Phoenix

Average HEIGHT: male:6'3"-6'7" / female:6'1"-6'5" {C Average Lifespan: male:620 years / female:634 years

Appearance

The Phoenix are tall, slender folk, with elongated beak-like noses and a crest of feathers sprouting at their forelocks; crest feathers can be very soft and fine, almost like hair, or very hard and spike like, almost like horns; most of the time their tails will be the same material as their crests. From their wrists sprout the leading edge of their featherchrome wings. Their bodies are covered with soft scales, like a snake's skin, and some feathers; in general they are golden colored in youth, becoming silver with age. Other common colors are bronze, brass, and a whitish-gold, pale yellow, all of them slightly metallic. Some Phoenix go silver prematurely.

Coloring

As above; their eyes are usually yellow-based colors, such as bright lime green or yellow or yellowish orange. Other colors are very rare. Their crests are often darker than their skin. Claws are the color of the crests, and their tongues are a burgundy-violet.

Religion

Phoenix religion has become so entangled with society and their way of thinking that it is more a lifestyle for the Phoenix than a religion anymore. The object of every Phoenix's life can be defined as a simple purpose, which translates as 'What Must Be Done'. It is their mission from God, whom they call 'the Eye in the Center of the Void', or simply 'the Eye'. The Eye sends them to this life (their only life) and give them this one life to discover What Must Be Done and do it; only this way can a Phoenix, on death, take his or her place with the Eye in 'The Where Beyond Chaos'. (these are all rough translations). Otherwise, he/she is met with the very painful Dissolution and is reduced to the 'spiritual sub-state', and his/her parts become part of something else that will be made to try to do what must be done. The only way to discover What Must Be Done is for a Phoenix to commune with the Eye. And the way to commune with the Eye is to have a soul totally empty of anything: commitment, thoughts, emotions, dreams. Thus, the Phoenix strive to have no ties; they seek nothingness, and in the moment when it comes to them, What Must Be Done will be revealed to them and they can spend the rest of their life doing it so that they will join the Eye in the Where Beyond Chaos. Thus, the Phoenix value those who have sloughed off all attachments and have become 'Still' inside, because they have spoken with the Eye. Many of the younger Phoenix, having come in contact with the Alliance and its varied pictures of God, are beginning to struggle with the Eye and their harsh religion; they wonder why the Eye makes them seek nothingness when the warmth of love and friendship are given to other races. For the most part, these Phoenix who wonder are very few. On discovering What Must Be Done, a Phoenix begins to pursue it, but they will never speak of what it is, to any other living soul. What Must Be Done is so private that it is an offense even to ask another what theirs is. Other Phoenix often tell one another, 'if you have time, please do this, as it will further What Must Be Done...' and the other will do it; furthering another Phoenix's What Must Be Done is part of every Phoenix's purpose. What Must Be Done can be anything as simple and straightforward as 'mate with so and so and have a child' to things as vague as 'become happy' or as seemingly impossible as 'change the world'.

Eye-Training

A step beyond mere worship of the Eye, Eye-trained Phoenix advance past meditative practices to martial arts disciplines in order to hone their sense of remove and their lack of attachment. This training is rigorous, and produces individuals known for their lethality and endurance.

Pairing/Relationships

The pairing of the Phoenix is mysterious, as emotion is seldom involved with it. Usually, a Phoenix will take several moments while in 'Stasis' (the state in which they speak with the Eye) asking whether they will have a mate, and who it shall be. They usually come out of their trance with a reasonably good idea. There is also something spoken of among the Phoenix, called the 'the Braid'; all couples should be 'braided', as this means the Eye meant them for one another. What exactly a braid entails is not known by most off-worlders; it is to the Phoenix the sudden, silent inner knowledge, 'echoed' to their 'Bright Sky' that this is their mate. Echoing is the process by which the Eye sends information to the Bright Sky, the place inside a Phoenix's soul created when they become Still, where they receive the information from the Eye. Strangely, though they do not show affection at all in public or even private most of the time, there is a palpable bond between Braided Phoenix, a silent understanding that is mysterious and awe-inspiring.

Special Customs/Rites

The First Rite of Stillness -- Most Phoenix begin to seek Stillness as children; most of it have attained a moment of Stillness by their adolescence. After a Phoenix has achieved that moment, there is usually a noticable change in them; they are calmer, quieter, more serene and more detached. After a Phoenix has found his or her first moment of Stillness, the First Rite of Stillness is celebrated. In it, the family members of the Phoenix in question give him/her the Shining Dress (described below), and say a few simple words, "Go into Stasis again, and while the Echo is within your newly-made Bright Sky, paint your Bright Echos on this Shining Dress, that all may know you have finally heard the Eye." After this, the young Phoenix does just this.

Traditional Dress

The traditional dress of the Phoenix is a tabard-style dress; one long cloth panel stretching to the digitigrade knees in the front; it is clipped at the shoulders. Behind the Phoenix, the panel splits at the tail into two tails and ends behind the knee. The 'Shining Dress' is the white tabard given to every Phoenix when they have experienced Stillness; they then go back into Stasis with it, and during Stasis paint on the Shining Dress. The marks or pictures they make are then known as their 'Bright Echos', and serve as an identifying marker. The Shining Dress is used for very formal or holy occasions.

Language

The language of the Phoenix is virtually unpronounceable by human mouths, a series of trills and clicks and long notes, and other bird-like sounds. The Phoenix, in fact, allowed the Alliance members to name them something appropriate in Universal, and offer translations for all their native words; most Phoenix cannot speak Universal very well, or if they do they do so with a very whistly accent.

Arts

The Phoenix have no real concept of 'art' or 'leisure' as we know it; their lives are devoted to what we would call duty, constantly pursuing either stillness or What Must Be Done. Unless they are furthering What Must Be Done, they feel nervous and antsy; there is nothing done on their world that does not need to be Done.

Naming

Phoenix are named at birth by their parents, usually a name given them in Stasis by the Eye. A simple ceremony is performed where one of the parents says, "the Eye has given us this child, and has in Its infinite wisdom also given us his name. I name him [name of child], as the Eye has told me, and so he begins his journey to find Stillness, What Must Be Done, and so eventually the Where Beyond Chaos." Phoenix often have an additional name tagged onto themselves for the benefit of their non-Phoenix friends, something they like, that sounds good to them, that they can pronounce. Most non-Phoenix, however, at least try to pronounce the version of the actual name. Most of them look like 'Chllliehsilichlith' or something similiar.

Cities

The cities of the Phoenix are built on slim poles thrust into the air at hundreds of varied heights, with each building having one to four stories and a ledge and pole extending around each floor like a balcony. The ability to fly makes Phoenix towns truly 3-dimensional. Once the Alliance came, the Phoenix had pads installed for the ease of their ground-bound friends.

Food

The Phoenix are herbivores, requiring no meat; the plantlife on their planet holds all the necessary vitamins and minerals they require for health. The flora on their planet is usually brightly colored.

Notable Characters

• Bryer