Ferrans

Ferran

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Information
Homeworld	Singulon
Habitats	Singulonian deserts
Unique Traits	easily augmented, long-lived, possesses metal shells, highly varied appearance.
Writer(s)	Matrix/Jeremiah

"Optional species quote or defining cultural phrase." — Someone from this species

Ferrans are a highly mutable, vaguely crustacean-like species dwelling within the deserts of Singulon. Individual Ferrans are born with humanoid bodies, though the use of metallic, artificial shells called “Frames” has become so ingrained in society that a Frame is more identifiable as a Ferran than the being inside. Ferran society is incredibly hierarchical, with collections of rich, landed families known as Kins owning vast swaths of territory and ruling over them in the form of familial-corporatocracy. Material wealth is the primary determiner of one’s place in society, with the rich capable of affording customized Frames capable of imparting a humanoid appearance or allowing one to look akin to another species, while the poor are relegated to using hand-me-down Frames that dehumanize the wearer. Many of these low-grade Frames lack anything recognizable as facial features, functioning more as a mask than a face. The nature of Ferran culture and biology has given rise to a utilitarian worldview among the lower classes, with their highly modifiable shells allowing them to build bodies for the jobs they are required to do by their corporate rulers. In contrast, the rich have the luxury to focus on aesthetics, often favoring form over function and indulging in luxuries like cloth and imported organic substances. The oppressive rule of the Kin system has led to working-class Ferrans often being forced to find connections with those around them. It’s not uncommon for every member of a family to be entirely unrelated by blood, the bonds they formed through hardship being more relevant than any blood relation. This attitude is influenced by Ferran belief in the inherent spirits of inanimate objects, including the golems present in almost every facet of Ferran life. Whether it be automata or one’s own body, everything is a tool in Ferran society, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of respect.

Core Worldview

The general outlook on life for the working class is typically one of contented resignation. They have some comforts and they have the people around them, for many this is all they need. Most Ferrans understand how poor the conditions they live in are, but are also intimately aware of the fact that centuries of uprisings, conflicts, and wanton violence have led to their conditions improving dramatically. Most Ferrans do not wish to risk the safety of themselves or the people they care for in an attempt to rebel unless conditions become unbearable despite the fact that mutilation and death is a regular fact of life. Most Ferrans are content to live, work, and die alongside the people they love with no realistic hope of upward mobility beyond leaving the planet. For those with no one to miss and no hope, leaving Singulon is a tempting option.

The rich have a predictably much better social outlook, with plenty of upward mobility through off-world trading and the ability to migrate at will.  

Physiology and Design

Ferrans have an intriguing body structure, even though they maintain the usual bipedal, humanoid structure. Though their body plan is familiar, the culture of heavy body modification and distortion of self makes them unrecognizable and often robotic looking.

Though underneath they are still quite normal and more comparable to an average human, the use of what they call Frames makes them unique and individually interesting. These frames are almost required for Ferrans to exist, as being seen without one is almost comparable to being naked in public.

Frames are almost entirely made of metal, though the social rank of the individual determines how rare the metal and also if any gemstones are incorporated into the design. Frames cover the body head to toe to protect from the harsh sun and other dangers of the Ferran’s home planet, but also serve as individual expression from person to person.

Frames can also be upgrades with cybernetics, and often are modified extensively. Extra limbs, integrated tools and weapons, interesting and expensive designs, and strange modifications are often included on higher end frames, leading to large culture of body mods and distortion of the form.

Social Structures and Hierarchy

Overview

In a place like the sprawling deserts of Singulon, and amongst a people as mutable as the Ferrans, your birth has very little to do with your actual station in the society you live in. Wealth, primarily material, is the end-all be-all for social capital; even the numerous “noble” families that have intertwined themselves with every aspect of Ferran life understand that the only reason they hold the power that they do is that they hold the key to the life and death of everyone under their yoke. If it wasn’t for the control they hold over the oasis, the fungi farms, the mines, and the salt deposits that litter the realm, they would be nothing but Ferrans with fancy frames and the hatred of an entire society bearing down on them. The Great Kins are the 10 greatest familial collectives on the planet; these 10 hold access to every resource needed to support large-scale Ferran society and guard it jealously from both the machinations of their rivals as well as the desperate masses vying for a chance to grasp at a better life.

Resources are power, more than martial power or familial connections. Those who have food and water to spare will naturally find that they have sway over people. This fundamental truth is the bedrock upon which the Great Kins (often called the Grand Ten) have built their power. Each kin began as a loose connection of families or neighbors who banded together to protect shared resources such as food or water. This security allowed them to build up an abundance of these goods, which in turn naturally attracted those willing to provide their services for food, water, and/or shelter. Desperate families would often turn to vassalising themselves to larger collectives, providing more bodies in exchange for security and protection. Over time, families joined and melted together, combining their individual hold on resources till singular groups held sway over every watering hole, farm, and mine for leagues. Eventually, the growth would stop, either due to a lack of anywhere to expand, challenges from rivals, or simple pragmatism; eventually, the Grand Ten were the ones that stood supreme.

Landed Families

Every family in a kin seeks to push the Kin towards one unified goal: expansion. Before readily available access to interstellar travel, this expansion was primarily limited to internal systems and affairs, Kins pooling their collective resources and distributing them evenly amongst themselves before dividing up the smallest possible portion for the little folks. A Kin would seek to increase stores of water, cultivate more elaborate fungi farms, and expand mining operations. Now that the markets of the stars have been opened to them, they are no longer content with simple agricultural exploits.

Mining operations ship out metric tons of rare metals by the shipload, while industrial farms grow enough food for small city-states. Water is just as closely guarded as ever, but now that Kins have the ability to receive water off-realm, they have innovated in ways they previously could not all for the sake of making a profit. This money goes to purchasing goods and services, primarily in importing flora and fauna from other realms as well as improving the tools used by the workers. The increased efficiency of the workers naturally increases production, which leads to increased profits. The lion's share of these profits will go to the families, ensuring their leisure and solidifying their control over their resources. Whatever is left goes to streamlining their business operations, better tools, research and development, roads within their territories, and diplomatic gifts with other Kins. Little if any will ever end up in the hands of individual ferrans, especially those within the lower class, after all, each Kin takes care of all of the material needs of all those within their territories. 

Despite them sharing the name of a familial structure and fashioning themselves as noble, the internal structure of most Kins resembles neither any loving family nor any form of landed aristocracy. Each Kin is led by a council of the heads of the most prominent families; these individuals are usually called directors. These councils (often called a Board of Directors) determine fiscal policy, price changes, and future legislation for the overall Kin. Roughly equivalent to a board of directors, these councils will often be the determiner for which families control what parts of the Kin’s overall territory. Competition over hot spots can be fierce, and though outright violence between members is discouraged, emotions can flare, egos can be bruised, and families with centuries of allied history can become enemies in a single exchange. Territory given to a kin is often a signifier of prestige, with less prominent families holding no land at all. Families without land aren’t necessarily kicked out of a Kin to join the teeming masses below, but are often required to have their children join the loss prevention officers.

Directors

Directors typically act as the overall leader of a family, but it is not uncommon for a Director to be nothing more than a figurehead for other parts of a family. They are the ones getting the most public attention and, as such, are often beautiful (by Ferran standards) individuals with a natural charisma. Multiple individuals are often groomed for this role in a given generation, with the most suitable being ultimately chosen for the role. Directors are often treated with the same level of reverence as celebrities; many even have legions of adoring fans that follow their every move, leading to them being heavily guarded.  For families where the Director is the brains, the role is chosen amongst the most cunning and business-minded individuals. Families looking for a figurehead will instead choose someone likeable, but still otherwise loyal to the ones actually in charge. The average day-to-day of a Director consists primarily of relaxation, broken up by the occasional interview or photoshoot

Regional Managers

Kins are further categorized into divisions based on which specific families hold sway over a region. These divisions are nominally headed by that Family’s director, but day-to-day administrative duties are handled by Regional Managers. Individuals tasked with managing these vast enterprises are typically either well-trusted members of the family by the director or next in line for the position. When a certain mine isn’t meeting expected quotas, when a road needs to be repaired, or when a local rebellion needs to be put down, a Regional Manager will typically be the one expected to be up to bat. Despite Directors holding all of the power on paper, in many Kins, the ones truly calling the shots are the Regional Managers of an individual family. A regional Manager’s primary duty is to ensure that each settlement or enterprise they control is operating at peak efficiency, as well as solidifying the family’s hold on the region. These are also the ones responsible for playing the game of politics, arranging marriages, forming alliances, and hampering political enemies at every possible turn. It is often the case that this job is given to multiple individuals who divide the work amongst themselves to ease the burden, leading to one family having multiple regional managers. The role is chosen from amongst talented individuals from a family’s most competent (or well-connected) Managers. While Directors are the face of the company, these are the individuals cutting off food rations to whole communities, sending off death squads to hunt down union organizers, and ensuring that the logistics of every part are where they should be, but when a more direct hand is needed. This calls for a different approach. The average day-to-day of a Regional manager primarily consists of monitoring the status of individual enterprises through Local Managers, balancing the family’s checks, and arranging political meetings involving other families.

Non-landed Families

Local Managers

Local Managers, Branch Managers, or simply Managers are the designation for individuals tasked with the running of individual settlements, towns, or enterprises. They function in a similar role to a mayor, determining what counts as law, setting standards of work, and actually ensuring the enforcement of orders from the higher-ups. It is their job to ensure the smooth running of individual operations, as well as to notice things that regional managers might miss. For example, if a local mine falls behind on its quota, a Regional Manager might assume it might have something to do with the coincidentally high injury and death rate at that particular mine, but a Local Manager has the perspective to understand that this deficiency is actually due to the workers taking too much time to mourn the dead. This is the position most prominent families will have filled by any halfway competent member of their own familial line. This is also the highest position a member of a non-landed family can reasonably hope to hold without some form of great deed or political miracle. The average day-to-day of a Local manager typically consists of either paperwork involving the individual workload of their enterprise or supervising the enterprise itself to ensure everything is running smoothly. Supervising can often include inspiring loyalty, punishing dissenters or slackers, as well as making an example out of people.

Loss Prevention Officers

Loss Prevention Officers serve as a Kin’s military and law enforcement arm. The individuals fight against the forces of other Kins, the occasional wild animal attacks, and keep workers in line. Typically armed with the best equipment a Kin can either craft, afford, or trade for, these soldiers loyally serve their Kin on the front lines. They’re assigned to individual missions based on need, with many being consistently stationed at certain enterprises to act as law enforcement, while others are a part of a task force assigned to particular missions such as hunting down enemies of the Kin. They function in loose squads, with members of different families assigned to one squad to promote teamwork and allow bonds of loyalty to form amongst the lower families. These ranks are often filled out by members of a Kin’s less prestigious families, members from the prestigious families who aren’t skilled enough to be local managers, and the very rare working-class Ferran who has shown a great degree of loyalty to a Kin. This is also the rank held by any mages belonging to a Kin, regardless of combat capacity.

Working class

Clerks

Clerks are a classification of individuals who function within the greater hierarchy of a Kin, but aren’t explicitly a part of it. This role falls to working-class Ferrans who have been elevated to a position they otherwise would not have been able to reach, such as functioning as an assistant to or a worker directly under a Local or Regional manager. Many Clerks are delegated tasks that their superior deems to be too demeaning to take on themselves. Such as paperwork, basic cleaning, writing their own speeches, or balancing the checkbooks of an enterprise. For an individual enterprise, the one responsible for ensuring things run smoothly is the clerk; any Local Manager worth their salt has a team of clerks working around the clock to ensure quotas are met, while Loss Prevention Officers often keep a clerk on payroll to function as their eyes and ears on the ground, as well as conducting investigations in their stead. Despite functioning within the overall Kin hierarchy and being a recognized role that plays a huge part in administrative functioning, clerks aren’t granted any of the privileges that would normally be afforded to a Kin member by default, with their best bet being the generosity of their boss keeping them safe and secure.

Working Class

  The Working Class is the catch-all term for the vast majority of Ferrans. These are the Ferrans who have to work to live and live to work. These individuals may choose under which Kin they will spend the rest of their life working under, and that is about all they will ever be able to choose when it comes to the work they do. The Kin’s determine everything for the Working Class, where they work, when they work, what they will do, how much food and water they will get, what frames they will have, and how often those frames will be repaired. The Kin’s also own the vast majority of everything a Working Class Ferran will ever see, including all of the food they eat, the water they drink, and the frames they live in. Should a Working Class Ferran ever wish to break free from the control of Kins, there is but one recourse available to them.

Nomads

Nomad is a catch-all term for all communities that live outside the influence of the Kins. Many of these people aren’t actually nomadic; the term is simply being a pejorative term used by Kins. Most of these communities rely on small or hidden sources of water or fungi for food, and many of these caches are sourced from abandoned Kin enterprises. Many Nomads also make a living before raiding Kin enterprises and convoys for resources.

Religion and Spirituality

What do they believe in religiously, if at all? Are there gods? Do they worship the Nullstar? Fear it?

Technology and Science

Here you guys can expand. If there's a specialty relating to one field or another, include it. Are they especially good at invention? Chemistry? Biology? You can also add a section for literature and artisinal aspects if you would like.

Traditional Clothing and Fashion

I urge you to think of what would be practical to wear given the species' line of work and environment, but also how the species would choose to dress and accessorize given their biology and physical traits. Have fun with this!

Occupations

The point of this section is to list some fields that this species could specialize in to give people more ideas for their character.

Starships and Space Travel

What does travel look like for this species? What do ships native to their planet look like? Do they travel often? Do they have bustling ports or are they more closed off?

Cultural/Social Quirks and Daily Life

A big trivia section, basically. I'd encourage incorporating animal mannerisms and fun little traits that don't fit anywhere else.

Notable Locations

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Interactions With Other Species

Especially the other species that they share the planet with. You may need to work with the other teams for this. But I'd like to see this section just to foster more player interactions from the get-go. It's easy plot hooks.

Inspiration Images

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Concept Art

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