The Miriel (Patreon)

Its been a while since I've posted any world building notes or been on track with early releases. and that is on me. Unfortunately I've been suffering from a bad episode with my mental health along with are challenging return to my work, but I'm working through it. The chapters will still take some time but I think some information on one of the rarer races in the west. 

The Miriel evolved far to the east in a mountainous region of the far eastern continent of Akani. As such the adapted to survival in extremely cold mountain climate. However, they didn't adapt in ways that you might expect. For example, instead of developing higher concentrations of melanin to deal with the reflected sunlight, they developed a reflective pigment that is silvery in colour. This also extends to their hair which tends to be silver with a touch of pastel. 

This pigment adaptation helped considerably with their ability to hunt in the snowy mountains of their homeland. There is, however, one part of their body with notably darker pigmentation and that is the area around their eyes, much which helps absorb some of the reflected light. Furthermore, they have polarised lenses that work much like polarised sunglasses do. 

It is, however, the last trait of the Miriel is what makes them truly unique among the humanoid races is the fluidity of their biological sex. This trait manifests through several means. The first of these is most apparent in childhood as they don't start developing any sex organs or characteristics until puberty. During puberty they start changing to match with their developing identity. For most individuals they tend towards being wholly male or female, but some lie in between. Individuals can also swing wildly in the opposite direction at pretty much any point during puberty, After puberty, their identity tends so become significantly more concrete, however, some always remain fluid and some have other reasons for why their sex conflicts with their identity or with how they feel they need to be. In these cases it is possible for them to shift between sexes. This is significantly more arduous process due to the body becoming less fluid with age. 

Research into the Miriel lead to the development of Hormonal Resonance Therapy in a collaboration between the Azure University, the Ru'eni Institute for Academic Mastery, and the Yuenxi Academy 37 years prior to the start of the story. This revolutionary and incredibly expensive procedure utilises medicine and crystal arrays to harmonise the Resonance between the body of a trans/NB individual with their soul as the soul will always match their identity even when their body does not. During Hormonal Resonance Therapy the individuals body shifts at the cellular level to match their identity. By the end of the session, the individuals sex will completely match with their gender. Unfortunately, Hormonal Resonance Therapy can't make dramatic changes to things such as height and build so it is possible that the individual may find that their body doesn't match perfectly with how they imagined they would if they had been born with the correct sex or their personal ideal image of their self but it will certainly be a massive improvement for those that can afford it. Hopefully with time it will be made more accessible for those that are currently unable to afford it. 

And on that note, I think I can put this chapter of World Building Notes to a close. I hope you have enjoyed it and found the information about the Miriel and Hormonal Replacement Therapy to be interesting. Until next time, this author has a chapter to write and sleep to sleep.