Lucian (luʐiæn)

Lucians are a sapient species originating from the planet of Noctu. They are most known for their nocturnal habits and their natural speed, as well as ruling the Old Empire known as the Noctu Empire.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Lucians are bipedal mammals with bilateral symmetry. They have a higher than average amount of lean muscle, especially in their legs. They are digitigrade, and their legs are covered with a thick fur. Their feet and toes are heavily padded. Their blood is colored purple, producing a tint under their skin due to the lack of melanin. They also have a thicker inner ear fluid then most other species, giving them a resistance to being stunned or dizzy. However, if they do fall victim to it, it takes twice as long to recover.

Though Lucians are bipeds, they sleep sitting up instead of laying down. The only time Lucians lay down is if they are sick or injured, leading to more than a few incidents where a Lucian has woken up a friend of another species out of worry, only to be met with nothing more than grumpy irritation due to disturbed sleep.

Genetics and Reproduction

Lucians reproduce sexually, with both a male and a female needed to produce viable offspring. Females give live birth after a gestation of about 300 days. Lucian young are able to walk within hours of being born, and are able to eat solid food after about 3 months.

Growth Rate & Stages

Unlike many species, Lucians reach sexual and mental maturity at about the same time. This is reached after around 19 standard years. Puberty begins after about 13 standard years, which is when most Lucians acquire their trademark horns and height.

Ecology and Habitats

Despite the fact that their home planet orbits a red giant, the proximity of the planet to the star and the thicker atmosphere ensures that the planet is actually quite warm. Luciens are most comfortable at temperatures in the range of 64.4-69 degrees Fahrenheit (18-20.6 degrees Celsius) but can operate slightly outside those temperatures for limited amounts of time.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Lucians are mostly herbivorous, however they can ingest milk and eggs as well. Because of their high metabolism, Lucians can eat as much as half of their body weight in a single day. To avoid having to eat all day every day, many Lucian recipes are, by necessity, very nutrient-dense. Luciens also chew "cud" due to the high amount of grasses and cellulose in their diet.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Eyes: Lucians have two eyes with black sclera and large, round pupils. They take up about a fifth of the head.

Horns: Pronged horns that look similar to small antlers protrude from the foreheads of males. Females may sometimes have horns as well, but they are almost always shorter.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Due to their nocturnal nature, Luciens have excellent night vision that dips into the infrared spectrum. However, this also gives them a higher sensitivity to bright lights.

The Death Call

It was the sound of fear, of anger, of pain, of sadness. Of hate. It made my stomach flip upside down and my head turn inside out. My vision went fuzzy at the edges. My legs gave out...But as suddenly as it had started, it was over.

— Sonder Al-Babil

When placed in a life-threatening or otherwise extremely stressful situation, Lucians can emit a scream that contains frequencies which can disturb the inner ear fluid of enemies. The side effects of hearing this can include dizziness, nausea, and in rare cases a comatose state. It probably first evolved as a way to escape predators on Noctu, but it can adversely affect non-Noctu species as well, including Humans, Afavi, and especially Speluvi. Due to their thicker inner ear fluid, other Lucians are immune to this.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Lucians tend to have three names: an adult name, a childhood name, and a family name (or two). Upon maturity, Lucians choose an adult name, and their childhood name becomes their middle name (although family and close friends may still call them by that name). Lucians may change their name again after powerful events that affect them deeply, such as the end of a war, or surviving a disaster.

Beauty Ideals

Due to their high metabolism, Lucian hair grows very quickly, and hair grooming is a dedicated morning ritual in most Lucian homes, used for bonding time as well as hair care. However, many Lucians (especially laborers and others who have physically demanding jobs) keep their hair cut shorter or tied up for practicality. For this reason, long, loose hair is seen as a sign of class, wealth, and good breeding for all genders.

Gender Ideals

In Lucian cultures, males are considered more suitable for combat then females. Females are considered more inclined to be producers and organizers, focusing instead on economics and business. These correlations run very far back, to the point that the Yisbum word for "General" (kuro) is derived from an old word meaning "man" (koro). Both men and women are typically considered equal in religion, which is treated as a sort of middle ground between the two genders. Lucians who are intersex, genderfluid, or agender tend to be steered towards religious careers due to this. As for transgender Lucians, for the most part it is trusted that the person who knows an individual best is said individual, and therefore, an individual cannot be "wrong" about their identity, gender or otherwise.

Children have much more flexibility in terms of gender ideals than adults do. It is mostly accepted that individuals will change through their life. This includes experimenting with gender identity and sexuality. So until late puberty, children don't tend to be pushed one way or the other in terms of gender roles.

Until recently, it was commonplace for Luciens to live in gender-separated towns and villages. Those who did not conform to the gender binary usually either lived with the females or had another town for themselves. The towns would meet up for holidays and other events in a pre-defined area, but the meetings never tended to last longer then a week at most since almost all Lucians went, leaving the towns mostly abandoned for the duration.
This began to change when growing population made gatherings like this inconvenient. Over time, all genders began to live in the same towns but simply in separate sections. With extraplanetary influence, the genders began to integrate more. Currently, all but the more conservative areas have gender-integrated work and living. Those of separate genders do still tend to have separate living spaces, however, unless they are related by blood.

Courtship Ideals

Hetereosexual relationships are almost never long-term for Luciens, and they do not have a ritual for marriage. Instead, during a festival (usually the one to mark the start of a new year), all eligible males will compete in contests, judged by the eligible females. These contests vary by area, but are usually designed to showcase physical fitness as well as quick thinking (similar in some ways to the Human Olympics). If a female judges a male worthy, the two will report to the supervisor of the event (usually a priest or government official) and then retire to a secluded area and attempt to reproduce.
Homosexual relationships are normalized due to the sex segregation, and tend to be longer-term. They are less heavily scrutinized due to there being no possibility of reproduction (aside from a trans Lucien who has not had gender-affirming surgery).

Common Dress Code

Due to being herbivorous, Lucian clothing almost never incorporates fur or leather, simply because it would be a waste of meat that they couldn’t eat. Thus, anyone wearing fur is stereotyped as being obscenely wasteful and/or cruel. The only animal product that is used in clothes is wool, since it can be harvested without killing the animal. Due to their furred legs and heavily padded feet, they rarely wear pants or shoes except in extreme temperatures, with both genders usually wearing skirts or dresses.

Common Taboos

The main taboo throughout Lucian culture has to do with hunting, or rather, the lack thereof. There are two main theories put forth for why hunting is forbidden: the first is that it is needless hunting is wasteful, as Lucians are herbivores and would be unable to eat the animals they killed (see the Dress Code section).
The second theory, related to the first, is that it is needlessly dangerous, for no payoff. Even if the animal was killed, there would be nothing to do with the meat, and the meat would probably start rotting in place and attract predators, putting the hunter and their community in danger.
Due to both of these factors, almost all Lucian religions have laws against needless hunting, as well as set processes for disposing of meat should an animal be killed in self-defense.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

From the time of the Kesucal Calamity until about 488 AKC, Lucians were isolated from the rest of the galaxy after the Noctu Empire collapsed. Because of that, their reputation was frozen as aggressive and intelligent warriors who looked down on other races. However, representatives from Lucian states such as Ikuiatia and Irehi, as well as the influx of refugees due to the actions of Nechiparhi (a state on Noctu that has become infamous for trying to be the “new Noctu Empire”), Lucians have now started to be re-branded. They are still considered tough and athletic, but no longer as aggressive. However, due to the fact that they are only just coming out of isolation, they have no close allies as of yet.
Due to the large amount of refugees, many Luciens have become wanderers of a sort, taking jobs that involve lots of travel and provide bed and board (such as being sailors or serving in various militaries).

A Lucian female of the Album Ethnicity

Subtype: Mammalian Home Planet: Noctu

Scientific Name

Mammalia Currerum sapiens

Lifespan

90 Standard Years

Average Height

7'0"(Male) 7'2"(Female)

Average Weight

220-310 lbs.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Skin:

• Porcelain
• Ivory
• Mauve
• Grey (very rare, only about .05%)

Eyes:

• Blue
• Purple
• Red
• Gold

Hair:

The color of a Lucian's hair is determined by their ethnicity.

• White/Gray (Album)
• Red (Rubum)
• Black/Dark blue (Lividum)

Blood Types: Titanium (purple)
Sapient: Yes
Etheric Affinity: .5% (low)