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Jan. 4th, 2017 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonflower77this was compiled as support material for dreaming_brooke and for the resonance site, so it's a lot more detailed than necessary. most of this won't go into the actual character description.
Azila was twenty-seven when she was assimilated. Her aging slowed down, and, when she was de-assimilated fifteen years later, she still appeared to be around thirty. Today, she is 54, but seems to be about twenty years younger, though there are some signs suggesting that her looks are deceptive; she is worn-down and the wrinkles around her eyes are a little too deep. However, this is due to the emotional strain of the past three years than to actual aging.
She is medium height (about 180 cm) and built more like an adolescent than an adult woman - she is somewhat awkward, angular, skinny and flat-chested, with few curves. The large bones make her seem more underweight than she actually is.
Her features are unusual, though not particularly attractive, even disproportionate by some standards. Hers is what is sometimes called an "elfin face" - lean, elongated, with tall cheekbones, a wide mouth, full lips and large eyes that have a slight slant and tiny wrinkles at the corners.
Her eyes are dark brown, but seem black from a distance because of the enlarged pupils. They have a tapetum lucidum (an extra layer of cells that reflects light back onto the retina), which, in certain types of lighting, gives them a bright golden-yellow gleam, described as inhuman, hostile or inscrutable. In the dark, one can sometimes notice a faint yellowish luminescence in the iris itself. Before she was separated from the superorganism, Azila was said to have "lamp-like" eyes that glowed with a light of their own, traces of which can be seen even now. There are nictitating membranes (thin, translucent second lids) that can slide down to lubricate the eyes and shield them from strong winds, sand or extreme cold; they create a sharp, glass-like glint and, along with the internal gleam, contribute to Azila's distant or severe look.
Azila's pupils are circular at full dilation, but can contract into thread-like thin slits, similar to those of a cat, but, unlike the latter, they are horizontal rather than vertical (suggesting a wide, panoramic field of vision well-suited for scanning a vast open area and detecting potential threats as soon as they appear on the horizon). Normally, the shape of the pupils goes unnoticed, as they are dilated most of the time and blend into the dark brown of the iris, which borders on black, but under bright illumination, with the sunlight falling directly onto her face, one can occasionally discern the jet-black slits against the lighter brown. The sight is enough to make one gasp, and can either contribute to the intensity of the emotion in her eyes or make her even more inhuman.
Her eyelids blink about twenty times less frequently than ours, which enhances the hard, intense quality of her stare. Instead, it's the nictitating membranes that constantly slide down and back up to moisturize the eyes, creating a fleeting glimmer or an illusion of them going clouded for a fraction of a second.
Azila's auricles atrophied during the assimilation and her ears were reduced to plain round openings with a somewhat raised rim. These can be sealed on the inside with thick but flexible cartilaginous covers, which was especially useful in a sandstorm or when Azila had to burrow, and was also helpful against the wind and night-time freezing temperatures.
Azila's fingers and toes are longer and thicker than they used to be, as they are equipped with flexing muscles and covered in exoskeletal scales consisting of a substance more similar to chitin than to keratin, so that she seems to be wearing outlandish armored gloves and greaves. The tips contain sharp black claws somewhat like those of a brown bear or wolverine (a good 5 cm without the curve - over half of her original finger length), but when not in use, they draw backward (upward) like those of a feline. The claws make it harder to handle small objects and, if Azila does happen to need shoes or sandals, turn choosing a suitable model into a serious issue. However, they are a considerable help in climbing and can easily cut through hard materials including wood, leather and soft sheet metal.
Most of her body, including her whole torso, neck, hairline, lower arms above the elbow, lower legs above the knee, chin, lower cheeks, and the bridge of her nose are lined with the same scales, which come in various shapes and sizes. On the inside of her arms and on the back of her legs, the two diagonal layers of overlapping scales converge into a V-shape, with the sharp point directed downward (toward the wrist or ankle). From a distance, the pattern resembles parallel fine creases or cuts in the skin. Her neck and waist, as well as the area along her spine and between her breasts, have a complex ribbed structure that extends the lower edge of the face and to the side of each cheek. The scales in these areas are tiny and positioned so as to enable full mobility while offering the same protection as the larger scales elsewhere.
The scales are a medium brown, like the bark of a tree. On some, there are darker markings; the overlaid semi-circular scales on her lower arms and legs have a darker spot at the center, or two close to the edge, where one scale connects to another, as do those on her fingers and toes; elsewhere, there are oval or curved splotches, each extending to several scales. The borders of the markings are indistinct, the borders are blurred and blend gradually into the background; in the middle, the brown first becomes an intermediate burnt carmine, then turns into a very dark violet. The edges of the scales are the same hue of violet, which verges on black. These shades - lighter and darker brown, burnt carmine, violet - can also be observed on the veins and miniature scales on her hairline, neck and waist, between her breasts, down the middle of her back. This is a natural (and more effective) equivalent of the desert camouflage uniforms she used to wear, with the dappled brown making her indistinguishable from the surrounding sand and rocks.
To the human eye, the mottled brown coloration, which was shared by the entire T'elχ collective, may seem drab and monotonous. But if one were to take a look at her as one of her own - or through a specialized UV-filter - she would turn out to be quite striking. The violet patches would be broader, more similar to a wet-on-wet watercolor wash in shape, and the integument would be decorated with fractal whorls in a deep iridescent violet, much like fern fronds or frost patterns on a window. The UV-reflective designs on the bodies of other T'elχ varied depending on their caste and function.
Growing between the scales there are innervated sensilla (sensory hairs) in matching hues - lighter and darker browns, brownish-violet, violet. In areas where the scales are at their most miniature, the hairs are straight, dense, but short (no more than 1-2 mm) and difficult to notice. Elsewhere, they are longer (1-4 cm) and can be quite conspicuous; they extend from under the edge of one scale onto the next and seem to be slicked close to the surface, sometimes forming a thick fringe and creating a "furry" look similar to that of a tarantula.
Her cuticle is structured much like that of insects and most arachnids, and has two layers: the outer, non-living layer, comprised by the scales, and the deeper layer consisting of living cells.
Her tactile sensing mechanisms are also similar. Most of the subtler modalities, such as light touch, whether one-time or sustained, changes in texture, stretching in the scales, and fluttering or sliding against their surface come through the hairs. Slower and faster vibration (short-term or constant) is divided between the hairs and the living cuticular layer hidden under the scales. The remaining tactile modalities - pain, temperature, pressure and tension in the deeper tissues - are perceived only through the receptors in the living cuticle. Azila will feel nothing when the hairs are damaged or sheared off, and is in pain only if she sustains an injury to the tissues underneath the hard chitinous layer (impact or penetration). Similarly, she feels no heat or cold upon direct contact between the hairs and the ground; the sensation will be buffered by the scales, and, as a consequence, tends to be quite faint despite the temperature extremes in the environment.
Once in every five years, Azila moults: the worn-out, damaged scales are discarded over the course of three to four days and the cells underneath secrete the chitin-like protein that hardens into a new set of scales in a matter of hours. This is a period of heightened vulnerability when Azila is unusually susceptible to injury (more so than a regular human) and the softest touch can cause her pain, while stronger touch translates into something like an electric shock. Even the bare skin on the parts of her body that have lost the scales becomes more sensitive, though it doesn't undergo any significant change, as confirmed by the permanent scarring.
Even when Azila was an ordinary human, her thick, curly brown hair was difficult to comb or style. When she joined the T'elX, it was replaced by flexible appendages, which resembled segmented willow twigs or tendrils and were rumored to have been prehensile before she was severed from the superorganism. They were the same brown as the scales on her body; each segment was a darker brown in the middle and became lighter toward the edges, while the joints were a deep violet-black. The tips were pure black, like her claws. During the process of de-assimilation, the odd tentacle-like things growing from her scalp shriveled, dried up and fell out, and were replaced by something vaguely like normal human hair, which, however, was completely unmanageable. Eventually, Azila settled on shaving her head bald or cropping the "hair" short and wearing a simple headscarf tied back Italian-style.
Azila’s movements are fast and sudden (insect-like or bird-like are the two words that frequently come to mind), and a stark contrast to the way she used to move when she was with the T'elχ; those who saw her prior to de-assimilation said she never hurried and was so fluid and graceful she seemed to have no bones.
She has a strong, distinctive body odor consistently described by others either as “green” (leafy or grassy) or as the stench of a squashed bug. Depending on Azila’s health and emotional state, the scent may become sharper and gain a sour tinge, close to that of the citrosa geranium, or more bitter, more like pungent peppermint or wildwood geranium, but the acrid quality is always retained. Washing will tone the odor down for one to two hours, but won’t eliminate it; however, Azila has been taught to use chypre, citrus or musk scents to mask her own, which is one of the two luxuries she treats herself to. The other one is occasionally wearing a headscarf or shirt in her favorite color, which is bright foliage green.
She thinks of herself as disfigured because her integument is no longer complete, though this doesn't come with quite the same connotations as for most human women. She is less concerned about beauty, or lack thereof, as about being a "broken" (flawed, deficient, damaged) member of her species, whereas the substandard looks are merely an external manifestation of this, a side-effect, as it were.
She doesn't like the sight of the scars left where the scales used to be, and cannot stand her new "hair", which is why she shaves it off and wears a headscarf. Unlike the segmented T-elX "hair", which was a separate vestibular and sensory organ, it doesn't have a specialized function - and, to make matters worse, the useless growth on her scalp cannot be managed and makes her look disorganized and untidy, so she has a strong urge to have it hidden or eliminated.
Clothes:
Azila has never quite managed to grasp the significance of outward appearance for most women, or its value for society. She finds people to be beautiful as they are and is bewildered by to their obsession with altering their physique to be more attractive to themselves or to actual and potential mates. On the few occasions when she was convinced to dress up, she had severe difficulty maintaining the image even for a couple of hours because she couldn't concentrate on her inner and outer state simultaneously. She is unlikely to learn to uphold the necessary standard of beauty throughout the day, and she found the effort to be draining and a major distraction from her job, therefore not worth the while.
Because of this, she prefers to limit her clothing to the bare basics. She chooses comfortable, functional items that do not inhibit movement or interfere with her work: linen slacks and blouses, plaid shirts, hoodies, wide-leg jeans, cargo pants, army surplus fatigues. The sleeves and pant legs are usually rolled up. The exoskeleton on her feet makes shoes redundant and she goes barefoot most of the time; if she absolutely has to, she wears hiking or construction boots with the front cut off to accommodate the claws, or wraps her feet in strips of leather, suede or coarse linen.
She doesn't mind dressing in whatever happens to be at hand, as long as it's simple and practical, which may sometimes make her clothes look mismatched, haphazardly thrown together without any care or consideration for style. Some are one or two sizes too large, as moderately oversized clothes tend to be more convenient. It's been said that her fashion sense doesn't just have a value of zero; it comes with a minus sign. When presented with a choice, prefers muted, dull earth tones - gray, brown, khaki, dusty green.
One may well consider her dressed for a special occasion if she wears a brand-new set of fatigues, new utility boots fresh out of the store and a green silk headscarf.
dreaming_brooke and for the resonance site, so it's a lot more detailed than necessary. most of this won't go into the actual character description.Azila was twenty-seven when she was assimilated. Her aging slowed down, and, when she was de-assimilated fifteen years later, she still appeared to be around thirty. Today, she is 54, but seems to be about twenty years younger, though there are some signs suggesting that her looks are deceptive; she is worn-down and the wrinkles around her eyes are a little too deep. However, this is due to the emotional strain of the past three years than to actual aging.
She is medium height (about 180 cm) and built more like an adolescent than an adult woman - she is somewhat awkward, angular, skinny and flat-chested, with few curves. The large bones make her seem more underweight than she actually is.
Her features are unusual, though not particularly attractive, even disproportionate by some standards. Hers is what is sometimes called an "elfin face" - lean, elongated, with tall cheekbones, a wide mouth, full lips and large eyes that have a slight slant and tiny wrinkles at the corners.
Her eyes are dark brown, but seem black from a distance because of the enlarged pupils. They have a tapetum lucidum (an extra layer of cells that reflects light back onto the retina), which, in certain types of lighting, gives them a bright golden-yellow gleam, described as inhuman, hostile or inscrutable. In the dark, one can sometimes notice a faint yellowish luminescence in the iris itself. Before she was separated from the superorganism, Azila was said to have "lamp-like" eyes that glowed with a light of their own, traces of which can be seen even now. There are nictitating membranes (thin, translucent second lids) that can slide down to lubricate the eyes and shield them from strong winds, sand or extreme cold; they create a sharp, glass-like glint and, along with the internal gleam, contribute to Azila's distant or severe look.
Azila's pupils are circular at full dilation, but can contract into thread-like thin slits, similar to those of a cat, but, unlike the latter, they are horizontal rather than vertical (suggesting a wide, panoramic field of vision well-suited for scanning a vast open area and detecting potential threats as soon as they appear on the horizon). Normally, the shape of the pupils goes unnoticed, as they are dilated most of the time and blend into the dark brown of the iris, which borders on black, but under bright illumination, with the sunlight falling directly onto her face, one can occasionally discern the jet-black slits against the lighter brown. The sight is enough to make one gasp, and can either contribute to the intensity of the emotion in her eyes or make her even more inhuman.
Her eyelids blink about twenty times less frequently than ours, which enhances the hard, intense quality of her stare. Instead, it's the nictitating membranes that constantly slide down and back up to moisturize the eyes, creating a fleeting glimmer or an illusion of them going clouded for a fraction of a second.
Azila's auricles atrophied during the assimilation and her ears were reduced to plain round openings with a somewhat raised rim. These can be sealed on the inside with thick but flexible cartilaginous covers, which was especially useful in a sandstorm or when Azila had to burrow, and was also helpful against the wind and night-time freezing temperatures.
Azila's fingers and toes are longer and thicker than they used to be, as they are equipped with flexing muscles and covered in exoskeletal scales consisting of a substance more similar to chitin than to keratin, so that she seems to be wearing outlandish armored gloves and greaves. The tips contain sharp black claws somewhat like those of a brown bear or wolverine (a good 5 cm without the curve - over half of her original finger length), but when not in use, they draw backward (upward) like those of a feline. The claws make it harder to handle small objects and, if Azila does happen to need shoes or sandals, turn choosing a suitable model into a serious issue. However, they are a considerable help in climbing and can easily cut through hard materials including wood, leather and soft sheet metal.
Most of her body, including her whole torso, neck, hairline, lower arms above the elbow, lower legs above the knee, chin, lower cheeks, and the bridge of her nose are lined with the same scales, which come in various shapes and sizes. On the inside of her arms and on the back of her legs, the two diagonal layers of overlapping scales converge into a V-shape, with the sharp point directed downward (toward the wrist or ankle). From a distance, the pattern resembles parallel fine creases or cuts in the skin. Her neck and waist, as well as the area along her spine and between her breasts, have a complex ribbed structure that extends the lower edge of the face and to the side of each cheek. The scales in these areas are tiny and positioned so as to enable full mobility while offering the same protection as the larger scales elsewhere.
The scales are a medium brown, like the bark of a tree. On some, there are darker markings; the overlaid semi-circular scales on her lower arms and legs have a darker spot at the center, or two close to the edge, where one scale connects to another, as do those on her fingers and toes; elsewhere, there are oval or curved splotches, each extending to several scales. The borders of the markings are indistinct, the borders are blurred and blend gradually into the background; in the middle, the brown first becomes an intermediate burnt carmine, then turns into a very dark violet. The edges of the scales are the same hue of violet, which verges on black. These shades - lighter and darker brown, burnt carmine, violet - can also be observed on the veins and miniature scales on her hairline, neck and waist, between her breasts, down the middle of her back. This is a natural (and more effective) equivalent of the desert camouflage uniforms she used to wear, with the dappled brown making her indistinguishable from the surrounding sand and rocks.
To the human eye, the mottled brown coloration, which was shared by the entire T'elχ collective, may seem drab and monotonous. But if one were to take a look at her as one of her own - or through a specialized UV-filter - she would turn out to be quite striking. The violet patches would be broader, more similar to a wet-on-wet watercolor wash in shape, and the integument would be decorated with fractal whorls in a deep iridescent violet, much like fern fronds or frost patterns on a window. The UV-reflective designs on the bodies of other T'elχ varied depending on their caste and function.
Growing between the scales there are innervated sensilla (sensory hairs) in matching hues - lighter and darker browns, brownish-violet, violet. In areas where the scales are at their most miniature, the hairs are straight, dense, but short (no more than 1-2 mm) and difficult to notice. Elsewhere, they are longer (1-4 cm) and can be quite conspicuous; they extend from under the edge of one scale onto the next and seem to be slicked close to the surface, sometimes forming a thick fringe and creating a "furry" look similar to that of a tarantula.
Her cuticle is structured much like that of insects and most arachnids, and has two layers: the outer, non-living layer, comprised by the scales, and the deeper layer consisting of living cells.
Her tactile sensing mechanisms are also similar. Most of the subtler modalities, such as light touch, whether one-time or sustained, changes in texture, stretching in the scales, and fluttering or sliding against their surface come through the hairs. Slower and faster vibration (short-term or constant) is divided between the hairs and the living cuticular layer hidden under the scales. The remaining tactile modalities - pain, temperature, pressure and tension in the deeper tissues - are perceived only through the receptors in the living cuticle. Azila will feel nothing when the hairs are damaged or sheared off, and is in pain only if she sustains an injury to the tissues underneath the hard chitinous layer (impact or penetration). Similarly, she feels no heat or cold upon direct contact between the hairs and the ground; the sensation will be buffered by the scales, and, as a consequence, tends to be quite faint despite the temperature extremes in the environment.
Once in every five years, Azila moults: the worn-out, damaged scales are discarded over the course of three to four days and the cells underneath secrete the chitin-like protein that hardens into a new set of scales in a matter of hours. This is a period of heightened vulnerability when Azila is unusually susceptible to injury (more so than a regular human) and the softest touch can cause her pain, while stronger touch translates into something like an electric shock. Even the bare skin on the parts of her body that have lost the scales becomes more sensitive, though it doesn't undergo any significant change, as confirmed by the permanent scarring.
Even when Azila was an ordinary human, her thick, curly brown hair was difficult to comb or style. When she joined the T'elX, it was replaced by flexible appendages, which resembled segmented willow twigs or tendrils and were rumored to have been prehensile before she was severed from the superorganism. They were the same brown as the scales on her body; each segment was a darker brown in the middle and became lighter toward the edges, while the joints were a deep violet-black. The tips were pure black, like her claws. During the process of de-assimilation, the odd tentacle-like things growing from her scalp shriveled, dried up and fell out, and were replaced by something vaguely like normal human hair, which, however, was completely unmanageable. Eventually, Azila settled on shaving her head bald or cropping the "hair" short and wearing a simple headscarf tied back Italian-style.
Azila’s movements are fast and sudden (insect-like or bird-like are the two words that frequently come to mind), and a stark contrast to the way she used to move when she was with the T'elχ; those who saw her prior to de-assimilation said she never hurried and was so fluid and graceful she seemed to have no bones.
She has a strong, distinctive body odor consistently described by others either as “green” (leafy or grassy) or as the stench of a squashed bug. Depending on Azila’s health and emotional state, the scent may become sharper and gain a sour tinge, close to that of the citrosa geranium, or more bitter, more like pungent peppermint or wildwood geranium, but the acrid quality is always retained. Washing will tone the odor down for one to two hours, but won’t eliminate it; however, Azila has been taught to use chypre, citrus or musk scents to mask her own, which is one of the two luxuries she treats herself to. The other one is occasionally wearing a headscarf or shirt in her favorite color, which is bright foliage green.
She thinks of herself as disfigured because her integument is no longer complete, though this doesn't come with quite the same connotations as for most human women. She is less concerned about beauty, or lack thereof, as about being a "broken" (flawed, deficient, damaged) member of her species, whereas the substandard looks are merely an external manifestation of this, a side-effect, as it were.
She doesn't like the sight of the scars left where the scales used to be, and cannot stand her new "hair", which is why she shaves it off and wears a headscarf. Unlike the segmented T-elX "hair", which was a separate vestibular and sensory organ, it doesn't have a specialized function - and, to make matters worse, the useless growth on her scalp cannot be managed and makes her look disorganized and untidy, so she has a strong urge to have it hidden or eliminated.
Clothes:
Azila has never quite managed to grasp the significance of outward appearance for most women, or its value for society. She finds people to be beautiful as they are and is bewildered by to their obsession with altering their physique to be more attractive to themselves or to actual and potential mates. On the few occasions when she was convinced to dress up, she had severe difficulty maintaining the image even for a couple of hours because she couldn't concentrate on her inner and outer state simultaneously. She is unlikely to learn to uphold the necessary standard of beauty throughout the day, and she found the effort to be draining and a major distraction from her job, therefore not worth the while.
Because of this, she prefers to limit her clothing to the bare basics. She chooses comfortable, functional items that do not inhibit movement or interfere with her work: linen slacks and blouses, plaid shirts, hoodies, wide-leg jeans, cargo pants, army surplus fatigues. The sleeves and pant legs are usually rolled up. The exoskeleton on her feet makes shoes redundant and she goes barefoot most of the time; if she absolutely has to, she wears hiking or construction boots with the front cut off to accommodate the claws, or wraps her feet in strips of leather, suede or coarse linen.
She doesn't mind dressing in whatever happens to be at hand, as long as it's simple and practical, which may sometimes make her clothes look mismatched, haphazardly thrown together without any care or consideration for style. Some are one or two sizes too large, as moderately oversized clothes tend to be more convenient. It's been said that her fashion sense doesn't just have a value of zero; it comes with a minus sign. When presented with a choice, prefers muted, dull earth tones - gray, brown, khaki, dusty green.
One may well consider her dressed for a special occasion if she wears a brand-new set of fatigues, new utility boots fresh out of the store and a green silk headscarf.
Post-reassimilation alterations:
During the second assimilation, Azila was given a more solemn, regal appearance to reflect the change in status from sentinel to a representative of the T'elX and their liaison in relations with humans (ambassador, spokesperson). Her irises became a deep aubergine, with a bright purple line highlighting the pupil. The iridescent UV-reflective pattern became more intricate; the visible violet stains became larger, with the delicate purple wash spreading over wider areas around them and fading more gradually at the periphery. The stalk-like segmented "hair", or antennae (an additional sensory and vestibular organ), grew past her waist.