Malarai: Difference between revisions

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===Physiology===
===Physiology===
* Birth control does not work reliably for Malarai.<ref name="coldandgentle">''[[Alysha's Fall (Fiction) |Alysha's Fall]]'', "A Cold and Gentle Dark"</ref>
* Birth control does not work reliably for Malarai.<ref name="coldandgentle">''[[Alysha's Fall (Fiction) |Alysha's Fall]]'', "A Cold and Gentle Dark"</ref>
* Many cannot walk well without corrective surgery.<ref name="ml-01"> ''[[Mindline (Fiction) |Mindline]]'', Chapter 1</ref>


==Society==
==Society==

Latest revision as of 22:16, 23 June 2022

Malarai
Dainty, sad, flippyflaps.

A short description here.

Vital Statistics (At a Glance)

Pronounced mahl-are-eye.[1] Pronounced ' pronounce here '. Singular is . Possessive is . Plural is .

  • Species Type: Pelted
  • Origin: Engineered
  • Frame Type: Bipedal, winged
  • Average Height:
  • Average Lifespan:
  • Gravity Preference:
  • Homeworld:
  • Native Language:

Appearance and Physiology

Appearance

Because of the size of their initial genepool the Malarai are fairly homogeneous in height, between 5”5 and 6”. They have pointed triangular ears (some argue catlike, others wolflike), and are uniformly flat-faced or demimuzzled, and the latter is rare. The tail is distinctly catlike, as are the coat patterns, though the Malarai tend toward plain coats, when they have coats: many of them have very short fur or none at all, which exposes the dark skin leading from the tear ducts to the mouth. Almost all Malarai have these cheetah-like tear marks, though they can vary in intensity and some Malarai have them surgically removed. (Some Tam-illee also show these marks, leading to speculation about early interbreeding during the Exodus.) The wings of the Malarai are feathered and spring from their backs, near the shoulder-blades, and almost all of them are shaped like songbird wings. While most individuals are born with pale wings of uniform color, modern Malarai do paint and bleach their feathers to suit their sense of personal style. Early Malarai left their wings “unretouched” out of a nearly unanimous hatred of their useless appendages, and it wasn’t until fairly recently that Malarai even became willing to use their wings in low or null-gravity environments.

Malarai are plantigrade, five-fingered/toed, and have nails.

Physiology

  • Birth control does not work reliably for Malarai.[2]
  • Many cannot walk well without corrective surgery.[3]

Society

Member of what nations here. Information about colony worlds here.

Stereotypes

The Malarai are an insular people. For most of their history they’ve felt crushed by their biology and their struggle to survive. They were created with feathered wings too small for flight, and early Malarai had significant neurological and physical hip, leg, and feet problems, probably a side effect of attempting to graft extra limbs to a body accustomed to only four. These issues, together with their small population size and the attendant challenges overcoming them, have left their marks: even stable Malarai are given to introspection and quiet, and the less fortunate among them are plagued with melancholy and self-esteem issues, even hundreds of years after their creation. Their religion revolves around sacrifice and grief, and while the centuries have softened the blows that shaped their culture, they are still a solemn people.

Their struggles have made the Malarai a strong but reserved people, and since those struggles have been internal and individual and personal (the crippling biology) as well as racial and cultural (the small genepool), they tend toward compassion and perspective—emotional perspective, as opposed to social/cultural perspective.

Common Family Structures

Religions

Native or Common Dress

Naming Conventions

Malarai have little by way of naming customs; virtues are common, and nature names, but basically anything goes. Their surnames are some of the truest to their origins: they trace a “line name” back to one of the original Malarai created.

History

Created on Earth in very small numbers, the Malarai exist today because they managed to survive the Exodus long enough for reproductive technology to save their genepool. The Malarai, however, remain a small population, and while they leave their homeworld there simply aren’t enough of them to go around. Even so, you’re as likely to see one or the other in the more populous zones of the Alliance, simply because of their temperaments.

Famous Figures

Characters


References

  1. "Pronunciation Guide," Even the Wingless backmatter
  2. Alysha's Fall, "A Cold and Gentle Dark"
  3. Mindline, Chapter 1