Caelune

Caelune

Information
Homeworld	Stratos (Continent of F'teros)
Habitats	Unknown
Unique Traits	Harpy-like wings (feathers along arms) (In rare cases) Multiple sets of wings (on head, neck, lower back, legs etc)
Writer(s)	Jay and Kay :] !

"And unto us the Child of Stars descended, for we were in plight, and they were our salvation." — The head of the Church of Soterism

The Caelune are a harpy-like species that inhabits the sphere of Stratos alongside the Sonyx on the continent of F'teros. Caelune all can possess a variety of bird-like features, but a constant among all Caelune are the feathers along their arms that allow them to catch Stratos’ wind currents and glide along long distances. Caelune architecture consist of both tall towers made for landing by air, as well as grounded structures, as not all Caelune are capable of nor enjoy gliding. Within the past century, the Caelune experienced an extreme religious uprising that uprooted the majority of their systems and rid them of centuries of knowledge on medicine and technology, leading most non-religious Caelune to leave Stratos. This religion consists of worshipping the Nullstar and the Nullchild, a representative of the Nullstar said to have appeared and "bring salvation" to the Caelune from a great agricultural famine from millennia before. The reason for the Caelune to have an interest in the mission depends on the individual, with some joining the mission for the reason of widening their understanding of the god they worship, while other Caelune wish to reconnect with other planets and hopefully bring technology and medicine back to the Caelune continents on Stratos.

Core Worldview

Pre-religious uprising, the Caelune were an incredibly outgoing and inventive people, always looking for new ways to advance their civilization. They held a bit of a self-righteous air about them, but this has never stopped them from ultimately doing good, even if it's from a bit of a pretentious place.

Post-religious uprising (which is what player characters will be focused on), the Caelune are an incredibly stubborn and pious people, whether for better or for worse. Most believe that even if things are not perfect, this is simply the will of the Nullstar, and to stray from what the Nullstar and spokespeople for the Church of Soteria preach is to go against everything that Caelune society stands for. There is, of course, a minority that understands that Caelune society as it currently is is unsustainable and that change is necessary, but agian, this is a minority, and the majority of Caelune truly believe that everything is as it should be, despite the very clear systemic issues at hand.

Physiology and Design

Caelune are all incredibly unique in their physiology as the range of bird or harpy-like features that they have ranges from very little visible difference to entirely differently body types. The consistent features all Caelune experience consists of:

• Layers of feathers lining the arm to form wings
• Feathers anywhere on the head including on ears, in hair or on neck
• Tailfeathers
• Horizontal eye blinks with a nictitating membrane rather than normal eyelids (basically instead of normal blinks, a membrane under the normal lids blinks over the eye from the side rather than the outer lids blinking up and down)
• Incredibly good lung capacity due to having an intricate system of air sacs connected by tubes with their lungs, meaning it is easy for Caelune to exert mass amounts of energy without having to take consistent breaks (includes holding breath for long periods of time)

Regarding entirely different types of bodies, the unique features that a Caelune can have consists of:

• Looking entirely like a harpy
• Basically just being an anthropomorphic bird (including having a bird head)
• Having mix match features (bird legs but human head, bird head but human legs etc)
• Having features such as plume, bird beak etc but not a full bird head
• (Rarely) Having a second pair of wings anywhere on the body such as over the ears, on the calvaria, the back of the neck, the shoulders, lower back, hips, thighs or ankles
• (Very rarely) Having a third or fourth pair of wings
• It is unheard of to have more than three extra sets of wings, but theoretically not impossible

Social Structures and Community

Current Caelune society is a mayor-based theocratic democracy, where the different cities in the Caelune continent of Fteros elect mayors that all form one council. There is no centralized government, but this council is one of the closest things Caelune society has to one. The other closest thing would be the heads of the Church of Soteria. Although this group is technically not an “official” government figure, they are highly recognized to be a leading authority in domestic Caelune policy, including leading most national law enforcement and regulation.

Mayoral elections take place every three years. There is no upper age limit for who can run, and the lower age limit is eight years old and below. In the case of a mayoral death, the mayoral council gets together to decide who a good replacement would be (it typically ends up being either one of the late mayor’s family members or sponsors).

There are very few continent-wide laws, but that does not mean there are none. The few laws that are enforced across all of Caelune society are as follows:

• A ban on surgical removal of wings

Punishments range from hefty fines, to decades of prison time to banishment from Caelune society. Citizen action against violators of this law commonly go unpunished, including murder.

• A ban on the ownership of “contraband” including educational medical documents and electronic technology

Punishments depend on the amount of contraband owned, typically resulting in the removal and destruction of contraband followed by hefty fines and an assigned surveillance officer being assigned for the next 5-10 years. If the contraband owned is proven to have led to physical action such as illegal surgeries or anti-government political movements, the punishment worsens extremely, typically leading to prison time, banishment and very, very rarely execution (“rarely” as in maybe once every hundred years).

• A ban on aiding the migration of multi-winged children

Specifically: forging documents, sheltering missing multi-winged children, physically helping them leave Fteros etc. Whether or not the migration was successful determines the extent of the punishment, which is typically prison time (banishment is never considered for this crime as it would be seen more as a “reward” than a punishment. The crime committed was helping someone else leave, so).

• Creating/wearing masks that have fake wings physically sticking out

This is not to be confused with engravings or paintings on the masks that look like wings, as those are seen more as paying homage to those with head wings rather than copying them. Having a mask or otherwise mimicking having multiple wings is seen as an affront to the Null Child and punishment ranges from hefty fines to community service.

Any other laws about things like theft, murder, destruction etc range from city to city, including the punishments resulting from those crimes being committed. Enforcement of these laws are typically incredibly violent, enabled by government immunity to any officer working under the Church of Soterism.

Religion and Spirituality

During Stratos’ great famine thousands of years prior, certain individuals in the Caelune and Sonyx came together to utilize what would now be understood as constellations of magic to overcome the food shortages and droughts. One of these individuals, a Caelune child whose name was lost to time, has since been idolized as the savior of the Caelune, sent down by the Nullstar to bring the Caelune salvation from their great hunger before ascending back into the “god” from whence they came.

Word of mouth was the only way this child’s story was spread for what is estimated (but can never truly be confirmed) to be 200 years after their death. The story that was written down is as follows:

“In the times of great hunger and strife, one individual amongst all the rest stood up to bring the whole of Stratos salvation from their great devastation. This child bore six wings on their head for which they shielded their eyes, for they wished to save us the humility of being perceived the way we were. With their strength aided by the Nullstar they commanded the skies to cry and the soil to drink, and from the tears of God we were blessed with the most bountiful harvest that all of Caelune kind had seen in eons.

This child, endlessly youthful and full of life, gave everything they could for years to come, until one day they turned to us and spoke. “I have done everything I could, everything I wanted to, and everything I needed to. Continue to live in balance with the food you eat, the water you drink, the world you live in. Each other. Yourselves. With all my heart, I love you.”

With their words, the child ascended back into the Null from where they were once gifted to us. Their soul, however, continues to live on in the world around us. Every time a child is born with a head adorned with wings, that is a little bit of the Null Child’s essence living on inside them. These children carry on their love and wisdom, and must be sheltered from the evil that the Null Child had so nobly bore witness for us, for this is what we must do to repay their everlasting kindness.”

Of course, this is not all there is in regards to religious texts surrounding Soterism and the Null Child, however this is the best summary for the sake of easy understanding.

(To note, having multiple wings is an incredibly rare occurrence. It’s already rare enough to have more than one set, but having three or four is almost unheard of. Extra wings are not blessed upon a Caelune by god, they are a physical deformity that leads to health problems early on in life that only get worse with time and age. Imagine one in every 20-50k Caelune has an extra pair of wings, and one in every 75-100k has more)

Within the last century, a mass religious uprising of Soterism has entirely engulfed Caelune society, with a major tipping point being the successful banning of the removal of extra wings. It had been long debated before the law was passed, but its passing made extremists realize just how much they could get away with. Within the century after, a successful attempt at pushing all of Caelune society towards Soterist extremism was made, which affected every single part of Caelune society. Education, healthcare, technology, economy, all is not without massive influence from this societal change.

A notable point of influence has been how Soterism affected local government elections. Out of all mayors, over 70% of them are multi-winged Caelune ranging from ages 10-19, with most being on the younger side. Due to the belief of the inherent wisdom of multi-winged children as well as their financial backing by investors, both religiously-motivated and not, these children are very commonly placed into mayoral races despite not reaching a mature enough age to truly understand what is happening or what the stakes of the race are. It’s an open secret at this point that most children who run for and are elected as mayor are not the ones truly running the show, and that the people actually in charge are more likely to be family members like parents or their financial sponsors.

If a mayor is not a multi-winged child, then they are typically older, more experienced Caelune. There is a stark, noticeable difference in how cities are run depending on if the mayor is a child or an adult, with a lot of policy-making being incredibly religiously-dependent (think how Utah is run compared to other US states).

It must be noted that these children are typically elected out after a certain age, not only due to losing the “wisdom” that comes with being a child, but also due to essentially being tossed out by family and peers for their growing health problems, both mental and physical. They tend to either grow incredibly large egos or become extremely depressed due to the amount of attention they get, combined with how they are sheltered from.. basically anything that could be considered “bad”. Homelessness, starvation, crime etc are all kept from the children, meaning they typically aren’t allowed to interact much with the outside world, and instead are surrounded by adults who further feed into their egos, idolizing them as important and unlike anyone else. Someone to be adored, worshipped, looked to for holiness. In even more extreme cases, these children aren’t even allowed to walk on the ground, instead carried around in seats as a way to “make up” for forcing the original Null Child to lower themself so nobly onto the dirtied ground they all walk upon.

Physical health wise, these children tend to suffer from long-term brain damage, neck issues, spinal problems and more. Children who aren’t allowed to walk on the ground for most of their lives are usually even worse off, with atrophied muscles and incredibly weak constitutions. These issues become increasingly evident as they grow older, again leading them to being shunned and cast out. Most of these children do not make it to their 30s, either due to having zero support for these health conditions or from overdosing, as a lot of them turn to substance abuse after being completely left with zero life experience nor support system.

It must be noted that the belief in Soterism, the Null Star as a godly figure or the Null Child are not what inherently makes the way that Caelune society revolves around it bad. The issue that is being portrayed here is the complete religious extremism that throws out core concepts from the original story- such as teamwork, kindness and love- and misconstrues it in a way such that it entirely ignores the original text and is enforced onto everybody, which is what has led Caelune society to where it is today. Healthcare is in shambles, quality of life is at an all time low, education is near impossible to obtain within Caelune society itself, the wealth disparity between classes is staggering and anyone against this current societal system is either cast out, imprisoned, pushed into poverty or killed. The Caelune are a people whose society is currently undergoing an extreme political and religious landscape the type of which will be looked back on and taught in schools as to never let it happen again.

Technology and Science

Because of the technology ban, the vast majority of technology and educational books especially in regards to biology have either been hidden away or destroyed. However, the technology that is still around gives glimpses back into a past full of creativity and innovation.

The only ones who still hold any remnants of past technology are either those who were wealthy enough to store it away out of the eyes of the public, or whose families managed to keep it under the tightest of wraps. Healthcare-wise, Caelune were second to none

Traditional Clothing and Fashion

Go fucking nuts.

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 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

List important places tied to this species.

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

Add visual references here!

Concept Art

Add actual concept art here, stuff we made!