BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE: The Aurorans are a cold-tolerant, walrus-like bipedal race. They have thick fur and skin to keep them warm in below freezing temperatures and under water. Males and females are distinguishable, like many homonid species. Most noticably, males have a larger skull and long protruding tusks. Auroran fur can be: any shade of brown, reddish brown, grey, pale-green or black. Aurorans typically live 140-180 years(About twice as long as humans), with adulthood usually recognized at the age of 38. CULTURE AND HISTORY The Aurorans, or so they are called in the common tongue, are an ancient people. They are called the Aurorans because of their spirituality. In places where the auroras glow in brilliant colors your often likely to find Aurorans. Like the snow and ice that come from the ground, long ago they too came from the great sky, from the Aurora. Legend tells the aurora, and all the planets and stars were created in a great spray of water from Mother Orca. They were fairly primitive and few. They forged basic tools out of bone and copper. During the coldest season, spears were often made of ice, a resource they had plenty of. Ice carving is an ancient and respected tradition. In the past, the most skilled carvers were educated by tribal elders on ice-forging, and the creation of weapons infused with perfect crystalline ice. Today, things have drastically changed in Auroran society. A single event changed everything for the once secluded tribal people. A ship of Floran design was witnessed crash landing onto a thick ice-sheet by a powerful tribes hunting party. Inside was a confused and half-awake floran. The floran's true identity is not known, the Aurorans just called him 'Floran', as 'Floran' was the only floran any Auroran had encountered. 'Floran' was granted protection by the tribe in exchange for information about the world beyond while 'Floran' repaired his ship. In the past 350 years, Auroran society underwent a dramatic change from a tribal society to a a global one. Auroran adventurers called Emissaries at first were few, and selected a councel of tribal representatives. However, depleting resources on the home world meant that space travel would have to become much more accessable. Not everyone could be Emissaries, space flight would be as common as a boat journey would have been 400 years ago. Today, many Auroran youths train 3 decades become Emissaries through the Auroran Academy: 2 Years of Basic Survival, 4 years of Intermediate, and 4 years of advanced survival. 8 Years of training in Melee, 2 in guns, and 3 in basic Magic. Then finally 7 years in forging and smithing special weapons and armor. It isn't uncommon to hear an Auroran concerned about the loss of a culture and a lifestyle that has been practiced for several milennia. TEMPERAMENT: Aurorans in the past were warlike and competitive. They usually weren't friendly to foreigners, but the 'New Auroran Virtues' inspired by the arrival of 'Floran' and the journals of the first Emissaries lists hospitality as a key to good fortune. The new Auroran values also does away with the hierarchical pecking order and polygamy, and urges for peaceful conflict resolution as opposed to open war. Aurorans are known to be sarcastic, and a bit too honest. At face value, they don't know the meaning of the word "manners". Aurorans are still deeply competitive, but always show good sportsmanship. Never mess with a drunk Auroran though.
I like the idea of a primitive race attempting to escape doom through diplomacy, but what would their relationships with other races be ? What kind of houses do they live in ? What kind of ship do they use ?