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Fiani are a race whose appearance can vary significantly from one to the next. It is such a prominent and recognised phenomenon in Fiani culture that they have created two distinct names for the two most common anatomical morphs, as well as a third for those who do not fall into the first two categories.
| Although the appearances of Fiani can vary so drastically, there are certain facets between every morph that remain consistent between them. All Fiani—regardless of morph—typically stand between 152 cm (60 in) and 183 cm (72 in). Variations are possible, and not uncommon, but the most frequently recorded heights fall somewhere between or close to the above spectrum. The build of any Fiani can vary, from muscular to plush, but they are most commonly graceful and lithe. Most weigh between 45 kg (100 lbs) and 54 kg (120 lbs). Fur and hair colours range from red to orange, tawny to brown, and gray to dark gray. Uncommonly, Fiani are born with snow-white or pitch-black hair or fur; each is typically associated with a cultural stigmata detailed later in their culture. Their eyes span the entire gamut of the rainbow, and no one eye colour is considered more common than any other. Fiani are born with a single tail, but as they grow older, they gain additional tails every six to seven years beginning after they reach adulthood at 18 years. This measurement can be used to approximate a Fiani's age, as it is extremely uncommon for a Fiani with nine tails to be any less than 60 years old, and a Fiani with one tail to be any older than 23.
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| As with most mammals, Fiani are viviparous and give birth to live young, and both a male and a female are required for the conception of a child through the process of meiosis. It is also prevalent, and, in fact, regular, for Fiani to conceive two or three young at a time. Female Fiani carry their children to term in 12 - 16 months once conceived and have an almost identical capacity to reproduce with other races thanks to their flexible biology. However, it is uncommon for the traits of a Fiani to intermingle with the characteristics of other races. Offspring produced between a Fiani and another race are either entirely one race or the other and rarely mixed. As an example, if a female Fiani were to reproduce with a Twi'lek, the offspring would be exclusively Twi'lek or Fiani, not a mix of the two. |
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| Fiani are omnivores but often prefer to lean towards a diet more similar to herbivores, though this consistency again varies between individual Fiani. Due to cultural influence and significance, many Fiani respect the myriad beasts and creatures of nature and typically only resort to eating the flesh and meat of beasts if no other options are available. Fiani often offer a blessing to honour the beast's sacrifice when required to consume meat. Ingredients in a traditional Fiani meal are often prepared and served together, commonly seared over an open flame using techniques like pan- and stir-frying. A popular method of Fiani cooking is known as "sidlian." The process of sidlian becomes less about the food, and sidlean chefs make it more about providing the people they're cooking for a spectacle to admire and enjoy. Such spectacles include juggling knives, extravagantly fanned flames, and other impressive feats of dexterity and fancy. |
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| Few things are revered and celebrated in Fiani culture as much as the ever-changing season known as life. Every birth is a momentous joy and blessing, while every death is a bitter passing. However, when confronted with death, Fiani are an optimistic people who prefer to sing and tell tales to honour the individual's memory instead of publicly mourning their loss. That is not to say that death is not painful for Fiani, but rather, legends claim that prolonged mourning brings sorrow to the deceased, making it more difficult for them to pass on to the afterlife. Thus, families record the stories about the departed during a traditional ceremony celebrating their life known as a "shasret." At the end of the shasret, the stories are bound in a sturdy book and presented to the next of kin. These books are then kept within family dwellings as treasured and sometimes sacred mementoes, and are often copied and distributed from one family member to the next. Regularly, after a few generations, the original book is donated to a community library where the departed's memory may be preserved. | Fiani never need an invitation to celebrate and frequently hold extravagant parties for no small variety of life's milestones and accomplishments. These occurrences include the birth of infants, the coming of age for a child, and marriage. These celebrations often have traditional rules and customs that the Fiani follow. For example, many Fiani consider it an ill fortune to celebrate the birth of a child until they have lived for at least one entire month. Tradition also mandates that a coming-of-age ceremony must celebrate a whole year's duration of young adults simultaneously on the first full moon of the new year. Similarly, it is customary for Fiani to partake in two weddings; one that is a large public spectacle for everyone to celebrate, and one that is a smaller "private" affair solely between the two joining families, where only close friends and family of the newlyweds are invited. During the private wedding, the families will bond, learn more about one another, and exchanges gifts and favours to build rapport and strengthen their ties. |
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| Fiani adore storytelling and place a bigger emphasis on a good story, as opposed to a truthful one. As a result, numerous legends about the origin of the Fiani race exist. The majority of the stories are lies designed to make their history and origin sound more grandiose, but so many different stories exist that even Fiani have trouble telling the real ones from the fake. Fiani possess a rich oral history that is often portrayed as shadowing any other race's, offering their race's perspective on the occurrences that shaped and defined the larger galaxy and everyone in it. Since there is no reliable, accurate means to distinguish the true from the false, most Fiani adapt stories from all sources and walks of life to suit their oral history. They often take what they like and alter it to suit their own needs and desires. Beloved political leaders are reimagined as Fiani while disinteresting or boring figures become other races. The one truth that remains throughout everything is that their culture always has, and always will, thrive and breathe in the ways of songs, stories, and art. | Fiani are frequently prone to wanderlust and rarely aspire towards political power, yet, despite this, they consistently maintain cohesive and well-established communities that can be dozens of miles in diameter or as small as a city block. To a Fiani, a community is—first and foremost—a support network. They rely on their communities for everything from staying in touch with one another to providing materials or belongings one may need but doesn't have. Settlements often grow around a well-liked individual or familiar. As more Fiani continue to settle around the blooming hamlet or village, the trust and loyalty between the community's members overpower their peoples' natural sojourning nature, resulting in a permanent settlement. Many of those settlements welcome foreigners of other species with open arms, assuming they follow the community's laws. However, entire Fiani cities are nearly unheard of. So rare are they that they are often the material of fairy tales and legends, as opposed to reality. Many Fiani don't submit well to authority, and the number of Fiani that possess the discipline, ambition, and willpower required to shoulder the leadership responsibility are few and far between. While loose confederations of Fiani communities sometimes form during turbulent or troubled times, actual sovereign nations seldom last. |
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| The process of naming a children in Fiani culture can be as simple or as complicated as the parents desire. A multitude of naming conventions exist, and no single method is held in higher esteem than the next. Traditionally, Fiani children aren't named until they've survived their first month of life in a festival called "shetan." Surnames are called "family names" and are inherited if the child chooses to inherit it later on. Most Fiani family names involve a lineage of some kind, and function more as a descriptive title than a functional name. A family of scribes may have the family name "Storykeeper," or a family of hunters may have the family name "Trailfinder."
| Fiani often favour clothing with flashy colours that accentuate the natural pigmentation of their hair or fur, and frequently wear clothing with visually pleasing patterns or designs. The style of the clothing is often as unique and diverse as the Fiani wearing it. One female may choose to wear a loose, flowing dress that exposes her thighs and bosom, while another female may elect to wear trousers and a cropped shirt that exposes her midriff but covers her breasts. Garments such as bodysuits, tunics, halters, and everything in between all have a place in Fiani garb. Jewellery is commonly a must-have, ranging from necklaces to rings, and hair ornaments to tail ornaments. Women often adorn themselves with ribbons, tassels, and braids, while men frequently choose to wear bracelets, cuffs, and chains. Piercings and tattoos, both ceremonial and otherwise, are also commonplace. There is very little emphasis on footwear, particularly for Fiani with digitigrade legs and feet. Many Fiani elect to walk barefoot for a variety of reasons, including the belief that wearing footwear only serves to obstruct their close and intrinsic connection to nature. When Fiani settle on other planets with other races, they tend to mirror whatever styles are popular with the indigenous population, and save their traditional clothing to important events or visits back to their home to see their family. |
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| The stigmatas associated with white- and black-furred Fiani are superstitions that are gradually losing traction as time continues. A Fiani born with snow-white hair or fur is sometimes considered blessed, and likely to naturally attract and bring good fortune to their parents, family, and friends, and exceed at anything they choose to apply themselves to. Meanwhile, those born with pitch-black hair or fur are thought of as being cursed by malevolent forces, liable to bring misfortune, and likely to never succeed or excel at anything they attempt. Over time, the concept of "cursed" and "blessed" Fiani has started to lose prominence, largely due to several notable figures of Fiani history achieving levels of fame or notoriety when the colour of their hair or fur didn't match what was expected or "prophesised" of them. However, some Fiani settlements still cling to this concept as if it were fact instead of myth. |
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| Fiani are, more often than not, particularly fast and agile. Even the most out-of-shape Fiani are usually capable of leaving other species in their wake with ease, including those in their twilight years. Even unarmed, Fiani have an innate advantage over many other species: their claws. Not only are they particularly dangerous weapons, able to slice through skin with ease, they can also be utilised for a myriad of purposes including cutting cloth or rope. Furred Fiani, or those with sufficient tails in either quantity or thickness, are naturally insulated against cold weather. As a result, they often require less clothing in such environments and can more easily thrive in those climes where other species would falter or fail altogether. | Fiani hearing is particularly sensitive to low frequency sounds, and has a remarkable ability to detect these sounds from considerable distance. However, such sensitive and acute hearing comes at a price: they can be susceptible to particularly loud noises, or a large amount of constant, centralised noise. Such sounds can leave a Fiani's head spinning and leave them in complete disarray. Their tails also serve multiple essential purposes, one of which is the maintaining their balance. Fiani use their tails as a counterbalance to help them adjust their movements and stay upright, especially when running, and a Fiani with their tails restrained or encumbered are liable to easily lose their balance. While Fiani fur and tails are excellent insulation against cold climates, it makes them more susceptible to heat and humidity. |
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| By and large, Fiani tend to be gregarious and affable. They make concerted efforts to be sociable and friendly to anyone and everyone they meet. As the saying goes, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." A tenant many Fiani live by. While, to a certain extent, the affability is a ruse, most are genuinely friendly and interested in what others have to say. | The Fiani originate from the planet Fiana, a subarctic planet located in the Kashyyyk system. |
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| The native tongue of the Fiani is called Fianan, and bears a striking resemblance to Catharese. However, most Fiani families prioritise teaching their children whichever language dominates the region they're born and raised in. As a result, they frequently speak both Basic and Fianan, and occasionally a third language if it's prevalent enough. This works well for them, as they are incredibly talented at learning languages and relish peppering their dialect with words from foreign tongues. Fianan itself is a soft, easily flowing language. Legend has it that Fianan is inspired by the language of birds, other animals, and nature. It holds a rhythmic, musical quality to it with intricate grammar and complex expression. Subtle, swift intonations with soft consonants like a bird's song, and slow, melodic pronunciation that rises and lowers in pitch like wind through reeds. The timbre is low and gravelly, and all of this is framed by occasionally dramatic pauses like the rolling of thunder or flame sputtering in the midnight wind. It is a language built on the concept of ideals and emotional states rather than a language of facts. When Fiani people speak to one another, they are able to easily glean and learn the emotions of one another on the topic they are discussing. | The common technological level for most Fiani, while not as advanced as some species, isn't exactly "primitive," either. Fiani are generally proficient in the use of blasters and weapons such as bowcasters, as well as a variety of weapons complimented or created with technological means. They also have a base understanding of starships, skiffs, and other transportation over land and through space. However, they lack the means to produce this technology themselves, and much if not all of their knowledge of such things was acquired through exposure to other races and species teaching them about it. Meanwhile, on the Fiani homeworld, the technological level sits closer to the "Feudal" level, according to the Technological Development Level by the old Galactic Empire. - They produce simple manufactured goods such as textiles, clothing, and some machinery. - The most advanced tools are made by specialized factories or workers. - Agriculture and hunting occupy most of the community. - Transportation is ensured by harnessing animal, water or wind power, and road networks do exist. - Communication includs the use of a writing system. |
Lastly, what is the intention of this species? |
| I'll be honest: I enjoy kemonomimi-style species for the aesthetic. I don't enjoy them because they're "kawaii," "cute," or "anime." I want species and races like this because I believe that including things such as tails and unique ears can add to a character's expressiveness and enhance their ability to communicate through body language. However, added expressiveness should not come at the expense of being forced to play a race that's entirely or significantly bestial, such as Cathar. Some people, such as myself, like to retain a more human appearance but be able to express themselves in unique ways unavailable or inaccessible to species without these features. Simply put, not everybody wants to place a species that leans heavily into the bestial aesthetic, but they still want the capability and comfort to write and portray a character they're comfortable with. This species aims to appeal to both parties, especially those like me. I also intended to offer individuals a race steeped in what I hope to be rich, unique lore, customs, and traditions, with plenty of room for creative freedom. Fiani are a species intended to be a dash of fantastical whimsy in a largely science fiction universe, which, to me, is something that it sorely lacks. Thank you for taking the time to read through everything! I hope for a favourable reply. |
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