Indara Profile

INDARA (Angels)

Imbued with the soul of a traveler, all Indara are enthusiastically attracted to adventure and knowledge. Intellectuals and joyful freedom fliers, the Indara resent authority and have never muddled in the affairs of other Deva, yet keep a good relationship with most of them as masters of fair trade. However, enduring relations are unfortunately rare for them as well as their relative lack of emotional intelligence. Generally, they are of easy going attitude and a humorous outlook. They excel at exploration and scholarly pursuits of science and history sometimes obsessively. Though they are well endowed in many areas of society their neutral stance and whimsical nature can get them in a great deal of trouble.

HOPE (WILLPOWER/SHAME) “I DO”

Appearance and Clothing: They closely resemble angels and harpies of legend. They are based off raptors and fowl sprouting feathers and beak like keratin all over their bodies. This keratin material can be a protective dermal plating on the tops of  limbs and upper torso. This carapace also contains large concentrations of iron oxide that makes up their magnetic field and grows into adulthood. Children possess mostly smaller smooth plumage and none of the plating adults have but molt continuously growing more plating and different feather types. After fully matured, they will completely molt their feathers at least once a year. They don’t seem to have any hair but do typically have soft downy like feathers atop their heads which every Indara will style uniquely to them. Some feathers grown can have rigid barbs while some can be soft and fluffy. They have tall elongated bodies and typically narrow limbs. Most Indara are thin in stature but portliness is not rare among them. They have longer necks and rather large eyes characteristic to their people. The clothing of the Indara varies widely and isn’t set in culture mostly due to the constant discovery and fascination with other societies and civilizations.

Occupations: Most all Indara learn survival skills as children at school which includes flight classes and how to control their powers. Along with how to use their abilities they learn how to apply them using science including physics, chemistry, and biology. Their curriculum would be more impressive if lessons were mandatory, but unfortunately class is generally voluntary and many young typically are focused on fun and play. When the Indara get older and more knowledgeable they gain further understanding over their powers and the nature of the universe itself, at this time they generally return home in order to educate the masses. Scholastics is obviously a popular choice of work besides being an explorer but field work is always an option. Although any endeavor that involves thought provocation is a choice, even philosophy. Because of the nature of their religion as well as their free expression, work within communications can be a viable option. Many of Tian’s greatest writers and commentators are Indara. Poetry, fictional prose, playwriting, and even comedy is at least of great interest to many Indara. Whether it is exploring the universe or the minds of the masses, they enjoy learning in many forms. However, the Indara are ones that don’t necessarily have well defined occupational roles and can be fluid with whatever they feel like doing. Unfortunately, they can also become bored with certain work rather easily and labor intensive jobs are of little interest if they can be made more convenient. 

The Indara spend their lives exploring and so often take up training as Rangers to better survive their many adventures as field researchers. It is the job of a Ranger to explore and catalog areas, items, and things of interest. The natural sense of sight for the Indara helps them locate these very same things which allows them to scout utilizing their UV detection and superior range of vision which is very precise. However, they also use a variety of surveying and communications equipment at their disposal. Rangers will often be trained guerilla fighters and ranged marksmen, which is where they get their namesake. Their overall great knowledge extends to the areas, environments, histories, and organisms they encounter. Training and skills include training to operate a variety of computers, vehicles, demolitions, and covert stealth techniques. They are particularly adept at tracking be it specific persons and creatures or making deductions of information through digital outlets and artifacts. They are the closest thing to a form of military the Indara have. Rangers employ a series of communication that involves detection through UV light and can leave messages throughout the world that only they can recognize. 

Many are referred to as Shamans who are said to have scholarly knowledge of science and history that is unrivaled. These Shamans are frequents of libraries and archives who regularly research their abilities and their interactions with the universe. Their control of electromagnetic forces allows them to influence some aspects of nature such as plasma, lights, geophysics, and even some atomic processes. The range of their power and energy as well extends to depths that can build or destroy just about all matter. Shamans typically only concern themselves with experimentation but also seek to preserve, whether it is nature itself or the knowledge they bear. A Shaman has abilities that put them on a different level, but are tempered by their religion that preaches pacifism and faith. Most Shamans are also extended in age and live isolated hermit lifestyles. 

Religion: The Indara do not worship but instead engage in ancestor reverence valuing the many who have made major contributions and discoveries or mastered certain arts and sciences. They believe once you die you move on to the next plane of existence to learn or explore and then the next plane and so on endlessly learning. Despite their veneration for science, Indara can be remarkably faithful towards those who came before. Many motivations can come from the desire to be remembered and honored within their religion. They believe in the afterlife and that sometimes the ancestors return to the mortal world on certain holidays to share their knowledge and friendship. On these holy days offerings can be made on their altars and a strong sense of pride and loving relations can be felt. These are known as festivals of light where the heavens align in the stars to create a stairway back home. It is a time when good and knowledge triumph. Different star are associated with specific types of academics and explorers where knowledge of astronomy is integral to the faithful. The time of day may be important as well, whereby Indara may hearken back to important dates of discovery and invention. Still their religion has been modified to include academics and the head of their faith also happens to be the lead archivist and historian. They hold and protect the records of their people as well as scribing new ones. 

Language: Indara tend to know many languages thanks to their interests in travel and study. Their intellectual nature usually means they are highly educated in reading, writing, and speaking at least their own language. Speaking the common tongue is seen as just as important as their natural language and are taught alongside one another. Also if there were any Deva who knew of any Earth languages it would probably be them. Their personal language is highly vocal and seemingly complex with high and low pitches throughout. Their language is one that is commonly known from those of a scientific background as their written and spoken language is used to describe many theorems and discoveries. Theirs is also a language that lends itself well to describing other things as the number of words they have has no rival. Their written language is different as it evolved from a set of symbols and pictograms that represented a great many number of things. Orally it is what allows them to have such a long and storied tradition. Its neutrality, accuracy, and complexity are sometimes what makes it popular among other Deva as well.  

Homelands: the indara make their homes in the sky on top of floating islands. These Mountain ranges and smaller land masses are lifted from the ground because of naturally occurring magnetic fields that push themselves against the earth. These chains of islands are constantly traveling and changing their placement on maps although they display patterns throughout the year. The Indara themselves can manipulate the positions of the islands to a point using their abilities and advanced technology. Most welcome or at least tolerate Indara presence in their lands for the storms and water that is usually brought with them. Runoff from their island lakes and rivers tends to descend onto whatever land they fly above as a refreshing rain. To a point Indara can control this artificial weather and most are thankful for whatever aid this can bring.

Resources: The largest resource the Indara have is knowledge. Compared to any other civilization, only the Annu rival in science and technology. Unfortunately, other than the plants they grow for fabric, resources on their islands are slim. Minerals, water, and wood are outsourced and collected throughout the year on a travelling schedule. But, thanks to their advanced technology, their need for resources is mitigated such as through automated collections. When the need for resources is urgent, they have no problem sending scouts and caravans to charter supplies. Hunger for resources and the constant travelling through territories has yielded them healthy relationships with many groups and institutions. One of the other unique resources they yield are their textiles and reputation as masters of weaving. Many of the smaller shrubs and stalks on their islands are high in cellulose which make great fibers for fabric. Many of these same plants only grow there as well. With their expert knowledge in chemistry and great number of flowers they love to delve into the world of perfume and are famous for their fragrances. Their scientific expertise is most prevalent in their knowledge of agriculture, renewable energy, and electrical engineering.

Diet: They primarily eat flying insects and other bird like animals that they chase through the air as they are easily found near their floating landmasses. They will also consume their eggs where they nest on their islands. This is primarily how they attain protein as well as vitamins and minerals. They also like to supplement their diet with seeds, pollen, and nectar from plants that have found their way onto the landmasses, this can be a common culinary tactic to add taste and energy enhancers storing both fat and carbs. Because their diet requires high sodium levels, they have entered into long term trading relations with the Sujan for their salt operations, fish, and seaweed production.

Average Life Expectancy: They will typically live 800+ years mostly due to their advances in medical technology and in nutrition. Although it can be difficult to gauge how old some are when they are so hard to find. Their frequent adventures can bring this number down by a lot.

Physiology and Abilities: They have complicated electrical organs that have micro disk-like cells capable of performing voltage and charge. The cells are just under the surface of the skin and work with the nervous system to provide simultaneous current at a reflexive rate. They have inherent capacitors that regulate the flow of current and tend to have heavily insulated bone-like material on their bodies. The insulation comes from a sodium calcified protein in their cells that opens and closes channels in the body. They can conduct with great current and voltage conducting as much as 200 amps at 6000 volts on the human body causing stunning shocks, severe burns, organ failure, disintegration, and upsetting bodily operations. They can regulate their intense magnetic field to condense a beam of ionic particles in the atmosphere, ripping apart the air molecules. It then creates a plasma channel pathway for electrical discharge to travel simulating a directed bolt of lightning heating matter and creating a shockwave. At this level of discharge they can conduct as much as 30 thousand amps and 100 million volts for a brief moment. Theoretically, a concentration of ions could be made into different shapes and pathways. Use of these powers requires high electrolyte levels and overtaxing can cause intense fatigue. 

They have well placed minerals of iron oxide along the length of their skeleton and dermal plates that when electrified give them the ability to control their intense magnetic field. This field can be magnified with electricity to deflect physical phenomena, magnetize and levitate objects, create EMPs, and make shapes out of electricity. An electromagnetic field allows them to repel or attract themselves from the Earth’s natural magnetic field simulating uninhibited levitation. In conjunction with hollow bones, reduced air resistance, fused bones of the vertebrae and torso, and air sacs they have many adaptations for flight. They have an advanced heart and lungs to achieve efficient nutrient, energy, and oxygen transfer. Further electrical current can act as a propellant through the atmosphere in flight. Applying a sufficient electrical current and charge to an object can generate its own magnetic field to which they can manipulate freely. 

Their eyes possess more rod and cone cells than a human’s and their fovea possesses one million cells per square millimeter. This allows them to easily see at 20 feet what it takes a human at 1 foot to see. They have a second fovea and three eyelids that gives them better sharper vision. They have four types of cones instead of three which enables low sensitivity into the ultraviolet range. This allows them to perceive the different chemical compositions in things as fluorescent glow under light. It is a good tracking mechanism that can detect footprints, fingerprints, hair, pheromones, bodily fluids and other organic substances. They possess a crop in their esophagus that allows them to partially store food for long periods. Enzymes in the throat preserve the integrity of organics. Sometimes they will safely store valuables in the crop such as jewels and vomit them later just as is done for children. They have a gizzard with a muscular and rigid wall that grinds food along with weak stomach acids. 

Culture and History: They are wild spirits that have never had any type of true sovereignty but instead are a generally nomadic people. Indara generally don’t organize themselves into a traditional society with rigid rules and structure. If anything, kinship is not felt with biological family but more so with the like minded which explains their lack of centralization. Whether they reside on their travelling mountains or fleet from place to place, their values make it difficult to stay in one place for long. Some say that they are the oldest of the Deva which may be true considering the level of history they keep hidden in tomes and archives. Their history is one full of epic stories and music and they relish any chance to unearth more. It can be surmised that they are one of the oldest continually surviving civilizations from their strong oral tradition and historian habits. Their innate curiosity can manifest in different forms but is usually related to science, history, or art where an almost obsessive search occurs. However they are not just seekers of knowledge but also glory and sometimes even wealth in small minorities. Although material riches are not usually of great interest to Indara, when finding something they are especially attached to they can easily forgo their modesty. Among all the Deva they are those most likely to see humor and optimism in a situation with an almost whimsical nature. At the same time though, they also find it far too easy to detach themselves from those same situations. One of the greatest tools of the Indara is their practicality and ability to adapt to changing conditions which in part influences their relations, knowledge, and societal resources. Across their native lands, there are large compounds of schools that teach the young Indara until the age of travel when they then explore Tian and even Earth to attain a higher knowledge. Yet every year a festival is held to showcase and celebrate discovery on their floating islands. Because of their ways, most on their islands are the very young or old. However, couples who wish to raise children can be found there as well at least for a little while. The reproduction habits of Indara are unlike many other Deva, mostly because they are unable to give birth to many young very quickly. They have one child at a time and rarely have more and even then it is over a lengthy period of time. This is due to their cultural habits but also their biology as well. They are also the only Deva known to almost exclusively use artificial incubation when giving birth. As a result, many of the reproductive organs of both Indara sexes are underdeveloped and may result in a negative pregnancy or harm to a parent. This has the added effect of sex itself has lost some meaning over time, and Indara have developed other ways to express intimacy. Most of their society revolves around the accumulation of knowledge and results in a lot of Indara taking neutrality in foreign affairs. Because of their advanced technology and their lofty ideals their society is more socialist than most with things like education, medicine, and sometimes food being a free necessity for all in their cities. This frees up a lot of their time for other interests and work. Due to the level of travel afforded their race, Indara are generally social beings and can be found anywhere on the planet. The freedom imbued into their race makes Indara one of the most varied and complex of the races from their beliefs to their ideals. All the Indara are concerned with is exploration and experience, making them one of the most alien in their beliefs on Tian. Many are capricious in nature at least some of the time with their many adventures taking up entire lifetimes or momentary actions. This impetuous or foolish behavior is how many other Deva choose to categorize them whether it is true or not. The bathing culture of the Indara is quite intricate and they take it very seriously. Cleanliness is a virtue that they instill from an early age as many of their adventures take them to dirty places that could be rife with disease. Taking time out of their day to bathe is a sacred right that can be done alone or commonly with others. It also has deep meaning as if they wash away impurity seen as an important distinction in others. For this reason and many others, they have developed a natural camaraderie with people such as the Sujan, Lilin, and Annu. Their culture is reminiscent of the Hindus in art and history and areas such as India, Indonesia, and Nepal.

Clans: most clans are separated by their types of beaks and feathers with many having a staggering number of vibrant plumage and eye colorations. Because of the way Indara reproduce artificially, they have a warped sense of family compared to other Deva. It is normal for them to have a lack of biological relatives, even their parents may not be entirely known or present. It is not uncommon for them to find familial association with Indara or other Deva who are at best strangers. While many Indara grew up on the Floating Isles, a large portion have little to no affiliation with them primarily being voyagers who wander in fleets of ships. Ships like these are typically large enough to each house hundreds and offer passage to all walks of life. It is their vocation to travel and so they do it away from their homelands attempting to make it on their own. These fleets over time have developed their own culture and systems that allow them to thrive without ever touching solid ground. While they are inherently different from those of the floating isles, they try to maintain a healthy relationship with their kin. This is not always the case though and resentment or animosity is not unheard of. Because they typically lack the security and resources of the floating isles, many ships have resigned themselves to a life above the clouds. The fleets and even individual ships of these particular Indara are considered themselves separate ethno-linguistic groups, with outward appearances that differ wildly from those that hail from the homelands. This includes some that have taken to flying at a much higher rate than others and produce varying types of wingsuits to keep them aloft. These wingsuits are used to carry them between ships even on the inside of the structures. It their sole use of protection from malicious elements and creatures as well as a point of pride for many who are often considered poor in comparison. Other Indara who inhabit these fleets choose to take up residence entirely at sea, sometimes outfitting their ships for underwater exploration of the most remote regions on the planet. Outside of these habitats, Indara are among those most likely to ingratiate themselves into other societies and nations. The sheer number of different groupings they are involved with may outnumber any other Deva.

Architecture: Indara buildings can vary wildly but the oldest buildings and sites will usually be remarkably utilitarian with minimal art and design. They will have occasional small impressions but for the most part are dull in form. Newer buildings are definitely more influenced from other cultures or innovate architecture in some way. Most older buildings are uniform as well when it comes to ancient sites, though many have been retrofitted or upgraded with modern amenities. Many buildings even older ones are multistoried and feature wide walls and fortifications often made of clay or mud brick. Some of the largest are even carved straight from natural rock formations. This suggests their islands didn’t always float and required defense. Most all Indara houses feature tall ceilings for flight indoors, arched doorways, pointed dome shapes, and reliefs in stone and metal that depict stories of history. These are most prevalent when entering a building, particularly a home which will feature a type of monastery at the entrance. These are where descendants will pay homage to the past and either post new reliefs or adorn them with gifts and artifacts. Others even strangers are usually welcome to these areas to pray and learn of past ancestors or donate anything themselves as a memorial. The Indara are fond of symbolism and many sculptures and reliefs are said to represent other historical figures or events with the young and old alike still having to decipher their meaning. This creates stories and a well designed series of cities with monuments scattered across even their forests. Some of these monuments are simple huts meant to be temples or landmarks mapped by tall pillars in the ground. The age of many of these works is lengthy compared to any other civilization when taking into account precision, scale, and sheer amount of them. A common aesthetic are stepwells that feature a series of steps or stairs that descend into a pond or fountain. Although, even ancient things such as these incorporate modern technology like plumbing and electrical wiring underneath. The basis for Indara architecture is geometric at heart with parallel artistry and patterns throughout. Any newer buildings are probably made of polymers or noble metals and will be some of the more advanced due to them being primarily occupational workplaces or centers for their religion and study. These will indefinitely be modern in design as well as have amenities where expansive archives are present that attempt to record just about all they can. These are also communal areas that will typically feature dining halls, rest areas, merchants, and are where one might find transportation. These newer buildings are usually also government owned and operated. They are designed in an elliptical and circular way that evolved from their past art. Research areas are more privatized but only because of their potential danger in many relative ways. Most Indara buildings won’t feature actual doors and are very open concept likely due to their flight. Some even prefer multiple levels and layers only accessible through flying

Relationships With:

Surturi- Poor, although not directly on good terms, both groups stay out of each other’s way for they operate on different planes. Besides, Indara have no homes to conquer.

Lilin- - Fair, although both groups are quite different they still embrace certain similarities between their people like an appreciation for knowledge and freedom.

Prometheans- Fair, while they genuinely feel for the loss of the Prometheans they have also made little attempt at providing care and aid 

Cernians- Fair, the Cernians hold nothing against the Indara and respect their neutrality 

Sujin- Good, Sujin admire the passion for knowledge the Indara have and share much together as longtime allies

Anu- Fair, The extent of their relationship is mostly limited to exchanging technology and science between each other

Names: Horus, Zeus, Thor, Indra, Amun, Jupiter, Uranus, Iris, Enlil, Set, Xolotl, Raijin, Fujin, Pazuzu, Rudra, Vayu, Aten, Ra, Helios, Apollo, Hyperion, Theia, Surya, Amaterasu, Baldr, Thoth