Vorlonii

Vorlonii

Total population
31,995,870 or more
Regions with significant populations
North American Socialist Commonwealth, Veiled Isle	38,750,120
North American Socialist Commonwealth, Other	1,245,750
Mist Continent, Other	Unknown, less than 1 million
Languages
Vorluun, Common, Neterlingua
Religion
Forntianism
Related ethnic groups
Other Avian Beastlings

The Vorlonii are a race of the Avian Subspecies of Beastling native to the Veiled Isle in Mystria.

Name

The term Vorlonii comes from the Keld dialect of the Neterlingua. It is a truncated version of "Vormund Illonii" or "Worldly/Earthly Angels". It has a pseudo-religious context, establishing the Vorlonii as a kind of protective force for the Veiled Isle. Which is reinforced by the reputation of Vorlon warriors. The singular form of Vorlonii is Vorlon (which is also used for the adjective form), or more appropriately Vorlun, depending on the formality of the language one uses when addressing or discussing Vorlonii.

Distribution

The bulk of the Vorlon population resides within the North American Socialist Commonwealth, mostly within the Veiled Isle. However, since the Opening there has been a great migration of Vorlonii to the mainland where those who are not willing to be warriors will live free from discrimination of the resident humans on the Isle. A very few have migrated to the other parts of the Mist continent but for the most part the Vorlonii have remained on the Veiled Isle, out of a (some may say misguided) need to protect the Isle's human population from the Unbidden that occasionally rise from the deep to terrorize the island.

Physical Characteristics

General Characteristics

File:Vorlon female 1.jpg

A photograph depicting a young Vorlon female

As members of the Avian Sub-race of Beastlings, the Vorlonii do possess some traits of birds, most notable are the feathered wings present on both sexes of Vorlonii. Other characteristics include strong but hollow bones (a dominant trait), the rare talon-ed feet (a recessive sex linked trait), and the body and head feathers (another recessive sex-linked trait), and the extremely rare beaked and feathered head. Even on humanoid headed Vorlonii, some bird like traits, notably an aquiline nose are common. Otherwise the anthropomorphism of Vorlonii tend to fall along sexual lines, with females being decidedly more humanoid than the more birdlike males, who are the most likely recipient of bird-like traits.

Vorlonii tend to be fair skinned (as compared to the native humans of the Isle the Keldon), usually a light olive tone much like some of the Nebbarath. Those who have body hair (as opposed to feathers) will generally have dark colored, often Raven hair. Body feathers will typically be translucent applying a light grey coloration to the skin tone. Vorlonii tend to stand anywhere from .8 meters tall to nearly 2 meters tall, and weigh anywhere from 40.67 kg to 95.6 kg with females being noticeably larger and heavier than males.

Unlike what their avian heritage would suggest, Vorlonii are gestate beings who have young carried to term in the womb of the mother before being born. Gestation generally occurs over the course of 300 days and will (assuming no health complications) result in the live birth of the young. Vorlonii tend to develop of the course of the first few decades of their lifespan before reaching a "developmental plateau", where the Vorlun in question changes little for most of their lifespan, and finally undergoing the final leg of the aging process in the last third of their lives. Vorlonii tend to live between 45-130 years of age with females living a significantly longer time than males.

Flight

As the Vorlonii are born with wings, they are generally capable of flight. In this case, Vorlon males tend to take flight much earlier in life than do females, whose wings generally do not grow large enough for flight until adulthood. Even at full capability Vorlonii appear to be unable to achieve long range sustained flight, and will tire after a few hours in the air at most, though on sufficiently warm days they may ride thermal updrafts and extend the amount of time they will be capable of remaining Airborne. Vorlonii are capable of fairly nimble maneuverings while in the air with the best fliers being capable of hovering, stationary in the air for a limited time. Most Vorlonii (especially females) are capable only of more limited feats however, and some rarely leave the ground, preferring to use their legs for travel.

Intelligence

Intelligence is another factor in the Vorlonii people where there is a marked difference between the sexes. Females tend to be notably more intelligent than males, having intelligence levels comparable to humans throughout their lives. Vorlon males however, are generally considered barely sentient, having a childlike intelligence throughout their adult lives, though at birth Vorlon males tend to be much more intelligent than humans, with the difference steadily eroding throughout early childhood development before being surpassed at some point in childhood. As a result, females are generally considered the more reasoned beings to deal with in ones relations with Vorlonii.

Sexual Dimorphism

When compared to humans, Vorlonii have drastic physical differentiation between the sexes. To the human observer, most female Vorlonii resembled winged versions of female humans, and it is a fact that females are significantly more humanoid in appearance than males. Vorlon females tend to have three sets of limbs, two arms, two legs, and two wings, though it is not unheard of (but quite rare) for a Vorlon female to be born with six wings instead of two. Females tend to be born flightless with small wings incapable of sustaining flight, which grow in relation to the body over the course of the maturation of the Vorlun in question, gradually being able to take flight, and being capable of sustained, if somewhat short-ranged flight upon reaching an early adulthood. Vorlon females will tend to have wings that are colored white or black, and which will not generally be used to cover the body by instinct. Vorlon females appear to be capable of reproducing through Parthenogenesis in the absence of a male mate, and are generally far more common than males. Vorlon females will typically reach physical maturity at the age of thirty and will usually live to be between 110 and 130 years of age.

File:Vorlonmale.jpg

A modern reproduction of an earlier printing depicting a Vorlon male

Vorlon males are described as being more "birdlike" than females, and tend to be significantly smaller than Vorlon females standing less than 1 meter tall in most cases. Vorlon males almost always have four sets of limbs, three pairs of wings and one short pair of legs. Vorlonii males will generally have feathered bodies with a human like, head topped with a feathered "crown", though males more-so than females may have a bird-like head; rarely, a Vorlon male will have a feathered tail as well. Vorlon males will be capable of flight from a very early age, given that their bodies, in relation to their wings are much smaller than that of Vorlon females. Male Vorlon wings, if not white will tend to be brightly colored to assist in attracting a female mate, and four wings will almost always instinctively try to cover a Vorlon male's body from harm when not necessary for flight. Vorlon males will typically reach physical maturity by the age of 10 and will generally live between 45 and 60 years.

Culture

File:Vorlon female2.jpg

A modern painting of a Vorlon female acting as flight protector

Vorlonii tend to be extremely collectivist in nature, much like their Beastling bretheren. In particular, Vorlonii tend to have extremely close social bonds with members of their loose familial structures (oft referred to as 'Flights'), and will remain tied to their flight throughout their entire lives. Vorlonii also tend to have extremely strong senses of morality, and strict codes of honor and fair play, generally as dictated by their flight. These factors generally combine to create well ordered and considerate societies, dominated by inter-flight politics. Much like other Beastlings, the Vorlonii tend to congregate in large groups, and form major cities wherever they do congregate. Vorlonii are generally absolutist, morally speaking and transgressions of the commonly accepted ethical codes generally result in harsh punishment. Honor duels are extremely common among the Vorlonii, and cultural anthropologists suspect that honor duels became a cultural phenomena as a result of emulation of Vorlon culture.

Vorlonii tend to organize societies in a matriarchal fashion. Given the low intelligence of Vorlon males, this social attitude is justifiable. Females will generally be responsible for running the key elements of society, especially its security and administration. Vorlon males will generally be left at home, often as caretakers of the home. Given the nature of reproduction (particularly the fact that a female can produce progeny without a partner) family trees are always traced matrilineally. Vorlon males, though regarded as too dumb to be entrusted with power, are treated with some respect Vorlon sense of fairness dictates that they still be reasoned beings (even if they barely qualify) and are still deserving of the same dignified treatment as befits a reasoned being to a point. This odd situation generally results in males being treated as children by adult females.

Vorlonii do have a significant warrior culture. It is a part of their own interpretation of the Forntian code to hold the belief that it is the fair duty of the strong among their society to protect the weak among their society. They will usually extend this belief to mean that all of the strong should protect all of the weak, and cannot abide the notion that the strong would act as bullies and predators. Vorlonii who are of great prowess are often designated "Protectors" by their flight, and will be the foundation of any Vorlon military or paramilitary organization. Vorlonii are often highly sought after as Soldiers, Mercenaries, or Guards because their warrior society and their sense of duty, loyalty, and fairness make for an extremely effective and unwavering military force.

Language

The language of the Vorlonii is Vorluun a highly detailed, and somewhat arcane language that is spoken as a native tongue only by the Vorlonii, and the Keldon people that live with them. Some Vorlonii speak the "Old Toungue", which is the language spoken by most other Beastlings. Many Vorlonii, needing to deal in wider Mystrian affairs speak Neterlingua or Common as well, and a few are learning other languages found on the mainland Commonwealth to better integrate into those societies.

Religion

Vorlonii are solidly Forntian, which serves as the basis of their moral values. Very few if any flights can be found practicing other religions, and those that do will almost certainly remain within the Mystrian pantheon. A couple of flights that have moved to the Commonwealth have incorporated the ideals of the Revolution and the pseudo-cult of personality surrounding "The Commissar" figure, among certain radical revolutionary figures into existing Forntian beliefs to create a hybrid pseudo-religion sometimes called Equalism. The Equalist philosophy has spread to most of the Vorlonii on the mainland and even to some humans that live near them.

Cultural Perceptions of the Vorlonii

Vorlonii are perhaps the most respected of the nonhuman races in the Commonwealth. Their reputation as war fighters and their resemblance to divine agents in many of the Commonwealth's diverse cultures lends itself well to an idealistic image of the Vorlonii as great protective figures. Whether this image has been cultivated by the Vorlonii or is merely something that has occurred naturally is unknown.