Dionae Culture

Culture
Due to their highly nomadic nature, Dionae do not experience a universal culture outside of certain behaviours that appear to be biologically ingrained and somehow hard-wired into their genetics. Information on individual group cultures can be found in https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Dionae_History

Naming
Dionae naming conventions vary heavily based on gestalt, but have one consistency; They do not go by first name, last name, but instead use experiences, emotions, actions, or ideals as their source of identification. These experiences that define them can change just as the individual changes, and can be both literal and metaphorical. Some examples of where these might come from can be from routines in their lives, remembrances of mortals, a particular fascination in an emotion, a unique location where an important moment occurred, or even just a defining feature on their body. 'As a player, it is up to you to decide what makes an experience, and you have a whole galaxy of cosmically ageless ideas to choose from. Be creative!'

Experience Is What Matters
The only time when one Diona is venerated above any other is when a more experienced and therefore more knowledgeable gestalt is present. This more experienced Diona is seen as more valuable due to their vaster stores of knowledge and therefore are protected over less experienced ones in a dangerous situation. A more experienced Diona will often take up the responsibility to educate a new one on their environment- including but not limited to the ways of local alien civilization. This is to simply get the newbie up to speed so they can be quicker on their way to learn more about their particular interests, whatever that may be. More often than not, the older Diona is the more experienced, however this is not always true as a Diona gestalt may have spent its whole immortal life simply floating in a gas giant until it was scooped up into the fuel tank of a starship.

Art
While the species may make incredible artists in civilized space due to their longevity and capacity to learn, another form of visual art exists for Dionae that they practice as a recreational activity known simply as "Forma" and have two versions. Both utilize only their own bodies to make Gestalts in creative and practical ways alike. The first and most popular of the two is the Artem, or Art-Form. These are more for form than function and are used to display a Gestalt's creativity in strange and unique ways. Artem are typically observed being made in the void of space where they are free of the restrictions of gravity and require no rhyme nor reason to their design and exists purely as a hobby.

The second and perhaps most shocking of them is Vita, or Life-Form. Seen most often in some type of environment with gravity, there are two different forms: symbiotic which is done in the presence of other life forms, and competitive, preformed in areas where the concentration of Dionae are high. The symbiotic version is seen every day and is a form of passive mimicry to blend in with their extraterrestrial neighbors whereas the competitive version is a surprising display of violence. One is to increase their chance of survival in an alien landscape, the other used as a strange yet creative form of population control.

Competitive Vita is a theoretical evolution simulator where each Gestalt will merge, often as fantastical forms of creatures, which is then tested with the current environment they are in under different conditions. If present, they will then be tested against other non-sentient life forms before finally each other. Throughout the competition the losing Gestalts are either consumed or absorbed into their forms as additions, the final battle being the most dramatic display of a Gestalt's abilities. While most sapients would find this practice barbaric and contradictory to the species' desire to gain and preserve knowledge, the fallen and their knowledge simply become a part of the victorious.

In Society
Dionae are extremely complex, taking up many different types and forms. It is often said that Dionae have a hard time integrating into society, even though they are found in the majority of the nations throughout the galaxy. The largest clusters can be found within the Solarian Alliance, Jargon Federation, and the Republic of Biesel, however, there have been sights of ‘wild’ Dionae on the edges of civilized space. The ‘wild’ Dionae usually are integrated, but some have been hunted down for a unique resource located within them; Ambergris.

Their concept of money is vastly different from other races, considering Dionae only need a little radiation and warmth, both of which can be extracted from sunlight. Many of the gestalts are used often for space-related jobs, including exterior ship repairs and mining thanks to their immunity to the void, as long as there is light nearby. It is sometimes possible to find Dionae have become housemates with other species, paying rent, and doing various menial tasks in exchange for safe shelter.

Dionae have been known to form communes on the outskirts of the major cities, such as Mendell City and Phoenixport. The communes consist of various gestalts unifying to assist the surrounding environment, often beginning small restorative efforts in particular ecologically damaged areas. Many have said without these efforts, the vast majority of the woodlands on Biesel would have fallen years ago.

Details regarding Dionae in each specific nation can be found, here: https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Dionae_Relations

Education
Although Dionae can contain vast amounts of knowledge and possess extreme intelligence, the species still have to obtain the appropriate degrees for the occupation they wish to pursue in their chosen location of residence. This can be accomplished after being registered for citizenship. All newly-registered Dionae must complete and pass the courses required for their field if their degrees from past planetary systems is not recognized in the new location, or they lack one all together. Their education must be defended one year following the awarding of a degree, and then every five years there on out. However, that timer is reset due to the fact that after each merging, Dionae are required to defend their education along with their re-registration for citizenship due to the possibility of accumulation of new knowledge, and possible loss of information depending on the nature of the new merging.

Relationships
As sapient beings Dionae, from nymph to gestalt, are capable of forming platonic relationships with each other and other species. Nymphs and gestalts "merging" is the closest human analogue for a "romantic relationship" with Dionae. Due to the low complexity of nymph emotions and thought, initial merging into a Cerberus tends to be carried out for practical purposes by all nymphs involved. Likewise, larger forms of Dionae such as Cyclops’ and beyond might merge with a single nymph as a symbiotic form of a teacher/growth relationship with the nymph learning from its new gestalt partners and the gestalt itself using the new nymph for grown and biomass.

Due to the complexity of memory and thought, gestalts at Cyclops size and beyond are a lot more particular when merging with partners of a similar size or above. To merge is to become one mind and body in totality, therefore only those gestalts that truly love and respect each other would carry out the act. It is extremely rare for Dionae gestalts to split over disagreements and more likely for a “troublesome” or sick nymph to be ejected by the mass or a nymph to be temporarily split off to carry out a key task like safe exploration or to get help in a dangerous situation where the whole is in peril. In extreme cases the whole gestalt may break apart to save as many nymphs as possible. This is extremely traumatic, akin to losing yourself and is avoided. It’s a sad fact of life for gestalts from the Titan Prime cluster, most of which would have had to break apart multiple times throughout their lives.

When a gestalt grows beyond the size of a Cyclops, it becomes difficult for these forms to find work within known space and therefore becomes necessary for the gestalt to split temporarily into smaller forms in order to carry out tasks throughout the day. These split forms are often referred to as a “split partner” or “part of me” by the gestalts involved. If pressed, a Dione might describe their split partner as an aspect of their whole which their partner represents; “they are the brave part of me”, “they are the smart part of me” or something similar. Splitting in this way is unpleasant for the gestalt but a necessary evil. Gestalts who split in this manner all suffer from “splitting anxiety” and as such tend to work in close proximity to each other. Though analogous to a close romantic relationship, split Dionae are much closer than this in reality, essentially being aspects of a whole with each gestalt being a personality, memories and thoughts of a singular being, temporarily split apart. The larger the original gestalt the more split forms there could be, therefore it is possible for a Cyclops gestalt to have many split partners.

Blood Market
The Blood Market, known as such colloquially, is a relatively private sector of the DNA Market. It operates out of a facility called ‘Bloodworks’ in District Ten, owned by the Blood Buddy Organization. The Market is mostly used by Dionae looking to enhance their skills in a certain field, or simply someone raising a nymph. The Bloodworks currently holds a monopoly over the lucrative trade, charging from 3000CR to 20,000CR for samples large enough for Dionae to learn from. The ‘Blood Buddy Organization’ was founded by a Diona Argus, Rationing Knowledge of Embodied Sanguis, and is a ‘publically’ funded organization spearheaded by various Researchers from the Jargon Federation, Sol Alliance and Republic of Biesel. The company holds various fundraising events, where many skilful participants are noted to donate their blood in order to be sold on the market. The Blood Buddy Organization operates mostly within the Republic of Biesel, but are noted to sell their products to other nations. The largest donor to BBO is Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, who recently gifted them the facility in District Eleven. The Blood Market is not free of criminals, however, one particular group stands out more than the rest. The Blood Runners are notorious/renowned for their criminal undertakings, specifically their undercutting of the Blood Buddy Organization. The Blood Runners sell their samples from 1000CR to 10,000CR - leading the BBO to place reward for the arrest of the gang leader, Xia Lu-Qing. They have also been known to dabble in Corporate Espionage, using the Dionae’s ability to extract information from blood samples to their advantage.

Religion
The entrance of Dionae into the Orion Spur, alongside the Skrell, has been nothing short of a mystery - allowing many theories to form of their creation, some have even gone as far as to create religions surrounding the species.

Dienabi
Dienabi is a relatively forgotten Skrell legend told to many Skrell spawn, however, following the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega it began to no longer be seen as a children’s tale. Followers believed that the Dienabi - a term literally meaning Tree-Child - originated from an omniscient cosmic entity that was called Oernabi (Tree-God) who governed all of life on Qerrbalak. They were said to be a part of a prophecy, one where they would walk amongst the Skrell after having saved them from a cataclysmic event.

Although Oernabi’s prophecy was merely a children’s tale, it was shortly after the fall of Glorsh-Omega, that the story changed from legend to fact. The discovery of the Conglomerate, a large celestial object created of flora-based physiological beings capable of understanding the Skrell through sacrificial blood, brought many Skrell into a period of great curiosity. Many wondered if Oernabi truly was an all-powerful cosmic entity that had sacrificed themselves in order to defeat Glorsh-Omega.

The prophecy was regarded by many Skrell to have been fulfilled, following the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega. Oernabi had sacrificed themselves to spare the Skrell, and now would walk amongst the Skrell as they once foretold. It was shortly after the discovery of the Conglomerate that an almost cult-like religion spawned. They revered proclaimed that the Dionae were not discovered accidentally, but that Oernabi had guided them towards Qerrbalak moments before their death. The religion, nicknamed Dienabi, would remain relatively unheard of until the discover of Epsilon Ursae Minor - The Planet of Eden.

|Epsilon Ursae Minoris was said to be rich in untouched wilderness, and after Captain Weirun Tup and their crew had touched down, they discovered a colony of Dionae. Them and their team remained for the duration of their expedition to learn more about the planet and it's inhabitants, finding that the Dionae had a vast wealth of information stored in their collective memories. Captain Weirun Tup, a recent follower of Dienabi, would often accompany the Dionae in order to explore their faith more deeply and the Dionae had one condition; Any who remained were to follow the Dionae's example and were to leave the landscape undisturbed for the most part.

When it was time for the crew to depart, the Jargon Federation had wished for a permanent ambassador to be implemented to ensure smooth relations between the Diona and the Federation. Captain Weirun Tup, a follower of Dienabi, immediately volunteered to step down from their position as Captain and remain behind, thus beginning their journey to write what is now considered the most sacred document to the Dienabi followers, The Deathflower Journal. The Deathflower Journal is best described as a manifesto by other followers, who use it whilst meditating. The Deathflower Journal contains various personal discoveries and notes.

Director Weirun Tup remained on Epsilon Ursae Minoris for another nine years before disappearing mysteriously one night, where the following morning many Dionae returned their personal items and stated that the Director was now with them. This had raised a few red flags amongst the research team, however, when it was revealed that the Dionae had retained their memories it went from suspicion to heightened curiosity. The Director was venerated by other followers of Dienabi as the first to have truly ascended and become a part of something greater, and it is said that one can still speak to the Director through a Gestalt that remains with the Skrellian settlement and since then, many followers of Dienabi often will undertake a pilgrimage to and from Epsilon Ursae Minoris - others choosing it as their final resting place through "reincarnation", following Director Weirun Tup's example and becoming a part of the Ascended. Followers call themselves ‘The Awakened’ and those who do not follow “The Dormant”. Dienabi is considered a minority compared to other faiths within the Jargon Federation.

The Eternal
An extreme way in which Dionae have been venerated as religious idols. Followers of The Eternal believe that a primordial entity exists in Light, Energy and Essence - which the Dionae are the embodiment of.

Followers believe that the Dionae were made to ensure that all things born from the stars return to stars, eventually. Before they may return the Dionae must devour as much as they can, growing to roughly the size of a Cetus, before throwing themselves into a star.

Dionae followers from outside of faction space tend to be forceful in their ‘encouragement’ of other Dionae to join. In times when they have been rejected, they have attacked and consumed in order for the expansion of The Eternal's will. The followers of The Eternal's will that make their home on Biesel however, are much more subdued in their activities. They tend to preach openly, trying to encourage Dionae and non-Dionae to join through words and good deeds, and never by force. Dionae police officers have been known to seek out and catch any extreme followers of the Eternal who attempt to forcefully convert or even “consume” others, the latter of which is, thankfully for everyone and the Dionae community, an extreme rarity in Biesel.

The Eternal is currently a minority religion throughout Tau Ceti, however, those that do find themselves following it are often dubbed ‘suicidal cultists’ due to their desire to merge with gestalts near death, to ensure that their knowledge and memories will be passed on into the “Light”.

Positronics are slightly controversial in the creed of the Eternal as though they can be broken down and consumed, their positronic brains can not yet be absorbed and their memories passed into the “Light”. This can be somewhat divisive with some putting positronics entities in the same category as rock or steel, something that can be broken down and absorbed but has no other great purpose. Others believe that a positronic entity is like any other, however their memories have to be “viewed” instead of absorbed. Some believe that it’s only a matter of time until a technology is developed to allow positronic entities to be absorbed like any other species. There is no true consensus on this within the faith.