Starborn

The Starborn (known to themselves as Estramulid) are a people scattered throughout the New Frontier, a culture developed from the mass refugee movements of the late Jred Scourge, and its aftermath. As people from the rimward frontier were forced from their homes by the Jred by the tens of billions, they found themselves adrift in deep space. Though most found new homes eventually, millions elected to remain in deep space. Joined by new waves of refugees trapped by the temporary disruption of Jumpspace caused by the the Great Cataclysm, these peoples became the first true starfarers of humanity. In the five centuries since the Starborn have created a new, nomadic culture traveling between the stars as traders, or more rarely, as pirates. They are some of the more alien looking of the naturally adapted Myriad Humanities, with bodies that are taller and thinner than all but a handful of rockball world citizens, and strange features adapted to less light and more conservative air consumption.

Language

Through the need to communicate with a wide array of people, the Starborn tend to be polyglots capable of speaking multiple languages. Trade Solar is the most widely spoken language among the Starborn, or at least that which is publicly known, and most Starborn would claim Trade Solar as their mother tongue. The Starborn do however, have their own special tongue, known as Umbraeyil, a language which is almost exclusive to themselves and jealously kept from outsiders as much as possible. Few outsiders will ever be trusted with the Umbraeyil language, and indeed when interacting with other peoples, Starborn will typically insist on using other languages, typically Trade Solar.

Naming Conventions

Though initially the Starborn would have many naming convetions, over the five centuries since the Cataclysm, intermixing between Starborn people and their relative isolation from outsiders has slowly seen the rise of a more unified tradition for the naming of Starborn people. Starborn children are given their first names at birth, this name is almost always monosyllabic and relatively simple (El, Bix, Yen as typical feminine names, and Cal, Kai, and Bo as typical masculine names for example), and a "family name" marking them as crew members of a specific ship, usually the one on which they were born, or the ship their parents are crews of (usually favoring mothers). Upon approaching adulthood, a Starborn will take more responsibility on a ship, at some point, as part of the process of becoming an adult they will become acclaimed for some action or job, and will be thus named by other members of the crew. Common 'tasknames' include íkopa (Rockhopper), Talveshte (They Who Maintain), and Skati (Handler). Known kalingerers however are given the name 'Vayatralla' (Voidtreader) stripped of their shipname and cast out. Thus an example of a Starborn name would be Bix Íkopa din Estratralla the first part being the given name, the second the taskname, and the third the shipname.

It is widely believed that the Starborn draw names from their own tongue, as, aside from some shipnames and a handful of loaned given names, the names appear to come from no other known language. Starborn place a lot of cache on the importance of a person's name, and are very careful about giving out their given name freely. Tasknames are favored when interacting with outsiders, in theory to give them some idea of the function of a person. Indeed within Starborn culture a person's name is sacred, and to have it sullied with the label "Vayatralla" is considered a great dishonor and those cast from their ships involuntarily are usually shunned by Starborn peoples and must instead live among the outsiders.

Values

Due to the harsh existence of the Starborn, living in space, their very homes one disaster away from becoming tombs, they have an extremely strict, communal, and, in some respects, xenophobic culture. Community rituals focus on the care and maintenance of starships, with almost no tolerance for mistakes, especially among adults. Extreme competence is considered one of the highest moral vitures, as is a certain degree of self-reliance. However, laziness, incompetence, and undue self-interest are harshly sanctioned, as such behaviors could very easily result in the death of an entire crew. Loyalty is to a ship's crew first, a fleet (if a ship is part of one) second, the self third, Starborn society fourth, and Madaasal (Dirtsiders or Foreigners) an extremely distant fifth.

The Starborn, while generally extremely communal, do believe in a strong sense of personal independence and resourcefulness, and it is common and encouraged for each Starborn to not only take care of their personal tools and equipment, but to customize and personalize it to better suit their own needs. Indeed, Starborn have developed their own, highly modifiable form of vacc suit the "Montovaya", as a result of tinkering and improvement of space survival equipment on their ships.

The Starborn people are extremely cautious in their dealings with outsiders, and especially outsiders who are not from other communities of Starborn. They are not concerned with the affairs of the Madaasal, seeing them as people to trade with, or raid, but not to be trusted with important matters. If one can earn the trust of a community of Estramulid, however, it is not easily lost, and bonds of friendship between them and outsiders, though rare, are incredibly strong. One important exception to this exists however, as many Starborn communities, except for the largest fleets are very small with limited gene pools, casual intercourse especially for uterus bearing people, women and other feminine people, is generally acceptable as a means of avoiding the negative consequences of inbreeding.

Starborn society is relatively gendervoid in most respects, with emphasis placed on one's ability to contribute to the good of the ship placed over displays of gender. Instead it is often displayed in color, with cooler colors such as green, blue, and silver associated with femininity, and warmer colors such as pink, orange, and gold associated with masculinity, but otherwise gendered dress is uncommon. A noteworthy exception to this is in matters if intra-ship or intra-fleet breeding, as again, to avoid inbreeding, the conception of children is strictly controlled, and indeed Starborn cultures are often somewhat more homophobic than the cultures of planetborn.

Relations to other Ethnic Groups

The Starborn have tense relations with most outsiders. As they are often distrusting with outsiders, and to some extent xenophobic, they are distrusted in return. The ugliest form this takes is with relation to the sizable minority of Starborn pirates that raid planets and interstellar trade. Though this side of the Starborn community is indeed a minority, it is a common attitude to assume that all Estramulid are pirates, and the trade is in plunder stolen from other ships. This has led to many communities treating Starborn with a degree of hostility, and worryingly common legal discrimination against Starborn people. Conversely this attitude has further convinced many Estramulid crews and fleets that outsiders are dangerous, and driven many such groups to isolate themselves further from outsiders when not strictly necessary.