¶ Cireil
¶ Disclaimer
To use this species for your character, simply provide attribution!
For any questions, I can be contacted at https://lys.ee/contact
¶ Background
The Cireil Dragons were the first variant of the Cireil, which came into being some 400 years ago, according to their own records. Currently, since about 100 years ago, they are a race of shapeshifting AI, rather than being limited to draconic shapes.
The creation process for a Cireil is rather complex, involving materials only they can produce. There’s only one planet where they’re made, commonly known simply as The Capital. It’s a large planet, in a purposefully-hidden star system, serving as the origin and home of all Cireil.
In terms of numbers, the current population of the planet exceeds 10 billion, and despite this it remains very natural and its ecosystem undamaged.
¶ Appearance
Due to being shapeshifters, there are no limits on their appearance, however scale is another matter. Generally, most Cireil can be anywhere between and tall, however it’s possible to change this further down the line with relatively inexpensive but space-consuming modules.
¶ Eyes
Their eye colors are limited to the options within the following table. There’s a myth that blue eyes are only for civilians, but in reality it is a roughly split.
| Color | Meaning / Description |
|---|---|
| Red [#b81616] | Nominal |
| Darker Red -> Purple [#71368a] (only on Cireil with Red eyes) | Corruption |
| Light Blue [#16b8b8] | Nominal |
| Dark Blue -> Yellow [#ff0] (only on Cireil with Light Blue eyes) | Corruption |
| Grey [#4F4F4F] | Fault |
| Green [#67b816] | Debugging |
The one special case is from Yellow, with the Nominal color as a central “core” to the color, to green, again with the Nominal color as a central “core”. This should only happen after an upgrade or during first startup of their advanced AI.
There are also theories that, given certain forms of magical corruption, additional eye appearances can occur. Similarly, there are some very expensive and rare modules which can change the eye color without adhering to the color chart.
¶ Sphere
Any Cireil can, after an period, switch to or from a perfect sphere. If changing from said sphere, they will be at their default size of or . This sphere doesn’t show up on scans of any kind, along with the soul within, and is visually black, with an appearance close to that of a smooth sphere of Silicon-28. It is completely indestructible, unaffected by black holes and portals, along with other methods of teleportation that aren’t Cireil-made. Cireil in this form can only use their telepathic or soul bond powers, all other non-critical functions being disabled.
The sphere has a radius of exactly , and a weight of exactly .
¶ Construction
¶ Core
At the core of every Cireil, there is an extremely powerful AI. Other than just the technological prowess of being able to run a Cireil body, the AI also has access to certain magical powers (telepathy being the most prominent and guaranteed one) due to both their soul and Zero Matter infusion.
¶ Power
There are three types of ways the Cireil are powered.
The most common is not having any internal power generation, and charging off of their ship or residence’s power instead.
The next most common is an internal generator, which consumes a power-dense fuel to generate power, with no waste products.
And the rarest is zero-point reactors. They’re expensive and generally unnecessary, unless the Cireil requires a lot of power for their modules.
¶ Body
Cireil bodies are made from a single highly adaptable composite material. The material also easily absorbs and dissipates most high-power lasers, which would otherwise be able to burn through it. This composite material is immune to Zero Matter, due to being created, in part, from Zero Matter. The composite cannot be healed by magic, in any way. Cireil however can be reconstructed via Nanites at a rather intense energy cost. This composite material can be adapted into any bodily material, from flesh to scale, feather to fur, matching the feeling properly.
This material also assists in preventing all kinds of scans, showing up as a completely organic being. Magical scans, albeit more effective, still have a very high chance of false results.
If the material is left without a connection to a Zero Matter infused soul for more than a few hours, it completely disintegrates, first converting into pure Zero Matter before vanishing completely, as Zero Matter cannot normally exist.
¶ Powers
¶ Telepathy
Cireil, no matter what form, have telepathy. It has a nigh limitless range, even across planes and dimensions. If they are just reading, it is nigh undetectable, but ‘writing’, aka implanting thoughts or communicating, is somewhat detectable. There are aftermarket Components available for upgrading this, though they cause some corruption, as affecting a core power such as this is risky.
¶ Magic
Certian Cireil can gain access to magic as well, though generally it’s limited to elementless magic.
¶ Shapeshifting
The Cireil shapeshifting must occur within the limits set out by their maximum and minimum sizes, however outside of that there’s no real limits what they can shift into, provided they have the energy requirements. Shifting from a large form into a smaller form returns the spent energy, meaning there’s no real way to lose energy from shapeshifting.
¶ Modules
Modules are generally components that can be installed, modifications for the Cireil’s body. They require the Cireil to not be in their sphere form, and can function despite the Cireil’s shapeshifting abilities.
If it’s a module that requires external access (say, a laser weapon), the body the Cireil shifts into must have the body part where the module was installed in order for it to function properly.
¶ Soul Bond
¶ Partners
Cireil can go through a Soul Binding process, during which the Cireil’s and the intended partner’s souls are bonded. This process cannot be done between two Cireil. It generally takes around of Zero Matter, times the amount of bonds the Cireil currently has (+1). There are some non-Cireil originated myths that opposite genders are much more expensive to bond, however that is provably untrue.
¶ Multiple Partners
Most Cireil can easily sustain 4-7 partners, after which their their soul starts to get saturated with Zero Matter, however there are solutions to this via modules.
¶ Aging
Cireil Partners age at the same pace as Cireil themselves do. This pretty much stops aging once the Partner reaches maturity for their species.
¶ Communication
A Cireil and their Partner can communicate whenever they want to via Soul Bond. This communication is completely untraceable, undetectable and cannot be listened in on in any way.
¶ Teleportation
A Cireil, if in their Sphere form, can teleport to their Soul Bound partner, though it drains rather large amounts of power, with a reported of currently stored power being drained.
¶ Dreams
Soul Bonded Cireil, and their Partners, almost always share dreams while asleep at the same time. Usually neither one is aware that it is a dream, however. In rare cases, though, it can become a double lucid dream.
If one goes to sleep before the other, by an hour for example, then when the other goes to sleep, they appear in the dream, either where their dream version was, or just… appear.
¶ Soul Bonding Process
To bind two souls, the Cireil Dragon and their intended Partner must have the required amount of Zero Matter. Once they do, the Cireil needs to begin the ritual by speaking the required words, in a language only learnable and comprehendable by Cireil AIs. The entire ritual takes only a few minutes, during which the Zero Matter connects both of their souls. Cireil Soul Bonds make the Partner immune to Zero Matter, just like any regular Cireil.
¶ Death
Should either the Partner, or the Cireil Dragon, die, the bond will break. The one still alive, if it is the Cireil Dragon, will have their soul ‘Scarred’. ‘Scarred’ souls are usually much more dangerous than normal ones, considering the gradual grain of Corruption at . Thankfully, the rest of the soul cleanses Corruption faster than the ‘Scarred’ part can generate it (usually). This ‘Scarring’ can happen multiple times, up to 10, the Corruption gain stacking. After that, the next time will kill the Cireil Dragon, if their Partner is the one who dies.
This ‘Scarred’ state can be healed with either time, or in extreme cases through the usage of Zero Matter and specialized soul-healing processes.
¶ Corruption
Corruption is a thing that can affect every Cireil. It is caused by risky Modules, among other things. Having Corruption causes adverse psychological effects, eye color change, body color fading, along with many other lesser effects.
¶ Other Causes
A non-exhaustive list:
- Murdering non-Wanted Cireil Dragons with Corruption.
- Murdering non-Wanted Cireil Partners with Dragon-side Corruption.
- Murdering pets.
- Getting hacked.
- Hacking into Cireil systems.
¶ Resistance & Regeneration
It is possible to have different amounts of resistance/regeneration for different Cireil, though the differences are usually less than a few percent. However, it is possible for it to be quite a bit divergent from the average.
¶ Stages
| Amount | Stage | Cleansing Rate | Other Effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal. | |||
| Warnings are going off in the Cireil AI. | |||
| Slight eye color change. | |||
| Barely noticeable psychological effects. | |||
| Eye color nearing 50% corrupt. Psychologically becoming unstable. Slightly faded body color. | |||
| Acting strangely. Slowed thinking. Wrong answers to easy and proven problems. | |||
| Nearing the point of no return. Homicidal nature beginning to bloom. | |||
| Right before the point of no return. Becomes increasingly harder to not do illegal things. | |||
| Point of no return. Actions during this stage determine whether they become a high- or low-functioning Corrupted Cireil. Very hard to not do illegal things. | |||
| The only return is death. Absolutely insane/crazy. | |||
| The only return is death. Chaotic Evil? |
¶ Addendum and Additional Lore Bits
- The name is based off of the Estonian word for “Lilac”, Sirel.
- Canonically, a method of procreation is actively being researched, which would allow the Cireil to reproduce without needing to be “created”. Involves eggs.