Mirialan

Wookieepedia links: [1] and [2]

To quote the words of Rheisa Dirleel whose work on Togruta inspired me to do this:

"What "Canon" is known about the Togruta is not much"

Meanwhile, in the case of Mirialans...we might as well practically know nothing at all.

The amount of information we have is vastly overshadowed by the amount we don't. Thankfully, some facts can be gleaned from official sources. We know their homeworld Miral is a cold and dry place. We know they tend to be spiritual to some degree. We know they are dexterous Greenies with facial tattoos. And...that's pretty much it. I don't think anything was missed in there, right? So, let's try... inventing, imagining, trying to extrapolate, and go with the flow. Feel free to use this during character creation or decry it as drivel. The second sentiment might be more accurate, but we'll see, okay? However, before we start, I would like to say thank you to the amazing Threl Ravrari in helping me flesh this out!

Species Summary

Mirialans are a near-human omnivorous species from the planet Mirial. Externally, the species differs from the baseline Human mainly by color. Skin is green , olive, pink, or yellow, and hair colors generally are black or brown. Eyes can range in color from bright blue and purple to a more subdued brown. They also are well known for their distinctive tattoos, which shall be touched upon later. For now, let's focus on their internal morphology compared to a standard human. While organs between the species are similar, with bilateral symmetry, kidneys, lungs, and the like, the circulatory system operates at a much higher temperature, with a much larger central heart. Mirialan blood is red, similar to humans, but is pumped to the extremities in higher quantities to maintain warmth. They also have several metabolic precursors in their blood that react to extreme cold, acting as a rudimentary antifreeze that can keep a Mirilian going in temperatures that would freeze an unprotected human solid. Their body temperature is higher than that of humans, averaging at around 40°C when healthy. This increased heat production means that their rate of metabolism is much higher, allowing for better adaptation to the cold.

Mirialans live in small villages. They are, on the average more familial and grown together than Humans, with family units encompassing multiple generations of multiple households. These families would be familiar to any human with a large family, with the difference being that theirs regularly include at least 3-4 children on average. Individualism exists in Mirialan culture, but a dedication to one's community is seen as an admirable trait.

Mirial

What Tattoine is to heat, Mirial to cold. A cold world, Miral slowly orbits a small main sequence star just at the edge of the circumstellar habitable zone. Mostly covered by tundras, glaciers, and ice-blasted deserts, the remnants of trees and grasses can occasionally be found frozen beneath the ice; testament to the time every few hundred years that the orbit moves closer to the sun for a generation and the ice retreats. A small warm belt around the equator occasionally sees temperatures well above 15°C and is where most, if not all, of the greenery of the planet can be found outside of these rare warm generations.

Mirialan History, Culture and Tatoos

Primitive Mirialans were Semi-Nomadic, and spent their days following herds of prey animals around as they moved. Eventually they started to settle down in small villages, usually located near the equator or near a natural heat source. Their prey animals were kept in large barns, over time, were domesticated. This domestication required regular feeding, which aided in the development of agriculture in greenhouses. From there, the culture developed from villages to towns and then, finally, large cities which are increasingly gaining popularity among the Mirilian people.

Most off-worlders would be comfortable in one of the large cities. One of the largest is Falemindal, the traditional center of Mirialan Culture. The oldest settlement that could be called a city, it is built entirely underground with a few shafts leading to the surface and the starport above ground. Built over a network of Hot Springs that keep the surrounding caves at a comfortable temperature year round, Falemindal boasts a population of almost a million Mirilians. Smaller villages exist in the adjoining caves, making the metropolis cover far, far more space than might be expected underground. These small villages often report some of the best harvests on the entire planet due to the proximity of geothermal heat. Another city is Luminara. Located above ground in the cold, this modern city is gaining popularity due to it's close proximity to mining sites. These sites are where the elusive superconductor Kalliskivium is extracted, processed, and shipped off-world.

Mirialans have a large, and largely obscure, if constantly evolving tattoo language, which very few Mirialans fully comprehend. Very few artists have the experience to know every possible tattoo with it's associated meaning, leading to specialization and referrals for the more esoteric inks. Traditional Mirilian tattoos are kept to simple, repeating geometric patterns that are added according to one's achievements, thoughts, dreams, or memories. Traditional tattoos are never undertaken simply for art's sake and are never removed. In the case of a Mirilian's first tattoo, usually placed on one's face, it is related to the path they decided to follow early in life or major influences. The shape and texture of that first tattoo is determined by the artist and requires a great deal of trust.

While Geometric patterns are popular, it must be said that with rebellious younger generations, free-hand tattoos are taking hold. Wild ones, drawn by unsanctioned artists fill skin with imaginative patterns in swirls and curves. Sometimes, in the case of a few VERY rebellious teens, tattoos that are insulting or indicative of prison time for certain crimes, like thievery. Of course, as time passes all patterns change, but even in these modern times, seeing tattoos that stray from the norm sometimes provokes an outcry from their parents, some even going so far as to have the offending tattoo removed at an off-world clinic that will keep such shameful things silent. After all, what can you do? Youngsters are youngsters....