Breakaway Backstory
November 20, 2018
Narrative Mechanics
December 7, 2018
Physically, Arthronian adults are on average 6-8 feet tall, 300-400 lbs, generally have 6 limbs but occasionally have an extra set. Their mouth has fanged mandibles, and on their back sits a hardened carapace. Their hide is particularly thick and protective. They do not have scales, fur, hair, or even eyelids. Their eyes are pure black, but still maintain the complex systems a human eye uses.
Each carapace is unique to its Arthronian, with different sizes, shapes, colors, ridges, points, and so on. Many even decorate their carapace with paints, piercings, patterned dents and numerous other physical modifications. Clothes are considered too restrictive for day-to-day wear, so it's normally reserved for formal or important occasions. Specialized functional accessories are very popular and are generally made from non-precious metals. Their art often takes on the many different aspects that they personify. For example, a popular theme is the duality between spiders and insects, and how one person can embody both traits.
When gene splicing became prevalent and cultures started forming around their use, Arthronian culture began around people who spliced in genes from all arthropods - spiders, crustaceans, insects. Over the years, their human features faded even if their human habits persisted. Arthronians engage in a complex system of rules structured around politeness, status, and position. Sometimes a person's shell can even require deference, as a shell will often show a person's status.
crabbydaddy: Seriously, trash shell oil more than 6 months old.
spinneret pirouette: but it was so expensiiive
spinneret pirouette: ugh fine
crabbydaddy: I switch mine out every 3 months...
spinneret pirouette: that is SO OFTEN
crabbydaddy: Old oil carries all kinds of bacteria!
spinneret pirouette: its been fine so far :[
spinneret pirouette: im going to keep it oOooOo
crabbydaddy: Don't crawl to me when you've got boiled joints.
Arthronians are a complicated and careful people. While every culture has its myths, the Arthronians tend to walk the line between myth and belief often. Passed down through songs long before gene splicing existed, many of their stories are about self-sacrifice and dying on unknown lands. Historians struggle to pinpoint when the two became intertwined, but death and Arthronians have been constant companions for over a thousand years. Outsiders may judge them - incorrectly - as unhappy and unsmiling. They are a people full of vim and vigor and celebrate life daily in their own way.
Birthdays are boisterous and loud, a vivid commemoration of life during its trials and tribulations. Weddings are bright affairs with small reminders that bonds last until the break of death. Funerals are somber, with ceremony and unspoken rules. Dying isn’t spoken of with fear, but with certainty and acceptance – an outright assuredness that some find unsettling.
Many Arthronians dedicate themselves to one deity, Sher Fane, who embodies both despair and happiness, fear and hope, life and death. Collected religious texts suggest that long ago, before the world broke apart, there were three sibling deities: Shah, the eldest who loved the land, Fare, the middle who loved the sea, and Rehn, the youngest who loved the sky. They were known for their wisdom and were even sought by other deities for council. They were close and cunning, artful and shrewd. They favoured people who lead their lives as examples, doing what they need to instead of relying on prayers to get what they want.
When the world broke, both Fare and Rehn gave up their lives to join with Shah, allowing Shah to strengthen the continent of Sharysh. Torn with grief from feeling their siblings die, the world split and their people scattered, they took on the name Sher Fane. They took up the light to lead the dead into the underworld, eternally keeping watch for their siblings’ souls.
As Coran stood, Sher Fane rose with her. Terror went before them both, and turmoil pooled in their wake. The beating on shells and claws became a wailing of a people seeing a hero being forged. The enemies of Coran quaked as she turned her head, victory in her eyes.
- The Journey of Coran
Today, Sher Fane is a bigender figure that is referenced in a familial way – sometimes called the Motherfather, or even just "Mother" or "Father", depending on the situation. Tributes are given monthly by followers in private, at personal shrines or in small sanctums. Sher Fane’s faithful usually wear jewellery or markings that represent their belief – one horizontal line above three parallel vertical lines, with the middle line being slightly longer than the others. These lines are referred to as Sher’s Tears.
“They walk with us” is seen as both a warning and a blessing. “Fane” has become slang for someone who is dramatic or often in the heart of turmoil. Saying the names Fare and Rehn outside of your personal shrine is considered beyond rude, and a slight against Sher Fane. Arthronians often refer to themselves as simple people, but time has shown they are anything but.