Paiaran

A subculture of the Rih'kiel species that began as a result of the calamity.

The Paiarans started on a large habitation station called Paiar, which was orbiting Raria, the rih'kiel home planet. This station, holding a population well into the thousands, could theoretically hold a large enough population to continue the rih'kiel species, however the station itself was subject to decay like all technologies. As such, their people were forced to constantly maintain their station. Their culture valued these station maintainers who often risked their lives in the dangerous conditions of space. There are also those who obtained materials from asteroids or shattered remnants of Raria itself as raw materials required to maintain the station and its functions. Most of the workforce of the Paiaran subculture fell under either station maintenance or mining. Manufacturers were also important but were less well regarded.

The stations gravity field projectors were quite weak. As they slowly adapted to low gravity life, the Paiarans became skinnier and their arms slightly more dexterous to be able to grab onto bars more easily, an important way to navigate in low gravity. They did not however get enough time to cause speciation before the Hyperion Federation found them so they remained members of the rih'kiel species. If the HF did not find them, the station probably would have failed many decades in the future, but is now largely maintained and upgraded by the HF. The HF expanded the station to accommodate millions rather than the original thousands. They became an integral part in the founding of the rih'kiel remnant, the star nation representing their species in the Federation.

The average Paiaran skin colour was a shade of light blue, and they mostly had the purple ability allowing them to see through objects. Now, a significant number of purple-ability Rih'kiel can trace their ancestry back to this large station.

In more current times, the station is one of the closest to Raria, with a surprisingly low orbit. This makes the station one of the closest points one can safely get to Raria, so many come to the station as tourists to see Raria from orbit. Because of this, the station's culture now has a wide variety of cuisine available, some of which is not even edible to the rih'kiel (available for tourists), despite the station population being almost entirely rih'kiel. 

Once every Raria year, they celebrate the day the Federation discovered and rescued them. This is a public holiday that almost everyone takes off. On this day, there is often a celebration in the approximate center of the station not unlike that of the Suons' Victory Day, except in the Rih'kiel languages and without the street parades (thre are no streets), but only a number of the rih'kiel visit this. This tradition brings them closer to the HF and suons in general.