriage between 3 to 30 individuals, and there is a romantic aspect to it along with deep friendship and bonding; most clans typically share interests. The clan is the primary unit of the shiinan culture, and all things build on it, from towns up to the greater union. Above all they wish to spread good will; they are a creative and compassionate species and are among the most eager to lend a helping hand. They are also very religious, though their religion is not as intrusive as most and generally the important thing to them is that they “spread their souls” out to others. Song is also very important to all aspects of their life, and they enjoy listening to the psionic background noise of the world. They also have almost no concept of privacy, modesty, or personal space—to them it is normal to greet someone with an enthusiastic hug or playfully rub their spines. They also do not understand the concept of exclusivity in romance; typically they will experiment outside of their clan looking for someone they connect with then invite them to romance the clan—the closest thing to an affair they have is not telling their clan that they’re experimenting. They also are very open-minded in this regard, not caring about gender and the only reason they tend not to invite other species is because psionic “songs” are a major part of traditional courtship and it can be difficult for them to overlook an “ugly song” or no song at all. That said, they love aliens and are eager to get to know them so that they can “spread their soul” and “receive the others’ soul” in return. Also, one peculiarity about them is that they are very distrustful of those with power, more so than other races, and tend to be a little paranoid that such people will take advantage of them—this is largely due to bitter experience in their history. Another peculiarity is the parent-child relationship with their species is a bit unusual, they will tenderly raise their child and give them all the love and nurturing that they could hope for, but once the now-adult child leaves their home, they only rarely come back.

Religion: The shiinei, including Raani, subscribe to the monistic religion of Pralenism—though calling it monistic is a bit of a stretch. The god of memory, Pralen, never claimed to be a creator, nor the first, nor even the greatest. In Shiinan mythology, he is simply the last one that cares about the shiinei. While the god of fire destroyed himself and the god of the wind continues fruitlessly to court the ocean, “The Keeper” tended to the intelligent races and kept a careful eye on them, sending guiding spirits when they were most needed. Shiinei do not pray directly to Pralen for help, but rather ask for guidance so that they can do it themselves or that someone else may assist them. Spirits are an active part of their lives, and they believe that anything they interact with carries a piece of their soul, and the further and stronger their soul spreads the more powerful it becomes. So, a painting would carry a piece of the painters soul, and by extension would deliver a bit of soul onto a person admiring the painting. Almost everything they do carries this religious undertone and while they very rarely bring up their religion without prompting, it is something on their minds. If someone has left a good enough impression on the world, Pralen welcomes them into his keep, and those who were truly great are welcomed as saints; those who leave a lukewarm impact are typically sent back to the mortal realm to help guide mortals and reprove themselves, while the truly despicable are erased. Guiding spirits are typically either saints or failed spirits, though some villains who escape judgment or remnants of old soul shards sometimes provide bad guidance. Because of this, there is a culture of erasing the irredeemable criminals from history, particularly spree killers and such, so as to minimize any chance of their spirit guiding anyone else.
--As a side note, there is a strong debate amongst the shiinei on Exhibition as to whether the Archivist is in fact Pralen. Raani, for his part, has sided with a hard NO.

Clothing: Raani wears anything that he thinks appealing, though there is a slight fondness for elegant, flowing clothing, his favorites being: one and two.  While in the Wind Plains he tends to prefer clothing that fits a bit tighter, for obvious reasons, though he tries to keep it visually appealing, for example.

Personal affects: Personal datascroll, silver Pralenist necklace,

Profession: Playwright and Actor

Skills: Raani is a fantastic actor as well as singer and is pretty talented at writing plays, both standard and musical. He can dance to some extent also. He’s pretty good in general speechcraft and diplomacy, though he is an atrocious liar; the only time he ever lies is when he is in character. He is a pretty decent runner even by his own kind’s standards and has a good sense of direction. He has general housekeeping skills, but he’s not an especially great cook or anything. As for psionics… he is generally capable in telepathy as any member of his species and has a good “singing voice,” but he has no exceptional training beyond that and can only really use it as a secondary form of speech rather than anything advanced.

Personality: At a glance, Raani is extremely happy and bubbly, eagerly greeting people and doing everything in his power to make people feel positive. The only time he ever says anything negative is in-character, and to his credit he is very good at that, though he will usually start smothering anyone his character wronged with apologies the moment his performance is over. He also is very honest and trusts others to do the same; if the truth would hurt someone, he tends to try to avoid making a statement. Sarcasm isn’t entirely foreign to him and he recognizes when it’s being used, but he still has trouble with it sometimes, particularly if the delivery is earnest. If someone treats him well, he is the most loyal friend someone could ask for and will do all he can for them, though he has a long memory for betrayals. There isn’t a vindictive bone in his body and he is a pacifist, though under extreme circumstances he is hypothetically willing to do harm if it means protecting anyone who has earned his friendship. Beneath all of this though, he has become a very depressed person, largely thanks to being brought to Exhibition. In fact, to some extent he throws himself into his work and into strangers in the hopes of distracting himself from how horribly lonely he feels.

Personal History: Raani is by no means a special individual. He was born to a clan which specialized in various forms of electrical and mechanical work (depending on the individual), his mother and father in particular tending to work on movie and stage equipment. He grew up watching the art of making movies from a front row seat, then enjoying the beauty of seeing that work formed into a masterpiece, and before he had even left his parent clan he knew what he was going to do when he grew up. He received a proper education in acting and very quickly found love in the form of the Iinorai clan, which had only been recently formed when he married into it. The people within were almost entirely artists of some description, and over the time when he was with them the clan had grown to fifteen in number, he and the other three founders being the oldest. The Shiinan Union, at this point in time, had only met two other alien species (disregarding their sister species, the aquatic kriinei), and in general things were incredibly peaceful in their realm, so most of the issues that the shiinei had were those typical of starfaring species (pirates, extremists, rebels, etc.). So, he never expected any issues. He sired a child with one of his clan and was talking about having another, he had sent a script in to a studio, and he had successfully landed some minor parts in some major movies.

Then he made the mistake of going to his kind’s homeworld, Shiithana, on a pilgrimage to Saint Vitria’s Cathedral to pay respect to the saint he held closest to his heart. While there he was singled out by the Archivist, who found the shiinei a peculiar species and wanted a member with good genetic purity—which he definitely was. Now, at first Raani was excited to be in Exhibition, largely because he didn’t realize he was going to be there permanently. He was in heaven meeting all of these alien species and he relished in the opportunity to examine all of these different cultures. This lasted about a month before he finally asked the Archivist if he could go home—the obvious answer was “no.” It was at about that point when he realized just how much trouble he was in and started frantically trying to find some way to get home, hoping to return to his clan and continue his life as normal. It was fruitless though, and the Archivist had no interest in more shiinei since they lacked gender dimorphism and were a rather common species in their region of space. In fact, the only true friend that Raani wound up having initially was a kriina named Sytra, who was in much the same boat as he was. They clung to each other as the only kin they could find, but it was a friendship of desperation and their personalities clashed regularly—under any other circumstances they would have never gotten along. Yet, as time went on they agreed on one thing: this couldn’t go on. Together they agreed to end their lives, Sytra managing to craft a poison for them to take together and with one final prayer they drank. Sytra died rather quickly as the substance completely fried her nervous system… but shiinan and kriinan physiology was different enough to keep Raani alive long enough for the Archivist to intervene.

After he recovered, Raani was on suicide watch and after several more very close attempts the Arvchivist relented and agreed to find Raani some ‘playmates,’ as the slavemaster put it. Of course, none of these new shiinei were his clan and they initially reacted much as Raani had, excitedly exploring the station and meeting every alien they could. Of course, the moment that they realized the situation, they too had a period of panic, and Raani, the longest-serving shiina on the station, was there for them. Eventually, these eight shiinei, including him, wound up joining in a ‘clan’ together and made themselves a home in the Wind Plains. It has taken them some time to come to terms with their relationship, as while they are friends, they don’t have romantic feelings to each other… but for the sake of their mutual sanity they act as such, a few of the stronger telepaths actively trying to sow romantic emotions within the clan for the purpose of filling the hole (this is something that they all agreed to). Similarly, a kriinan clan has been brought into the Ocean zone, and while shiinei and kriinei have always had a rivalry, while in The Exhibition they cooperate as close friends. Together, these eight have started filling in a few entertainment spots in the Citadel and have become relatively well-known among certain groups of the populace, Raani in particular receiving some love from patrons of the arts. At this point, Raani doesn’t know how long he’s been on the Exhibition, and part of him suspects he will never see his clan, not until he is dead, but at the same time he has some small hope that he might… and he needs to stay strong for the sake of the rest of his shiinan kinsmen.

---

Name: Akeitya Jevik

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Species: Kriina (Kriinei plural, Kriinan adjective)

Appearance: Kriinei are similar to shiinei in that they have the same triple-jointed legged humanoid body, same total similarity between males and females, same raptor-esque shape of face, same feline style of eyes, and similarly-shaped hands and feet. However, there are many distinct differences. Most obviously, their colorations are different, typically variations on blue or green, with some being black violet in the same way some humans are red-headed or blonde. Their eyes have extra eyelids and tend to adjust poorer to bright light. They lack song mouths or a song organ and instead have a sonar melon in that area, not to mention their teeth are sharper. They lack any spines on their heads and instead have a single long, very flexible fin which starts at the top of their head and stretches down to the tip of their tail. Their ears are still there, but they’re shaped like fins and fairly short. Their hands and feet are webbed and their claws a bit better-suited to hunting than climbing. They are a bit shorter and stouter than shiinei at 160cm/5’2” and 190cm/6’3” and have a bit thicker bones and their spines are adjusted for side-to-side swimming rather than climbing and jumping. Facially they’re a bit shorter and heavier-jawed than shiinei, but without them next to each other it’s a little hard to tell.
--Jevik is the color of copper rust and has fire orange eyes.

Height: 6’0” or 183cm

Weight: 165 lbs or 75kg

Skin color: Aqua

Eye color: Orange

Senses:
--Hearing: 4
--Sight: 3
--Smell: 1
--Taste: 2
--Touch: 2

Psionic:
--Telepathy: 1
--Telekinesis: 0
--Resistance: 3

Species Abilities: While they lack gills, Kriinei can hold their breath for an extraordinarily long time, capable of going for hours on end without breathing. They are powerful swimmers and while they may not be as fast as some, they are incredibly agile and quick to maneuver. They are capable of using sonar while in the water and can use it to some extent on land (though it takes some training to get used to it). They also are quite comfortable on land and don’t need to be wet, though they prefer the water because land “makes [them] feel slow.”

Number of Kinsmen: Seven, with eight shiinei.

Technological Level: Complicated, all tech is up to Iron Age, but they have access to Space Age equipment via the shiinei.

Native Biome: Ocean

Restricted Zones: Deep Sea, Tundra, Savanna, Desert, Thermal, Aerial

Culture: Unlike their shiina counterparts, kriinei are definitely not afraid of getting their hands dirty. They live in tribes no larger than a few hundred at the most which have a rough hierarchical system based on a combination of intellect, hunting prowess, and age. The precise amount of respect given to an individual and his proportionate power within the tribe usually varies wildly, and while elders are always respected they aren’t necessarily the chiefs of it. Males and females take mates as they wish, though both sexes tend to scuffle over the right to breed—romantic couples exist certainly, but typically one of the two needs to be strong enough to protect their breeding right with their significant other. They have a strong sense of honor and go to great effort to treat each other well and do not take slights lightly, though if the other party humbles themselves they will generally forget it immediately. They are not a warrior culture per se and they prefer to treat and trade with other kriinan tribes rather than fight them, but they are not afraid to go to war for territory or to protect their honor—though wars for them are traditionally low-harm affairs, not so much because they are afraid of killing but out of practicality (one can’t sustain a small tribe if you lose half your adults). Generally, the only lands that are contested are coastal regions near shiinan towns, so that they can trade with the surface dwellers. Their technological situation is bizarre because they are functionally a species living under stone or bronze age traditions with some farming and a healthy amount of hunting, but they have access to a space-age society’s equipment. What this has resulted in is a bizarre economy where sea cattle are traded for boats or spearguns and these people live in anchored submarines which typically serve as the markers of territory as well as homes—sometimes these submarines will go untouched for decades before a displaced tribe moves back into it. They are distrustful of outsiders, particularly the aliens that shiinei bring home, but they aren’t unwilling to meet with them. Their relationship with the shiinei is a shaky one, as both sides have done horrible things to each other in the past and both species have a long memory, but generally they are past that and more adventurous kriinei will sometimes join their cousins on land—not so much the other way around, though that’s more out of practicality. Shiinei and kriinei are interfertile. The kriinei are aware of the interstellar community and a few tribes have begun colonizing worlds alongside their shiinan brethren, but in general they stick to the homeworld.

Religion: Kriinan religion is a modified animistic religion. They generally believe in spirits much like the shiinei do, though they don’t worship any particular god. Peculiarly, they acknowledge gods are out there, but their stance is that the gods are too busy with the greater universe as a whole. The only gods that see any respect are Nakrii, god of the sea, and Pralen, the shiinan god of memory—and those folks are basically just subscribing to the surface-dwellers’ religion. Plenty get by simply showing respect for any spirits which guide them as well as those of their mentors and otherwise just not giving religion more than a passing glance.
--Jevik, for his part, just reveres his guiding spirits and occasionally thanks the god of the sea for bountiful seasons.

Clothing: Jevik generally just wears belts and bandoliers for his belongings and purchases while he’s on land with some simple loin coverings for the oversensitive ninnies on land, the latter of which he immediately ditches once he’s in the water.

Personal affects: A small totem given to him by his parents.

Profession: Pre-abduction: Hunter, Current: Medicine man (he refuses to be called a shaman)

Skills: Above all, hunting and melee combat are his primary skills (along with swimming I suppose) with some training with spearguns. He is versed in medicine just enough to manage field treatment, but he definitely defers to proper medical specialists. He has also been training to use firearms in VR simulations, though he is a novice at this point.

Personality: Jevik is a gruff and fairly easy-to-understand person, generally honest and forthcoming to others. He has a certain pride about him, less about anything specifically and more that he lives as a good man and holds his honor as the most valuable thing he has. He is a fairly serious person and generally doesn’t laugh much, but he will smile and be a friendly person in general, generally cautious of newcomers but more than willing to befriend those who show that they are honorable and/or trustworthy. He is quick to react to dangerous situations and is more than willing to protect others, though he will prioritize those he feels he can trust above others. He is willing to make the hard decisions if it comes to that, but he looks for alternatives where possible. He does not suffer insults and will defend his honor—even if he knows he will get bloodied up pretty bad, he won’t allow slights to go unchallenged. Also, he likes to spar with people to get to know them—he feels that someone’s willingness to do combat and the discipline with which they fight speaks a great deal about their spirit. He is not as angry or depressed as some other inmates, but he is determined to leave—however, a hunter must be patient, and he is simply quietly watching and living day by day until his moment comes.

Personal History: Jevik’s history is fairly short and simple. He was born in the Akeitya tribe and grew up just like most kriinei, being taught to live in the ocean, tending the tribe’s sea cattle when he was little and going out with his parents on gathering expeditions until he was old enough to hunt. The Akeitya were a respectable tribe on the homeworld Shiithana, 120 in number, and while they did not have coastal territory they had an ally which allowed them access. His proudest moment was when he went on land and managed to slay a trevak, the deadly apex predator of the wind plains, and to the day of his abduction he kept its skull as a trophy. He sired three children and was proud to be a father, though he lost one of them to a predator when he foolishly allowed the girl to go hunting alone. Towards the end of his stay, the tribe’s elderly shaman began eying him as a potential successor and started training him in the ways of medicine, both the old ways and using the gifts provided by the surface dwellers. However, before he could finish his training, the Archivist decided to abduct him during a hunt.

Now, Jevik was aware of the existence of aliens, the shiinei never shut up about them, but to see so many in one place, to be trapped away from his tribe with so many bizarre, unknowable creatures and technology well beyond what even the shiinei had showed them. Fortunately, before he could get too panicked by his situation, he was quickly joined by a few other unfortunate souls who were taken from their homeworld. Initially, the kriinei kept to themselves, just taking their shelter and only existing in their own little world; they may not have been each other’s tribe prior, but they were more than willing to act as such if it meant keeping alive and sane. Jevik initially tried to be the chief of their little tribe, but when they discovered his knowledge of medicine he was physically put into his place, which initially made him a little bitter, but for the sake of not making their imprisonment difficult he has accepted this—it’s not like being the medicine man is a low position anyways. While it took a while, eventually one of the females of the group started branching out and talking with the other aquatic species, and slowly the makeshift ‘tribe’ started getting more comfortable meeting other members of the Exhibition. They still tend to mind their own business, but eventually they found out that there were shiinei on the station and they pretty quickly forged an alliance with them—granted the creatures were weak, but any friendly face they could get in this bizarre world was welcome. Slowly the kriinei have come to realize that they may never return home—but if they are to, then they need to be ready to act if there ever comes a time. They have been obedient subjects to the Archivist on the surface, but they have been slowly training themselves, learning how to use this strange technology and utilizing the other aliens where possible to better train with these new weapons. Normally, using alien weapons for warfare would be considered dishonorable—one should be able to create, or at least easily maintain their equipment without outside assistance, but they have accepted that some concessions will have to be made. They know they won’t be the catalyst of any event that ends their imprisonment, they are too technologically illiterate for that and they lack this bizarre psionic potential that aliens seem to have. But if their presence will be the difference between freedom and eternal imprisonment for all, then they are more than happy to join. And when that day comes, Jevik will gladly be on the frontlines, either as a soldier or as a healer, whichever is needed.