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Encyclopedia

Cosmica:

The Aslan

The Aslan are an Independant leonid spieces native to the planet Zawra (P403 Solara / Astrea). A bipedal digitigrade species, they closely resemble a lion of ancient Terra. Discovering that the aslan had no name for themselves collectively as a race, but refer to themselves by their tribal affiliation, humans named them after an ancient word for lion popular in literature. When first contact was made in 2492 at Solara, (P501 Solara / Astrea) the aslan already had a Jump-2 capable interstellar society.

Aslan first contact was a positive one. For the humans of the Great Exodus, the leonids were the first sentient alien life forms they had encountered after years of traveling in space. While the aslan heirarchy were largely indifferent to these new interlopers, middle class and lower clans were quick to recognize the potential for advancement within the ranks of these strangers. The humans were obviously intelligent and very wealthy, but physically weak and needing guidance as they traveled into what was known space for the aslan. When the fleet left Zawra, nearly every ship had at least one aslan group as passengers. Dozens more aslan ships followed in the wake. From this happy meeting grew the seed that would later become the Confederacy.

Appearance

Aslan are the second largest of the leonid races. Average aslan are about the same range as human males, the average aslan being 5'8" - 6'4". The tallest humans and the tallest aslan reach 8'. As with all leonid races, sexual dimorphisim (size differences between males and females) is much more pronounced than with human males and females. Females are significantly smaller, ranging from 4'6" to 6'6'. Weight among males averages 400 lbs although some outsized males have been recorded at 600. Females average about 280 lbs. Aslan males have a greater depth of chest and bredth of shoulders than humans, narrower waists and longer legs. It is their digitigrade legs (they run on their toes) that make them such excellent atheletes, easily outpacing and out jumping humans. All leonids have tails, but only the aslan has a tufted tail with long hair covering a bony spike at the end.

In a reverse of human traditions, aslan males wear their hair long and females wear it short. Clothing is similar to highland humans with males wearing kilts and sporrans and females wearing pants or long dresses. Clothing colors for daily wear are bright in the extreme, but muted earth tones are worn for hunting. Aslan elders wear stolla (stoles), a long strip of cloth around the necke that comes forward over the shoulders and reaches from mid thigh to the ground depending (the more important the aslan, the longer the stole). On these stole are embroidered their position, tribal affiliation and the accomplishments of the tribe on the left, personal accomplishments on the right. Typical accessories for both sexes includes leather or metal amulets (according to status) and a neckpiece (gorget) which may be of plain materials or extremely ornate with chased precious metals and gem stones.

Aslan Society

Aslan society is a matriarchal one, although to the casual observers it may not seem that way. The males dominate the more public aspects of life, those demanding strength or fighting or providing through hunting. The males who excell at these things is valued highly as a mate. But then there comes the disconcect. Almost all other aspects of society are dominated by females, although males are not denied entry. Most males do not have the temprement or the fine motor skill coordination needed to complete intricate complex jobs (swinging a blade requires different muscles than preforming surgery)

Organization

Aslan do not organize themselves into nations or planetary governments as humans do. Instead, they form affiliations along tribal or city state models. There are a number of planets in the Solaris subsector that have almost exclusively aslan population that have remained independant from the Cnfederacy. However, on jointly settled worlds, it has made them easy to integrate with human civilization and exist side-by-side with humans. That does not apply to all aslan, however. There are certain radical factions within the aslan (as there are within any racial group) that seek to divide. These extremist divide aslankind into two categories: tame and free. It should come as no surprise that they consider themselves "free" and everyone who is not part of their society as "tame." The word tame is used to berate aslan's who live or work with humans. Free aslan are a law unto themselves, not recognizing any borders or laws beyond those imposed by their own tribal counsels.

Religion

The predominant religion of the aslan is ancestor worship. This takes the form of ritualistic remembererences in which offerings are made to tribal or family members of great importance through the identifying of that ancestor's spirit with a natural or man made object. Usually, these personifications center around objects used in the stylized combat or the hunt such as gorgets, amulets, bows, blades and the like. These objects are often passed down from generation to generation and become of great spiritual and emotional value.

The Trinidites are also well represented within the aslan population, with the highest percentages being among the Confederate aslan. The Trinidite religion would be familiar to most humans as a parallel form of Christianity, following after the Son of the Warrior who was slain for the forgiveness of sins for the aslan. Instead of being crucified as the human Jesus was, he was stretched out on a torture wheel (Caterine's wheel) and his bones broken with large hammers until he died.

Aslan "Honor"

Honor is a central theme to a male's character, although what that means differs wildly between "free" (wild) and Confederate aslan. Often the aslan within the human sphere are military and have adopted military discipline under fire. To let down your unit, regardless if it is a military one or family or friends, is considered a disgrace. It is tied up with concepts of what it means to be a male or female within their culture. With the free aslan it is more ego driven and could be best described as "I will kill you before I let you dishonor me." Allowing a slight to go unchallenged is considered dishonorable. Most clans have rituals covering encounters between solitary males to make it easy to avoid offending accidently and even easier to offend intentionally.

Other Leonid Races

The Solara subsector is home to three other non-stellar leonid races, the Nashara, the Torashi and the Hyo. They are rarely seen off their home worlds and even then almost always in the presence of aslan. They do not posess the ability to travel between the stars themselves, even though their civilizations are co-mingled with their star faring cousins. The only time they venture off world is when they must travel on a quest or as penance for deeds or crimes committed. An individual encountered then is going to be one of two extremes: either the contemplative one who is in search of enlightenment or a criminal who is in search of forgiveness. It is important to find out which one in any personal encounter with one of these non-stellar leonids. While similar in physique to their aslan cousins, their size and external appearance, especially the color of their coat, is markedly different.

The Nashara

The third largest of the leonid family, the name Nashara means "the people" in their native langugage. Their coats are generally jet black although in bright lights, a spotted pattern may be seen (black on charcol gray) on some individuals. In rare instances, a mutation toward a cream or white coloration occurs with silver, gold or blue eyes. These individuals are excluded from social life and advancement, treated as inferiors. The Nashara's heads are broader and flatter than the aslan, their ears farther to the side and have no mane. Their legs are shorter and more powerful than an aslan of similar size and weight. Their tails are the shortest among the leonids. Vocally, they do not roar as the aslan do, but "vuff," a half shout, half cough noise. Their weight ranges from 125 to a massive 300 pounds and height ranges from four to six feet. They are among the most agile of the leonid races, dwelling in the swamplands and savannah of their homeworld, Kinawra (P602 Solara / Astrea)

The Torashi

The Torashi are the largest of the leonid family. The coat of the Torashi ranges from light orange to yellow to white and is marked with stripes that vary from black to light brown to none at all. Their stripes are as individual as human finger prints and are a result of pigment colorations on their skin. Unlike their cousins the aslan, their eyes are gold or blue. Their faces have white patches on the chin, muzzle, cheeks and just above the eyes. The balance of the face is the same dominant darker body color (light orange, etc). Their body size varies greatly as well. The lighter the color, the heavier and stockier the body. Males vary in height from 8' to 9' and 200 to 500 lbs with outliers capping at 11' and 675 lbs. Females vary in height from 6' to 7'6" and weigh 150 to 350 lbs. Their tails and their canids are the longest of any of the leonids. It is important to note that in dealing wtih individuals that when upset, angry or confused, they become cross eyed. White Torashi with no stripes at all are rare and have the highest status of all within their individual tribe, clan or village. In this case, the white color is not a mutation but the result of recessive genes. The Torashi are jungle dwellers of N'gawra (P801 Solara / Astrea)

The Hyo

The smallest of the leonid races, the Hyo most resemble the Torashi but with a longer body, shorter legs and larger skull. Their light yellow coats are marked with small rosettes (a black or brown ring with a dark brown or red color in the center) that are closely packed together with the ventral side of the body being white. This coloration makes them a perfect hunter in the stark contrasts of the plains. The Hyo is the fastest of the leonids, able to run up to 35 miles an hour in short bursts. Males can be as tall as six feet, females as short as three. Males range from 100 to 200 lbs. Females range from 65 to 125 lbs in weight. The Hyo are plains dwellers on the native world of T'nawra (P401 Solara / Astrea)

Other Races

Mixed marriages are common among the leonid family. Aslan-Torashi (Aslashi) offspring are the largest of all the leonids averaging among males 9-10 feet in height and 750 pounds in weight, females 6-8 feet and 450 lbs. While aslan - torashi marriages have the highest number of children per family, many of the male offspring have difficulty fathering children. Aslashi males have no mane. Their coat is a light tan with their ventral side being a few shades lighter. Their coat is somewhat shaggier than either of their parents and they may or maynot have a striped pattern on the top of their heads and foreheads. Intermarriage with torashi males and aslan females (which are 10 times more frequent because of the aslan social structure) have significantly smaller children, about the size of a female aslan.

Mixed marriages between non-stellar groups are rare because of astrographical proximity. Most combinations are aslan plus something else, with the most common being the aslan-torashi paring. In most societies, the offspring of these marriages are well tolerated although the appearance of the child has something to do with it. Many can pass for the race of one parent or the other. The problem arises when the cub appears to be obviously of mixed race and their peers taunt them as being "not aslan enough" or "not torashi enough" to fit in. These young may struggle for awhile until they find acceptance among an older crowd or others of their same racial mix or distinguish themselves in some capacity. The most discriminated against are those with the all black or all white coloration which is not a racial characteristic, but a mutation that occurs in all leonid races. The black mutation occurs in one in every 10,000 births, the white in every 500,000. A black mutation can be often mistaken for nashara ancestry; a white mutation for torashi ancestry.

Torashi Sample Crew

Howkata Clan Cha’ara (male)

1. Appearance: White (alpha), blue eyes. 8’6” 450 lbs. burn marks left bicep, loop earing left ear, notched right ear. Has no family affiliation, but adopted by Cha’arow clan.

2. Personality: Dominant male. Accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed. Likes to hunt. Always follows his rules of engagements. Takes the heads as trophies because that’s what the Sheengrix do