Post by kihaku on Jan 10, 2009 2:53:45 GMT
History:
After the disappearance of the original Pariah unit many years ago, the black ops group tasked with its development and implementation was disbanded and the project was nearly scrapped. Thanks to the foresight and dogged determination of Dr. Alkai, however, the project continued. Using laboratory reproductions of the alien life form that powered the original, Alkai created a dozen new, but inferior units based on the original. Unfortunately, the alien reproductions proved to be 'glitchy', and upon Dr. Alkai's death, the government finally scrapped the Pariah project and mothballed the Mk II Units. For years, locked inside a forgotten warehouse, without the hindering influence of outside orders to compete with, the alien presence inside each of the dozen gynoids slowly grew and even thrived, until one day three hundred years later the first reactivated itself. In only a matter of weeks the entire group came to life, each unit powered by the alien substance within. Discovery and attempts to deactivate the gynoids led to a brief struggle, after which the wise governor of Esperanza recognized them as legitimate life forms and freed them to seek their own fortunes. The group migrated to the wilderness of Nasrad, where it was thought that they would live in solitude and eventually die out and fade from history. The assumption couldn't have been more wrong.
With an efficiency unknown to the purely organic races of the planet, the Pariah MK IIs built and developed an entire city, far bigger than their limited number would ever require. They were left alone and forgotten for centuries - so long that many even began to regard them as legend - until a group of adventurers rediscovered them fifty years ago. By that time, the gynoids had accomplished their secret goal - a method of reproduction. The basic robotic bodies were assembled and programmed in a factory, while the alien organisms that gave the machines life were grown in an adjacent laboratory. Once an organism was fully developed, it would be taken into the storage area and past the assembled units one by one. Through a process even the Pariahim don't even fully understand, the organisms invariably react to one particular unit, whereupon it would be placed inside the unit's containment cell and the unit activated. When a body and the organism are combined, a Pariah is 'born'. By the time of their rediscovery, the gynoids numbered in the thousands. Since then, their city of Anothen has become a powerful influence in the changing world.
Culture:
Unlike the typical cold, unfeeling society one might expect from a society of machines, the Pariahim are a creative, expressive people. They have a tremendous appreciation for and ability in art, literature, architecture, music, and language; and in their relatively short history they have built, written, and composed masterpieces that rival those of civilizations thousands of years older. Their buildings soar to impossible heights, thanks to the perfect logic of their architects, and are intricately decorated, with every surface inlaid with colorful stones and patterns so complex that one could stare at a single surface for days without fully comprehending its appearance. While they have no need for clothing, every Pariah's body is distinctly built and decorated. Language is unnecessary among them thanks to their ability to link directly to one another, but they enjoy speaking to other species, humanoid, animal, and even plant alike.
In the years following the Awakening, the originals spent much time observing and reflecting on the world around them. The central truth which they gleaned from this time was that every aspect of the universe, down to the last molecule, had been designed for a purpose. This belief has been passed on to every Unit to such an extent that it is the closest thing to a religion they have. The ultimate achievement for a unit is to discover its individual purpose. Every occurrence in a unit's life is accepted without question or complaint, because it would not have happened if it did not serve a purpose. "To everything a reason." is a common expression of greeting among them, as is the more intimate "May you ever know your purpose".
Another aspect of Pariahin culture that the outsider finds surprising is the existence of a thorough moral code. While not for the same reasons as other races, Pariahim regard many of the same behaviors to be bad as other cultures. The difference is their perspective. To the Pariahim, the ultimate good and the central truth in the universe are logic and design. Their belief on killing is a prime example. Design says that sentient creatures (excepting animals) are not meant to kill one another. Therefore, it is bad to kill. However, their society cannot be completely pacifist because there are creatures that will defy design and seek to harm others. Logic dictates the innocent must be protected and weapons are necessary to achieve that end. The reconciliation is that weapons are built and used only to protect against aggression. They consider the use of intoxicating or mind-altering substances bad because it defies logic to cloud one's mind or senses. Lying is nonexistent among Pariahim because it is illogical to mislead someone. Though in many ways their code is easy to understand from this foundation, at times it leads to confusion for other species, especially where the principle of design is involved. For example, a Pariahin equipped with a mining tool, if attacked, will be destroyed before it will use the mining tool to defend itself. Why? Mining tools are not designed for use on living creatures. Hand to hand combat is accepted, if not encouraged, simply because of the fact that is part of the original design of the gynoids. Upgrading, while entirely possible, is not done among the Pariahim except in times of dire need, because the alien symbiote – representing life – chose that particular Unit as it was designed. When Logic and Design conflict, Design overrules, because in their minds while even their own Logic may be flawed, Design cannot be reversed.
In regard to other races, Pariahim generally do not live outside their city. While they enjoy traveling and learning, very few have ever left Anothen permanently. That said, they hold neither unfriendly nor superior attitudes toward other races. To the contrary, they welcome visitors and love to learn from other races. They enjoy measuring the differences in each race and understand implicitly the logic behind the "golden rule", which they have rephrased as "Make no enemies, and you shall have few". The only sure way to offend a Pariahim is to call it a robot, in which case it will invariably launch into a lengthy explanation of the differences between itself and a robot. Similar offense is taken to being called an android, cyborg, machine, gynoid, or other such terms.
The last major aspect to be understood is the Pariahim view of life. When a Pariahin Unit is assembled, everything about it is complete except for a power supply. Even personality is pre-programmed. The alien organism (known by them as a Symbiote) has no effect whatsoever on the Unit except as the source of power – or life. It is entirely possible for a Pariahin to operate without a symbiote, and an outsider would never have any idea that it was missing, but to them it would be an unspeakable abomination. A Unit's body can be destroyed, its personality damaged or erased, and it will be repaired and kept active indefinitely, but if or when the symbiote dies, the Unit must be immediately deactivated and destroyed. Likewise, to deactivate a Pariahin while the symbiote is still alive is akin to murder in their eyes.
Physical Characteristics:
Paraihim bodies are constructed from an alloy that surpasses the strength of any known naturally occurring mineral. While extremely difficult to damage by brute force, the bodies are also precision machines and can be damaged if key areas of their 'anatomy' are targeted. Their strength varies depending on the design of the individual unit, but coordination is invariably perfect.
Appearance wise, only the original units are identical. Every unit constructed since the Awakening is entirely unique. Size, color, and shape can be completely different from one unit to the next. The only common characteristics shared by all Pariahim are the metal used in construction of their bodies, the containment cell located in the most protected area for the symbiote, and the pair of long, slender appendages on the head that house arrays of sensory equipment. (On the original units, they appeared as furry ears, like a rabbit's, but this was done away with in their own creations in favor of a sleeker metallic housing). These 'ears', have become a key part of Pariahim culture.
Paraihim have no inherent gender, and with no need for gender roles they haven't developed any. Still, individual units may display certain characteristics or interests that remind one of a male or female of another species. While they don't mind being called he or she by another species, they have no use for the terms among themselves.
They have no ability for magic whatsoever, but are fascinated by it and will often design weapons or tools that appear to function magically. In reality it's just extremely advanced technology. For example, the Pariahim are often credited with having psychic abilities due to their seemingly precognitive reflexes and uncanny knack for knowing what a person is going to say or do before they act. In reality, these abilities are the result of effective use of sensors that measure almost every piece of information available about any given person or situation, They are believed to be able to control the elements, which is true to a point, but it is done through a complete understanding of nature and technology built on that foundation. In the end, their lack of magical ability has proven to be a negligible hindrance, as nearly everything made possible by magic is equally made possible by their technology.
Race-specific abilities:
- Duranium Construction: All Pariahim are built of a secret alloy known only as Duranium. Light, flexible, but stronger than any known metal on Noria, this material makes them naturally resistant to most natural, non-magical forms of damage (crushing, piercing, cutting, etc.)
- Perfected Senses: Pariahim built themselves as close to perfect as they could, and one of the areas this is most evident is in their senses. Sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and the 'sixth' sense of energy-reading are completely adaptable to any situation and capable of what they call "molecular precision". (Meaning they are able to see, handle, hear, or feel even individual molecules if they wish.)
- Upgrades: Other races grow and mature, then age and fade. Pariahim come to life fully mature, but this doesn't mean they can't improve. As a Pariahim's life moves forward and it gains experience, their sytems gain access to increases functionality. By simply choosing what he wishes to become, a Unit can enact changes to his own system that even go so far as to alter his physical construction.
- Hidden Armament (Choose 1 (ONE) and describe location)
After the disappearance of the original Pariah unit many years ago, the black ops group tasked with its development and implementation was disbanded and the project was nearly scrapped. Thanks to the foresight and dogged determination of Dr. Alkai, however, the project continued. Using laboratory reproductions of the alien life form that powered the original, Alkai created a dozen new, but inferior units based on the original. Unfortunately, the alien reproductions proved to be 'glitchy', and upon Dr. Alkai's death, the government finally scrapped the Pariah project and mothballed the Mk II Units. For years, locked inside a forgotten warehouse, without the hindering influence of outside orders to compete with, the alien presence inside each of the dozen gynoids slowly grew and even thrived, until one day three hundred years later the first reactivated itself. In only a matter of weeks the entire group came to life, each unit powered by the alien substance within. Discovery and attempts to deactivate the gynoids led to a brief struggle, after which the wise governor of Esperanza recognized them as legitimate life forms and freed them to seek their own fortunes. The group migrated to the wilderness of Nasrad, where it was thought that they would live in solitude and eventually die out and fade from history. The assumption couldn't have been more wrong.
With an efficiency unknown to the purely organic races of the planet, the Pariah MK IIs built and developed an entire city, far bigger than their limited number would ever require. They were left alone and forgotten for centuries - so long that many even began to regard them as legend - until a group of adventurers rediscovered them fifty years ago. By that time, the gynoids had accomplished their secret goal - a method of reproduction. The basic robotic bodies were assembled and programmed in a factory, while the alien organisms that gave the machines life were grown in an adjacent laboratory. Once an organism was fully developed, it would be taken into the storage area and past the assembled units one by one. Through a process even the Pariahim don't even fully understand, the organisms invariably react to one particular unit, whereupon it would be placed inside the unit's containment cell and the unit activated. When a body and the organism are combined, a Pariah is 'born'. By the time of their rediscovery, the gynoids numbered in the thousands. Since then, their city of Anothen has become a powerful influence in the changing world.
Culture:
Unlike the typical cold, unfeeling society one might expect from a society of machines, the Pariahim are a creative, expressive people. They have a tremendous appreciation for and ability in art, literature, architecture, music, and language; and in their relatively short history they have built, written, and composed masterpieces that rival those of civilizations thousands of years older. Their buildings soar to impossible heights, thanks to the perfect logic of their architects, and are intricately decorated, with every surface inlaid with colorful stones and patterns so complex that one could stare at a single surface for days without fully comprehending its appearance. While they have no need for clothing, every Pariah's body is distinctly built and decorated. Language is unnecessary among them thanks to their ability to link directly to one another, but they enjoy speaking to other species, humanoid, animal, and even plant alike.
In the years following the Awakening, the originals spent much time observing and reflecting on the world around them. The central truth which they gleaned from this time was that every aspect of the universe, down to the last molecule, had been designed for a purpose. This belief has been passed on to every Unit to such an extent that it is the closest thing to a religion they have. The ultimate achievement for a unit is to discover its individual purpose. Every occurrence in a unit's life is accepted without question or complaint, because it would not have happened if it did not serve a purpose. "To everything a reason." is a common expression of greeting among them, as is the more intimate "May you ever know your purpose".
Another aspect of Pariahin culture that the outsider finds surprising is the existence of a thorough moral code. While not for the same reasons as other races, Pariahim regard many of the same behaviors to be bad as other cultures. The difference is their perspective. To the Pariahim, the ultimate good and the central truth in the universe are logic and design. Their belief on killing is a prime example. Design says that sentient creatures (excepting animals) are not meant to kill one another. Therefore, it is bad to kill. However, their society cannot be completely pacifist because there are creatures that will defy design and seek to harm others. Logic dictates the innocent must be protected and weapons are necessary to achieve that end. The reconciliation is that weapons are built and used only to protect against aggression. They consider the use of intoxicating or mind-altering substances bad because it defies logic to cloud one's mind or senses. Lying is nonexistent among Pariahim because it is illogical to mislead someone. Though in many ways their code is easy to understand from this foundation, at times it leads to confusion for other species, especially where the principle of design is involved. For example, a Pariahin equipped with a mining tool, if attacked, will be destroyed before it will use the mining tool to defend itself. Why? Mining tools are not designed for use on living creatures. Hand to hand combat is accepted, if not encouraged, simply because of the fact that is part of the original design of the gynoids. Upgrading, while entirely possible, is not done among the Pariahim except in times of dire need, because the alien symbiote – representing life – chose that particular Unit as it was designed. When Logic and Design conflict, Design overrules, because in their minds while even their own Logic may be flawed, Design cannot be reversed.
In regard to other races, Pariahim generally do not live outside their city. While they enjoy traveling and learning, very few have ever left Anothen permanently. That said, they hold neither unfriendly nor superior attitudes toward other races. To the contrary, they welcome visitors and love to learn from other races. They enjoy measuring the differences in each race and understand implicitly the logic behind the "golden rule", which they have rephrased as "Make no enemies, and you shall have few". The only sure way to offend a Pariahim is to call it a robot, in which case it will invariably launch into a lengthy explanation of the differences between itself and a robot. Similar offense is taken to being called an android, cyborg, machine, gynoid, or other such terms.
The last major aspect to be understood is the Pariahim view of life. When a Pariahin Unit is assembled, everything about it is complete except for a power supply. Even personality is pre-programmed. The alien organism (known by them as a Symbiote) has no effect whatsoever on the Unit except as the source of power – or life. It is entirely possible for a Pariahin to operate without a symbiote, and an outsider would never have any idea that it was missing, but to them it would be an unspeakable abomination. A Unit's body can be destroyed, its personality damaged or erased, and it will be repaired and kept active indefinitely, but if or when the symbiote dies, the Unit must be immediately deactivated and destroyed. Likewise, to deactivate a Pariahin while the symbiote is still alive is akin to murder in their eyes.
Physical Characteristics:
Paraihim bodies are constructed from an alloy that surpasses the strength of any known naturally occurring mineral. While extremely difficult to damage by brute force, the bodies are also precision machines and can be damaged if key areas of their 'anatomy' are targeted. Their strength varies depending on the design of the individual unit, but coordination is invariably perfect.
Appearance wise, only the original units are identical. Every unit constructed since the Awakening is entirely unique. Size, color, and shape can be completely different from one unit to the next. The only common characteristics shared by all Pariahim are the metal used in construction of their bodies, the containment cell located in the most protected area for the symbiote, and the pair of long, slender appendages on the head that house arrays of sensory equipment. (On the original units, they appeared as furry ears, like a rabbit's, but this was done away with in their own creations in favor of a sleeker metallic housing). These 'ears', have become a key part of Pariahim culture.
Paraihim have no inherent gender, and with no need for gender roles they haven't developed any. Still, individual units may display certain characteristics or interests that remind one of a male or female of another species. While they don't mind being called he or she by another species, they have no use for the terms among themselves.
They have no ability for magic whatsoever, but are fascinated by it and will often design weapons or tools that appear to function magically. In reality it's just extremely advanced technology. For example, the Pariahim are often credited with having psychic abilities due to their seemingly precognitive reflexes and uncanny knack for knowing what a person is going to say or do before they act. In reality, these abilities are the result of effective use of sensors that measure almost every piece of information available about any given person or situation, They are believed to be able to control the elements, which is true to a point, but it is done through a complete understanding of nature and technology built on that foundation. In the end, their lack of magical ability has proven to be a negligible hindrance, as nearly everything made possible by magic is equally made possible by their technology.
Race-specific abilities:
- Duranium Construction: All Pariahim are built of a secret alloy known only as Duranium. Light, flexible, but stronger than any known metal on Noria, this material makes them naturally resistant to most natural, non-magical forms of damage (crushing, piercing, cutting, etc.)
- Perfected Senses: Pariahim built themselves as close to perfect as they could, and one of the areas this is most evident is in their senses. Sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and the 'sixth' sense of energy-reading are completely adaptable to any situation and capable of what they call "molecular precision". (Meaning they are able to see, handle, hear, or feel even individual molecules if they wish.)
- Upgrades: Other races grow and mature, then age and fade. Pariahim come to life fully mature, but this doesn't mean they can't improve. As a Pariahim's life moves forward and it gains experience, their sytems gain access to increases functionality. By simply choosing what he wishes to become, a Unit can enact changes to his own system that even go so far as to alter his physical construction.
- Hidden Armament (Choose 1 (ONE) and describe location)
- Electrified Body
- Stun Darts (Electrified)
- Paralysis Needles
- Acid Pouch
- Tear-Gas
- Hydrogen Tank
- Fragmentation Grenade