Biology and Appearance

The Xilon are a plasma-based quorec species and were among the first beings to originate at the beginning of time. Being composed almost entirely of raw throxin, a variant of the element laurelian, they can expand or compress their size at will, shrinking down to fit in with other life forms or growing to match the size of a sun, if there is enough surrounding matter to draw power from. In their natural state, Xilon stand 20 - 30 feet tall.

Their skin, which lacks pigmentation, is a translucent crystallic casing through which their internal chemical makeup is seen. The light emanating from their bodies may range from a soft silver- white glow to blinding waves of golden or dark red energy, depending on what the individual is doing or feeling at the time.

The species also boasts the attribute of enormous wings; soft to the touch, but extremely thick, heavy and powerful enough to propel them through any atmosphere at incredible speeds. Although the majority of Xilon wings are snow or off-white, variations in colors and patterns can be found within certain family lines. Xilon hair is made of a silk-like material and is naturally streaked with a range of colors, often emitting a soft glow of its own.

An androgynous life form, the Xilon have three socially defined genders: aljzrac (comparable to male), krtiyon (comparable to female) and zethres (somewhere in between, but more often translate to males). Xilon do not have reproductive organs, natal clefts, body hair, bellybuttons, nipples or birthmarks. Although initially born with identical slender bodies, they can from adolescence onwards sculpt their crystallic forms to mimic the shapes and muscle tones of other quorec life forms.

Caidrme, the equivalent of sexual relations, occurs by way of a heightened energy exchange based on touch, which stimulates axons throughout the body, triggering waves of near-debilitating euphoria. Reproduction is a conscious choice, with the elected carrier capturing specific emissions from its partner in order to "build" the child piece by piece. The carrier then hosts the blueprint of the child in its chest just below the middle heart where, over the course of a single month, the small spark of energy within grows more and more powerful until the child quite literally erupts from the host, splitting off in a process akin to mitosis.

Although the concept of race as we know it is somewhat foreign to Xilon, who are essentially sentient clusters of energy encased within a clear biped form, and whose statuesque facial features tend to reflect what we might consider to be a mix of racial traits, they do have their own form of physical classifications and a history of certain biases that date back to the early tribal days. Each of the five central planets has distinctive traits to be found amongst family lines that originated locally. Not everyone from any given planet shares these characteristics, but they are the most common in defining family origins.

Even in more enlightened times, there is friendly but ongoing rivalry between members of the central worlds, particularly on the part of the Riseans, who are fiercely territorial and often stick to their own planet and residential communities rather than branching out to mix with the others.

The Terrans are known for their incredibly bright rainbow-streaked hair and black or rust colored eyes. Riseans tend to have hair with a whiter base and faded streaks of lighter, softer hues, along with dark purple or clear colored eyes. Kappa Crucians most often have gray eyes and light orange hair, with more subtle, darker streaks that blend into the base coloring. Zenonites are normally found with dark blue hair coloring and bright red eyes. And on the other end of the spectrum are the Acadians, who have blue, green or pink eye coloring, and dark hair with high contrast shocks of color.

Although they resemble many common bipeds on a superficial level, significant differences between the Xilon and other species arise when looking at organs and internal body structure. Unlike any other fully evolved life form, a Xilon is made not of flesh and blood but of pure unparalleled energy, of which a small sample would be billions of times the strength of a nuclear bomb. If a Xilon is injured, the wound leaks a dangerous mixture of bright light and radioactive plasma, and a serious injury may shoot out a ray of pure throxin that will incinerate other life forms on contact.

The basic skeletal structure is similar to that of other bipeds, but instead of carbon-based bone, the hard connective substance is a crystallic material called margelian, which greatly contributes to the species' enhanced durability. The skin is a softer, more malleable variant of margelian and the eyes are pools of plasma surrounded by crystal. The chest cavity contains three hearts and nothing more, and in place of a stomach, there is a large pool of nuclear energy, which instantly breaks down all ingested food and drink into varying forms of throxin.

Where one might expect to see veins are instead a network of thick, hollow tubes filled with tiny spheres of light, which form the circulatory system, pumping different types of energy to each of the hearts. The middle heart, called the nkree, is the central life force and if pierced, can result in rapid bioreversal. The upper left heart, the zaelek, controls the power to move through space/time and if damaged, may limit or completely eliminate that individual's teleportation abilities. The upper right heart, the lijke, is the least imperative of the three, functioning primarily as a backup energy reserve that aids the species' incredible levels of endurance. Without it, they would tire easily and perhaps lack the power to move through the universe as efficiently, but loss of lijke functionality does not result in death or severe handicap as with the other main organs.

Rather than muscle tissue, the inside of the body is filled completely with a thick nuclear plasma that holds everything else in place, which allows for extreme levels of agility and flexibility. Since they are made up of cosmic energy and and have no need to breathe, the Xilon can exist in any atmosphere or environment, including a vacuum, and are unaffected by temperature, chemicals, radiation, pressure or other such natural phenomena.

The body also possesses two sets of vocal chords. A standard voice box makes traditional language possible, although the resulting sound is amplified, giving speech a reverberating, somewhat musical tone. A second set of communication chords known as hexeine weave throughout the entire body, from head to foot, and are used to "speak" the primary Xilon language, Aradaesian.

To blend in while traveling through other parts of the universe, the Xilon may retract their wings, which can fold into an extremely compact shape by sliding into the back along the spine. They may also wear a biodimmer: a bracelet, necklace or other accessory that has a metal called trojlek attached, which tones down or completely eliminates the visibility of their radiated energy by dulling their crystalic exterior to a more opaque appearance. Clothing and Fashion  >>