Art by, Festerday
Common Jobs: Governor, Celebrity, Professional Artist
Likes: Everyone getting along, Politeness, Being helpful, Deals
Dislikes: Wasted investments, People who refuse to be useful
Attack Method: Seeks a peaceful resolution. There are exceptions.
The Unis take a census every 50-100 years about what gods the population of their worlds worship, and then put all the data through a randomizer and release them to the public as the new official gods. Old iconography is recycled or put into a museum as "that old loser we used to worship."
Due to the commonality of plastic surgery for unidolencians, it's considered taboo to keep the default state of your body. "If you can afford it why wouldn't you" is just one of the many responses those who choose to go default have to live with, and this will often lead them to eventually giving in. For these reasons the following anatomical descriptions of unidolencians will describe defaulters until otherwise stated for the sake of ease and simplicity.
Unidolencian anatomy is most easily described as a humanoid with a psuedo-body as their tail. They walk in a fashion on the very tip of their pointed legs. The thorax's pair of legs have a fore and posterior digit, and the pair of arms have five digits. The abdomen region of the body has two pairs of legs, the bottom pair having two digits like the thorax's, and the upper has three digits. The upper legs of the abdomen are often confused for arms, and given that unidolencians are able to walk on just four or less limbs can add to this confusion when the excess limbs are used as graspers like arms. All limbs tend to be coated in a mix of cells that enhance ability to grip surfaces that would enable a talented individual to climb walls, and hairs that would help a hunting individual latch onto prey.
The head of this species is often describes as being a pill that thickens at the top, and is correct if you ignore every other part of their head. Other traits include the fact that they have curiously triangular eyes, an irregular box-like shaped nose, the fins extending from the side with thin skin stretched to them, goat-like ears, mandibles, and their halo-shaped horns.
On record unidolencians used to asexually reproduce by budding, but at some point in their Surplus age they invented hormone blockers due to a belief that budding was not aesthetically pleasing. Natural births are believed to occur around once or less per decade, and are viewed by members of the species with scorn while non-members in society view the child with a certain holy reverence as the child of a current god. They are quite proud that they have transcended nature itself via the advancement of technology, especially in this case.
The typical unidolencian places an extremely high value on being able to reach their full potential, and the fruits of that state of being. Due to the nature of their society, most all members of these species are fully realized people who are perfectly capable of creating a variety of content and media. They thrive in the spotlight, and are often considered those who will not only do everything it takes to be on a stage, but will go the extra mile to ensure they stay on it.
An individual unidolencian is extremely social, and will be able to remember most anyone it meets off the top of it's head even when given a very obscure or vague description of the person in question. 'That guy from the party' will be instantly correlated with a detailed description of what he was wearing, how he described himself, and every other detail that the individual remembers at that point in time. As such most can be described as someone who knows a guy who knows a guy, and would happily introduce you to friends, relatives, and anyone else they know. Some work as information brokers or matchmakers for this reason, but for the most part the affinity for networking is just a natural talent. In addition to this affinity for social interactions most would prefer to go somewhere highly populated or active, and is why you are more likely to see them on a dancefloor than at a wilderness retreat. For this reason they tend to stick to major cities, capitals, and hubs of commerce. A unidolencian without their entourage is a lonely one indeed.
One critique often made of this species is that they can very easily become self-obsessed. Some will even be very quick to cut anyone down to size for trying to take the spotlight away from them, and this may even cause them to violate the chain of command. Their society tends to instill a sense of reluctant acceptance that there are those above others in the hierarchy, and will often result in members raised in it being willing to gossip about their boss the second they leave the room.These harsh criticisms will often be made of other species, societies, individuals, and other such things even if the person making that criticism does the very things they criticize others for.
To call someone on their irrationality is considered one of the many faux pas, and may result in extreme verbal aggression or an emotional breakdown. Very rarely will a unidolencian take what you said to heart when you criticize them, and those who have managed this recommend it is done by very carefully phrasing your criticism, and telling them explicitly how to improve. They are better when taken from someone of equal social or hierarchical standing rather than from a subordinate or superior. This ties into their narcissism, as members of this species are taught from an early age that they are the one who defines who their peers are, and that nobody can tell them anything else. The narcissism may even extend to their creative endeavors as seen in the case of some musicians who write entire ballads about their own, often false deeds.
Another quirk of being raised in their society is that when push comes to shove most will have an extreme breakdown, and may experience an entire break from reality. The situation mostly occurs in kidnappings and hostage scenarios, and few recover without a rehab based intervention. Those who witnessed these events will often phrase the person as having blue-screened like a computer, and having become completely unresponsive. The extremity is often said to extend to the point that the individual is despondent and not even the most aggressive forms of torture will pry information out of them, and even rescue being at the gates will not give them hope.
Similar to this most members of their society are taught from an early age that the way to handle conflict is not to resort to committing violence, but to handling it in a number of ways that will allow them to not suffer any loss of reputation. These include but are not limited to blackmail, flattery, bribes, blaming others, misdirection that causes opponents to kill each other, tricking their opponent into causing their own death, threats, manipulating others to do the dirty work, and a number of other stunts.
They see no consequence to these actions, as they believe they can just as easily manipulate witnesses to only think better of them for these choices, and often will do exactly that. They believe it is of the highest importance not to act in a way that cannot be explained away, or erased from record with ease. For the same reason some individuals are likely to condition their subordinates in a manner like that of cult indoctrination, and will often choose to hire someone that can be convinced to be loyal for the rest of their lives, or forced to.
The Suffering
People starved, died from what today would be papercuts. They fought over tablescraps and killed for stale gods. What stopped that was innovation, not being satisfied for the dark of the caves and the blood spilled on sand. Kindness to the weak, shelter to the foreign.
The Survival
People kept themselves alive by the traditions and moorings they developed in that time. Society was founded even if it stagnated or eventually went stale. A lucky few were able to get their name marked in either infamy or exaltation, changing the world forever as they lived to their maximum. And yet, people still suffered in indignity and poverty, millions upon millions who's names would never be remembered or celebrated like others. All those voices snuffed out by the annals of time.
The Stage
People were finally able to live to their fullest. Truly and purely, individual after individual rose to greatness to where it was no longer just the rich, just the powerful that rose to their potential. Not everyone was able to, but the world was finally getting good. The only conflict in this age was that they feared what would happen when they met life from beyond their star. They knew from the radio and other waves that live beyond their little home existed, and they knew that the universe was a violent place. Communications of war, propaganda, vast bloodshed and plagues unlike anything they had ever imagined.... this struck fear into every nation, even the most harmonious and stable. A world war nearly happened, and horrified, the people of the world voted to abolish their ways of dogma, of nationalism, of so many things in the past. They wanted to be ready for the future, they wanted to greet the universe at large with open and friendly arms, and teach them the ways they had discovered and unite all peoples.
The Surplus
And finally, finally, the people were free at last. Free to create, to sing the songs of utopia, free to breath with ease as they enjoyed the fruits of their labors in full. Nobody would watch the results from their creations be gifted to their boss rather than to them. Everyone was an individual fully able to realize their dream, their vision of the future, fully able to become more than just what they were born as, but to be proud and resolute in the face of all adversity.
They had created a Utopia that no matter who met them, would weep from the beauty of the constant stream of content, of ideals, of true friendship. During this age they detected a ship entering their system that stopped in it's tracks dead. They had been so excited to show the new friends the marvels they had developed, and were saddened when they discovered the cause. The ship had been trying to escape a dying people's world, and carried with it a plague. This plague was one that the unidolencians were luckily immune to, and they were vastly inspired by the data banks. While they were not able to reverse engineer the ship, they were able to enhance their prosperity with what they learned from it's contents. The sociologists learned so much from the internet, and they made a proposal. They thought it would be best if their kind reworked their society from what was learned, and that they should erase all mentions of their former name, and to leave it blank until they could learn in person from aliens what name might best fit them.
The Sleepovers
The fruits of the labors from the recovered and doomed alien ship resulted in the creation of a website to advertise the tropical utopia to the world at large. It was small, obscure, but a group of people found it, and the two tourists convinced them to venture to thelittle planet unidolencians called home saying "hey why not." Upon arrival they found the hidden gem of the universe, and one of the tourists died quickly. The crew was shocked, and nearly was poisoned by the fumes, but they enjoyed their stay and eventually asked what could they call their new friends so that they could tell others of the sights they saw.
They asked for a favor, that they may take a day or even a week to figure out a new name for themselves. They wanted their entry to the universe to be symbolic, and they wanted everyone to know what they had to offer. With close talks with the other tourist on that fated ship, they took the name unidolencia to be that of their people. The crew was invited to see the wonders of the planet, and from this the second tourist died. The crew was sad to lose yet another of their friends, but glad that the death was one of joy.
The visit resulted in a number more visits from other groups of aliens. The profits were saved each time, and soon the unidolencians invested those profits into better advertising, which brought flocks of ships. Soon, they had daily landings in every city, and it quickly established their place in the universe. Some loved Ubertopia so much they refused to leave, and the first immigrations began. "Tired from your life? Come to Ubertopia and see the sites, or stay forever, we'd love to make you part of our family." It had become their newest saying online to others.
The Splendor
With all the attention and business and new citizens the unidolencians were getting the utopianists had learned of the cruelties of the universe, and knew that their way would not be to conquer the world around them. They invested the surplus they gained from visitors into being more defensible, more luxurious, and the image of the world in the minds of others was constantly reinvented. In this age their society changed to a model of cloning as the norm for society's children to be made, and for personal body modifcation to be the way that many expressed themselves. Immigration policies changed to allow anyone and everyone to join their people, even if they had to earn the privilege of truly being a unidolencian.
At this point in time they chose to rather than risk climate change, that they would relocate the flora and fauna into the safe hands of nature preserves and planets that needed them for terraformation efforts. Samples of other biomes from other beloved worlds were acquired, and entire sections of the planet were retrofitted, urbanized, and changed for the better. The changes to their model of utopia only drove in more people, which resulted in every planet in the system becoming exploited, colonized, and annexed. A chain reaction happened where the leaders of Ubertopia saw fit to expand to other systems, starting with the ruined worlds of the Qhiorpoi and Xolos, the fabled planets of Poiloft and Jareph. Both planets gained a resort station, and would send down at first just scientists to study the planets and analyze what could be done to make them places for travelers to see and explore. With the success that followed both planets became vacation destinations for the whole family. The plague was cured, and everyone could enjoy the aesthetics of two ruined worlds. This created the model of transforming the ruins of dead societies and tomb worlds into either paradises, or at the very least a memorable vacation spot. As such the their society continues to prosper today with renewed splendor as they seek to revitalize anything that was once marred.
Originally seen as a planet of a hundred valleys, beaches, and tropics, they terraformed their planet early in their space age to be a planet to accomodate the ideal vacation spots that their expected patrons would enjoy. Not a single native biome remains, all of the native life having been domesticated for sport, display, exotic pets, or having been sold to hobbyists, reserves, and zoos. Most areas are either urban city centers, suburbs, or nature preserves.
The latter being by design for people to experience a safari or retreat into the wilderness. Every zone is bordered by climate and biosphere enhancing technology, and even the cities and towns of the planet barely resemble those that originally dotted it's landscapes. Most cities are considered to be closer to arcologies and resorts than what most would see as a city, and are a living testament of the unidolencian vision of "reinvesting the splendor that comes from being so blessed."
Defaulters: Those who like the aesthetics of the default body. They are often held with derision by unidolencian society due to the view that 'if you are able to change yourself, why wouldn't you'. Those who are bland, stale, and refuse to be something worth looking at for others are considered to be the lowliest of sorts among their species.
Members of this subspecies tend to be better at certain things namely pursuits of strength and speed. A number have chosen to specialize in combat based careers. Operating stealthily and as ambush attackers; striking with deadly accuracy and finality, and then moving onto the next paying job. Such individuals also trend to not care about how other members of their species feel about the default body. While some may take body modifications to allow them to do their job with slightly better specialization those who reach that state of being often feel a reverence to the default body of their own and treat keeping their body unmodded as possible as an act of devotion and piety.
While being a defaulter may come with the advantages of stealth and walking on walls it comes at both the cost of social standing, and the fact that they will only live to the maximum lifespan of three-hundred and thirty years. While this may seem an arbitrary number it is considered to be the maximum age that is possible for their species to live without bioligcal augmentation.
Over-Augmented: Those who get plastic surgery about every couple weeks. They show little restraint for changing themselves, and will often do so from anything to a new fad, a new meme, seeing someone else being 'liked more' for their body, or even being asked.
Unidolencians are quite partial to the idea of changing themselves whenever they feel there is rhyme or reason, such as an ambassador augmenting themselves to look aesthetically pleasing to a species that has just experienced first contact, or a musician rebranding themselves. These augments can range anywhere from just a different skin color, new arrangement of eye sockets, new limbs, limb swaps, a second ,albeit fake, head, or any number of changes that they have the time and money for. Recovery is kept to a minimum, and the average individual may only make substantial changes once a year or up to a decade. Some individuals find themselves never having measures taken after they reach a form they enjoy, and others may change themselves on a specific schedule.
The majority of individuals will choose to do minimally invasive operations, and may choose a prosthetic over replacing a limb or adding one just the same as someone would choose to wear a wig rather than get hair implants. Over-augmented ones are typically seen as indecisive and a stain on the good reputation of the species, and those who go to the extent of being addicted to surgery will eventually be sent to rehab.
Uplifted: Those who used to be another species, but earned 'full citizenship'. What this means is that a non-unidolencian has managed to become influential, famous, or made a major contribution to society. Once a consensus has been reached, among the other criteria, they are informed that they will be awarded full citizenship, and the paperwork begins. Other groups that are awarded full citizenship are those who have performed a life's service of work of exemplary standard, being someone that everyone could learn from, and such and such; those who have reached fortuna are given an instant guarantee of full citizenship; those who have become influential or celebrities in the universe and are household names; and lastly those who are able to provide something of major value in exchange as a bribe. Rumors hold that those who have vacationed on unidolencian owned locales a high amount of times will be offered full citizenship regardless of their standing.
The process is considered to be the final step of attaining full citizenship, and the most risky to undertake. The steps involved begin with a full scan of the patient's memories and mental state, and after which their former body is given a paralytic agent, and then euthanized in a manner that will allow the body to be recycled should they not have any clockwork strain in them. The memories are then transplanted in a default clone body, and they are woken up. Rate of failure is considered minimal, but if it does fail an individual is pronounced dead. While some would say that it was just a fluke, and that the parameters should be reset most would argue that the individual never truly reached their full potential and trying any further would sully the nature of being exalted to unidolencian status.
While some may keep ties to those they knew before their 'big break' other uplifted members of the unidolencian species will decide to cut all possible ties. Some state that their reason is to prevent relatives from trying to blackmail them, and others do it just because they believe they worked for their success and hold an I got mine mentality, and leaving those they knew before to try and fill the void left by suddenly losing a best friend. For this reason a number of marriages that happen between non-unidolencians in unidolencian society will involve a pre-nup with a clause that allows them to instantly get an anulment once they are granted full-citizenship.
Augmented: One of the fields through which this species excels is their specialized systems of plastic surgery that allow them to not only make aging obsolete, but to heavily change their bodies without serious risks of complications. Even the oldest aged unidolencians experience minimal risk when retrofitting their body. What knowledge about the processes is public suggest that they use an ecclectic mix of mass-farmed donor tissues, organ replacements, bio-engineering, and modern medicine to make the changes to anatomy that most will tell you is "of the utmost importance to stay in vogue." To the unidolencian no surgery is considered elective or un-necessary.
• Unidolencians oversaw the writing of most of this article, though they were not allowed to write any part of it. The only exception is that they requested the tone of their historic records be maintained.
• The same plastic surgery that is commonplace for aesthetics is used to change the diet of a unidolencian so that they may eat from a diet of their choosing. Some will choose vegetarianism, others omnivorous diets, maybe even vitamin solutions, while a select few will choose to eat gems and other minerals. The natural diet of this species trends to be one based around the oceans that no longer exist.
• Those who cause serious dissenting elements in populations they preside over and interact with are often mandated to attend Rehab. The exact nature of Rehab is currently unknown except for that it is a specialized space station that allows patients to recover from risky behavior and return to society refreshed.
It isn't common anymore for them to be born naturally, or even to be created via the cloning process. The majority of the unidolencian population growth rate comes from those who have achieved full citizenship upgrading into a new body.
In the case of death no member of unidolencian society is allowed to pass on their possessions save for instances of serious sentimental value. Witnesses are needed to confirm the bond placed between the object, inheritor, and the original owner. In some cases people may stake a claim to the estate of the deceased without any will, and legal trials are fought between parties both wanting to inherit possessions. Valid claims are determined by whoever's argument is best arranged rather than whoever factually holds the deepest sentimental value.
No art currently, maybe you can help.