Greetings, Terrans! If you’ve found your way here, you must be at least somewhat curious about the lovable entities known as the Cendarii. This page is to give a brief overview of what they are, using currently publicly accessible knowledge.
To keep things simple, Cendarii are angel-like entities that rely on a bioroid shell and software installed in the bioroid’s brain (known as a ‘template’) in order to interact with the material plain. They aren’t true angels, however, and go by a few different designations, such as artificial angels, pseudo angels, or simply divine beings. The entity itself is referred to as a ‘Core.’
They operate as a pseudo-hivemind and can share memories and knowledge with each other freely. Despite this, they have their own individual aspirations, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Thanks to this system, they can recall memories from other members of the collective with ease, check each other’s status, and even converse with one another over great distances.
The Shell
The Cendarii’s shell is a bioroid ‘device’ which stores an obscene amount of mana to keep the Core stable. They look like small humans (standard models stand 135cm on average) with glowing blue hair and eyes, the color of the mana which courses through them. These shells are living things on their own, but usually do not have wills of their own. If the Core is removed, they simply fall asleep.
They do not require food to survive (though Cendarii do enjoy eating), and can instead convert food into its component mana for storage.
Supplementing the shell itself is the suit, an organic device which covers the shell from neck to toe. It helps keep the mana inside, stores additional mana, and provides other useful quality of life features, such as temperature control. Under ordinary circumstances, it is never removed.
The shell has a lifespan of exactly 100 Cendarii years (approximately 120 Terran years), at which point it will peacefully fall asleep and shut down. The Core is then retrieved to transfer it to a new shell. It will not age past the age of 20 or so in the meanwhile.
The Template
The Template is a program installed in the shell’s brain that acts as an interface between the shell and the core. It stores memories in a format the core can readily read and understand, allowing the core to properly comprehend the material plane.
In a way, it’s the Cendarii’s “mind,” as without it, the Core would simply idle away, with no lasting memory of events.
The Core
The entity itself is known as the “core” of the Cendarii. This entity, in its natural state, has a very short lifespan (roughly 2-4 hours) and a very weak memory. They must be stored in a vessel of some sort with a very high mana concentration in order to resist evaporating. (Their shell functions as this sort of vessel, but tanks of liquid mana work as well in a pinch)
When a Core is moved to a new shell, it usually forgets everything from its previous ‘life.’ Due to this, each ‘cycle’ is treated as a separate person under normal circumstances.
Its appearance is quite literally impossible to describe. Even when asked directly, Cendarii struggle to find words to do so. They’re capable of projecting images of it, but these images appear different depending on who observes them and when. They’ve even allowed Terrans to observe shell-swapping procedures, with the same results.
The only consistent observation is when their Core reaches out from inside the shell (usually from their capacitor on their back), it appears as a pair of iridescent tentacles. These tentacles are quite solid and able to interact with the material plane; presumably because the rest of the Core is still stored inside the dense mana field of the shell.
In short, the mortal mind struggles to comprehend what it’s looking at when it observes the Core in full, and is only able to perceive glimpses of it at a time.
Culture
Cendarii enjoy eating, singing, and dancing. They have a variety of sports they like to play, and they enjoy writing fictional stories (often told through song).
They revere life, and will go out of their way to protect or restore it where possible. Though usually peaceful, they will fight if they must in order to protect life.
They also revere knowledge, and collect data from anywhere possible, storing the knowledge in the Library. Learning new things is among one of the most enjoyable things for a Cendarii, and one can easily get caught up in studying something new at the expense of other things.
Reproduction/lifecycle
Simply put, Cendarii are asexual. While they do enjoy romantic partnerships, they can only “reproduce” by growing a new shell in a lab. Even this act does not bring a new Core to life, it simply creates a new shell for an existing core to move to when its current shell expires.
Still, because each new ‘cycle’ is treated as a new ‘person,’ this new adolescent is adopted by one or two parents, who will then consider themselves as a family. The young Cendarii will be raised by their parents until they’re old enough to take on the tasks assigned to them.