Naegotuu

Aliens originating from blackholes or nebulae.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Aliens

• Alignment: Aetherial

• Energy: Qeernariji

• Lifespan: 1,000 years

• Diet: Energy

• Habitat: Space

Origins

Naegotuu were born in the dust of nebulae being crushed by the power of a blackhole, creating unique stardust creatures.

Description

Naegotuu have three forms:

• Their hominid dust form, appearing to be humans made of colorful cosmic dust, with predominantly purple, yellow, dark grey, or white skin and blue, green, or azure hair. They have a sixth finger on their left hand and a third eye on their right cheek. They stand about 6’ tall.

• Their blackhole form, a spiraling strand of glowing near-black matter covered in unblinking glowing yellow eyes, about a billion miles long.

• Their nebula form, a dust cloud about 20’ in diameter, yellow and green in color, with glowing motes within.

Procreation

Naegotuu reproduce sexually with one another in their blackhole forms, spawning new naegotuu as their eyes explode into massive new strands.

Powers

Naegotuu can live in the emptiness of space without protection. Radiation, extreme cold, extreme heat, lack of pressure, and lack of gravity do not affect them. They can see in the dark. Deep space is swimmable to them. They can absorb or devour energies in any form.

Forms

Naegotuu can shift forms only when in space. Any atmosphere or being within orbital gravity of a planet freezes them into their hominid form. Each form has its own specific abilities:

• Hominid: their extra eye can see energies. Their extra-fingered hand can grab energies, render them tangible, allowing them to eat them. However, they can only eat aether or natural energies without altering their form. They can open a tiny, temporary blackhole in their five-fingered hand to crush or drawn in anything, and they can unleash a nebula aura by shaking their hair. Both these powers must be recharged under starlight for six nights in a row before being reused.

• Strand: their strand form has its own gravity. The eyes can see accurately and precisely for 500 lightyears. They can unleash create small, temporary blackholes at the ends of their strand.

• Dust: their dust form can teleport up to 50 lightyears at a time, requiring a year of rest between teleportations. Their bodies are full of qeernariji and therefore destroy anything anti-aetherial.

Weaknesses

Brown aether can harm them. If they spend too much time in any kind of atmosphere, they begin to get sick.

Nations

There are many nations of the naegotuu in the universe, but there are only three near Shem:

• Begona: a nation on the Grey Moon

• Chosana: a nation in the asteroid belt

• Tuzon: a nation beyond Ane

Culture

The Begona nation is the most well known nation of naegotuu on Shem. They live in a city-state called Shahar, ruled by an elected leader known as the Usta. The Usta is supported by various elected community and neighborhood councils and an appointed advisory board made up of various leaders of city departments. These are all influenced by the savdogars, the merchants who are the richest and most powerful people in the city.

The city sprawls throughout a crater that is positioned on the lunar maria such that it can fully capture the starlight. They sleep during the day and work at night. Primarily, they are traders, with massive markets along the main thoroughfares. They also have factories outside the city where thousands of them work.

Children among the Begona are raised by their immediate families. They are sent to school from a young age, where they are tested yearly to see what path they should take. The children of merchants and other rich or notable figures are always tracked to follow in their footsteps or find another “respectable” job like the priesthood, finance, law, science, or magic. Others are tested to see if they will work in the factories, in service, in extraction, in the military, or in transportation. They graduate at the age of twenty, at which time they start their careers.

Entertainment is also a major industry among the Begona. They love to share stories of their time before they came to Shem, when they were nomads throughout the cosmos. They have ten “Great Stories” that tell of encounters with cosmic entities that they faced while in their blackhole strand forms. When they found Shem, they found the flow of cosmic energies so strong, they chose to remain, building their city. These stories are told in many forms - theatre, film, television, poem, epic, song - and variants inspired by them make up most of their art. The most famous piece of Begonan art is a 100’ tall statue of a strand form with stars whirling around it.

When a Begonan reaches the age of 200, they are eligible for a religious pilgrimage back to the birthplace of all naegotuu, a distant nebula called the Griffin Nebula by the Shemmish. Most choose to do so at some point after their 200th year because they yearn to be able to take their other forms.

National Cultures

The other two nations of the naegotuu are more cosmic and alien. The Chosana live amongst the asteroid belt in their dust forms as nomads and herders of astral fauna. They are led by elders who worship the deep cosmic beings they once encountered on their way to the Angeldawn system.

The Tuzon live even further out, a small tribe all in their strand forms. They stand guard at the edge of the solar system, waiting for the coming of dangers unknown.

Esoterica

As beings of qeernariji, the naegotuu are powerful wielders of it. They also use other cosmic powers, especially birtimane, lunar energy, ma’dhahabi, and kuvva. The use of magic is gatekept by the schools and usually only allowed for the rich and powerful, but some poorer students who show promise are recruited into it. They are then sent to special schools, which all compete with one another for the best students. They also have a sport team that plays juxid, the sport asterians also play, which are very popular entertainment amongst the population of the city.

Religion

The faith of the Begona - and the other nations - is a worship of great cosmic entities they encountered on their journeys through space. These entities are vast elementals of incredible cosmic power they believe direct the flow of energy throughout the universe. There is a priesthood that is populated by the rich and powerful, the Rohaniy, and they are a major influential institution in the city. Their religion focuses mostly on encouraging the social structure of their people, repeating the ten Great Stories, and recruiting from the populace enough people to maintain the power of the priesthood.

Gender

Among the Begona, there are ten recognized genders, each attuned to a different Great Story. These are on a spectrum from male to female, with various others in-between, and a set of proscribed roles for each. Variation from assigned gender is forbidden, but happens anyway.

The other nations don’t recognize genders, as they spend time in bodies that are less distinctive.

Economy

The Begona have a capitalist economy.

Military

The Begona military is small but powerful. The core of it is the Garj, a set of warriors who wield weapons created via cosmic energies, and the Tufan, the space force that guard the city from above.

Occupations

Common roles include the following:

• Comet Mage

• Garj (melee warrior)

• Gravity Mage
• Rohaniy
• Moon Mage

• Star Mage

• Sun Mage

• Tufan (cosmonaut warrior)

Outside View

On Shem, most don’t even know of the naegotuu, but those who do view them as bizarre and unsettling. Those on the moons or amongst the other planets view them as ripoff merchants because of their high prices, but they are begrudgingly respected.

Notables

• Atae, the Father of Shahar, the founder of the city

• Iska, Mother Nebula, Naegotuu Manifest

Estimated Populations

• Begona: 100,000

• Chosana: 40,0000

• Tuzon: 100

• Other: 1 million

Sample Stats

Hominid

PRO 8
ATH 9
STR 8
AWA 9
WIL 8
PRS 8
STH 7

Strand

PRO 11
ATH 50
STR 500
AWA 500
WIL 100
PRS 20
STH 0

Dust

PRO 9
ATH 9
STR 9
AWA 15
WIL 15
PRS 11
STH 6