A people caught out of place, out of time, the Maraya are tiefling-like with distinct unique features that make them also appear rather fae-like. They belong to an ancient civilization called the Meraic Civilization, sometimes also called the Fourth Civilization, that existed long before the Elves united under Talea, and founded a vast sci-fi world-spanning civilization with a high emphasis on technology and having developed space-flight. Corruption in their highest government eventually led to the Fourth Void Invasion, which ended their civilization. Up to a million of their citizens fled into specialized Vaults however, that were meant to keep them safe in cryosleep for a few centuries while the Demons disappeared. Centuries turned to Millennia, and despite the promises from the Dragons to awaken them, the Meraic Vaults did not open until a full 25,000 years later, and with only so few of them opening, the Meraic were unable to re-assert their dominance over the world, with so many civilizations now existing that outcompete them, and even create technological parity with so little information that survived the fall of their civilization. After emerging and re-baptizing themselves as the Maraya, some continue to try and open yet lost Vaults or re-discover ancient blueprints, while others have given up on the dream of a new Meraic Realm, instead bravely venturing into the world to discover it anew.
Core Concept
The Maraya Race is split between four distinct sub-cultures, three of which are playable, and the fourth of which is not (though it still exists for point of reference). The Maraya Race can be a wonderful Race to play for new players, or the worst Race to play, depending on specific choices in Character Creation. Vaulter Maraya are Maraya who entered the vaults when their Empire fell. This requires a bit of extra reading, but basically ensures that you don't have to read any other information on the Wiki besides Abilities, because such a Character is new to the world. Every roleplay interaction is discovering new information, and familiarizing yourself with the lore by playing it, instead of reading about it. Inversely, picking other subcultures of Maraya may require extensive reading, and frustrate new players who want to quickly jump into Roleplay.
History
This section covers a brief abridged version of Maraya and extended Meraic history. For a full understanding of Meraic History, read said page. It is however possible to roleplay a Maraya correctly without ever having read this page, for more information, see the Sub-Cultures section. The Maraya descend from the Meraic Empire that existed roughly 35,000 years prior to the modern era, and collapsed after a corrupt political elite dabbled in Magic, and attempted to create a magical power singularity that caused the Fourth Void Invasion. The Dragons assisted the Meraic, but were unable to stop the collapse of their civilization, instead promising to shelter survivors in Vaults that they would build with the Meraic. About a million Meraic survived in these Vaults, but the Dragons never re-opened them, with the first Vault in Hadar failing because of a technical fault and self-opening around the year 200 BC. This is where the first Vaulters emerged to a radically changed world, having to quickly adapt, and secure a foothold in a hostile area that was at that point inhabited by arriving Allar migrants, Slizzar, and some Elves. The Maraya used enough of their technology to produce a seclusionist state called Tohsmaaq Venheer, keeping foreigners out with some of the ancient tech that was taken with them in the Vaults, but lacking the manpower or the means to really amount a war of expansion on their surroundings, thus being trapped. Over the centuries, the Maraya could only watch as other Empires went to war with each other, content to keep to themselves, and research the past. Every year, a new Vault would be found, adding a few thousand more Maraya to their numbers, but at this point many of them had already abandoned the idea of remaking the Meraic state, and ventured off into the wider world, familiarizing other Races with who the Maraya were. In the modern day, the Maraya can be found far and wide, with notable communities existing in Regalia, Ashaven, Amontaar, and even Hadar, where they have found ways to make them useful. Some of them still pine after a return of their old Empire, while others have grown content to just try and save as many Maraya from vaults as possible, and see what to do from there.
Maraya Sub-Cultures
Vaulter Maraya
Vaulter Maraya are the easiest to play Maraya, only the reading of this page, and the Meraic History Page may be required to start a Character. Vaulter Maraya are those Maraya that survived the Void Invasion by slumbering in their cryovaults, only to awaken to an alien world, thousands of years later. Vaulter Characters can be of any age within the maximum aging for Maraya, as suspended in cryosleep, they did not age. They can also have been unvaulted several decades ago, or just this year, as Vaults continue to be discovered by other Maraya nearly every year. It is permissable to play a Maraya with memory less, though reading Meraic History is recommended for someone wanting to play a Maraya who can remember their ancient Empire. While technically the vaults refused entry to Mages, the chaos during the collapse of Meraic civilization makes the idea of a Mage sneaking in, or bribing their way in, as not very farfetched. Vaulters showing up in Regalia often do so to re-orient themselves and understand this new world by experiencing it, and where better than Regalia.
Roamer Maraya
Roamer Maraya are those Maraya who saw the writing on the wall, and either became disillusioned about the idea of trying to restore the old, or just wanted to experience the new before making up their mind. While they still hold onto the Tohn Sona to some degree, they largely set out into the wider world, having abandoned Maraya society for some reason or another, to discover the alien-ness of this world, and perhaps experience a little glee at how technologically backwards it is, in comparison to the far distant past of their lost superstate. Roamer Maraya can often be found selling their services as technicians, mercenaries, poets, artists or just general service people, traveling far and wide, until perhaps eventually settling in Regalia, a city where anything can be experienced, and where world events seem to come to Regalia's doorstep, instead of constantly chasing after them. It is equally possible for Roamers to have decided that Regalia is worth more of their time to support, and thus to stop working with the remnant states (or the Allorn Empire), and join Regalia.
Tohn Maraya
The Tohn Maraya hold fiercely onto the promise of the old Tohn Sona, scriptures that were stored with them in the Vaults, and continue to prescribe a standard to live by for them. Tohn Maraya sit somewhere in between the Roamer and the Vaulter. They are either ex-Vaulters, or descendants from the first Vaulters who appeared in Hadar several centuries ago, who all decided to try and revive as much of their old civilization as possible. It is mainly the Tohn Maraya who continue to hunt for as of yet unopened Vaults, aiding more of their kin in awakening from their slumber, and setting out to create a state for the Maraya in a world that is already very populated by many other Races, thus inevitably coming in conflict with the Allar, Maraya, and Elves in Hadar. The Tohn Maraya mostly inhabit the decrepit ruins of their civilization, cobbled together with modern technology to prevent it from utterly collapsing in decay, but a lasting memory to their brilliance. Some travel to Regalia, the center of learning, in the hopes of discovering more Vaults and Tech.
Homeswarm Maraya
The Homeswarm Maraya, are an engimatic and not playable sub-culture of Maraya, who drift across the world's skies on a large fleet of space-ships called the Homeswarm. Attempts from any Maraya, whether Drifter, Roamer, or Tohn, to contact the Homeswarm have largely failed, with only enigmatic contact between them and the surface dwellers. Many theories exist to identify the Homeswarm. Some claim they are the remnants of the Tohn Sona Unity, who built their own secret Vault which harbored a lot more technology, allowing them to resurface with much more power, while others speculate they are the descendants of those who traveled into space, or even those who were stuck in space when their civilization collapsed. The Homeswarm has occasionally been seen during historical events, only watching and seemingly analyzing the situation before leaving, preventing as of yet any airborne entity or being from reaching them with powerful cannons. Some Tohn and Roamer Maraya are obsessed with trying to learn more about the Homeswarm.
Physical & Mental Characteristics
The Maraya can best be described as tieflings-like humanoids, with distinct butterfly-like ears and cranial formations or horns. They have vibrant hair and skin colors (seen in color palettes to the sides) that often cause them to be mistaken for other Races, or even some Afflictions (for example, red Maraya may be mistaken for the now extinct Manathar, magically corrupted Elves). They look physically very similar to other Races of Aloria, though tend to be on the tall side. Maraya can be big and bulky or stocky, though most of them are slender and appear with more elongated limb proportions than other Races, giving them a very delicate and graceful appearance, if somewhat unsettling. Their Race engaged in genetic engineering, meaning some of them may have additional horns, tails, or different body proportions, or even skin patterns, though their ears are always recognizably the same, even if their size may vary. Mentally speaking, the Maraya are often described as callous, or melancholic. Even for those Roamers who have abandoned the idea of reviving a Meraic state, the very knowledge of the things they lost, can cause frustration to quickly boil, because of little issues like crystalline resonant self-washing clothing not yet having been invented in this era. This does not mean Maraya are angry or bitter all the time, there is plenty of laughter and celebration of life, but it can cause Maraya to come across with a sense of self superiority based on historical providence. With some very basic Meraic gene-therapy, it is possible for Maraya to have children with other Races, resulting in Half-Maraya, who have some of the other parent's visual features, but must at the very least have Maraya ears and some horns.
Heritage Traits
Lore Compliant Maraya Hair or Skin colors. Their hair is consistently one of these, and skintone another. Being Dimensionswapped allows them to change either to a tone more appropriate for their Dimension.Maya cranial features can either form horns, but also forehead plates that either bend back, stick sideways, or point upwards. There can even be multiple.Maraya can grow facial hair, though they often shave it off. Roamer Maraya will still frequently sport facial hair however, as it both helps them fit it, and they may not have access to shaving equipment.Traditionally Kul-Merai fought with technological gloves powered by Crystaltech for extra punching power.Maraya horns can be short or long, curved or sharp, and even multiple horns that can exist, though they always follow the skin color in tone.
When designing a Character, Proficiency Points allow for a limited Ability selection with Point Buy Packs. Heritage Traits adds free Packs and Mechanics on top of that to help with cultural themes. Free Packs grant Abilities usually, while Mechanics change the way a character functions in Roleplay through subtle, and usually out of Combat ways. In essence, Mechanics just add aesthetic flair that invest in the niche of each culture. Free Packs never raise Proficiency Points, but the character must be able to purchase them normally. (ex. if a character is a certain Affinity that locks them out of a category, they cannot take that specific free pack and must choose the alternative option.) If a Free Pack grants Magic of some type, that Magic can be of any Alignment the character can normally choose, or limited to a select alignment, which will always be written in the Free Pack description.
Mixed Heritage characters (i.e. characters born from two parents of different Cultures) may take one parent's 'Free Packs' and mix and match up to 5 Mechanics from both parents, although some Peoples cannot produce Mixed Heritage children (due to Magical/Fantasy reasons).
Maraya can choose one Pack from either the Tech, or Roguery Categories.
Mechanics
Maraya have small Ichor glands on their hands, which are capable of producing Chrysalis that they can shape into Crystals of any shape or size.
Maraya can also make music with these Chrysalis Crystals, as they can resonate based on tunes, and produce music autonomously.
Maraya come from an Ancient world. They can read certain Event hints that may not be obvious to other Races (inquire with DM/Event Hoster for opportunities).
Maraya can (out of combat) remotely hijack Tech (including Automata) to follow their commands and instructions instead, due to their historical superiority.
Maraya can (if they can reach melee distance safely) hack into Dragon Sites/Entities and alter their routines to unlock additional functions (consult Event Dm's).
Society
Language
The Maraya all speak the Language of Shalota, a tongue even older than Altalar given its roots among the Meraic. It is a melodic language which makes frequent use of double m’s, s’ and l’s with plenty of vowels, with the most common hard consonant being “q”. Whether Shalota was the exact tongue that the ancient Meraic spoke however, is up for debate. Due to the nature of Maraya reawakening, the ancient Meraic language and modern Shalota does share continuity in its alphabet, a series of 26 glyphs refined by modern Maraya but essentially the same as those found in Meraic ruins and old Vaults. There is also one more quirk of Shalota, and that is in the use of the word “Tohn.” Tohn was the first name of the Maraya unifier who wrote the most important scripture of the Tohn Sona. Tohn just means "greatness" nowadays, but it is often used a prefix to things from states, book titles, machine names, anything that Maraya make essentially. Maraya names are inherently genderless, though they commonly use nicknames for each other that try to shorten the name as much as possible.
The Maraya do not formally have a religion (though some, Drifters notably, may have adopted one over time). Rather, the Maraya have a near-holy scripture called the Tohn Sona, which is a book with ground rules for how society should function. This book is theoretically long, covering topics from healthy diets to correct forms of governance, however in all practicality, most roleplayers will never interact with the deep sociopolitical nuances of the Tohn Sona, and only need a basic structure for how to live their lives on a daily basis in Regalia. As such, this section will cover the most important tenets of the Tohn Sona that can be applied in day to day Roleplay on the server. Note, these are also not extreme rules, one does not get expelled from Maraya community for breaking them, but they invite a point of contention and debate, as well as accountability for those that break them. Even those Maraya who are religious, or largely abandoned the Tohn Sona, still recognize its historical importance, and that it is just a generally well-rounded ethical list of rules to follow. Even Mage Maraya try to follow the majority of the rules, even if one explicitly implies they live a life of evil.
The serene state of world, is to be led by the Meraic kin, devoid of monarchies, devoid of religions, and ruled by technocrats, for scientists and scholars always know best.
The serene state of mind, is one with ambition and goals, the wandering and drifting mind is one of idle error and miscalculation, a danger for others waiting to happen.
The serene state of body, is one where aesthetic sensibilities do not undermine functional uses. Self idolatry is a getaway and gateway drug to a failing mind and fortune.
Magic is not evil by nature of existence, but evil by nature of changes to nature. To underestimate or downplay the power of this force, is equally as ruinous as to drink from it.
Information is a common good that cannot be withheld, privatized, owned, or otherwise gatekept, Information can only be collectivized, from which it is utilized.
The great source of corruption, is religion, to outsource the free state of independent thought and reason to an incomprehensible and contempt filled capricious entity.
The minor source of corruption, is a failing ethic, to inflict willing physical or emotional harm on others without the explicit betterment of society at large.
The least source of corruption, is spite and envy, for emotions are cascading failures of personal integrity, and every building begins with a first brick laid in error.
Families
Maraya families are not out of the ordinary in comparison to other Races, though the context of their Meraic history is important. During Meraic times, their society moved past the need for intercourse to reproduce. Many Maraya children are so called "pod-children", who were born from an external artificial womb to avoid the process of child-carrying, and after that usually raised by robotic nannies to avoid the difficulty of child raising. Some families disregard the use of technology, believing that their children need to be well adjusted to other Races in the world, lessons only they can teach, but many Maraya also appear to lack basic experiences other Race infants might have had while growing up. In old Meraic societies, relations were strictly regulated by the Tohn Sona Unity, with people who were considered to be born with genetic flaws denied a partner, while those with good genes were put in pre-arranged matchings. The adaptation of this kind of lifestyle to a free-choice environment in for example Regalia, may be quite an adaptation for the Maraya, especially if coming fresh from a Vault and still suffering from the nascent tyranny of the Unity even though it had already collapsed several decades before the end.
World View
Even while divided, on different sides, following different ideologies, or directly fighting each other for different alliances in Regalia, there is an unspoken rule between Maraya that there shall be no fighting in drinking taverns or pubs. This is because Maraya are already so few in the world, and there must always remain a neutral ground from which to discuss differences in peace.
A curious point about the Maraya, is that their old fashion was completely abandoned in favor of Elven clothing. They found that Elven clothing most resembled their old fashion styles, but also discovered that to their regret, the specific fiber used to produce their clothing went long extinct after the Vaults closed, and no seeds were saved, so they literally could not reproduce their old clothing style with old materials.
Because Maraya were a near sci-fi civilization, their art rendering is extremely abstract, downright alien when viewed by other Races. While they can certainly appreciate the realist and environment pieces produced by Regalian artists, they do look very "3000 years ago" to them, with more brutalist and artistic pieces open to interpretation being the norm.
Music produced by the Maraya often uses Crystal resonance, Crystals humming at varying tones to produce an orchestrally complex melody, reminiscent of metal chimes. Meraic music sounds alien to other Races, from what few compositions survived in the vaults clutched by artists, but the Maraya have also quickly adapted to the new music styles of the modern age.
Traditional Maraya often have greetings and farewells related to paths, energies, and currents such as “May your path be straight,” “Your energy mingles with mine,” and “Until we meet again, let the currents guide you well.” Where this comes from is uncertain, though it is presumed to have dated from an understanding of the Leylines when the Meraic were Dragon Worshipers.
Allowing outsiders to witness and experience Maraya songs, especially their music welcoming a baby into the community and when an individual has died, is seen as a great sign of trust and respect. Anyone permitted to do so, is seen as included in a piece of history that spans back tens of thousands of years, which they likely have no understanding of.
Maraya absolutely hate carbonated drinks. When offered a carbonated drink, a Maraya would prefer to leave it standing on the table or counter to lose its carbonated property and become room-temperature before drinking it. They insist that it is "too spicy", and refuse to entertain the idea that carbonated liquids are not called "spicy", but instead "sharp".
While the Tohn Sona forbids the hoarding of information, Maraya still tend to be a little bit private with information about the Meraic Empire. After all, they are aware that oversharing may result in others being interested in opening Meraic Vaults. The wrong person might open such a Vault, and force convert all of the sleepers inside to Void Alignment.
Uncorrupted Maraya (in their views, not aligned with Ordial, Exist, or Void), often seek to convince a Maraya to become cleansed, but there is a general understanding they should not apply violence or undue emotional pressure to force someone to change. There are so few Maraya left in the world, that fully expelling one from social contact, is seen as a grave error.
While there are some Maraya who have re-embraced Dragon Worship, calling Dragons their saviors, the fact that Dragons did not awaken them as they had promised, and let other smaller Races (never refer to them as lesser, that is not very Tohn Sona) rule the world in their stead. Why the Dragons did this, is unclear, and many Maraya harbor resentment to their once allies for being so indifferent to them.
A common curse that Maraya may use is Tohshaar, meaning "be damned in the name of that which is great". It is a very milk-toast curse for the Maraya, that does not quite compare to the alien expletives used by other Races. This is often why Maraya can become quite flustered when someone uses a lot of foul language in their presence, because their language does not really accomodate for it.
Many Maraya who found the idea of an autocratic government deciding things for them, may find Regalia very comfortable, albeit frustrating because it is ruled by a monarchy and nobility who haven't done much to prove their station in life. This often results in complicated feelings, both liking the Regalian government for the structure it provides, but disliking it for the manners in which it does this.
Some Maraya use the term "Haat-Maraya" to refer to Maraya who are Dimensionally aligned to Void, Exist, Ordial, or Dragon Magic, though this is technically a slur, and only those who take issue with said particular Maraya would stoop so low as to use a slur against their fellow kind. Maraya also refuse other Races the right to use this word, as it is a very personal one in Shalota, their language.
Trivia
There is a saying among scholars that goes "Color Theory is not real", when attempting to explain why so many Void people dress red, Exist people dress blue or white, and all Ordial people only have green clothes in their wardrobe. Maraya on the other hand, prove this wrong, as they can have their skin tone and hair color change to Color Theory appropriate tones.
Space-flight is an ever enduring dream for the Maraya, unfortunately nearly all blueprints and designs for space faring vehicles were destroyed when the Samsaal Black-Site had its database deleted by Councilor Ossello. Ossello went mad when he realized he and his fellow Tohn Sona Unity council members would be blamed for the end of civilization, and decided to erase his name from all databases, which included the space-flight build plans.
There is a modicum of grief among the Maraya, that the Homeswarm does not open its arms to them on the ground, and raise them up. Even those who have abandoned the old ways, consider there is much to be learned from these hyper technologically advanced Maraya. But somewhere, a conclusion must be made, that in hiding themselves, they are breaking the Tohn Sona, implying they may not be following it.
