Awoken (Duiz'zui)

The Awoken (Second Human Empire: Children of the Gods and Demons) are a bluish-gray-skinned species in the Duiz'zui Earth. They are descendants of Humans who, during the Collapse, tried to run to the far edges of known space to escape The Darkness. Something mysterious and strange happened to them at the edge of Human-controlled space, which altered them forever. Many of the Awoken live in The Reef, but others also live on Duiz'zui Earth. Earth-born Awoken who adventure to The Reef are often unwelcomed by the Queen as outsiders. The Awoken joined the Alliance of Nations in response to the Chiss race joining the Axis led by Thrawn.

Biology

Awoken are standoffish and resemble baseline humans and Chiss, with the notable exception of having pale blue, purple, green, or gray skin. They also have luminescent eyes with glowing irises.

Beyond physical appearances, the Awoken seem to possess powers and abilities beyond their human ancestors. The Techuans are a particularly notable example, though ordinary Awoken can also experience visions in the form of dreams. This is a side effect of them being within Earth's universe-within the Distributary, the Awoken do not have paracausal abilities, but are so intertwined with the fabric of its existence that they do not age past a certain point.

History

Origins

The Awoken were believed to have been born in the Collapse, descended from humans who tried to escape its wrath. Something happened to them out on the edge of spave, and they were forever changed. After their race was formed, the ancestors of the Awoken took up residence in the Asteroid Belt, constructing cities and habitats like the Dreaming City. Today many Awoken live in the Reef, aloof and mysterious, but others returned to Duiz'zuiEarth, where their descendants now fight for the City. Earthborn Awoken sometimes venture out to the Reef, hoping to learn its secrets—but find no special welcome from the reclusive Queen.

It is discovered that the Awoken are the descendants of the crew and passengers of the Yang Liwei, codenamed Exodus Green, a generation ship that left their Homeworld shortly before the Collapse in an attempt to find a way to live without the Traveler. The ship refused to take a side when the Darkness attacked the Traveler. During the initial sparring between the two acausal entities, the ship was at the centerpiece of a kugelblitz, a black hole-like anomaly in space time that sucked it and all its inhabitants into a newborn pocket universe. The Yang Liwei's 891 crewmembers and 40,000 passengers were annihilated and lost their physical forms, becoming beings of pure potential. Mara Sov, a low-ranking crewmember, was the first person to enter the kugelblitz just before the ship. She reassembled her own disembodied conscience, manipulated the Distributary's physical laws to shape it into an earthly paradise of a planet and created a new body for herself. Together with the ship's captain Alis Li, who awakened the same way, Mara Sov induced other disembodied humans from the Yang Liwei to awaken as well and reincarnate into new blue-skinned, star-eyed bodies, having only vague memories about their past.

Culture

The Awoken are led by a matriarchy and are highly isolationist. The Awoken that returned to Duiz'zui Earth are regarded as cold by the Reef-born. It is unknown what they regard those born on other worlds so far.

Trivia

• Accoridng to common knowledge, the AWoken hardly leave their borders, or even the solar system where they remain in the Reef during the First Multiverse War.