The Nexus Project: 2020

Arusians appear to be standard 1A humanoids in most respects. Key distinguishing features to follow. We talked to some doctors but couldn't acquire an anatomy study or anything of that nature, so this is pretty rough.

The most immediately noticeable feature of Arusians is what they call the Golden Mark: prominent crescent-shaped markings on each cheekbone, below the outer corners of the eye. These markings are vivid golden yellow and seem faintly bioluminescent, though the exact conditions that cause them to glow are unclear. The Golden Mark has great cultural significance, being seen as the mark of the Golden Gods' favor for the race.

Related to the Golden Mark is a feature called the cyadret (roughly 'inner light'), a colored core in the center of the pupil. The color of the cyadret seems unrelated to the color of the iris. The doctors we spoke to said the cyadret's function is "spiritual perception". That may be a metaphor of some sort, but it's also possible Arusians have the ability to see or detect some forms of metadynamic radiation ('magic'). Either way, the cyadret are connected to the Golden Mark by specialized nerves, and may have some influence on the bioluminescence there.

Arusians have the pointed ears common to most 1A races, but their hearing seems slightly sharper, or maybe just 'different'. It's likely they can detect some magic through hearing as well, though unlike the cyadret, the ears lack any visible structures to this effect. Sight and smell seem to roughly run along 1A baselines.

The other especially notable Arusian trait is their tanning reflex. Similar to the Alliance's Tandalari, Arusian skin darkens rapidly in light and pales rapidly in darkness. Unlike the Tandalari, in Arusians this seems to occur in any light, rather than only from UV exposure. As best we could tell, they themselves don't know the exact mechanism behind this reflex. There's an underground theory among some doctors that the Golden Mark is actually a pair of photoreceptors that governs the release or withdrawal of melanin to or from the skin as needed. The priests are not big fans of this theory, to put it mildly. (It's also apparently disputed on scientific grounds but we could only convince one person to talk to us about it at all, so that's what we got.)

The tanning reflex also has an impact on Arusian thermoregulation, or maybe more accurately, thermal tolerance. The Arusian body is used to highly variable skin temperatures, and far more resistant to core temperature fluctuations than the average 1A humanoid. Arusians display both higher thresholds for hypothermia and hyperthermia, and lower risk should either condition manage to set in. Frostbite is possible on cold and sunny days, or sunburn in heavy overcast, but both are extremely rare and tend to be mild when they do occur. As best we could tell, Arusians are not significantly less impacted by discomfort from hot or cold conditions, only less susceptible to physical damage.

Arusian height and weight ranges are similar to those of humans, though very short or very tall outliers seem less common. Though not notably so for a 1A race, compared to humans specifically they tend to be somewhat more lightly built. We assume their muscular structure is more efficient, as an Arusian can lift roughly 10% more weight than an equivalent human. Skeletal structure appears very similar.

Arusian hair color tends towards light. We saw a lot of white and blonde and light brown. Dark brown and black are unusual. Red is extremely rare, though we're told it's more common in a few regions. Iris and cyadret color can seemingly be, not to put too fine a point on it, damned near anything—though extremely dark shades are uncommon.

One point of note: ancient Arusian artwork almost uniformly depicts them with golden skin and colored cheek markings. Whether this means their ancient artwork is very allegorical, they evolved into their current coloration relatively recently, or there are other Arusian races we didn't encounter in our overview, we aren't clear on.

—Scouting Report: Arus, Explorer Team 523, submitted 2371

It appears the descendants of the Lachesis have been interbreeding with the natives of their new home. Some of these natives, called the Pol-lux, have accompanied them to the summit. They are curious creatures, contemplative and well-spoken, but I gather they held little sway over their planet before the Lachesis arrived. The one most willing to speak to me, an elder named Meregly'th, has implied their range of habitable climates to be quite narrow, which may explain this. And indeed I have seen none of them without a vacuum suit since their arrival. The crossbreeds are much hardier than the pureblooded Pol-lux, though of course I judge this on their comfort in an Arusian-friendly climate.

From what I can tell through the vacuum suits, the Pol-lux may be amphibious. Their skin has the sheen and smoothness of a semi-aquatic creature, and the gloves of their suits hint at partially webbed hands. They are pale creatures, usually green, though I have seen one that appeared a bluish violet and at least one that was purely gray.

The hybrids display no webbing. The Lachesis possessed the golden skin of the ancients when they fled, and this appears dominant: the hybrids are all gold, though far more pale than their Arusian parents. Being apostates, they of course lack the Golden Mark, though they retain cheekbone markings of a sort. In all those I observed, their markings matched the color of their cyadret. Despite the cyadret being retained, I cannot tell if they still carry the gift of spiritual perception. What they do seem to have gained from their new brethren is some ability to visually detect heat as well as light. I surmise this from several of them complaining of obscured visibility at the nearby hot springs, as well as other incidental observations. Others among my companions say the hybrids seem quite agile in water, which would make some logical sense, though I have not been to the springs myself to observe.

Given the presence, and in numbers, of these hybrids at the summit, it is clear the Lachesis are condoning and perhaps even encouraging this interbreeding. If the Pol-lux are indeed limited by habitat, their combination with the limited number of Arusian abandoners may lead to a population dominated with hybrids in comparatively short order. Future delegations should not be surprised, should such an occurrence come to pass.

—From the personal notes of Arusian Ambassador Galian Arca Solvair, First Reconciliation Summit

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

(From Ashes) Chapter 4

Pride: From Ashes

Chapter 4

The Castle of Lions

(From Ashes) Chapter 3

Pride: From Ashes

Chapter 3

Unseen and Unheard

A little organizational tweak...

We'll make a full table of contents here, we said. Nice and centralized, we said. It'll be a good idea, we said.
And then On the Hunt was 50 chapter, oops.
(It was gonna get too long eventually, in retrospect, it just HAPPENED to get too long after only two fics.)
So, we reorganized a tad. From now on, only the current installment will have each chapter on the Table of Contents page. When we finish an installment, the table of contents for that one will go up in a new blog post of its very own that the ToC will link to. Should be much cleaner that way!