Micron Culture
From Soloralwiki
FIoJ Culture Section One - Microns and CoD
Class Six - Micron Culture and Mentality
Welcome back. Now that we know who the Microns were, what they did, and how they were designed, it's time to go a bit deeper into their culture and lifesytles.
(Note: This class, in it's entirety, was stolen from the "Micron Lore" document I created many months ago to help sum up the entirety of Micron history. For those of you that have read it, this should be a review, but I suggest you do read it again.)
Contents |
Physcial Stats
Microns are surprisingly human-like. In fact, before Pure Evil's intervention, all species on Micron were very simliar in looks. However, the invervention of the gods caused Ogres and Imperials to become corrupt in image, as evil power always corrupts. Regardless of this fact, Microns, humans, and elves all are very simliar in stature.
All statistics are based on current values (for elves one must guess slightly)
Average height: Microns: 6'2, Humans: 5'9, Elves: 6'5
Average build: Microns: medium, Humans: large, Elves: thin
Age Max (gen): Microns: 178, Humans: 100, Elves: 250
In other words, Microns are somewhat of a middleground between humans and elves. Microns are taller but more physcially weak then humans. However, they possess a tremendous capacity to understand and control forces around them, including electricity, magnetism, and magic.
Naming System
The Micron naming system is better planned out then the most modern skyscraper. Microns follow rather strict rules when naming their young, however, name changes are allowed and frequent under certain circumstances.
The Micron name constists of 12 letters, divided into two parts and divided again into two sections. They follow the following format: cvl'cvc lll'lll. (c=consanant, v=vowel, l=any letter) The first three letters are more-or-less competly up to the parents. In most cases, the third letter of the first section is a consanant, but some parents wish to add a vowel here in order to further signify the name of an important person. (Such as Sai'Kar) The second section is an honorary title of the person. (much like the human "Dr.") The parents choose the title at birth, which must be giberish and not be any existing title. When the Micron gains a title, this section is changed to reflect it. ("Kar" is the title for princess, and in this example, this title is given at birth. Normally titles must be earned.) The letters "u" and "e" are masculine letters, and "i" and "a" are feminine. This rule applies to the second section and, to a lesser extent, the first. "U" and "i" represent honor and age when in the second section, while "e" and "a" signify youth and inexperience. "ô" is a neutral letter that is used in the neutral form. In the example of Kôr, which is the title of a ruling monarch, Kur represents a king, Kir a queen, Ker a prince, and Kar a princess. The pattern of vowel roles is followed in all titles.
Notably, in the years before the Micrograss plague, parents would name their children with titles they didn't earn, such as Ker or Mel, in violation of one of the ancient rules of naming. These were probably blessings for their children, and us Humans can think of them as "pet" names. This became rather confusing in the final years and put more reliance on how old the Micron was and what clan they were in.
The last half combined is the clan name. All Microns are part of a clan, but unlike human relations, clans aren't decided by birth but rather by choice. The Micron is named by the clan of its parents (only clan members are allowed to bear offspring) at birth, but may chance clans, and thus last names, once past the age of 27. Some very important positions have a signifier as the second section of the clan name that replaces the normal clan name. For example. Sai'Kar Lum'Eth was born part of the Lum'Eir clan. Her last section name was changed to Eth because she is part of the ruling royal family of Microns.
The 4th part of the name is either the second part of a clan name or an honorary title. Honoraries (except Lôr) can only be bestowed by Micron royality or a high military officer. To have an honorary gave quite a lot of comanding respect in Micron culture.
(Name)'(Title) (Clan)'(Clan/Honorary)
Common Titles (all in neutral form)
- Kôr: Ruling monarch
- Sôr: High Magi
- Gôn: Government worker
- Môl: Military unit
- BôX: Scientist (x varies on the field)
- Pôr: Student/Historian/Archivist
Common Clans
- Lum'Eir: Magical healers and other metaphysical healing activites (clerics)
- Car'Set: Government reform activists
- Mai'Lor: Volunteer defense force (militia)
- Sel'Tem: Society of world improvement (engineers)
- Bom'Ber: Boomists and other violent revolutionaries
- Ero'Nam: Rogues and Thieves (formal clan title)
- Sol'Emb: Mages
- Ura'Bos: Physics-related Researchers
- Sar'Mus: Worldbeam (poets and philosophers)
Common Honoraries
- Eth: Royal blood (does not apply to normal government workers)
- Sar: Honorable deed
- Pho: Sacrficial action to a cause
- Alm: Exelmperary performance
- Lôr: Leader of a group (neutral, self-proclaimed)
(Jason Steffke's honorary CoD Micron name, for another example, is Jas'Kir Ste'Eth. Jas comes from his first name, Kir comes from the name to be prince, [the Micron equivilent of a young leader] Ste comes from his last name, which the Microns see as our clan name, and Eth signifies his ruling blood. Note that Jason isn't part of the Micron ruling family at all, as this name is simply honorary. In real life, his name would probably be closer to Jas'Per Car'Ler.)
Technology and Abilities
Microns have had a much longer history then humans, and thankfully most of it was preserved in the City of the Sun by the ancient Solarians. Although similar in apperence to humans, they act and think quite differently, which has given birth to a rather unique type of technology.
Hypon: Hypon is an organic energy type that is excreted by Microns at all times. It is a mystical energy that is a biproduct of their life systems. In the air, it is completly harmless and will fade away after a while. If many Microns were to be in a closed room for quite some time, a bit of Hypon would get on their skin, giving them all a slightly shiny gleem. As time went on, Hypon was discovered to be powerful strengthening agent. Hypon gathering and transfer systems (see Hypernet, below) moved it across the world, and industries inbued it into everything from steel beams to common eating untensiles to paper. An odd side effect is that Hypon disperses over time. The Hypon upkeep is very VERY low, but if no Microns are around for years at a time, it disperses and anything made with Hypon construction blows away in the wind. This explains why all Micron cities and relics, except for a few that were built before Hypon construction, were not found by humans many years later.
Hypernet: The largest acomplishment of the Micron species was the hypernet. Like the internet, the hypernet connected the world, but could transport Hypon energy and later send physical objects as well as information. Wireless varieties were under production but were never sucessfully completed. If they were, the Microns would have had the ability to teleport anything anywhere in the universe. As is, the Hypernet could be used to link a space station with Micras, creating a lightspeed space elevator.
Sun Tower: The City of the Sun (known as the Sun Tower or CotS) was a unique creation built by the Soloralist cultists. It was designed as a temple to house the world's source of magic: the Wind Song. It turns out that the Soloralists put in a lot of other functions It's best known for it's time/space altering abilities and massive stasis chambers. The very structure seemed to attract sunlight, which passed through it's opague dome (?!) and was absorbed by the organic computer-jungle below. This provided a near infinite power source. Aside from being a military bunker, it also contained a city deep underground which could easily acominate 10,000 Microns indefinity, along with a statis field, revival chambers, and more. Human expeditions to this tower uncovered some of these finds, but not how they work or how to reproduce them. The Microns led by Sai'Kar and Pia'Sur went into hibernation here.
Concept Box: A remarkable piece of engineering, concept boxes transmit directly to the brain of the user and transfer a remarkable amount of information that is stored in their subconcious. The person is able to understand the knowledge as if they had been working with it for years. This tool could be used to quickly train people for any given task. Unfortunatly, it was developed near the end of the Micron's ancient existance, and so they were only used for archival purposes. Even so, their usefulness shaped the world by giving humans the secrets of magical harnessing and antigravity.
Ptia: The capital of Elpidos, Ptia was a wonder in itself. Ptia served as a major hypernet hub, but it was much more then that. The old records say that Ptia was the center of some sort of dark experiment alter time and space. The experiment failed, and the researchers were lost. It is said that the inside of those labs lead to another plain of existance. Sadly, the location of Ptia has been lost even to the Solarian Microns.
Apollo Cavern: More then just a safe-haven for the concept boxes left by Aka'Kas Ran'Tar, the Apollo Cavern also is filled with some sort of natural magical energy. The place itself is timeless, for not an event on Micras was able to change it's location. Some records say that those that venture into the Cavern will be tested in a way specific to them. If they pass, they will receive great power and enlightenment. We Humans are relativly sure that the Microns did not create the cavern, but rather identifided it and exploited it's power for their own race. The location of the cavern is in modern day Shireroth, but some power keeps it closed.
Magic (Holy Light): Although trained Microns may be able to use their innate magic ability, (fire, ice, nature, etc) each of them can also use basic holy powers. Extensive training in this ability allows each and every one of them to become a duel innate. It has been said that this is because of the blessing of Pure Good. Normal duel elements (such as Fire/Earth) are known to exist, but none have been found in Microns. This would create a triple element, such as Fire/Earth/Holy. As of right now, beings that can use more then one element of magic are rare in the extreme.
Social Patterns
Microns like their clans a lot. To humans, these clans can be compared to a serious club of hobbiests, a specialized university, or perhaps a religious group. The clans exist for a number of purposes and cover a wide spread of interests. At the time of the Micrograss plague in 148 and the afteryears of the war, the most popular clan was the Lum'Eir clan, which focused on developing Holy Light to heal the minds and bodies of the tired and wounded. Clans also include government functions, small armies, revolutionaries, scientists, and slackers. Clans are generally very active, although some are quite large, making it difficult but not impossible to know all the members in one's clan.
Clan members tend to stick together, however, it is important to note that there is no elitism or snobbish behavior between clans. On the contrary, clans are quite friendly to eachother. This may seem odd to us Humans, but keep in mind that all Microns join clans by choice. Thus, they are willing to see what another clan member has to say, and if they like it, they may switch clans. It is not uncommon for a Micron to switch clans two or three times during their life, although more then that is unususal and generally regarded as irresponsible and foolish.
Microns do not marry. From a Human viewpoint, we can assume that they are married to their clan, although it's not really the same at all.
It is also noteworthy that Microns judge themselves and all species by what they can do. Males, females, magic or not, and even non-Microns are all given a chance to prove themselves. It is quite common for an unlikely candidate to be a master at their art and thus be givin high honors and respect in the Micron culture. On the flipside, those who prove themselves incopetant, even Microns, are shamed in Micron socety until they can redeem themselves.
Thought Processes of Microns
Microns don't think the same way humans do. Granted, they think very similarly, but there are a few important differences that must be pointed out. These differences form the root of the diversity between Microns and Humans.
A human may see a car and think to themselves "That car is green." A Micron, however, would think something along the lines of "That car contains green." The difference is subtle but quite important. In general, Microns tend to avoid definite absolute statements. A human thought "I am 18 years old" would translate to the Micron thought "This is my 18th year of life." A Human would just casually say that they are 18, which, to a Micron, means exactly 18. A human cannot really comprehend why this difference is important to a Micron, but it is. Things like this have caused great misunderstanding betweeen the two peoples, as one can imagine.
Microns are not overly lazy. Picture this: A Human finishes his soft drink, and throws the cup on the ground. There is a trash can no more then 50 feet away, but the Human doesn't want to hold on to it, or get up and throw it away. In Micron culture, this type of event simply does not exist. A Micron might set the cup down and throw it away when it is next convienent, or throw it away immediatly and find some other purpose to getting up, such as to talk to a friend or buy another soft drink. This type of thought pattern forms the core of the Micron work ethic.
Microns to not really understand sarcasm and are completely confused by political correctness. Using words that do not mean what they sound like they should makes no sense to these people.
This sums up the recorded Micron culture and social patterns. In the next lesson (the final lesson on Microns), the full creation process, description, and adventures of Sai'Kar, the most noteable Micron, will be told.
Thank you, and good day.
Additional Material
- Micron Lore, the first draft: http://controlofdestiny.tripod.com/Microns/Additional/MicronLore.doc
- Solarian, the Micron language: http://controlofdestiny.tripod.com/Microns/Additional/Solarian.doc
