User Profile

Jago

This journal is for the purpose of RPing in various LJ communities such as sages_of_chaos. I make no claim of ownership of the character. For those unfamiliar with C.J. Cherryh's marvelous series of books in the Foreigner universe, let me introduce you to Jago, her culture, and her society - a full profile is below:



Jago is a female of the atevi (singular: ateva, plural: atevi), a technologically advanced sentient alien species that is humanoid in appearance. Atevi have just achieved spaceflight within their own solar system, but have not yet achieved FTL travel.

RACE: As indicated above, Jago is an ateva from the atevi homeworld.

AGE: Assumed to be in her late twenties.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: Atevi are humanoid in appearance, with five fingers and five toes. They are somewhat elven in appearance in that their ears are pointed. Their features are even and often what we consider to be attractive. The atevi are tall, averaging between eight and ten feet, and powerfully built in comparison to humans. (To the atevi, well...they are just normal.) Their skin is almost uniformly ebony black, as is their hair. Hair is invariably worn very long, always in a single braid that is woven and almost aways ornamented with ribbons and beading that conveys information about their professional and personal Assocations, or "man'chi" (see below), and their status. Their eyes are unusual - bright chatoyant gold, which reflects light in the dark. Jago is ethnically a Ragi, the dominant culture in the Western Association (see below).

HAIR: As with most atevi, black, worn very long, and in a single plait down her back.

EYES: Chatoyant gold, reflective in low light conditions. It is assumed that atevi have better night vision than humans. All atevi have eyes in varying shades of gold.

HEIGHT: Approximately 8' 5". Jago is of average height for a female ateva.

FIGHTING SKILLS: Jago has facility with the tools of her Guild, those being guns.

JAGO'S HISTORY:

In canon, Jago and her father Banichi are of the Assassin's Guild (see below), functioning together as a unit. Their man'chi, or Association (see below), is within that of Tabini's, Lord of the Western Association (see below), who is roughly equivalent to the U.S. President in terms of influence. They are charged with protecting Bren Cameron, the sole human allowed to live on the atevi mainland, who serves as the sole conduit between the two species. Unlike human bodyguards, Jago and Banichi are in the position of total equality in this relationship with Bren - Bren obeys them unquestioningly on matters of logistics, procedure, etiquette, etc. They are his peers.

Jago takes her job very very seriously. She's more open in her curiousity than the typical ateva, and well versed in human customs. She might be considered daring. Like most atevi, she is very polite, intelligent, and extremely aware of her physical environment. She is very good with languages, although the seemingly random patterns of human languages amuse her. Due to atevi politeness, when conversing in tongues outside that of her species, she speaks far less than she understands, out of concern for inadvertently offending someone. She has an excellent sense of humor.

HISTORY:

The Atevi - brief history with humans

First Contact between humans and atevi occurred when the human colony ship Phoenix becomes lost and disabled during deep space travel. The crew locates nearby a yellow star system with a planet, and the Phoenix, through events described in the books, establishes contact with the atevi, who have not yet achieved space flight. Although both species are non-hostile and have the best intentions, a brief war breaks out, due to neuro-biological and linguistic differences between humans and atevi that make initial misunderstandings inevitable. After an atevi victory, despite superior human technology, a treaty is drawn up, and the humans, lacking a functional ship to continue their voyage, settle the island of Mospheira, becoming a sovereign nation, although in an obviously symbiotic relationship with the Western Association.

Atevi Culture

Although the atevi are an intelligent species and capable of strong emotion, their emotions and thinking processes differ greatly from humans. Such differences, not surprisingly, are seen in all aspects of atevi culture from their political structure to their language. One difference between the two species is the atevi tendency to separate emotion from their physical features as opposed to humans instinctive facial expressions based on mood. Emotion is rarely evident on their faces except with intimates, those of long Association.

Rather than friendships or love as we understand them, the atevi have man'chi, or Association, a biological instinctive need to follow a leader or association. The atevi obviously care for their own, but such feelings are reserved only for those of the same man'chi, or Association, who exhibit unity and loyalty to the same leadership. They do not form friendships across Associations, nor indeed form friendships as we understand them at all, although they exhibit obvious strong emotional attachment to intimates. The overriding emotional drive of the atevi is thus man'chi, that overrides all other emotional ties and bonds. The instinct is roughly parallel to that of humans to organize their own society into families, communities with common interests, or even political parties, but the bond in Association is much deeper in atevi society.

This is not to say that atevi are not friendly; in fact, they are always polite and solicitous.

Although atevi society, culture and emotions are hardwired differently from humans, many emotions and instincts intersect, resulting in a nexus of cultural understanding. Atevi and humans can and do form close working relationships.

Atevi are considered by humans to be both intimidating and appealing. Their usual countenance upon an initial encounter can be described as deeply reserved. They do not smile until they are relaxed and feel intimate in the presence of humans - smiles mean something different in atevi society, although they understand that smiling among humans is a gesture of good will, and when on comfortable terms with humans, will do so. The atevi place great value on protocol, and are almost uniformly exqusitely polite, often addressing and/or describing their own actions and feelings in the third person. Humans often perceive them as quite formal. Because of this deep emphasis on politeness and form in their own society, they seek to understand etiquette in others, and when in doubt as to how to proceed, they usually err on the side of caution. When in doubt as to procedure with unfamiliar persons, an ateva will still their body language and facial expressions to what we might consider stoniness - but to an ateva, this reserve is considered the epitome of politeness.

Atevi have excellent poker faces.

Offering food is considered a gesture of evident good will in atevi society, and thus atevi place value upon food sharing, meals, and the sharing of tea and other stimulants.


The Western Association

Atevi political structure is based on man'chi, or Association, rather than geographical boundaries. Therefore, the Western Association, the largest of the atevi political entities, cannot be designated on a map, as it supracedes geographical boundaries. The Western Association is the largest atevi political entity and the only one that has any dealings with humans.


Jago and her profession

Jago is a member of the Assassin's Guild, which, in human terms, serves roughly the function of law enforcement, although in a very different manner than humans are used to. The Assassin's Guild is a completely legitimate, deeply respected, and integral part of atevi society. The function of the Assassin's Guild is to enforce stability and order in a society with very different emotional makeup, social organization and loyalties than our own.

Atevi Language and Technology

The atevi have evolved with an innately high mathematical ability, greatly exceeding that of humans, that is evidently hardwired into their cognitive and neurolinguistic structures. Facility with numbers permeates every aspect of their environment (down to the decor), their beliefs, their language, and their spiritual beliefs. The native atevi languages are difficult for humans to learn, because they require constant complex mathematical calculations to produce felicitous numbers in word placement, word order, word grouping, etc. Infelicitous numerical combinations in language and decor are considered to be ill omens. An ateva can do sophisticated mathematical calculations in his or her head, and indeed perform many complex mental calculations simultaneously.

The atevi utterly comprehend math-based knowledge systems: calculus, physics, astronomy, etc. Most of their native philosophies are based on math. The atevi level of technological development is that of just having achieved space flight, although they are far from FTL travel. In many areas their technologies exceed that of humans, and in other industries they are behind. The forced proximity of the atevi to humans for over two hundred years has accelerated atevi levels of technology due to carefully planned knowledge and technology transer from humans to atevi.

All in all, the atevi are extremely practical people on almost every level.

Human and Atevi Interaction

Human "associations" puzzle atevi, who have difficulty comphrehending how family loyalty or romantic love can cause a human to abandon or shift what the atevi consider to be an Assocation that should be almost permanent. In fact, atevi do not view human society as having Assocations as they understand them, although they often strive to understand and define human culture in these terms. Atevi occasionally do shift their Assocations as a rational decision, and this action is never done lightly or impulsively. They also occasionally assassinate persons within their own Association or others when stability is threatened - an act that humans would consider ruthless, but which the atevi consider completely appropriate, legal, and usually necessary. When it is decided that a person is a target for assassination, the Assassin's Guild will publicly file a formal Intent, warning of the imminent assassination to come - another example of the emphasis on politeness in atevi society. A rough parallel would be a 21st century company filing an intent to hold an IPO with the SEC.

Atevi society is relatively non-hierarchical in practice, although hierarchical in leadership, and has uniformly democratic albeit hierarchical government. Leaders are elected, although there are powerful political dynasties that have prevailed in power in certain regions, but members of said dynasties cannot assume power without being formally elected.


THE ASSASSIN'S GUILD

Assassination is legal in atevi society if one files Intent to fairly warn the intended victim of bloodfeud, and if one uses a licensed member of the Assassin's Guild as his or her registered agent. Such agents are commonly used in fueding and conflict between Associations.

Such killing on a small scale has served to prevent much large scale conflict in atevi society. Atevi history is virtually bereft of large scale war and conflict. Atevi officials who might be inclined to rashness or megalomania are, understandably, hesitant to act rashly since their opponents may file Intent to feud. Any killings that have not been properly registered via Intent and conducted by licensed Guild members are considered illegal murder, subject to dishonor and punishment by the aiji,, or the leader of a particular Association.

The Assassin's Guild is composed of atevi who have passed a strict training regimen to obtain a license and who have been accepted into the Guild. All assassinations must be performed with finesse, meaning no one other than the intended victim is to be harmed or killed: no random shootings at innocent bystanders, no wanton destruction, no wholesale murder. Assassin's Guild members often serve as personal security for notable persons, so also act in the capacity of bodyguards.

The character of Jago, along with every other character in the Foreigner Universe, belongs to C.J. Cherryh, and no infringement is intended, nor ownership implied. The artwork above is © Michael Whelan.

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