Tigiren (Tie-gur-in)
The Tigiren are a fractured race of feline humanoids that mostly resemble bipedal tigers in many regards. They were once a large collective race of older space-faring history, but have long since splintered into many factions, separated ideals, and even potential minor evolutions.
On the CDAM spectrum, they are officially classified as a Comet grade species, though this is said with some caution. Their splintered factions have primed some to be more tenacious, isolated, or war-hungry, but most are more opportunistic and cooperative with non-provoking communications across other species.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Like a cross between tigers and human bipedalism. They host most basic parts of the feline, from ears, eyes, paws, whiskers, but are more dexterous, bipedal, and slightly more identical in mammal qualities. Their tiger resemblance is strong enough that they've even long accepted it as a standard and valid system of address, and name some parts of their culture after tigers. Tend to be conventionally powerful creatures, with strong bones, decent height, and tendencies to grow tough or carry heavy depending on labor and nutrition. Even their females are considered often great lifters or runners. From an early period on into modern times, tigiren were capable of tearing down, and stomaching the meat of wild beasts up to roughly their own size, and walking back to their dens. Some have come to depend on their strength in fields of harsh labor when tools aren't available, cold weather conditions, or simply as brute enforcers.
Akin to real tigers, every stripe and pattern is unique to them, and embedded in their skin as well as growing out through the fur. Despite this, most still associate the stripes casually with their coat, and consider the whole very valuable to them. There are a few names for special stripes and markings:
- Tail Rings - Obvious.
- Laugh Stripes - Facial stripes, typically of those going vertically down the sides of the face.
- Split-marks - Body stripes that break or waver and reconnect as one whole stripe with a gap between.
- Crossmark - Stripes coming very close to crossing over with another.
- Firelick Stripes - Tiny body stripes, compared with tiny fire lashes
- Stretchers / Belly Stripes - Referring to stripes centered or solely on the belly. Sometimes called stretchers or fat stripes for how they tend to 'extend' if the tigiren fills on prey or simply grows fatter, and is commonly called out or measured in insult or compliment depending on the culture. Some cultural overlap and confusion comes in present with social-stretchers that confuse the context of these as stretcher stripes.
- Cuffs - Small stripes crossing over most of the arms or ankles like a band.
- Brow borders - self-explained, as stripes just above or between the eyes.
- Snap Collars - Distinctive stripes going from the shoulder to the neck/collar area.
- Whisker Shadows - Markings found right along the white of snouts. Common, but not all have it, some cover in make-up. Can also be mixed or simply come as spots or 'freckles' instead of stripes.
Genetics and Reproduction
Procreate fairly close to 'standard' mammal procedures, and yield offspring in liters that may gestate between 5-7 months on average. Liters of 3-6 are expectedly average, with the larger (5-6) averages often growing to need mothers to use walking support to carry a heavier load on bigger trips, with a wheel-guard 'Liter-stroller' being commonly seen. Some sects actually use reproductive suppressants to reduce common births to merely singles or twins instead for both population controls, and reduced strain. Tigirens are physically fully mature at age 16, though some sects classify 17-19 as the proper age for learning maturity.
Ecology and Habitats
Original home has been destroyed. Since then, they've traveled afar and broken up into numerous sects, adapting across different environments and even have passed onto other universes. Their origin is with the OA-designated Taomika universe, but they have had ties and settlers within the Kasar system and residents with the late Immortal Siivakian Empire (but more prosperous in the second empire)
Dietary Needs and Habits
Carnivore-forward diet, but omnivorous on the whole. Have traditions in holding over a desire for hunts and raw meat, but have modernized to accept a variety of foods ranging from cooking, fried and processed, to still moments or sport outings of raw prey. There's a chance society still deals with occasional infestations when exposed to raw bacteria from unnative worlds, but generations may adapt better. Preying on specimens have adapted to a few different behaviors from some customs and sports, to simply survival or combat ideals, or bill-saving methods. Some choose to bite and chew a bit of an animal, and leave the rest for the ecosystems, while others work off it more economically with preservation methods. Then, there's the hungry gorgers that will slowly bite off the entire thing, and have their food needs covered for the whole week at the expense of being somewhat bloated and 'feast-hibernating' in that time. To some this has become a frightening look, and some legal sectors don't protect criminals or unregistered citizens from a devouring. It is sometimes thought that sharing a troubled and cramped space with a slim or hungry tigiren is akin to being dropped in a pit with their feral resemblance.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
- Pelts are occasionally used in accessories.
- Eyes, blood, & Fangs work as superstitious components to some cultures.
- Sycore has found tigiren profitable as meat.
Civilization and Culture
Gender Ideals
Not a vast disparity, but females (Tigresses) akin to most races tend to be slightly more nurturing and art-forward, while males (Tigrans) tend to have more of a conquering drive. Yet females still hold a lot of physical power and desire to act. The largest distinction found across most sects is that tigrans tend to be more outwardly focused on shaping things to what suits them (Fighting, trading supplies, poking that alien plant, etc), while tigresses tend to think more about shaping themselves (Groomed fur, which weapon looks more imposing, having kittens, etc).
Courtship Ideals
Varies widely by person and sect, but on average a tigiren is quite vain enough about their relations and selves. Whether male or female, they tend to want more, but often tend to also want more attention from their partner. So across their long history or division of cultures, there's experimental practices of courting and how fixed partners work. Some do well to be life-long monogamous if they're disciplined. Other times there is an odd practice of, 'partner rotation' where a mate moves onto a new partner once their initial offspring is raised. Few have experimented with either interspecies relations, or harems; yet most tigiren wouldn't enjoy coming home to a lover and family they're sharing with a rival spouse.
To court attention itself has somewhat changed. Males tended to be more reserved on this end, just proving themselves to be more stoic, strong, or accomplished would make them seem ideal to be with. Females varied in traditions, with their older periods among just tigiren often said to involve them merely taking 'fur-walks' where they only walked out in front of public crowds in their bare furcoats to show their full pattern and body. If a male was drawn to them, they would walk and talk a moment until they both reciprocated affections, or ended in rejection. However as they met more species and found this behavior raised some questions or broke laws of public decency, they gradually adopted more special attires for the occasion. An old trend by now was to wear long bare-back dresses, but they always clothed the front/stomach until they met and mated with their tigran, then their daily attires included more belly-open attires to suggest pride & room for a budding family. However numerous sects have either kept or moved away from these customs onto their own, like Tarmics keeping to such a tradition, while Constellians more often show bare and fuller bellies to attract under the impression it comes from wealth & frequent exotic hunts.
Average Technological Level
Advanced across the majority of the race. Their ancient empire was advanced, with fully adjusted and electronic power suit armor systems, space-age travel with fast warping ships and keen tracking, and weapons that even made use of elements like shape-shifting clay. However since then, they hit a period of destruction, civil war, and division that spans across multiple universes. Not all sects retain good technology. Some like the Surxins live in environmentally poor conditions, while still able to industrialize and supply good grades of tech. Sects like the Edmoans would dispatch from the empire, only to be bombed onto their colony and lose so much of their valuables until a point of being stranded and bottle-necked until their ultimate demise. Then those like the Constellians, managed to keep up with a combination of old relics, and cross-species trade that have allowed them to endure and preserve a sense of technological height that can vary a little by the individual's wealth, and include imperial or higher tier technological progress.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
One of the minerals exchanged since the time of their home planet was a contained red liquid turned into precious commerce known as Ro'ar, but often simplified to Roar or Tiger's Roar. Its most often seen in blue containers, which vary on size and worth. Containers of gold with deeper red liquid are considered more pure from their home origin, whereas the paler shades in blue vessels are potentially more watered-down or replicated.
Worth and vessels varies by Droplets held in coins, pencil-like rods, bars, "tiles", and and cubes. Gold and deeper crimson variants are higher value equals to them. This system is carried through most sects, with few exceptions like those in the Tarmic tea trades.
Historical Figures
Surxos: Potentially a mythical figure. Was a part of the ancient empire, commanding a small team and leading them across many hostile planets, ending up victorious across even insane and epic odds.
Kajita-Mahrra: Less known directly, but never-the-less one of the bigger entertainment and media faces of tigirens, and her company has widely spread across the omni-verse with topics that sometimes relate and discuss things with a tigiren bias, reaching other sects and educating foreign aliens alike.
Lifespan
80-120 (Depending on conditions)
Conservation Status
Fairly common across much of the charted omniverse
Average Height
1.4m-1.8m
Related Organizations
Related Technologies
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