Irathient Alphabet

Language

David J. Peterson developed the full Irathient language. L'Irathi, the Irathient language is in many ways the opposite of Kastithanu; for instance, L'Irathi has a head-initial word order. The phonologies and phonotactics also differ considerably. L'Irathi is built around an extensive noun class system which affects every aspect of the language.

The L'Irathi word Shtako has been picked up by the four other races in the Votanis Collective, as well as humans; it is used as a swear word. Peterson even went so far as to develop a scheme for what L'Irathi-accented English is supposed to sound like (it vaguely resembles an Eastern European accent).

Younger Irathient characters intentionally are not portrayed as speaking this way, i.e. Irisa was raised by Nolan since she was a small child so she speaks English without an accent (though she still knows L'Irathi as her native language).

Aesthetic

Traditional Irathient clothing is a combination of roughspun fabric and ornate beads, somewhat resembling the traditional clothing of various tribal cultures from Earth. They frequently braid beads into strands of their hair. Unlike the Castithans, however, who mostly cling to their old world dress style, many of the Irathients have tried to assimilate to their new life on Earth, after a fashion.

While some of the younger Castithans have culturally assimilated and try to dress exactly like contemporary humans, however, generally the Irathients simply picked up on various bits and pieces of human clothing styles which they have discovered a fondness for, and then anachronistically combined with their traditional clothing.

The result is that many Irathients on Earth dress in a bizarre cross between something like traditional Mongolian bead-wear and 19th century steampunk attire.

Sukar, the leader of the Irathient Spirit Riders, dressed in an odd mix of tribal wear, bits of combat armor, a fur shawl, and a top hat. Rynn wore a traditional heavy beadwear necklace along with a bodice and fishnet leggings.

Irisa was raised by Nolan and thus normally wears regular human clothing she can find such as her pink fur-lined jacket, but she switches to traditional Irathient tribal wear during Irathient religious ceremonies.

However, when Irisa wanted to dress up for the wedding of the Castithan Alak and the human Christie McCawley, she wore what resembled a flapper dress and bodice combined with fishnet arm warmers, a fur shawl, and a fishnet hairpiece.

Excerpts and References:
Defiance.com, wikipedia.org, imdb.com

The Irathients, or Iraths for short, appear very close to human. Their coloration is more similar to humans than the pale Castithans, with bronze skin interspersed with biologically occurring patterns of white marks (different individuals can have skin coloration that varies between pinkish-bronze and reddish-brown).

However, the proportions of their facial features are slightly different from humans (and the human-like Castithans), with a wider bridge of the nose arcing towards the eyes. The bridge and arch is wider and more pronounced in the males than in the females. Their hair is usually a bright warm color, usually a shade of red, and they have oversized, brightly-colored irises.

They are naturally athletic and skilled at combat. Irathients also have very strong immune systems are thus not susceptible to many diseases, though they can act as carriers for other races which are susceptible. The Irathients are the most common Votan race living on Earth.

The Irathients evolved in the savannah regions of the planet Irath, similar to the Great Plains of North America. This has made them particularly well-suited for survival in the badlands of the Storm Divide created during the Arkfall, which begins at the western border of Defiance, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

However, the Irathients in the new frontier have switched from the draft animals of their ancestors to roving motorcycle gangs, such as the Spirit Riders led by Sukar. Still, while many Irathients have pursued a nomadic life scavenging in the badlands, many others also pursue a life of peaceful settled farming, in harmony with nature.

On extremely rare occasion, certain Irathients are born with psychic abilities, which grant them visions of past or contemporary events during which they were not physically present. Irathients who possess "the sight" are said to be touched by their god Irzu.

Irisa Nyira is one such Irathient who possesses these abilities, though because she was raised by the human Joshua Nolan, she didn't know what her visions were and he mistook them as simply PTSD-induced hallucinations. On arriving in Defiance, other Irathients explained to Irisa the true nature of her abilities.

As with the Castithans, Irathients can procreate with humans, but hybrid offspring are extremely rare due to the danger that such an exotic pregnancy presents to both the mother and child.When Nolan says Irisa is his daughter, Amanda says she looks like a pureblood, and he corrects her that she is his adopted daughter.

While aggressive and tribal, the Irathients also have a great respect for nature and are a deeply spiritual people. However their "spirituality" is a very loose and personal polytheistic belief system, in contrast with the rigidly ordered hierarchy and strict dogma of the Castithan religion. They look down on humans for disrespecting and abusing nature.

There are four main deities in the Irathient religion: Irzu, Indanyu, Gyamasha, and Gyakusa. Each corresponds to one of the aspects of the Irathient soul, which they believe reside in different parts of the body. Idanyu (called "Idanyu of the flame") is associated with vitality, said to be situated in the heart.

Gyamasha is associated with intellect, which is situated in the brain, while Gyakusa is associated with passion, situated in the stomach. Gyamasha and Gyakusa, representing intellect and passion, are always paired and always at war with each other. Irzu, the chief deity, is associated with the "spirit", represented by the body as a whole. Irzu is said to have a path laid out for everyone.

Irzu is both the ruler of the other deities and a composite of all of them, yet a being in his own right: Irzu cannot exist without the other deities, nor can they exist without him (loosely comparable to how in Hinduism, Vishnu and Shiva are both forms of Brahman).

Several other lesser deities or demigods are also associated with these four main gods, but much as with some major human religions, there is some variation of belief between different subsets of Irathient society, and a given sub-sect may recognize certain lesser deities but not others. Even so, the general belief in the four main deities is ubiquitous throughout the entire species.

Irathients chemically cremate their dead in a funeral custom known as "sinking", in which the body is wrapped in a shawl and then sunk into a bath of acidic chemicals. The chemicals break down the flesh of the corpse into basic nutrients, allowing the flesh to rejoin nature most efficiently.

Similar to certain forms of cremation with fire, the chemicals do not dissolve the bones, which are left behind as a memorial of the deceased. Due to their respect for nature and religious beliefs, the Irathients refuse to vaccinate their children. This led to tensions when the town of Defiance instituted a mandatory vaccination policy, leading to violence and many Irathients leaving the town.

Several members of other races look down on them for this, blaming unvaccinated Irathients for spreading diseases. Another major reason which contributed to the Irathients' disdain for vaccination is because they naturally possess very strong immune systems, which are capable of fighting off most diseases.

As a result the Irathients never developed particularly advanced disease-fighting technology on their homeworld, because they simply did not need it. The problem this raised was that Irathients can still serve as hosts for diseases which are harmless to them, but dangerous to other species.

This led to a stereotype even in the Votanis system that the Irathients are "unclean" plague-carriers: a view particularly embraced by the Castithans, who are obsessed with cleanliness and ritual bathing. While this has led to prejudice against the Irathients there is a basis of truth behind it, and even on Earth it was discovered that Irathients can carry and spread diseases which while harmless to them, are dangerous or fatal to humans.

The Irathients tend to get along well with the Sensoth and Liberata, because they all evolved on the planet Irath, and peacefully co-existed on it for many generations. The Irathients can't stand the Castithans, whom they see as arrogant, as their rigidly hierarchical and ordered society and culture is the opposite of the chaotic, independent-minded society and culture of the Irathients.