Difference between revisions of "Roanians"

Revision as of 08:31, 29 May 2006

Roanians (Homo Sapiens Lux; alternatively Lucis Angelus) are the major inhabitants of the Divine Imperium. Taller and thinner than normal humans, they are marked by their longevity and their strangely glowing eyes.

Half-elves

In a very technical sense, Roanians are all half-elves. In the words of Elentari Sirithril of Menelmacar, they are considered 'human...ish', a comparison the Roanians themselves would find disgusting.

Physical characteristics

Roanian skin comes in a variety of colours, though it tends towards the lighter end of the spectrum. Most common eye colours (and thus, the most common glowing colour) are blue and grey, though red, brown, violet and green are not unknown. Roanians are taller than humans and on average are also slightly frailer, though the strongest Roanian would be stronger than average for a human, as well.

Owing to the admixture of elven blood, many diseases fail to affect Roanians and they are just as likely to send themselves to sleep out of boredom and a desire to move on as they are to die from old age. Incidentally, Roanian lifespan is increasing dramatically, with children born now expected to reach well into their third or even their fourth century.

Some Roanians start to glow slightly beneath their skin. This isn't a radiating light but instead a soft warm 'flame' that makes them appear vital and healthy. Lady-Empress Alysanndra Ellestrea has this condition, and it does seem to be increasing in the general population.

Wings

Very, very rarely (less than one birth in every 10 million) a Roanian is born with perfectly proportional 'feathery' wings. While in the past such items were removed through surgery, today they are increasingly accepted to the extent that even the wings of Prince Caurentin raise little comment. The wings appear to be functional, allowing for very brief flights before exhaustion sits in (with practice and good physical condition the time aloft can be increased).

Famous Winged Roanians

• Prince Caurentin Drakharn
• Matriarch Yvette II
• Lady Celeste d'Arquis

Roanian Eyes

Roanian eyes glow according to their emotion or mood at the time. Thought to be caused by the long-term effects of unused magic entering into the race's genetics, the glow is the colour of the Roanian's iris. The glow rarely appears on Divine Imperial film footage or cameras, as the equipment is specifically designed to disregard that owing to the powerful red-eye effect of Roanian eyes.

Attitude towards other species

The Roanians are a highly unified society with a single overwhelming ideology, codified in the Imperial Church of the Light's holy books. Almost the entirety of the race is to be found within the Divine Imperium's citizenry, with the number estimated to have gone 'rogue' to be less than a thousand, though several more have no doubt been driven into exile.

This unification leads the Roanians to feel little but contempt for species not so unified, especially humanity; but to a lesser extent the elven races as well. While in the past this contempt led to several attempts at wholesale slaughter of the 'lesser' races, and a long-running, though minimal, slavetrade, in more recent years the Roanians have opened up and are indeed welcoming some of the races that share their empire to share in government, while the attitude to humans has shifted so far that the Divine Imperium has joined The Concordat and even the Martian Defence Initiative.

While it is doubtful the Roanians will (or even can) ever truly understand or appreciate the beauty of diversity, their increasing interest in external affairs of the type beyond gunboat diplomacy shows that they are willing to try.

Elves

Roanians don't like elves. That's what everyone who knows anything about Roanians think. And like a lot of things everyone knows, it's utterly wrong. Roanians, on the whole, feel little interest in elves as elves. Their sole complaint with the elven species in the past was their magical strength and their refusal to be 'converted', which led to many deaths in the past.

Now, inter-species relationships have tightened and become friendly, though there remains mutual distrust.

Humans

The Roanian attitude to 'standard' humans has softened over the centuries. Where once preachers argued the vileness of the chaotic human with each other, now the general attitude is more one of resignation. To whit: "Humans are here to stay," they seem to say to themselves, "live with it. You can't kill all of them, and just smashing some of them never works out in the long run."

However, the Roanians remain rather picky in the type of human they'd willingly associate with, preferring nations such as Midlonia, Der Angst and ZMI.

Magic

It is important to understand that the Roanians are an inherently magical race. Not in the way that their cousins the elves are, but more in the manner that the traditional dragon of ancient earth mythology is. And yet, they are also inherently anti-magical, as well. Magic in all its forms makes them uncomfortable, and while evidence from the few Roanians who follow what is called the 'Darker Path' suggests that they make phenomenal sorcerers nevertheless this magic remains unused, untouched, and indeed quite often consciously willed away.

The reasons for this are buried deep in Roanian history, but it is this attitude that has caused much that is unusual about the Roanian people, including the glowing eyes. According to some scientists, the magical buildup and the inherent magic of the race means that the Roanians might require a totally new genus to describe them, as the magic continues to evolve them.

The Roanians themselves see nothing wrong with the magic flowing within them. Their sole concern is the manifestation of magic through spells, and it is this that the Church and indeed Roanian society itself is built around to discourage. It is the goal, stated openly, of the Church of the Light to bring this creed to the galaxy at large and though success has been slow, nevertheless the distaste demonstrated by many societies such as Tiburon for magic is claimed as a victory for the church, despite tje lack of any evidence that the church's tiny missionary service was responsible.