Tilaari | Lore (Patreon)

One of the first known species to inhabit Seleota were the mysterious Tilaari. Intelligent and focused, for centuries this reclusive species has lived in peace on their home planet of Tilaarin, seldom involving themselves in the affairs of the System outside their planet, especially in more recent times.

The largest planet in the system, boasting a surface area of nearly three times larger than Goldis, Tilaarin is an idyllic expanse of lush, green vegetation and crystal waters. The Tilaari make their homes in enormous silver spires, connected by sky-ways high in the clouds, used for travel so the surface of their beautiful planet may remain pristine, as is their nature to covet.

Inside these spires one would find homes, schools, hospitals and much more, all catered towards the species desire and need for a high quality of life and contributing towards their flawless social and economic development. The people of Tilaarin grow up privileged, striving to become medics, teachers, and politicians, many of them unaware of the brutal reality that lays just beyond their planet.

Governed by the Council of Eons, the Tilaari have kept their home world pure for more than a millennium, each member of the planet dedicated to improving their society, and any malcontent efficiently managed. While immigration is prohibited to the planet, for many years Tilaarin has welcomed visitors and those seeking aid, to their home, only in most recent times closing off further and further from the growing disquiet sweeping the System, threatening their very way of life... 

Tilaari have an extended lifespan of 200-250 years, longer than any other beings in the System, save the reptilian Arcnos. They are a thriving population, second only in number to the Humans of Seleota.

The defining feature of the Tilaari is their iridescent skin tones, so lustrous that they almost seem to glimmer in the light. Ancient Tilaari legends suggest the species borrow the light from their holy moons, a gift from the Prime Goddess to strengthen their bond, and that is why they glow in such a way.

However, modern science would argue it is simply the make up of fine, microscopic structures within the Tilaari's skin that gives it such a color. What is harder to explain is the way the luminescence shifts with the species emotions, how it pulses with their anger or dulls completely with their melancholy.

The Tilaari of today are quite different from those of the past, and the Temple of Iachaol on Tilaarin's largest moon, Netaa, is a lasting reminder of the species devout history, and those who still hold faith with their Prime Goddess, Tu'lira, even today.

Many Tilaari in the past were known for their piousness, taking decade long pilgrimages to the nearest planets and neighboring systems, offering aid to those in need and hoping to be enlightened by their Prime Goddess along the way. Today, locked in their detachment from the world, the Tilaari focus their gifts in other ways, making incredible advances in medicine and engineering.

Seen by the other inhabitants of Seleota as aloof and narcissistic, the few Tilaari who desert their home and travel the planets are often the target of  blame and defamation. What the System doesn't know is that the once generous Tilaari, up in their high towers, may not be all they seem...