Churrians

Founders of the Sanguar Institute

"To Help Without Fear".
Coming from a tragic and painful history, the Churrians are a species dedicated to preventing others from sharing that same fate. Foundars of the Sanguar Institute, they practice steadily expanding through Refuge's many shards helping those that they can with a clear passion that those they aid cannot help but be inspired by. While they are still haunted by their actions of the past, they look forward to being a part of a bright future.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While not extraordinary compared to many species throughout Refuge, the Churrian does maintain a select list of traits that have served them well. This includes blunt claws that allow them to traverse trees with relative ease, short muzzles well equipped with omnivorous teeth, and long fluffy tails that allow them to woo mates and maintain balance. Balanced on two digitigrade legs, the Churrian's fluffy body is filled with energy-efficient muscle that allows them to operate well in their day-to-day environments.

Biological Traits

While there are not many sexual differences between male and female Churrians, females do have a set of two hidden breasts that will swell once they become pregnant with young. Males also tend to have more distinct colorations and markings on their tails which they will use when trying to woo females.
Two distinct features among all Churrians are that their fur can resist water and will fluff up in colder climates. This is most likely due to the fact that their original home realm, Churr, often had rain and snowfall in moderately cold climates.

Genetics and Reproduction

Male Churrians will go into heat twice a year. When this occurs, the white fur upon their face, chest, and belly will become streaked with black representing their virile nature. During this time, it is not unusual for male Churrians to attempt to woo interested females with displays of their tails and bodies. If successful, copulation will occur and the resulting pregnancy will take around 8 months to gestate fully. Female Churrians will give birth to 1-2 young who will suckle upon her breasts for milk for the first 3 months of their life.
While males do not lose their minds to their heat during this period, it can be quite uncomfortable for them, and as such it is not unusual for them to satisfy their needs in other unconventional ways such as taking male companions or using sexually protected females. Because of the nature of this heat, their natural aggression and need to maintain a territory will grow. As such it is considered respectful for a male Churrian to discipline themselves during this time to prevent needless violence.

Growth Rate & Stages

Growing at a steady pace, a Churrian is considered to be biologically mature at the age of 16 and mentally mature at the age of 20. During their younger years, it is not unusual for a Churrian to act with a great amount of passion that will mellow as they grow older and more experienced. Upon reaching 50, the Churrian will begin to experience a biological decline, such as fading fur, that will steadily progress until their death. However, unlike many species, the Churrian population does not experience a mental decline and will remain sharp throughout their years.

Ecology and Habitats

Coming from a world made primarily of temperate forests and scattered lakes, the Churrians developed water-resistant fur and fluffy cold-temperature coats as a means to fight against the constant chill and rainy/snowy weather. While they can survive in a variety of habitats, including hot climates with begrudging acceptance, Churrians thrive in temperate to cold-temperature regions where their natural coats can take care of them.
Considering themselves caretakers of the natural world as much as the people around them, they go through great pains to ensure that they interact with the world around them appropriately. This includes only introducing native species from their home world that would thrive and not disrupt the land they settle on.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Due to being omnivores, Churrians can eat a large variety of food including insects, small shoots, fruits, and rodents. As they are a civilized species, these products are most often prepared and cooked before consumption with a large variety of spices added to enhance flavor and meet mineral and vitamin needs. Some of their preferred dishes include Gru-Balo (Grub Salad) and Tickla (Fruit Jams).
It is often noted that Churrians are highly attracted to spicy food and seem to be able to tolerate it to a significantly better degree than most species. As a result, however, many species that have integrated with Churrian culture have had to develop tolerances to spice as well. Needless to say, some species are able to do so better than others.

Biological Cycle

Churrian fur coats will fluff up whenever they encounter cold weather or drops in temperature and will unfluff as the Churrian reenters back into warmer environments. Considered a reaction akin to 'goosebumps' it can take Churrians off-guard who had never encountered cold weather before.
Dinural by nature, Churrians also tend to work best in the morning and evening hours of the worlds they work although they can operate reasonably well in other hours.

Behaviour

A species with a long history of bloodshed, the Churrians are no strangers to aggression. However, following the Final War, they have made a species-wide pact to temper these natural tendencies in place of helping others. While not a perfect system, the Churrian's previous passion for harm has now been turned into a will to heal others. Driven, determined, and lacking no amount of bravery, this species is willing to do what it must to make sure that others don't suffer the same fate that their home region did.
To fully realize this passion, they developed the Sanguar Institute whose sole purpose is to save others and to reverse tragedy as best it can. While viewed with suspicion by many of those they first meet, the three strokes have become recognized throughout many of Refuge's regions as meaning 'friend'.
Despite all the good that they try to do, however, they are haunted by a simple truth that if one is paying attention will hear muttered by many Churrians they meet. 
"Our fur is stained red because of the blood we shed."

Additional Information

Social Structure

A mixture of a need for isolation and social reciprocation, the Churrians are a species that practice independence and social care in equal measure. As such, although Churrians have a base desire for isolative behavior, they actively stamp this desire down in order to engage with their greater culture and families. Showing a great propensity for love, these creatures can easily become passionate about those they consider their own and even strangers under the right circumstances. However, this passion and need for territory has evolved several times throughout their history into active bloodshed which the Churrians are deeply ashamed about following the events of the Final War.
While Churrians do practice monogamy, families tend to be centered around an older female who will help to keep the family functional and running appropriately. These matriarchal tendencies do not naturally extend outside of the family unit, however, as, being a society based on merit, any one individual can take commanding positions within their culture.
Socially, many Churrians practice a strict hierarchy due to their propensity for conflict in the years before the Final War. As such, many working environments will be constructed with ranks and reasonable following of "superiors".

Facial characteristics

Churrians have several different innate fur patterns when it comes to their faces, however, one set of features that is common throughout the population is white fur along the muzzle and cheeks, red fur covering their ears and upper faces, and white streaks along the top of their head. However, variations do occur such as the common inclusion of black markings along the cheeks.

Average Intelligence

Possessing average to slightly above-average intelligence, the Churrians are a people of problem solvers. Taking apart various issues, whether mechanical, social, or environmental, they are the sort who enjoy understanding how things tick so they can improve upon them.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Possessing slightly above-average sight and hearing, the Churrians often instead rely on their heightened sense of touch and smell to operate their way through the world. Able to parse out intricacies in their environment with their Jacobson's Organs and sensitive paw fur, they are better able to tackle not only finding food and avoiding predators but also perform surgical operations and locate lost individuals in their missions of mercy.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Naming traditions for the Churrians include using a smooth tone for male names generally considered to help them gain confidence. Examples include:
Yuurath
Wesst
Hyroo

Female names on the other hand will often have a lilting quality meant to enhance creativity and leadership. Examples include:
Lyllian
Beanulli
Polliun

Generally these names will be preceded by the Churrian's family name which may take on a few different forms but generally are meant to be quick and easy to say. The reason for this is to quickly identify which members of a family may still be alive after a tragic situation such as a battle. Examples include:
Paato
Gurth
Resta

Major Organizations

The founders of the Sanguar Institute and its many divisions, there are not many Churrians who are not a part of this organization in some way. Dedicated to helping others as rescue workers, doctors, and counselors, among many other professions, the Churrians dedicate everything they have to ensure that the troubled lands they come across become a little less so with every passing day.

Beauty Ideals

Among the Churrians, having long fluffy tails is considered to be a prime ideal of beauty and many of their more celebrity-style individuals will often have tails of great quality compared to others around them. This feature is considered to be especially attractive in male Churrians.

Relationship Ideals

A species that treasures individual relationships, the Churrians are creatures that will give a lot and expect a lot in their relationships with others. Fiercely loyal, almost to a fault, they will work to help those they consider closest beyond many others. A temperment they have to actively overcome to help those that they feel need them the most as they go through the many shards of Refuge. Because of this focus they place on others, however, it also means that if they are betrayed they will take this much harder than other species.
In romantic relationships, Churrians will frequently but not always practice monogamy in order to temper themselves from exhaustion by having multiple partners.

Average Technological Level

Having advanced somewhat beyond the modern age, the Churrian species has access to advanced medicines and technologies that allow them to help others. However, in the shadows of their culture, they also have access to advanced weapons that are capable of doing great harm if placed into the wrong hands.
Of their many technological accomplishments, perhaps the most significant are the Homestead Gates. Capable of transporting creatures and materials to a singular random location, these portals are only able to go in one direction, often leaving those who are teleported stranded in their new world. As such, to travel through is considered a great sacrifice by many Churrians.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

TO BE DETERMINED.

Common Etiquette Rules

TO BE DETERMINED

Common Dress Code

While Churrians are capable of wearing a great variety of clothing, they prefer clothing that emphasizes the colors of white and red. This is because these colors represent the colors of their destroyed homeworld with its shimmering red forests and expansive white clouds. Most Churrians will also wear overcoats that resemble their military past and humanitarian present. Stripped of any prideful medals or prestige, these coats remind the Churrians of how close they came to extinction... and where their focus is now.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

TO BE DETERMINED

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

TO BE DETERMINED

Common Taboos

After the Final War, the concept of committing violence for selfish needs became akin to cultural blasphemy. Churrians despise those who would hurt others for purely selfish reasons and as such it is not uncommon to see them helping out oppressed people across the many lands of Refuge.
It should be noted that because the Churrians despise violence does not mean that they do not see its necessity in certain situations. As such, they will often offer a limited degree of martial performance as they are required. However, they are committed to never going to war unless there is no other choice if they wish to help others. Until then, they will most often perform defensive roles to protect themselves and others until such a time is deemed necessary.

History

The Churrians led a fairly typical history. Evolving as a species, they were eventually able to develop thumbs which allowed their distant ancestors to descend from their forest mountain homes and claim dominion over the rest of their world. Learning how to use tools, they were able to generate food crops, dissuade natural predators, and create permanent settlements. With territory came the idea of conquest and over many generations they led themselves into war time and time again.
Every new iteration of blood being spilled only served to stoke their bloodlust and so the next conflict would become deadlier as their means of serving death became almost like an art.
This eventually culminated in the Final War. A conflict so devastating that their species was nearly completely wiped out. With the realization that they would not survive another conflict, the Churrians experienced a grand cultural shift. They laid down their tools of death and instead opted to pick up the tools of healing. They became a species dedicated to helping others and rebuilding tragedies.
They prospered over many many generations and soon, as their technology advanced, began to look toward the stars themselves.

But this was not meant to be.

The damage from the Final War was done.

After 473 years, Churrian scientists discovered that Churr had suffered far too greatly from the weapons of the Final War. Its core had been compromised and it was only a matter of time before the planet suffered a massive implosion.
Lacking time to build the ships that would help the Churrians to escape into the heavens, they instead invested themselves by pursuing any avenue that would allow them to leave some kind of legacy behind. To allow their people to not be forgotten.
Of these research measures, one that bore fruit was the Homestead Project.
By building a portal that allowed them to peer into other realities, they were able to see that they were not the only people to suffer. As such, they made a final decision. No longer were their projects going to be used to help themselves, but instead would be used to help others.
With this resolution in their hearts, the Churrians dedicated everything they had to one simple task. To keep the Homestead Gate open for as long as possible to allow for as many people and resources through to help the First Wound.
What had been expected to last only 3 days, instead extended out into an entire week.
With many having made the sacrifice to travel through the gate, never to see their loved ones again or the world that they loved, the rest of the Churrians waited for their final fate with hope and peace in their hearts...
Since then, the Churrians continued to spread out among the multiverse, helping those they could, until they experienced a series of tragedies that forced them to endure The Drop into Refuge. Unable to go back to the multiverses that they had grown comfortable in, the Churrians have done their best to help the many shards that they have come across in Refuge with their organization the Sanguar Institute.

Historical Figures

TO BE DETERMINED.

Common Myths and Legends

TO BE DETERMINED.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

With the greater goal of helping others to the best of their ability in mind, the Churrians are ready to accept allies of all shapes and sizes to help them meet these goals. As such, it is not uncommon to see new divisions of the Sanguar Institute to be filled not only with Churrians themselves but also with those that they have helped in previous areas.
Species that Churrians have developed close bonds with include:
Humans

Lifespan

60 to 80 years.

Conservation Status

This species is considered to be uncommon to rare throughout Refuge. While not all Churrians are associated with the Sanguar Institute, most are, and as such the majority of Churrians will be found in areas that the Sanguar Institute has settled.

Average Height

5'6" - 5'8"

Average Weight

110 –120 Pounds.

Average Physique

While they are on the lighter side, Churrians can possess surprisingly dense musculature underneath their fluffy fur that allows them to perform many unexpected feats such as metal smithing and heavy lifting.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Covered primarily in reddish fur, a Churrian's body coloration generally has white fur along their chest and belly and black fur along their backs, shoulders, thighs, neck, head, and ears. A trait that is often considered to help them absorb more sunlight in their colder world of origin.
Female Churrians will also have plain white and red striped tails tipped with black fur while males will have black stripes also extending down their tails length which is often used to try and woo females during mating periods.
Finally, all Churrians will also have white fur along the underside of their hand and foot paws.

Related Ethnicities

• Halkorran
• Rimkathar
• Sivral
• Venestrians
• Yuuthari
• Zethari

Related Technologies

• EX-Vuun V7.9 ARU
• Homestead Gate