Cirque Condensed
Information presented here is subject to change and should be considered an active work in progress. The Cirque is like a living world; our understanding and perception of it changes over time.
"The Cirque is one universe split into two, connected by the enigmatic dimension called 'the veil'. There in it's ring lives incorporeal beings given form, the children of dreaming primordial biomechanical supercomputers, and the many other curious beings who call the Cirque their home."
The main project I spend most of my time working on is the documentation of our main 'headworld': the Cirque. It is the history of two connected universes. It vaguely falls into the category of science fantasy.
The Cirque (Ameneyates and Vossilor) is a deeply personal 'project' of ours and as such is not available for free use in the art and writing of others. This guide merely serves as a primer for those interested in the world we ramble about.
Terminology
Note: these are approximate translations and interpretations*
The Spacing Union - Anthropogenic; comprised of several megacorporations, the Spacing Union claims to act as mankind's greatest advocate in the Multiverse. In reality, TSU exists to serve the interest of it's board who wish to colonize and expand their influence throughout the multiverse.
Vitruvian - Pvailian; one who specializes in metaphysical/'occult' biology (theoretical and/or practical). Equivalent to a Doctor in some cases.
The Cirque
The Cirque (Circle, pronounced ‘serk’) is what the Cirquiens (pronounced serkiens) call their home. The Cirque is one universe split into two, connected by the enigmatic dimension called 'the veil'. There in it's ring lives incorporeal beings given form, the children of dreaming primordial biomechanical supercomputers, and the many other curious beings who call the Cirque their home.
Ameneyates
Ameneyates is one half of the Cirque and home to the Ameneyat. The magical forces found in Ameneyates are powerful and have provided the basis of the Ameneyat's societies.
Ameneyates itself is a complete universe, consisting of countless galaxies and several alternate planes connected to it. The Ameneyat have developed their own methods of interplanetary travel and have established a solar relay system, similar to a space highway, to facilitate travel between major hubs in Ameneyates.
The Ameneyat lived in relative peace until the end of the Era of Pale Græy, when outside forces entered Cirque and shifted the balance of power in their favor, sparking two long wars which ravaged Ameneyates.
Vossilor
Vossilor is the other half of the Cirque and home to the Vossi. Long ago the Vossi made an agreement with the Spacing Union to allow for humans to enter Vossilor and settle there as long as humans respected the Vossi and the powers that be, but the Spacing Union quickly failed to uphold their part of the agreement.
The Spacing Union (TSU) pushed the balance of forces in Vossilor to the tipping point, which gave the Vossi a chance to push TSU out of Vossilor for good. While some remnants of TSU linger in Vossilor, the Vossi have reclaimed their proper place in the Cirque once again.
The Veil
The Veil divides the Cirque into Ameneyates and Vossilor. It is a metaphysical barrier that can be crossed and for a long time it was dangerous to do so without a navigator specifically trained in traversing the Veil due to the it's liminal and chaotic nature. It wasn't until after the Era of Decay that the technology to reliably and safely cross the veil became more common again (for a long time it was kept obscure from outlanders).
The Vaast Darkness
The Vaast Darkness is the void that surrounds the cirque, somewhat of a liminal space and can lead to other known and unknown universes.
The P[at]h and the Frontier
The P[at]h (often stylized as "The P@th") is the liminal sapient dimension created by the Makers in the era of pale graey. Originally intended to be a dimension where Shimmera could be truly be immortal instead of reincarnating after each life, instead it became sapient after being exposed to the raw essei of it's maker creators (at least, this is what shimmerain scholars theorize).
The Frontier is a sapient dimension living within the Vaast Darkness. It has a soft spot for the Faeng Shimmera, who originally took them in after fleeing from the Maker's wrath. It manifests itself as a hallucination of a wild dog with 8 eyes, it uses this manifestation to interact with reality and meddle in the affairs of the Cirque in it's own interest.
Ameneyatii
Ameneyatii are the elves and fae who long ago made a pact together and have since considered themselves one race of beings with two different sets of biology. The elves, called Amentae, originate from Ameneyates and are known for their reverence for nature and their mastery over genetic engineering. The fae, called El'Yahtae by the Amentae, are the last of their kind in the Cirque and are known for their noble demeanor and vast knowledge of magics and warfare.
High Dragons
High Dragons are sapient dragons that experience time non-linearly native to Ameneyates. A reclusive yet proud people, known for their powerful magic and deep esoteric and occult knowledge. It is worth noting that the High Dragons are of an entirely different species from the wild dragons and "Primordial Evils" of the Cirque, being that they are hybrids but closer to magical (Primordial Evils) beings than biological (Wild Dragons) ones.
Humans
Humans are not native to the Cirque. The minority of the human population that visit the Cirque end up living there permanently. These humans live relatively peacefully with the Vossi and Ameneyat and become post-humans due to mutual cultural exchanges.
Shimmera
Shimmera are dualistic entities from Ameneyates. In their natural state they are non-physical entities but form physical bodies in order to interact with the physical world. They take on the appearance of vague animal humanoids, similar to what humans call "furries". They are highly technically advanced and are capable of using a variety of potent magic, being the first large civilization on Ameneyates. They are rumored to have existed even before the formation of Ameneyates itself, in the previous world.
Pharmia
Pharmia are biomechanical beings that are native to the Vaast Darkness and subsequently Vossilor. They are vaguely humanoid in form and tower over the other people of the Cirque, aside from the High Dragons. They are an eccentric and reserved people, their culture is unlike human culture and rarely share it outside of trusted individuals. Despite this, they are incredibly hospitable towards non-pharmia granted that kindness is reciprocated.
Other
Shimmera
Shimmera are dualistic entities from Ameneyates. In their natural state they are non-physical entities but form physical bodies in order to interact with the physical world. They take on the appearance of vague animal humanoids, similar to what humans call "furries". They are highly technically advanced and are capable of using a variety of potent magic, being the first large civilization on Ameneyates. They are rumored to have existed even before the formation of Ameneyates itself, in the previous world.
Biology
Shimmera are as diverse as far as actual animals are, which makes pinning down set biology difficult. There are set characteristics that all Shimmera have, however, if it's not explicitly stated you may assume it varies between individuals.
Liminal Existance
Shimmera at their most natural state are beings of pure consciousness, they have no physical form and manifest as a cloud of mist. This mist is called Essei, and it is a byproduct of the Shimmera mere presence and is produced passively. Shimmera form physical bodies out of their Essei, called pelts, by condensing their Essei.
If a Shimmera is stripped of their Essei they cease to exist in the physical world, eventually without Essei the Shimmera will fade out of consciousness and 'die'.
Pelts
Shimmera call the outer layer of their physical body 'pelts' since it carries their appearance along with their essence as an indiviual. A Shimmera’s pelt is made from their Essei in a very condensed form making up their blood, muscles, organs, etc.
Pelts can be reformed if destroyed though it leaves the Shimmera in a vulnerable state. Shimmera are capable of leaving their pelt via astral projection.
Shimmera do have some degree of control over how their physical body manifests.
Life Cycle
Shimmera are immortal granted they are allowed to reincarnate, a natural process where the shimmera regenerates their essei from scratch once their pelt is destroyed or killed.
Shimmera cannot reproduce directly, but rather new shimmera are formed from the remains of dead shimmera so certain aspects are inherited from shimmera who have passed on.
Culture
The Makers
The Makers are an extremely powerful group of Shimmera said to be direct descendants from those who came before. They used to run Shimmerain society but now they only have cultural and social power among the banded.
The Bands
After the Makers defeat at the hands of Ilo and the Faeng packs during the liberation of the P[at]h, there was a schism within the Makers and the upper castes causing them to reform their packs into Bands.
Banded Shimmera follow the ideals set by the Makers (how strictly depends on the Band in question) and generally descend from the original Maker families and surviving upper caste families.
The Faeng
Faeng Shimmera used to make up the lower castes of Shimmerain society up until the Maker's war, in which they managed to escape the Maker's grasp and eventually settle down in the Frontier. They no longer associate with the Makers and their bands, instead they seek out the company of other Ameneyat and Vossi. They live in Paqus (Packs, the Shimmera's original societal structure before the Makers influence).
Long ago the makers saw pretty much everyone else as a means to an end, including their non-maker kin in the bands. When the P(at)h turned out to be sapient and the makers treated it like everyone else the faeng started to fight back against the makers since the P(at)h love the Shimmera and protects them during their most vulnerable phase in their life cycle.
Pharmia
Pharmia are biomechanical beings that are native to the Vaast Darkness and subsequently Vossilor. They are vaguely humanoid in form and tower over the other people of the Cirque. They are believed to be a highly advanced people, even so far as to be able to warp reality and terraform entire planets and ecosystems, but rarely if ever demonstrate their technologies or abilities.
Pharmia are an eccentric and reserved people, their culture is unlike human culture and rarely share it outside of trusted individuals. Despite this, they are incredibly hospitable towards non-pharmia granted that kindness is reciprocated.
Biology
(General overview of their biology goes here; re-write pending...)
Work In Progress...
Sub-races
Pharmakose are generally regarded as being the closest to being humanoid a Pharmia can get, and easily blends in with non-pharmia with minimal shape shifting. They are the most common sub-race.
Ealter are the original species of pharmia. They are heavily armored compared to the other two sub-species and are often much larger in stature. Ealter are more suited to a life out in outer space or low to no oxygen and zero gravity settings. Modern Ealter tend to be more nomadic and live on their own rather than join a commune.
Life cycle
Pharmia are technically 'Immortal', and live very long lives. Pharmia only die when they lose all will to live, which may occur when enough physical or mental stress is inflicted on them.
Diet
Pharmia eat a diet mainly consisting of meat. They cannot properly digest plant matter and their bodies reject it if eaten in large quantities. Most pharmia can stomach plant matter if eaten with other foodstuff or with probiotics (like lactaid for lactose intolerant humans).
Metals and certain minerals can also consumed as a replacement for meat as it was what their ancestors ate, though it's not preferred. Ealter pharmia are known to tear apart and devour entire spaceships if provoked.
Food is eaten through their tongue, which is very prehensile and has an opening at the tip which can expand to allow for larger pieces of food to be eaten.
History
"I talked about it a bit on the blog but Pharmia first appeared in primordial Vossilor and were the first civilization to develop there. The planets that they settled down on have very thin atmospheres, allowing for the emergence of the Pharmakose who are adapted to atmospheric living. Ealter could still live in such conditions but the adaption process was stressful and caused long term health issues in some. Eventually after generations of atmospheric living Ealter could live without any painful adaption periods.
Pharmia would eventually begin to notice that their [non-pharmia] visitors struggled in the thin atmospheres with little oxygen and started to carefully terraform the planets they inhabited since by then a majority of the pvailian population had adapted to atmospheric living. All of the silicon based life on these planets made the transition much like the Pharmia did to the new oxygenated atmosphere due to the Pharmia’s meticulous planning and testing, making sure parts of the planet remained without or with low levels of oxygen (both for the floral/fauna and for themselves). With the addition of oxygen and carbon, carbon based life was introduced into the ecosystem by the Pharmia and Shimmera (by this time the Imaiga had successfully made contact with the Pharmia) under careful observation."
Work In Progress...
Syntheix
The original Syntheix were synthetic bodies originally developed by shimmera in collaboration with pharmia as a means to facilitate their cycle of life in Vossilor (regeneration of Essei and Pelts). Modern syntheix can be used by humans since they've 'appropriated' the technology but the majority of and intended users are Shimmera who live and work in Vossilor. Syntheix tend to look like normal shimmera, which are already pretty funky looking anthros, but some users have more extravagant looks to their form.
Syntheix bodies are composed of synthetic organic materials and minor mechanical augments.
Syntheix can be used by Shimmera as replacement for their physical form, Pharmia via proxying, Splice based AI, and humans (literal fursuit, the nervous system and brain is intergrated into the syntheix body).
Designer Syntheix may include fictional species from human culture, what ever the owner desires it can usually be made into a designer Syntheix.
Traditional syntheix are difficult to differentiate from a shimmera's natural pelt/physical form in appearance (Elysian).
Moda Syntheix tend to draw more from Vossilor's silicon based life (Null Theta) and are exclusive to the Imaiga shimmera who live on Vossilor.