Niris

The Niris were a cultural group of urahl - now-extinct aliens whose ruins dot several planets in the sector. It's confirmed the ruins on Talmar and Nisora previously belonged to Niris, while those on Livonia did not.
These groups were locked in a never-ending war with each other. All attempts at diplomacy or truce had ended. It's the result of this war that we see today, in their machines of war that yet linger beneath our feet.
Yet there was far more to the Niris than war. They were a people devoted to family, who lived, loved, and created separate from the destruction caused by the centuries-old war.

Clothing

Form

Since the Niris were effectively blind, color and style had little meaning. More important was texture. Some would pay the extra cost to have patterns woven into their clothes with material or technique, noticeable only through touch. Particularly haughty members of high classes would have their class rank woven into their clothes.

Accessorizing
Jewelry was worn to make a statement. Trinkets that made noise were popular, as was using electric wire to appear differently to urahl electroreception.

Function

Covered Up
Prudish Niris wore tight undergarments from their neck down to their wrists to ward off unwanted interactions.

With fashion less of a focus, most clothing was practical in design, largely for temperature regulation or cleanliness. The styles were loose-fitting, comfortable, and of soft or silky fabrics to be less aggressive to their senses. Most articles were a single piece to make them easier to find and adorn by touch alone.

Relationships

Family

Family was core to the Niris lifestyle. Siblings in particular were so vital, that it was considered adjacent to abuse to not give your child at least one sibling, whether through birth or adoption. Many siblings are close in age because of this, adding to their closeness as they go through school together.

Romance

Though the Niris were monogamists, it wasn't unusual to engage in polyamory prior to marriage. Their high emotional control and ability to convey emotions more directly gave them more success in complex relationships that relied upon communication. Though Niris could choose their life partner for marriage, it was subject to approval, and inter-class pairings were never sanctioned.

Can I love you?
For Niris, being in love was an active decision. If they wanted to elevate their relationship to that level, they would ask their partner for permission to be in love with them. Though some didn't do this, it was generally a sign of an inconsiderate person and unhealthy relationship.

Language

Electrosensory Communication

Like all urahl, the Niris had the ability to impart an electric-like pulse through their hands. Their early mythos considered this pulse to be an extension of their soul, and the process akin to sharing a breath with the world. The literal translation of their name for this is "breath of the soul". Science eventually gave a more suiting name, but the original name stuck, even as its literal meaning was mocked by the decreasingly-spiritual culture.

Writing

Niris had two main forms of writing: one based on touch, the other based on electroreception.

Their oldest writing was engraved or embossed into surfaces. Its relevance dropped significantly once computers became commonplace, though was still used in the absense of more preferred means, or to vandalize public surfaces.

The other was a dynamic form based on movement. Lettering changed while reading or based on the reader's proximity in order to express its ideas. If in a static form, additional lines would denote intended movement.

As urahl had entirely different vocal mechanisms to humans, no current form of human speach or writing can convey the sounds required for their words.

Aspects of this article assume an understanding of how the species works. If you haven't already, check out the below to learn more.

Information

Languages spoken

• Urahlian Electrosensory Communication

Related Locations

• Nisora
• Talmar

Naming

Niris names had four parts:

1. Their given name,
2. Their family name, which was an amalgamation of both parents' family names,
3. Their class,
4. Then their cultural group, which would be Niris in this case.

Their focus on their group was so strong, they kept Niris in their name even after several all ties with other urahl cultures.

Class system

The Niris had a heavily class-based society. The class you inherited from your parents would determine which job positions you were eligible for, what your pay scale would be, social standing, and evacuation priority in emergencies. While low classes had the fewest options, high classes had the most expectations of them.

Art

Without vision or sense of color, most art was meant to be experienced or interacted with. It included sound, various textures, or electrical currents, often shifting with time.

Careers

Professions were assigned upon completion of schooling, and could be reassigned at any time. Affinity and enthusiasm for a particular path was always considered in these transitions, but community needs took precedence.

Related

Technology

Travel Gates

Urahl traveled between star systems using a gate network that bent spacetime around them to send vessels between planets as easily as walking through a door. The exact workings of this system are unknown, and no such gate nor remains of has yet been uncovered. However, sources indicate psionics were unknown to the urahl, so it's unlikely these gates used teleportation or metadimensional space.

Mental Manipulation

Most Niris computer systems could be controlled through the mind, in a process not dissimilar from telepathy. In placing your hand on the designated panel, the computer could react to your brain waves. This would speed up traversal through menus, composition of text, and decision making as the system responded to thought patterns.

Self-Repair

Vital technology was made self-repairing with a unique microtechnology that's still under research to replicate. The process even for urahl was expensive and time-consuming, thus used sparingly. Command and weapon systems primarily got this treatment, demonstrating the priorities of those making such decisions.

War

For Niris, war was a fact of life. They'd been at war with other urahl long enough that the original cause was a source of historical debate. They were trained how to respond to air raid sirens since childhood, and none reached adulthood without losing at least one home and too many friends to bombing. The most obvious remnant of this is in surviving weapons, like Talmar's planetary defense cannon.

Being selected to fight in or otherwise aid the war was a prestigious position, and one of very few ways to increase your family's class standing. Speaking or acting against the war, the military, or military members was rarely done. Doing so would lead to being socially ostracized, disowned, dropped to a lower class, or even imprisoned.

In extreme cases, those who acted against the military were charged with treason and given capital punishment. In rare cases and most egregious crimes, they were sentenced to capital incarceration: having their name stripped from record and consciousness torn from their body and placed in a disk. They'd have free will and emotion programmatically stripped from them, and obedience forced in.