The Ushari

[madimpossibledreamer]

I really don't have the time for doing this either, but...here we go.
Warning: MASSIVE B5 SPOILERS.  NOT ESSENTIAL TO READ BEFORE FIC SO YOU CAN SKIP IT.  (Other than the Author's Note.  That contains no spoilers.)
This is just backstory stuff, not the actual fic, but it’s coming. I found the other (limited number) of YAHF fics on technomages, and wondered if I’d somehow wandered into an alternate dimension. The thing is, both fics had Willow explaining Galen, Technomages, and Crusade to Xander, who I remembered as being a B5 fan. I wondered if I’d made up fanon that he was a fan, but looked it up and the B5 Commemorative Plates [which might be a joke as they were only ever planned] show up as a Thing in The Replacement, so the answer was no, I didn’t turn right. (Willow explaining them to Xander was not the problem. I’d buy that they watched it together and she paid more attention to that part of things because it’s relevant to her interests. Her explaining the fact that they exist was what threw me off. I mean, occasionally in character, when she gets extremely excited and/or oblivious, with him sitting through it amused possibly eating popcorn, but the fact that Explaining Thing Other Person Loves To Said Person Like They Have Never Encountered It Before went unaddressed was weird and legit made me doubt my own sanity and/or dimensional stability.) The fics were otherwise good. Honestly, it’s probably a bit of a nitpick.
Like the Galen miniseries coming up, finishing this will probably wait until I have access to the Technomage Trilogy and possibly Technomage RPG volume again. (I don’t remember if I bought the RPG volume. The other’s in storage.) I just wanted to write at least some of it down now so I remember to come back to it. (Also, posting this will hopefully help me do that.)
Mainly, I wanted to play with this idea because a) technomages are awesome b) BtVS is awesome c) I’ve never done an ensemble YAHF before and d) making them all technomages is a fun way to play around with their codependency issues in the series. Because giving these three the ability to contact each other at any time through a spell is likely to make things better, and worse, and better again. Or is it the other way around?

 

            The story of the Ushari is the story of a people that gained their place in the galaxy not once, but twice, though this is not recorded or remembered. They achieved space flight before the first Shadow War, and were well-known as a merchant race. However, they signed up with the Shadows and took on a role similar to the Drakh, helping develop and deploy weapons. During the war, their entire fleet was destroyed, and their civilization fell into chaos without the income generated by interstellar trade. They retain the fear of angels (the Vorlons), and don’t fear the dark. They went back to their traditional ways, living in trees and hunting the native birds. Relatively recently, the Ushari found themselves splitting into two factions, one that believes that stepping out of their place will only bring disaster upon them (because the general is remembered in myth, if not the specific) and another that can’t help but indulge their curiosity, despite all warnings.
            The Ushari are a bipedal cat-like race. They used to have a superstition that those born without tails had no soul, but it turns out that moving out of the trees causes less to be born with tails, because they’re not needed for balance on the ground. It made them slightly xenophobic at first and discouraged them from their interest in exploring life on the ground or in the sky, but their curiosity was greater than their fear. It does intensify the divide between the civilization’s factions.
            The tailless Ushari seeking the stars took part in the Dilgar War, at first as arms merchants and then in outrage against the atrocities committed not just by the Dilgar against their own people, but also against the rest of the League. It was particularly egregious given their somewhat similar appearance as fellow feline-descended races and possibly evolution. At least the Dilgar were generally furless and tailless. (Word of the casualties and danger, of course, increased the power of the isolationists back on their homeworld, between tailless and tailed Ushari alike. Even worse was the possibility that they might be an offshoot, one way or the other, but this has never been confirmed.) Their fur is a little less thick than your average cat, and they tend to be a little darker in coloration to blend in with the foliage of their native forests. They are nocturnal, like Earth cats, and their eyes do see better under low-light conditions.
            Most tailless Ushari take a practical view of their status as being tailless and half-adopt other races as furless siblings. They especially find amusing all the Earth memes about “well, I’m going to Hell, but at least I’ll have good company” and share this outlook. They emphasize the life they live, living carpe diem to the fullest, immersing themselves in humor, curiosity, and a life with no regrets. They also emphasize that hurting others is a bad idea because you’re decreasing the quality of life for both of you this way. (Selling weapons, on the other hand—they’ll be fighting with or without you; at least you can earn a little for yourself this way.) The best war, however, is one won through keeping as much of the other civilization and civilians alive, and particularly barbaric atrocities make their fur stand on end. Predatory actions are part of life, but extending the suffering is barbaric. (Some of the videos of Earth cats convinces them that, tail or not, those are little furry demons. They tend to avoid such videos. The rest of the cat videos available, on the other hand, are an endless source of entertainment and amusement.)