The Viali are a species of small, raptor-like, feathered creatures who are technologically advanced due to the discovery of a very old storage device, The Enchiridion. The Viali were created by Ryuvi.
Etymology
The name “Viali” was created early on in development from a pool of names that were fitting for the title. Initially, Ryuvi was going to be the name of the species, but Ryuvi later adopted that name for their own member of the species, and used Viali instead. The name stems from the word violet, which was a prominent idea in early development:
The name is also a subtle tribute to the Avali as well, in that it is almost an anagram to Avali, this being only one of many small tributes to Ryuujin’s species. In terms of Viali lore, the name for their species is the basis for their names for female and female-herm Viali, and it roughly translates to “The feathered ones”, or “The feathered united ones”.
History
Main article: Viali History
Modern Viali history stems back only about 700 human years. Before this period, the species was largely tribal, and more primitive in their technology and knowledge. Traditional Viali culture and society has existed for at least 6,000 human years, however, with written history only starting about 800 years ago.
Three major events constitute a majority of the Viali’s short history: the invention of Vijiran, discovery of graphene, and the discovery of the Enchiridion.
Much of the Viali's modern ways are in one way or another rooted in a traditional aspect of their old tribal ways. For instance, a large selection of the population still prefer to live in tents, or tent cities, much like how they did hundreds of years ago.
Invention of Vijiran - ~800 BP
The basis for their written language is estimated to have been created at least a two hundreds years before the discovery of graphene, however this estimate is only based on the oldest artifacts that can be found with writing on them. The writing consists of scratches gouged into various materials by Viali, namely a wood-like material, and stone. Later writing examples were instead woven into fabrics, and textiles. The existence of a spoken language far predates the existence of Vijiran, but it is unknown when and how the language first developed, but estimates place its creation to be about 6,000 years old. Once Vijiran was created, they began writing down their oral and prehistorical records, only a few of which remain intact.
Discovery of Graphene - ~640 BP
As their civilization developed, the Viali began experimenting with new techniques for synthesizing materials and compounds, and discovered graphene on accident. This discovery was quickly found to be a viable material for a wide variety of applications, ranging from armor, to textiles, to construction materials. Most other materials were abandoned in favor of graphene soon after its discovery, due to its superior strength and material structure.
Discovery of the Enchiridion - 423 BP
Main article: The Enchiridion
The Enchiridion is hailed as the single most important discovery in all of Viali history. It was discovered on the first major expedition to the moon Ris, and has technologically propelled the species forward by an equivalence of over 66 thousand years. The Enchiridion greatly expanded upon the Viali’s knowledge in nearly all areas, and gave them the technology to go from a tribal, survival-based society, to a post-labor, post-scarcity, hyper-advanced society in a matter of a few centuries. Because of its importance to the Viali, it is guarded with extreme care and security in their largest city, and is not mentioned to outside civilizations for fear it will be taken from them, by force or otherwise.
Culture
Main Article: Viali Culture
Viali culture stems greatly from their traditional, tribal ways. They uphold unity and science above all else, and they believe in themselves, versus in any superior being. Their culture isn’t without its modern amendments, however, and the Viali aren’t entirely traditional. If a new technology is discovered or new information is learned, they will gladly accept it and change accordingly to fit, however they firmly adhere to their traditions in ways that don’t negatively effect them. As a whole, the Viali are naturally friendly, and open. Most individuals prefer not to be violent, and they will push more towards peace rather than war, if at all possible. Above all, Viali culture is based around science, unity, and freedom.
Their culture is also open in more physical terms. The Viali don't have a nudity taboo, and their clothing styles and designs reflect that. Sexuality in their culture is more prevalent, but still mediated. Prejudice against other sexes or different species is generally never seen. More precisely, the Viali express gender equality among their six genders, and there are no restraints against any single group of individuals.
Language
Main Article: Vijiran
The Viali have a complex spoken and written language system which stems from their tribal days in written form. Due to the Viali's airway physiology, their language - Vijira - can be spoken in squeaks and chirps, or vocal tones. When written, the language resembles scratches - and indeed the glyphs for the language were derived from actual scratches marked into various materials from long ago. When translating the language, there exist some words and concepts that don't exist in a language like English, however most written and spoken phrases can be translated without much extra effort. The spoken variant of Vijiran which is more bird-like and consists of chirps is only speakable by the Viali themselves, due to their unique biology.
Lifestyle
The lifestyle of a Viali depends ultimately on where they are and how they were raised. Most Viali live a very relaxed, happy, and semi-social life, with the hardships of survival taken care of by their technological discoveries. For much smaller communities which are split off from the rest of society, depending on how much technology they embrace, they live a more tribal, survival lifestyle with hunting, gathering, bartering, and so on.
Generally however, a Viali’s life is founded under freedom, unity with others, and a shared curiosity for what lies beyond their planet, and what lies ahead for them as a whole. Beyond the general day-to-day affairs, a Viali is free to do whatever they please - within the given laws, that is. A large part of the Viali lifestyle for most is volunteering to perform jobs for their city, or the species as a whole, including: Enchiridion research, guard duty, waste management, exploratory research, and other things. More specialized jobs include medical practitioners, plumage stylists, architectural designers, and etcetera.
When not exploring, researching, or just living their lives, the Viali enjoy a virtual world freely accessible from their neural lace, where they can learn new things, and have a wide variety of entertainment options to choose from, as well as being creative in a very unrestrictive way.
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