Liir'aalu

Liir'aalu (leer-AH-loo) or Liir for short, scientific name Tibiacornus sapiens, are the principle indigenous sapient lifeform of planet H-915, aka Avuura. Quadrupedal and giraffe-like, they are most known for their primarily insectivorous diet, flutelike vocalizations, and intricate social structure.

Overview
Out of all the varied wildlife of Avuura, the liir'aalu are one of the most remarkable and well-documented, being highly social and intelligent insectivores who communicate with complex flute-song created via specialized hornlike nasal cavities atop bony jawless faces, with narrow pointed snouts to facilitate piercing the nests of the arboreal termite-like creatures they feed on. Of these traits their intelligence is the most noteworthy, understood as full sapience on par with baseline humanity. As a result, it’s not unheard of to see liir'aalu in the engineering and comms divisions of starships, with their keen hearing and acoustic capabilities making them well-suited for the latter.

liir'aalu weren't spacefaring before contact was made, said contact having been accidental as a result of the liir'aalu learning to identify the drones and trail cameras sent by scientists to study them. After this, it was deemed too late to avoid culture-altering contact and they were gradually introduced into galactic society of their own volition; they go wherever the song of the universe can be heard.

Subspecies
There are five known subspecies: Highland, lowland, wetland, badland, and Viaran.


 * Highland Liir, or liir'vo (leer-VOE), are found in higher-elevation mountainous regions and possess adaptations for colder environs, notably an abundance of spiny hairs and stocky builds standing at around 5-to-6 feet at the horn (which itself is taller and thicker than other subspecies with a more pronounced center hole). Their voices are also noticeably deeper and carry much farther owing to their horn structure.


 * Lowland Liir, or liir'laa (leer-LAH), are found in low-lying temperate forests and jungles and are the most well-represented outside of Avuura. Most Liir one might meet are of this type and stand at, on average, around 6-to-7 feet at the tip of the horn—this applies to other subspecies unless otherwise stated.
 * Wetland Liir, or liir'vaavu (leer-VAH-voo), are found in swamps, rivers, and coastal regions, and as such possess adaptations to better survive in these areas including broader weblike feet for swimming. Coloration leans more blue-green, with pronounced dark stripes in a jagged pattern to blend in with reeds and vegetation.
 * Badland Liir, or liir'haani (leer-HAH-nee), are found in arid desert and savanna regions with sparse tree cover. They possess darker skin, often dark reds and reddish purples, to better withstand direct sunlight, as well as larger ears and more pronounced throat wattles to dissipate heat via bloodflow. Like liir'vaavu, their feet are broad and paddle-like but possess tougher 'soles' to withstand hot sand and rock.


 * Viaran (vye-ARE-en), or dwarf liir, are a subspecies found on the supercontinent Viar. Smaller and adapted for the craggy foothills and caves found in their home range, they are known only from descriptions by liir'aalu who claim to have encountered them and from remotely-captured footage. Contact has not been made, though they are known to stand at around 4-to-5 feet.

Tribes
Highland Liir society is made up of numerous tribes; each of these is differentiated primarily by the area of Huaaia they occupy, and each is composed of small transient groups, or 'troops', of 30-50 individuals that often intermingle and travel vast distances within loosely-defined tribal territory, following wherever their primary food sources are found. These groups identify each others' tribal allegiance by a combination of factors including dialect, simple crafted jewelry, body paint, and subtle things like etiquette and behavioral quirks. They include:
 * Liir'ovaal (Leer-oh-VAHL), or "kin of the crater". They dwell within and around a massive extinct caldera near the southeast of the continent, connected to the plain on which Eos Outpost G02-A sits, and are distinguished by their use of the white ashen fungus found in the region as a sort of body paint.


 * Liir'yuura (Leer-YOU-ah), or "kin of the black sand". They inhabit the sparse desertlike regions deeper into Huaaia's interior. They are distinguished by their custom of covering themselves in dark sulfur-rich mud to protect from the hot sun, as the dense jungle/forest canopies that other liir'aalu rely on for shade are scarce. Species makeup of this tribe is predominantly liir'haani and whatever other species happens to intermingle.


 * Liir'iaana (leer-ee-AH-nuh), or "kin of the marsh". They inhabit the wetlands toward the southwest. They are distinguished by jewelry, or aana'luu (ah-nah-LOO), consisting of necklaces and head ornaments made up of dried plant fiber with smooth river stones interwoven; its creation is known to be a labor-intensive process requiring multiple individuals working in unison, as liir'aalu anatomy isn't suited for tool use or fine manipulation. This means that 'pure-made' (i.e without manipulator devices) aana'luu is incredibly valuable both among other liir tribes and offworld. Species makeup is primarily liir'vaavu and whatever other species happens to intermingle.
 * A recent offshoot of the Liir'iaana are the Liir'huul (leer-HOOL), or "kin of no intrusion", a hostile separatist group who have laid claim to a portion of land and shunned outsiders, especially those from offworld. Liir'huul are particularly adept at moving stealthily, coating themselves in mud and debris that camouflages them.
 * Liir'uwav (leer-oo-WAHV), or "kin of the deep jungle", found in particularly dense jungle and forests. They are known to produce a variation of aana'luu that incorporates flowers and strips of bark rather than smooth stones.
 * Liir'viaii (leer-vee-EYE), or "kin of the water". They're primarily found along the rivers and coasts, as well as on the numerous small islands close enough to reach by swimming or via low-tide land bridges. Though all liir'aalu are adept swimmers, liir'viaii are especially well-suited to it and are often found wading up to their horns, which can function as a snort of snorkle. Species makeup of this tribe is primarily liir'vaavu.
 * Liir'uuvil (leer-OO-vill), or "kin of the high places", which includes Highland liir and contingents of intermingling species.

Troops
The small groups of liir'aalu that compose the various tribes are known as Troops.


 * The average Lowland liir troop is lead by a matriarch, or the Huulu'laee (HOO-loo-lah-EE), at the top of the hierarchy; being sequentially hermaphroditic and entirely non-sexually dimorphic otherwise, conventional liir'aalu gender roles are fluid and are based on the individual's role in the group rather than sex. What she says goes.


 * Beneath the 'female' matriarch are a small group of 'male' partners, or Huulu'rii (HOO-loo-REE), whose duty is both to breed with the matriarch and each other (as well as huulu'yu, depending on the tribe) and serve as seconds-in-command over the rest of the group. They generally number between 10-15.
 * Beneath them are the 'neuters', or Huulu'yu (HOO-loo-YOU), who compose the majority of the troop. A huulu'yu may encounter many opportunities to earn a spot among the huulu'rii if they are chosen or perhaps even ascend to huulu'laee themselves. Huulu'yu are not allowed to breed with each other.

Some troops and tribes are stricter than others, though matriarchs are generally willing to accept sensible input from their subordinates. Insubordination, however, is often strictly punished given how dangerous life on Avuura can be for prey animals like the liir'aalu; the matriarch knows best and her primary duty is to protect and lead the group above all else. This troop structure is far looser for offworld liir'aalu, if not done away with entirely, though some groups stick to it rigidly. This adherence to tradition can result in the somewhat bizarre sight of a troop all working the same job while the matriarch Gordon Ramsays them as their bemused manager looks on.

Religion
Because of the importance liir'aalu physiology places on sound, their mythology and religions are centered around the belief that the universe is alive, and that ambient background noise is the universe singing to them, providing them information, warning them, and teaching those willing to listen. They call this Aluvaalo (ah-loo-VAH-low), or "song of the universe". This ambient noise can be anything from wind blowing through the trees, to insects chirping, to the engine hum aboard starships.

The liir refer to the creators of the Aarul'lo as the Halu'aavu (HAH-loo-ah-VOO), or "those from before". liir'aalu folklore posits them as still existing and walking among galactic society today; common are stories of mysterious transients being spotted on colony worlds and stations harboring liir, who weren't logged as arriving and vanish before they can be questioned.

Manners
liir'aalu, in a general cultural sense, are known to be exceedingly blunt, abhorring cattiness and seldom talking about people behind their backs. This is in part due to how much emphasis their language places on emotion, tone and direct communication and partly due to how keen their hearing is—nothing is said furtively in a close-knit troop where everyone is within earshot of everyone else. If one has an issue with another, they take it up with that individual.

This can often lead to the spectacle of liir'aalu hecklers; blaring loud, sustained notes with the goal of drowning out the offending performance, be it musical, comedic, or dramatic. Even speeches and announcements aren't safe if the message or subject matter is found to be particularly distasteful, though many liir'aalu find this a tad uncouth.

Anatomy
Liir'aalu are delicately-built long-necked quadrupeds standing on hooflike feet, with large ears and jawless beaked faces topped by a set of three horns (four in Viaran), the largest of which sits in the middle, with the smallest behind it and between the ears, and the second-smallest on the bridge of the snout; just beneath these horns are four eyes, rearmost set being larger, giving them a near 300-degree range of vison somewhat restricted by the ears and shape of the skull. Their necks are prehensile, capable of reaching down to the ground, curving around obstructions, and interlocking with others in courtship displays.

Coloration varies as much as that of the plant life with which they often seek to blend in, ranging from muted blues to pinks, all the way to pale greens and reddish browns depending on the individual, but largely consistent are pale faces, bold stripes across the body and neck, and dark sock-like patterns up the legs. Highland liir'aalu are known to be far more muted in color, some appearing near-totally grey with bands of white.

Tongues
liir'aalu tongues are long, sticky and prehensile, aiding them in acquiring common food sources like sap and nectar, as well as probing deep into Iyuua nests. They are also used to clean the nostrils, eyes, ears, and horn orifices in a way not unlike that of earth okapi and giraffes.

Feet
More akin to flexible-but-tough suction cup-like pads than hooves, liir'aalu feet are well-suited for their rocky home range, especially that of Highland liir. Volcanic sand is a common feature as well and the pads likewise assist in traversing it by splaying out slightly not unlike a camel's hoof; this acts like a snowshoe and prevents the individual from sinking.

Diet
Liir'aalu diet is composed of a combination of sap, nectar, fruit, and various species of small termite-like invertebrates known collectively as "treemites", or Iyuua (eye-YOU-uh); acquisition of these food sources is facilitated in part by their bony beak-like snouts that they use to pierce bark and nests. Many species of Iyuua are capable of delivering venomous stings, bites, and secreting noxious chemicals to deter predators; this means that liir are well-adapted to tolerate irritants like capsaicin and citric acids and are even attracted to them.

Liir'aalu also have a fondness for offworld sugary drinks, but especially soda; carbonation emulates the tingle produced by the aforementioned Iyuua. That said, it's not particularly good for them, lacking the proportion of sugars and other compounds found in the aforementioned food sources, and is thus seen as something of a questionable indulgence just as it is among offworld species. Some believe it to be an intoxicant and behave as such after drinking significant amounts, likely as a psychosomatic placebo response as a result of confusing it with carbonated alcoholic beverages (of which liir'aalu may also be quite fond, but are heavily discouraged from partaking in, as alcohol is far more toxic to them). This, of course, could also be actual drunkenness as a result of some quirk of liir'aalu biology, but knowledge on the matter is murky.

Liir'aalu who dabble in Earth cuisine are fond of artificial banana flavoring, and are often disappointed to discover that the real thing tastes nothing like it.

Generally speaking, certain confectionaries are favored among Earth cuisine connoisseurs, in particular lollipops, because licking is their primary method of experiencing food and the motion comes reasonably natural to them once they get past the 'but it's solid' part. Others include tamarind paste and chamoy sauce, the tangier the better, as well as the aforementioned soda. Lack of teeth and a biology that's well-suited to processing large amounts of sugar only bolsters their fondness for sweet things, though care should still be taken in consuming adequate nutrients, as sweets often lack them.

Senses
Though functionally adequate, eyesight is a secondary sense to liir'aalu, and they instead rely heavily on a combination of scent, taste and hearing to maintain a bearing on their surroundings, find food, communicate, keep track of other liir'aalu, and detect threats. It's because of this that dead silence can be disorienting and, because of its implications in their natural environment, massively unnerving for them to the point of inducing paranoia and stress-induced hallucinations if it persists for long enough.

This fear of silence is partly instinctual and partly cultural; an everpresent threat in liir'aalu folklore is the Aralu'un (ah-RAH-loo-un), or 'silent death', their term for volcanic gas seepage that accumulates in low-lying areas and kills anything that lingers. Places where this has occurred are eerily silent and those caught unaware have little warning before the effects begin to take hold. liir'aalu tend to have a cultural fear of low-lying hotsprings for this reason, and your liir'aalu friends might thus take some convincing before they go to the bathhouse with you.

This instinctual preference for sound and fear of silence manifests in another, more comforting form as noted under Religion.

Growth and Development
The average liir'aalu lifespan on Avuura is around 50-to-60 earth years, and 70-to-90 offworld, with outliers not unheard of. In spite of this fairly slow aging, liir'aalu early development is rapid; young are live-birth (known as calves), able to stand and walk within the hour, and run not long after. Vocalizations are unfocused gibberish, not unlike the babble of human babies, for up to two weeks, after which they begin to speak and articulate properly with the help of their family group. Growth afterward slows somewhat, with physical and reproductive maturity reached (and first sex chosen - liir'aalu are sequentially hermaphroditic) at around 8 years, though individuals aren't considered 'adult' until 12, which is when the customary rites of passage are undertaken.

Nervous System
Liir'aalu possess a bifurcated brain structure, both closely connected by a robust nerve-dense spinal cord. It is often said that they have two brains but this isn't quite accurate, as both work in concert and are responsible for different functions. The uppermost section rests within the skull and is highly neuron-dense, being responsible for memory, speech, and higher functions, while the lowermost smaller section sits within the body between the shoulder blades and dictates motor functions, equilibrium, and muscle coordination. This brain structure coupled with highly adaptable neural composition allows liir'aalu to survive trauma that would render many other species paralyzed or braindead, even the loss of most of one section, as both can regulate organ function. This also renders them near-totally immune to functional Dendrox possession.

All that said, this did present somewhat of a challenge for early offworld liir'aalu, as the usual procedure for neural interface installation was inadequate and had to be heavily adapted for their nervous systems moreso than most species. As a result of this, liir-fitted Class III neural interface jacks are typically also placed in the torso, where the motor functions are, as well as the skull.

Aravaal
Aravaal (ah-RAH-vahl), or "the wheezing pain", is a liir'aalu disease that primarily attacks the upper-respiratory system and is known to cause permanent damage in those who survive, who are known as arava (ah-RAH-vuh), or "the silenced", for their inability to properly sing as other liir'aalu do. Though arava are cared for to the absolute best of the group's ability, they are often seen with a degree of pity and an odd sense of 'loss' even with advents in technology that allow them to sing again, a perception that affects even those who survive largely unscathed.

Although effective treatments have became readily available with the introduction of space travel and better medical technology, a reliable vaccine (and cure) has only recently been found, and thus arava are a semi-common sight among offworld liir'aalu. Oftentimes, out of a desire to be treated 'normally', they may disassociate themselves from other liir'aalu and interact exclusively with alien species who do not carry the associated cultural baggage.

It doesn't help that symptoms may persist for years afterwards, such that victims are oftentimes said to never fully recover—in severe cases, neurological damage is known to occur and may result in forgetfulness, mood swings, issues with fine motor control, and seizures. These can be managed with medication, though the true effects are still poorly understood.

Song
Liir vocalizations, known as "Liiraala" (leer-ALL-uh), are one of their most distinctive features and are produced by a complex series of airways and muscular valves throughout their skulls and frontmost two horns that precisely control the flow of air, producing a layered sound resembling that of two wind instruments (specifically flutes or ocarinas) played in tandem. This layered sound is the result of a bifurcated airway, with each half controlled entirely independently down to the lungs.

The external orifices for these valves through which air is pumped face backwards—the reason for this is unknown, but likely possibilities include providing a degree of protection from biting treemites as well as amplifying their song to those behind them, given that liir'aalu travel in groups.

The ears are also a crucial part of Liiraala, with their dishlike shape and position serving to reflect sound waves leaving the fluteholes and adjust how they travel.

Language
Luvaala (loo-VAHL-uh), roughly translating to "song of common kin", is the primary language spoken by lowland liir, and due to their society being made up of traveling groups that frequently meet and intermingle amongst each other, often covering hundreds of miles in their travels, it is the 'parent' of all Huaaian liir language and consists of many dialects and variations with clear connecting threads. One such variant, Luvaala'val (loo-VAHL-uh-VAL), "song of kin among the stars", is spoken by offworlders and is the one that non-liir are most likely to encounter. The Luvaala general term for liir vocalizations is Liiraala (leer-ALL-uh), roughly translating to "song of all our kin".

A heavily-derived variant known as Luvaala'vo (loo-VAHL-uh-VOH), "song of high kin" is spoken by highland liir as well as more secretive offworld liir who may not want themselves as readily understood by those familiar with Luvaala.

Structure
Liir language, as one might surmise from its 'layered' sound, makes heavy use of the liir's split airways in a way that makes it difficult to imitate for laryngeal species with wind instruments, despite what one might expect from its flutelike sound. The average Luvaala 'sentence' is effectively two songs sung at once; one side conveys basic information:"'The man went down to the beach and met a woman selling shells'"The other conveys descriptors, fine details, emotions, and general tone:"'Bitter, old, sandy, happy, colorful.'"Combined, they form a cohesive sentence:"'The bitter old man went down to the sandy beach and met a happy woman selling colorful shells.'"This is a highly simplistic explanation but more-or-less conveys the gist. What side does what is largely inconsequential, and is equivalent to handedness in humans. Skilled poets may often change sides for dramatic effect (which might be lost on non-liir). Skilled liir can use this to convey a lot of information very quickly, and a good example of this is a liir alarm call: what might sound at first like an abrupt, panicked set of shrill notes is in actuality describing the threat itself, its location, and if the liir is injured."'Accident, over here, I am not injured / a gasket blew, there is steam.'"

Obscenity
Liir language does not have obscenities, as such, but has many things that it is very rude to call someone or say in polite company. One particularly biting remark among more traditionalist types is the insinuation that your target was born from a dalliance between huulu'yu. This is roughly equivalent to "you are a bastard", or more literally, "your parents have no gender". This, as an insult, makes very little sense without cultural context but is also reliably infuriating among its intended targets, making it a favorite among more progressive liir who wish to 'troll' often-insular traditionalists.

(No transliteration of this is available, as it is fairly lengthy and there are numerous ways to say it in liir language)

Names
Liir personal names are linguistically unique in that they don't have direct translations, but they are far from meaningless; every name is itself a short tune that evokes its bearer in some way, representing some feeling or emotion associated with them. Basically, a name's meaning is its owner. A Liir known for being sharp or brusk may have a short, abrupt name. One known for being happy and upbeat would have a chipper tune, while a poet-singer may have a long, rhythmic one. Transliteration seldom preserves any of this, and some automated translators stumble over them as a result. A Liir's name may even change over the course of their lives as they grow and mature with life experience, and may often be chosen by the individual themselves according to their own self-image.

The Arts
Liir poetry, storytelling, and music are seen as one in the same, to the extent that Liir language makes no meaningful distinction between the concepts; Ah'luvaa (AH-loo-VAH) refers to all three and has no adequate English equivalent, closest being "a song passed down", as these song-poem-stories often are passed down through generations. Offworld liir often take a liking to non-liir stories, songs, and poems, translating them into ah'luvaa form. One popular subject of this is, inexplicably, "Houses In Motion" by the Earth band Talking Heads.