Lastar/Lastar (Archived)

General

Lastar is a barren planet in the shape of an infinity symbol; a looping cylinder that travels over itself without ever properly intersecting. Located in the same system as Globin by some odd twist of fate, Lastar orbits its sun at a slightly closer range than usual for a conventionally inhabitable planet. The planet shines brilliantly in the vastness of space, with the Globinites convinced that it was a separate sun on its own prior to proper astronomy taking shape on their planet. Though the atmosphere is a bit thinner than what many carbon-based forms of life are used to, the conditions of the planet are nevertheless livable to some extent. The surface is composed of a solid reflective substance that gives Lastar its unique sheen which, combined with the unique shape of the planet and how the atmosphere bends light, results in several "false suns" appearing in the sky, eliminating all shadows on the planet.

Along the surface, Lastar is mostly barren; aside from the Lastarals themselves, the only forms of visible life on the planet are a variety of bush-like plants and small flowers, bleached white from the brilliant light of the sun, along with some small crustacean-like insects that live deep in the planet's surface. Due to the inescapable, brilliant light across the planet, venturing onto its surface without some kind of protection for your eyes is incredibly dangerous, with being made completely blind from exposure a serious threat. That aside, there are no major threats on the planet's surface; seemingly inhabited by an intelligent race beforehand, there are some structures that remain on the planet, though the origin of these stone spires remains unknown; at this time the Lastarals do not currently have the technology required to build these structures, being roughly comparable to a stone-age society in terms of technology.

Natives

It's highly questionable whether the Lastarals are native to their own planet at all; in the simplest terms, a Lastaral resembles some kind of abstract angel. Each Lastaral is composed of several metal rings of varying thickness, with the rings closest to the center becoming thicker, though all of them are characterized by flat edges (akin to if you cut a cylinder across its width and carved out a hole in the center. Each ring's inner face is colored a dull, worn silver, in stark contrast to the brilliant golden plating everywhere else on their rings. At the center of these rings is a core, composed of a burning hot blue material that derives energy from sunlight, the exact properties of which are still unknown to the Archive at this time. These rings are connected by a set of four semi-physical wings, which extend from the core and phase through the Lastaral's rings. All Lastarals are capable of using their rings to reflect light in various colors and patterns, with said reflected beams standing out even against Lastar's inescapable light. As a species, Lastarals have absolutely no concept of biological gender (or, for that matter, sexual dimorphism in any sense at all, to the point where their own language has no way of differentiating individuals by gender) and find the concept incomprehensible. While Lastarals have proven to be capable of performing some level of vocalization, the techniques are quite strenuous for them and are only practiced by a select few Lastaral communities.

Each Lastaral has access to a small variety of powers, seemingly based in the core they keep with them; bursts of flight and speed, with some (debatably reliable) accounts of Lastarals having access to some level of future prediction, though no formal studies have been conducted to prove this claim either true or false. Lastarals also have a level of access to fire abilities, able to focus their light to set others aflame, though these destructive abilities are only used in self-defense, or when protecting another Lastaral from harm. Moreover, some onlookers have reported hearing disembodied, ghastly voices when spending an extended period of time with and around Lastarals, but this claim is currently impossible to quantify, in part both to Lastar's general aversion to technology and said technology unable to pick up anything of the sort.

For what it's worth, Lastarals are quite peaceful creatures or at least have never shown any hostile intentions. Their own civilizations are quite organized in nature, typically being egalitarian and unwelcoming to outsiders. Many of them are quite wary around those that are from outside of their planet (which they refer to as "wanderers of the darkness"), though through extended visits a handful of visitors have been able to acclimate themselves with Lastaral culture; despite having simple social structures, their spiritual sectors are exceptionally complex, with new information on Lastaral religion being discovered and published near daily; Lastar is the direct home to over 1,250 unique religions, with many more being able to trace their origins back to this peculiar planet. And while their success on this front is still being researched (including how it's even possible in the first place; occasional sightings of Lastarals have been reported sporadically but there is rarely any evidence to support these claims.)

As a side note, the Lastarals appear to be haunted by some event that occurred far in the distant past, frequently making mentions of Them, which is a crude translation of the actual Lastaral passage, the raw meaning of which doesn't translate well into any recognized languages; even fringe languages have borne little fruit in breaking down the actual meaning of the word. Them is mentioned constantly in Lastaral texts, going under many descriptions; an abhorrent abomination seeking to devour the universe and replace it entirely, an army of "darkened" souls that seek to steal the souls of the "brightened," and a disembodied force hundreds of past civilizations had fallen attempting to control are just a few examples of how "Them" is portrayed." "Them will be back," a Lastaral once reported to an Archive scientist, "and they will cleanse our universe of every sin, every wrong, and the unworthy burned by our wings."