Crimson Oasis

ZENITHATIC SYKRO'S BRIEF GUIDE TO KIROCCOS

(NOTE: YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THIS; IT'S JUST AN OVERVIEW OF THE SPECIES FEATURED IN THE STORY AND THEIR LIFESTYLE, JUST FOR YOU TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING.)

Kiroccos are a humanoid species that live on the planet of Kyrosso, which is mainly made up of vast deserts of soft golden sand. Nights are always longer than days, and for most of the 30 hours that make up the day, the sky appears to have a sunset-like tint, giving an unusual surrounding to those unfamiliar to the planet. Water is also tinted purple.

CURRENT APPROXIMATE KIROCCO POPULATION: 10 MILLION
CURRENT APPROXIMATE SAIKRA POPULATION: 6 MILLION

APPEARANCE
Compared to humans, kiroccos are mainly shorter and slimmer, and their legs are considerably longer and more muscled than the rest of their body. Their skin is a pale shade of red which can vary between kiroccos mainly depending on how much time they spend in the sun. Almost all wear jewellery (most commonly rings, bracelets, necklaces and chains) and/or have piercings (most commonly in ears, nose and lip), and clothes that they wear are smooth, loose and are within a range of pale colours. They usually wear trainers or boots. Only important figures are allowed to wear gold, unless if it's jewellery.
Kiroccos usually have cold-coloured eyes, meaning they are within the range of green, blue or purple. Saturation and brightness vary, though this mainly depends on family genetics. Their blood is white.
Hair is always black and short.
Males tend to be larger and more muscular than females, and females tend to be more agile.
They have a life expectancy of 80 years.


ABILITIES
All kiroccos have a special kind of magic called Goldarts. This magic is made up of a range of spells that a kirocco can perform, which includes spells for invisibility, speed, healing, blinding enemies etc. There is, however, a downside; if the kirocco enchants an object with a spell, it can only be enchanted ONCE, even if it's a different spell or kirocco. To get around this, most enchantments made are usually recurring so that the object can be used multiple times without the spell wearing off.
Kiroccos don't get their magic at birth and have to wait until they're at least fourteen for it to naturally come in. The magic, especially when it first comes in, is hard to control, and can easily lead to disaster if used. Because of this, young kiroccos who have received their magic early are put under Goldart Suppression Control, meaning they have to take tablets every month so that their magic doesn't impulsively do things against the kirocco's demand. At sixteen, which is the legal age of obtaining control of Goldart, the kirocco is given a pair of golden bracelets which supposedly give them full control over their magic. These bracelets log the spells that are made by the owner so the Citykeepers can keep track of the different spells made in order to make sure that nobody performs an illegal spell.
To cast a Goldart spell, a kirocco needs to be facing the object they want to enchant. They have to mark out the spell in the air (each spell can be symbolised by runes, more on that later) before releasing the magic by swiftly holding both arms forward. They know if the spell is working if they feel some kind of electrical pulse throughout their muscles. Then, when it's released, small gold beams will dart from their fingertips to the object they're enchanting. Once the beams reach the object, it does what the spell told it to. If a kirocco performs spells often, they can learn to perform spells faster because their hands adapt to performing spells. Objects enchanted by Goldart will have some kind of aura that can only be felt by kiroccos.
Goldart has its limits, however, there's a special type of kirocco called a Zenithatic. These kiroccos have a different type of Goldart which is much more powerful than average; commonly known as Zenithatic Goldart. Zenithatics have a lot more traits to their magic; they have full control over it even with bracelets, can enchant things with their thoughts to do anything they want and they can enchant the same object more than once, even if another kirocco has already enchanted it. However, Zenithatics are EXTREMELY RARE, and there have only ever been two known cases of them happening over the entire 20,000 year history of kiroccos; Zenithatic Myskyr, and the author of this guide, Zenithatic Sykro.
Apart from their magic, kiroccos are also agile and flexible, making them excellent climbers.


TERRITORY
All kiroccos live within the vast desert of the planet of Kyrosso. It is mainly made up of deep golden dunes with soft sand, but plenty of cliffs, plateaus and oases lie around here and there. Most of the population lives within the massive town of Saikra which is split into dozens of different boroughs; some richer than others, some larger than others, some older than others, some more dangerous than others. Those that don't live in any of Saikra's boroughs either live within a short distance of it or are completely isolated and a long walk away.

CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE
RESIDENCE - All known kiroccos live in or near the town of Saikra (currently the largest kirocco settlement, others being small villages scattered across the desert) in shacks made of sandstone and decorated with all sorts of banners, flags, plants and similar.
GOVERNMENT & LAW - The Citykeepers are the police and government equivalent of the kiroccos. They are a group of about 400 kiroccos and can be seen in Citykeeper uniform around the town. It is their job to make sure kiroccos don't break laws set down upon the town. 
The entire kirocco species is under the rule of the King or Queen; the current ruler is King Rykone. The ruler has the power to change laws as well as promote and demote Citykeepers. To add a new law, Citykeepers must suggest it to the Ruler, the Ruler will hold a vote within Citykeepers to decide whether to make it a public vote.
LANGUAGE - Kiroccos speak a language known as Lyrkian, which sounds exactly like English, but is written in runes. Each letter (a-z) and number (0-9) has its own rune, so sentences are just combinations of these runes made into one character. In order to cast a spell using Goldart, a kirocco must draw the spell in the air using their fist.
EDUCATION - Kiroccos begin school at age three and finish at age sixteen. School teaches them mainly about Goldart but also Literature, Mathematics and Government. They're also given the option to study Art, Music or Drama.
TRADITIONS - There are 12 months of the year: Skyrgen, Terugen, Karne, Neval, Ruki, Sikra, Siraka, Kamura, Veriker, Oriker, Mariker and Sheriker. The first three months are spring months, the next are summer months, followed by autumn months and then winter months. All months have 25 days, making each year exactly 300 days, and every day is 30 hours; 10 hours of daylight, 20 hours of darkness. Kiroccos only require at least 9 hours of sleep in order to wake up well-rested.
There are three main celebrations;
- Kariten, which is a gift-giving event that takes place in Mariker
- Vynrin, which is a food-eating event that takes place in Kamura, and
- Desire Parade, which is a festival held in the main town between late Ruki and early Sikra.
Kiroccos also celebrate birthdays.
FOOD - Kiroccos are widely known to eat scorpions due to having immunity to their poison. Other than that, they also eat cacti (usually as a soup), various fruits (including coconuts) and yeast products.
TRAVEL - Kiroccos spend most of their time walking, but if they want to cover long distances, they use a flying spell. The flying spell is hard to get right, so only well-trained kiroccos can do this.