Ikona

"Tremble before the beautiful, for in the pursuit of perfection, no sacrifice is too great, no deed too vile and no act too unthinkable. For nothing could ever stain, that which is beyond all worldly flaws."
~ Unnamed chronicler

Regarded as either the peak of vanity or the epitome of perfection, the Ikona are a prideful species that once ruled over large parts of Cenorad. By using spheres forged from cold iron, the Ikona subjugated uncounted numbers of nature spirits and even laid claim to the Great Rivers of Life. With the very power of life and creation at their beckoning, the various city-states of the Ikona created a web of colonies all over Cenorad, with only the might of another city-state, limiting their expansion.
Yet even in the not fully unwarranted believe of having mastered the shamanistic arts, the Ikona made the fatal mistake of underestimating the chaotic nature of the natural energies, they carefreely used for day to day activities. And so the forces of life that had been rigorously constrained by the technology of the Ikona finally broke their chains in a cataclysmic event known as the Second Spring.
Energies brimming with the raw power of creation that been pent-up for hundreds of years, once again flowed freely and unleashed their full potential. Within mere moments new lifeforms were created and existing creatures experienced the evolutionary forces of whole millennials within the blink of an eye. Mighty walls crumbled beneath the onslaught of twisting roots, houses were covered by meters of toxic mold, streets crawled with oceans of maggots and worms as ships and sailors drowned in pits of slimy doom. When the rampant storms of spiritual energies subsided, the empire of the Ikona was gone.
The Ikona themselves survived the fall of their empire, for the concepts of death and annihilation are anathema to the forces of life. Yet the concepts of mercy and forgiveness are similarly lost uppon the streams of the Great Rivers. And so the Ikona began to suffer from different magical diseases, called the Five Afflictions or the Five Burdens, which forced terrible changes upon their bodies and brought their species closer to extinction than even the rise of Nie had managed to do.
But were lesser species might have thought of the Five Afflictions as the retaliation of Mother Nature or punishment for their arrogance, the Ikona instead saw them as a challenge to demonstrate their inert superiority and mastery over the forces of nature. And with a mix of determination and prideful tenacity, the Ikona not only managed to survive but to thrive in spite of the horror of the Five Afflictions.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The bodies of the Ikona are of slender built and exhibit a streamlined form otherwise only found in a water-dwelling organism. From the conical shape of their heads, over their pointed ears, to their needle-like teeth, the body of each Ikona appears to have been hand-crafted by a long-forgotten god.
The two long and slender arms of the Ikona end in frail hands, whose five fingers end in thin but sharp nails. Their two legs are of similar making and end in conically shaped feet that are tipped with a single talon-like nail.

Biological Traits

River gliding

River gilding, also known as Eredav is the primary trait of the Ikona and has been a stable of their nature since the inception of their species. It allows an Ikona to use the currents of the Great Rivers to create a certain amount of uplift. Depending on the strength of the Great Rivers this uplift might only be visible as a form of weightless and friction free movement or full on levitation several feet above the ground.
During the time of the old Ikona empire, this trait was used to allow for rapid travel between the various colonies via so-called Ley-lines, which were artificial channels filled with vast amounts of distilled nature energies. Following the collapse of the empire, most of these lines were either destroyed or flooded with unrefined natural energies, which made further usage of the line an exceedingly dangerous and imprecise way of transportation.

The Five Afflictions

The Five Afflictions are a group of magical diseases that began to ravage the bodies of the Ikona, following the events of the Second Spring. Over the years following this disaster, each one of these afflictions became inseparably linked to one of the five, living Ikona subspecies, to the point that the names of the afflictions became synonymous with the original name of the respective subspecies.
Siugnu, Claws of the Amber-Butterfly
This affliction causes the growth of sharp-edged amber shards at various locations in and outside of the body of the affected individual. Due to this, even the slightest movement made by the individual results in the creation of numerous injuries, as the amber shards dig deep into the flesh of their host. Due to the perpetual presence of hundreds of small injuries the skins of the affected Ikona are strewn with scars and practically soaked in the smell of fresh blood.
The Ikona affected by Siugnu, refer to themselves as Curnias.
Aletut, Hats of dying thoughts
This affliction causes the growth of a mushroom cap upon the head of its victims, from which aggressive fungal tendrils emerge that infect the brain and central nervous system of the victims. The everchanging growth of these tendrils causes a variety of neuronal effects, most prominent being the loss of short-term memory, degradation of existing memories and recurring cases of amnesia. Memories that are especially affected by spontaneous degradation are the ones linked to intense emotions, leading some scholars to the theory that the fungal growth actually feeds upon the most exciting memories of its host.
The Ikona affected by Aletut are known as Irisi.
Augnil, Crawling flesh of the Black Harvest
This affliction causes a permanent infection of various internal organs with a huge variety of different worm species. These worms, by their Ikona hosts, often affectionately referred to as their "little guests", burrow and gnaw at the various organs of their hosts, resulting in the gradual loss of organ function. Yet, while the worms cause a rather quick deterioration of functional organs, they also serve as a form of universal organ adaptor, which allows the transplantation of nearly every organ of nearly every organism into the body of an affected individual, given those who have no qualms about the practice of mass organ harvesting a relatively simple method to solve the problems of their worm-ridden entrails.
The Ikona "blessed" with Augnil are known as the Agsimer.
Autats, Scab of broken movement
This affliction turns the body of affected individuals, with the exceptions of the eyes and mouth, into a shapeless mass consisting of ichor, pus, and slime. As the affected individual increases in age, this mass slowly begins to harden, which limits its shapeshifting capabilities but at the same time allows the individual to take on more stable and defined forms. With further increase in age, the mass hardens to such a degree that movement becomes more and more difficult until the affected Ikona is fully unable to move without the use of their river gliding ability and very old individuals are only able to use their ability to relocate to a nearby position every few hours.
The Ikona affected by Autats are known as Ausuvir.
Ibalid, Fate of the Chained Masters
This affliction infuses the body of affected Ikona with huge amounts of distilled natural energies, to the point that their bodies become semi-transparent and take on a smoke-like structure, which is slowly eroded by the currents of the Great Rivers. On the other hand, this state of being also brings with it an innate understanding of the currents of the Great Rivers, allowing affected individuals to cast shamanic spells of unmatched power and precision. Furthermore this innate knowledge about the currents of the Great Rivers, also allowed the Ikonas affected by it to partially reverse-engineer various spiritual technologies used by their empire during the height of its power.
The Ikona affected by Ibalid are known as Osenatac.

Genetics and Reproduction

Before the Second Spring

In the time before the events of the Second Spring, the Ikona reproduced via internal fertilization, followed by a gestation period of 8-10 months. Given the fact that many species and beast in Cenorad reproduce in a similar fashing, the Ikona absolutely loathed their natural way of procreation and therefore experimented with various shamanistic spells and rituals in order to remove this perceived taint from their species. Many of these experiments either ended in failure or the birth of so-called "setbacks". Yet some experiments were successful, which allowed the Ikona to not only reduce their gestation period to 4-5 months but also allowed them to created artificial wombs which performed the "menial" work of bearing their children, allowing the adult Ikona to focus more on the more interesting parts of life.
Given the time- and cost-intensive creation and operations of these artificial wombs, only the upper members of the old Ikona empire were able to afford to reproduce in this manner, with many members of the lower classes willingly forfeiting their option to reproduce in the fear of producing inferior offsprings via the way of natural reproduction.

After the Second Spring

Following the Second Spring, the bodies of the Ikona were beset by the Five Afflictions, which rendered natural reproduction all but impossible. Instead, the Ikona now reproduce by infecting members of other species with their affliction. The exact methods and cultural frameworks of this infection process vary between the various Ikona subspecies, with some choosing to adopt notable members of other species, while others simply abduct the children of other species in order to turn them into new Ikona.
In some rare cases, a city-state might still possess one or two of the artificial wombs created by the old empire, which then give rise to a purebred royal line of Ikona. An exception to this is the city-isle of Makimos, which possess hundreds of modified artificial wombs that give birth to incomplete Ikona, which then have to fight their spawn-brethren in order to acquire the necessary organs and extremities to become "full" members of their society.

Ecology and Habitats

While in theory able to thrive in nearly all environments, the Ikona tend to avoid regions with low amounts of natural energies, such as deserts and high mountains and instead prefer to inhabit regions brimming with life, such as tropical rainforest and coral reefs.
During the reign of their empire, this preference was mostly imperceptible due to the ability of the old Ikona to redirect huge amounts of natural energies towards any desired location, allowing for the creation of splendid cities in various lifeless areas all over Cenorad. Following the demise of the empire, most of these outer colonies were either abandoned or overrun by other species more suited to the life in such unforgiving and lifeless lands.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Due to their highly developed sense of taste, the Ikona are very selective with regards to their choice of food. The finest, most exquisite delicacies served to the kings and lords of other species, are in many cases barely regarded as edible.
As to what exactly the Ikona consider edible, each of the different subspecies confers to their very own definitions of food, which funnily rarely matches the taste of other species.

Biological Cycle

While not directly affected by the change of the seasons, so are the Ikona still subject to the changes that the season bring upon the currents and streams of the Great Rivers. Therefore one can still observe clear changes in the behavior and activity of the Ikona, based on the current season and the effect it has upon the currents of the Great Rivers. Therefore the Ikona are generally less active during months with either intense heat or great cold.

Additional Information

Social Structure

During the reign of the old Ikona empire, the social rank and prestige of an individual were largely determined by their "beauty". While physical appearance, therefore, played a major role in the society of the empire, the Ikona had a much broad understanding of the term beauty and therefore incorporated various other concepts such as military prowess ("beauty of the fight"), rhetoric capabilities ("beauty of the tongue"), and political maneuvering ("beauty of the intrigue") into their understanding of beauty.
Even the events of the Second Spring would not change much of this system and so the Ikona still base their individual value upon their own beauty. Yet while the overall idea did not change, so underwent the exact definition of what the Ikona consider as beautiful some major changes. Ironical many personality traits, appearances and types of clothing that the modern Ikona consider as the height of beauty, were considered as absolutely abhorrent by the Ikona of the old empire.

Facial characteristics

The facial features of the Ikona are of a fragile and thin nature and show the same streamlined shapes like the rest of their bodies. The most notable facial feature are their two slit monochromatic eyes, that glow with the power of the Great Rivers and which can even illuminate their surroundings should they use their shamanistic arts to their fullest potential. Their eyes come in the five distinct colorations of orange (Curnias), yellow (Ausuvir), ice-blue (Agsimer), red (Irisi) and violet (Osenatac), which are characteristic for one of the five Ikona subspecies.
The two pointed ears of the Ikona are often hidden beneath the long, silky hair of the Ikona, which also posses a subspecies specific coloration. The five hair colors of the Ikona are light green (Curnias), dark blue (Ausuvir), ash grey (Agsimer), mud brown (Irisi) and azure (Osenatac).
While the faces of the Ikona are undeniable beautiful, so are they similary terrifing and few onlokers are able to meet the gaze of an Ikona for more than a few moments. Accoring to the Ikona this effect is but the natural reaction of lower species, when faced with the gaze of a flawless being. More unbaised sources instead identify the perfect symmetriey of their faces as the realy reason as to why, so many shudder in front of this epitope of uncanny beauty.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The exact origin location of the Ikona has been lost to time and the cataclysm of the Second Spring. The few records that either survived the Second Spring or that stemmed from other species indicated that the ancestors of the Ikona came from a region known as "The Field of Shattered Stars". The location of this field, still remains a mystheriy to this day, yet records seem to indicated that the field was located somewhere beyond the ridges of the sky-crown mountains.
Following an event known as the "Return", large parts of the Ikona population decided to leave their homeland and migrate into the other regions of Cenorad.
Today the Ikona can be found all over Cenorad, with the largest part of their population living in various city-states located in the tropical regions.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Ikona posses keen eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, sense of touch and sense of taste. Their sense of taste is especially advanced and allows them to distinguish thousands of flavors within even the simplest of meals, making the fact that Yinmoujia master assassins are able to mask the taste of not one but hundreds of different poisons from the tongue of the Ikona all the more terrifying.
In addition to their mundane sense, all Ikona possess an innate feeling for the flow of the Great Rivers. The exact scale of this ability varies largely between different individuals, as well as between the different Ikona subspecies, with some only being able to sense the currents of only one river, while others are able to read even minor disturbances in the flow of all five Great Rivers.

Civilization and Culture

History

Satea of the Dark Forest

The mythical era during which the Ikona firstly blessed Cenorad with the gift of their presence. Not much is known about this time, as the modern Ikona view this era as a taint upon the glorious legacy of their species, as during this time the Ikona not only were unable but unwilling to subjugate the currents of the Great Rivers and instead tried to live their lives in harmony with the forces of nature.

Satea of the Ore-Queen

This era saw the rise of Queen Sunacluv, the first Ikona to use the meteoric iron found uppon the fields of shattered stars to bind and subjugated the spirits of the Great River. During a short but brutal civil war, Queen Sunacluv and here troops defeated the Ikona which still remained loyal to the ideals of nature and their allied nature spirits under the rule of the Titan-Spriggan Arolf-Anuaf. Following the end of the war, Sunacluv erected a kingdom, which encompassed the entirety of the field of shattered stars and which would last hundreds of years, until it was destroyed during the "Return".

Satea of the Prime City

Following the events of the "Return", an Ikona known as the Iron Prince lead the surviving Ikona in an enormous exodus from their former homeland through the sky-crown mountains and into the heart of Cenorad. The trails and hardships the Ikona had to endure during this migration are still told today and many noble families of the old empire would claim direct ancestry from one of the few survivors of the Great Travel, despite the fact that nobles of the empire loathed natural reproductions and instead preferred to formed their children in artificial wombs.
At the shore of a great lake, the survivors of the exodus would found the great city-state of Murref, which would be the mythical scale upon which the glory and beauty of all future city-states would be measured. Over the coming years, Murref would become the capital of an ever-growing kingdom, which ruled over hundreds of vassal city-states.

The Long Winter

Following her ascension, to the throne of Labros, the freshly crowned Death-countess Nie plunged the kingdom of Murref and the rest of the southern continent into a devastating war, during which the living had to fight the ghosts of their dead ancestors.
The threat posed by Nie and here army of undying ghosts was of such a scale that the Ikona were forced to make an alliance with various other species in order to ensure the survival of their species. While the alliance was successful in repelling Nies advances and even managed to destroy the city of Labros, the end of the war did it nevertheless saw the mass emigration of all Ikona from the southern continent. The reason for this was not, as many suspected the great losses that the Ikona had suffered during the war, but instead the injury they had sustained to their pride for being forced to ally with "lesser" species.
When Nie and her forces returned over three hundred years later, the Ikona empire declared this once shameful retreat as a brilliant strategic move to protect its citizen from the inevitable return of Nie, for no wards or sorcery of any lesser species could possibly be trusted to seal a member their superior species, even if this member was the leader of a murderous death cult.

Satea of the New City

After the Long Winter and the fall of Murref, the Ikona began the restructuring of a kingdom that had lost its proud crown. The fight to claim the legacy of Murref was hard fought, but in the end, the city-state of Atlantea triumphed and proclaimed itself as the crown-city of the newly established Ikona empire.
During the reign of the empire, many technologies that had been lost during the Long Winter were rediscovered and many more newly developed. The greatest of this invention was the creation of a fully synthetic river of life, which was termed Galylos, the 5. River in honor of the current ruler of the empire Galylos V.
With the might of the 5. River at their call the Ikona empire began a series of expansions, which resulted in the creation of hundreds of new colonies, that shipped various riches and goods back into the swimming heart of the empire.

Satea of Blossoming Beauty

The current era, during which the various city-states that managed to survive the Second Spring adjust their cultures and societies to the new reality of the Five Afflictions. With the collapse of most of the Ley-Lines, the various city-state are now mostly isolated and therefore pursue the hunt for beauty and perfection in their own ways.

Historical Figures

Nie, Death-countess of the Labyrinth

One of the most infamous individuals in the history of Cenorad, Nie was a young senator in the city-state of Labros, that not only revolutionized the Pale Arts through the creation of the first Death-Instruments but also the first creature in all of creation that managed to create a soul.
Following her creation of the first soul, Nie, and her loyal followers, as well as an army of spectral undead creatures, set out to collect the souls of as many living creatures as possibles. These souls were then stored inside of Nie's personal realm, which is known as the "Labyrinth" in order to "preserve them from the empty fate, which awaited them beyond the veil of death." according to Nie's own words. Despite having been banished to Labyrinth by a coalition of various forces, Nie and her followers are still considered to be one of the most dangerous forces in all of Cenorad and to call her name is to invite death to one's own door.

Theme song

Genetic Descendants

• Agsimer
• Ausuvir
• Curnias
• Irisi
• Osenatac

Lifespan

Biological immortal

Average Height

1.5- 1.7 m

Average Weight

40-50 kg (appear lighter due to their river gliding ability)

Average Physique

Slim, thin and streamlined.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Original their skins were of a grey color, which was contrasted by iron-colored vein-like markings. Following the Second Spring, these markings changed to other metallic tints, which are specific for each of the five living subspecies: silver (Agsimer), golden (Ausuvir) copper (Curnias), white-silvery (Irisi) and metallic blue (Osenatac).