Oristellae

Oristellae usually take on a humanoid-esque appearance, deviating in the earfins that take the place of a common-place humans ears, and a tail of some fashion, the specifics of which are denoted mainly by their subtype. Oristellae are usually smaller than the common-place human, but most have the ability to shapeshift and alter their height and weight to their specific needs.

Oristellae that have jobs that interact with other creatures will often look closer or more similar to those creatures in order to gain their trust. Oristellae that work away from other creatures usually will have a more drastic colour pallette, and be adapted more to the flora or architecture of their surroundings.

Origin State

All-though all Oristellae can shapeshift (if not otherwise disabled and/or unable to do so), all Oristellae have an Origin state, this is a specific structure and look that is defined as being truely 'them' and that they cannot change. Oristellae will revert back to their Origin state if they are significantly weakened or incapacitated. Oristellae can shapeshift back to their preferred state once they return back to a healthy state.

Earfins

Oristellae Earfins are two (or more) loose flaps on the sides of their face that will move and gesture as an Oristellae emotes and expresses themselves. While the specific look and structure of Oristellae Earfins are defined by their subtype, most will be able to move them up and down, and have some side-to-side movement.

Emoting Earfins

An Oristellae usually will express joy by tilting all of their earfin segments in an upwards motion, and may also wiggle them or flap them to express excitement or overwhelming joy. For expressing sadness an Oristellae may point their earfin segments downwards or droop them in someway. For Anger, an Oristellae will usually either flit or vigarously flap their earfins. This is not a definitive list of how an Oristellae may express emotions however, and the details may change from one Oristellae to the next.

Earfins Segments

An Oristellae will most commonly have either two to four segements in their earfins, with rare cases being up to five or six. Any more than six is considered a serious mutation, and can cause serious stress to the Oristellae and their ability to function.

Tails

Most Oristellae will have a tail or some sort of apendage to the back of them, and while the specifics of it's look and construction depend on the subrace, an Oristellae's tail is used to assist it in both agility and displaying emotions. Oristellae tails can often be briefly de-summoned and summoned depending on an Oristellae's individual needs, however the change is not permanant and if an Oristellae is weakened or incapcitated it will return back to it's origin state, tail intact.

Oristellae are pratically genderless, with the idea of gender having no actual function with them due to their asexual (and assisted) reproduction, however an Oristellae may take on the visual signifiers of Gender and Sexuality in order to appear more trustworthy and blend in to their enviroment.

Oristellae do not have a set height or weight, and can adjust them at will. An Oristellae will usually assume the median height of those around them as to blend in to their enviroment, however specific Oristellae may develop a preference for their Height, Weight, and Stature and will usually drift towards having a set look that they will consistently revert to as a baseline.

Oristellae do not reproduce like an Organic species does, their proudction and reproduction is highly supervised by the Stewards of the Universe and their wants and needs. Oristellae production/reproduction most closely resembles Asexual reproduction, however it requires a catalyst in order for an Oristellae to be created.

Oristellae do not have genes, nor do they have 'parents' or any disernable family structure or heritage. Oristellae inherit their traits mainly from the will of the world around them and the need to adapt to it.

Oristellae Life Cycle

Oristellae are created when the heart of a dead star, which takes the form of an egg, and is thus embued with a strong emotion, feeling, or want. The Egg is then dropped into the Great Well by one of the two Great Guardians, and thus begins a 3-day period inwhich the Great Well emits a blindlingly bright light, and the Oristellae and nearby inhabitants engage in the Creation Ceremony to welcome the new spawn to the universe.

When the spawn is ready, they climb / swim out of light of the well. In this time they will be given ample food and will begin their journey up to the Joint thrones, assisted by the denizens of the well. Once they reach the joint thrones they will be told their life task by the Great Guardians of Life and Death, and be given the fruit of favour which will decide their subtype.

An Oristellae then will be given a singular Origin Pearl which will take them specifically to where they will need to be for their task, and they are expected to fufill their task. An Oristellae will usually be assigned companions and be given various devices in order to continue their contact to the Stewards.

When the time comes and an Oristellae has lived a satisfying life, they will chose to fall back into the Great Well, this is the only time that Oristellae will look into the Well, and they will dissolve and become one with the primordial goo.

An Oristellae will start off as a Primordial Oristellae before they consume to fruit of favour and adapt an identity and signifiers of a subrace. Oristellae will then be in their Base-state which will be their form for most of their life.

Primordial State

An Oristellae's first stage when they exit the Great Well is called the Primordial State. An Oristellae's Primordial state will appear as if they were a stunted wisp of a being, with no disernable colour or features. At this stage they will have nubs of an earfin and a nub of a tail, but they will have no sub-race traits or colour and they will be considerably tiny and thin.

An Oristellae's Primordial state is not equivical to a child, however, as they will be able to communicate their wants and needs with nuance. The state does weaken them however, and they will be unable to defend themselves or enagage in any demanding task.

An Oristellae can adapt to almost any situation, and although some subtypes are more fine-tuned than others to certain enviroments the Oristellae can - and often do - inhabit almost anywhere they need to. Between the Geodic Oristellae inhabiting the cores of planets to the Mermaidc Oristellae inhabiting the Sea of Stars, Oristellae can survive anywhere they need to in order to sustain their task.

Oristellae do not require a need to eat or have mechanisms to externally repel things out of their body (except coughing or vomiting) but if they require to eat for social or cultural reasons they can consume matter and simply dissolve it entirely within their system, they can then translate and expell that matter as creation magic, or use it to adjust their form or shape.

Oristellae do not visably age or wear down over time, and they do not need to hibernate, however, due to an Oristellae expereriencing the world and growing as a person, their Origin state may change to reflect a different aesthetical design or set of needs. An Oristellae may refine their appearance and thus their tastes may mature, but they do not experience the visual signs of aging a human might.

Oristellae are quite reserved folk, they mostly keep to themselves unless they must behave otherwise to blend in and Oristellae that do not have tasks that interact with other folk may experience serious social ineptitude. Oristellae are usually single-minded towards their task and hold it above all else, however some may believe their task is simply a means to an end and dream of the life after the task (known as the recreation period).

Oristellae will almost always default to the path that gets them 'back on track' and will take any action required to get them back to it. They are fiercly loyal to the Great Guardians, and if things go wrong they will do everything they can to migrate back to the center of the universe and the Centrale Spire.

Oristellae are distributed throughout the Universe entirely due to the nature of their tasks and their places within the grand fates of the universe. Some types of Oristellae Lifetasks require Oristellae to constantly be moving, and such a job is usually called a roaming job, whilst the majority of Oristellae Lifetasks require Oristellae to be stationed to a specific point of the universe in order to fulfil their duties.

Stationed Oristellae

Oristellae can be either stationed within existing structures such as inside the crust of planets for monitoring, within existing outposts for communication or protection, or within larger establishments such as the Centrale Spire.

Oristellae are capable of complex and intricate thought. They can reason and act autonomously akin to other sentient species, but they do not possess any extraordinary intellectual abilities either and in moments of uncertainty they will always defer back to contacting the Stewards directly for guidance.

Oristellae may experience heightened sensory and perceptive capabilities due to their needs and specific to their tasks, however most if not all Oristellae hold some form of Shapeshifting Magic and ability to perceive both the 'awake' and the 'dreaming' realms as well as be able to traverse both with relative ease.

Magic

Oristellae may be able to use a range of Magic, but most commonly Oristellae can Shapeshift, and a great number can express some form of creation magic, although the creations formed are usually not permanant. Oristellae may exhibit the power to fly (or more aptly swim through the air) in specific enviroments and use powerful energy attacks, although these abilities are usually specific to their subtype.

Oristellae were the second sentient race to be created at the start of the universe. They were created by the intergalactic creation system to provide assistance with carrying out the whims of and to serve the Goddess of Life & Death in whatever they may need or want done. Oristellae created their own traditions and ceremonies after a need for structure and proprietary within the processes of the creation of Oristellae and assigning them a task.