Morinx

Life. It's everywhere. Sometimes it's long, happy, healthy, and wonderful, while other times... not so much. Usually, it's between 'VEry goddamned short' and 'Good god, you lived how long!?'. This, interestingly enough, holds true for a great many races, INCLUDING the Mirkaeli.

And on the subject of life.... meet Morinx. To us, he's an example of ALIEN life! To him, he's an example of 'Huh.... still alive.... didn't expect that'. See, Morinx is a Mirkaeli soldier, and, while they're regarded(by those in the know) as some of the finest in the galaxy, that sure as hell doesn't make them invincible! And, well, considering they're often mercenaries, they wind up in dirtier situations than most would expect, for less pay than they'd prefer, and they DIE a LOT.... which is something Mori hasn't done yet, mind, and he's hoping to keep it that way.

... hope only goes so far, though. He's seen others in his squad die, from time to time. Hell, he's been injured before, and felt bullets just miss his head, as well. It's enough to make any guy nervous... so he's had to find SOME form of stress relief! Fortunately, though, he HAS found it, in the form of a... social experiment, of sorts. A damned clever one, at that...

It wasn't the humans' idea, mind you. They're NEW on the scene. HOwever, it was based on some human concepts that the Khazad Shalar found interesting. Put simply, imagine if Second Life spanned whole planetary systems and multiple species, but with full virtual reality interfaces. Now, throw in MMORPG elements, places with warzones, plot-heavy story, and the like, and spread it across whole, virtual PLANETS, and you get the idea well enough. The Galaxy is a huge social experiment of an MMO, and a case study, seeing how various races get along before they're actually allowed to meet in person.

Morinx... keeps clear of the warzones. Much too much like his actual life, and his Dive Gear(The virtual interface system he uses) can be all too realistic in some regards. Sure, it doesn't hurt as much to be shot, but it STILL HURTS. No, he keeps to the social environments for the most part, or the very few places with feedback turned off if he's going to combat sims. Mostly, he tries to interact with... well, anyone willing to talk to him.

Which is... surprisingly few people. But, then, he's not exactly super-outgoing, and he is a bit intimidating. Mirkaeli, you see, have a reputation, and Morinx, as a Warrior, is fully seven feet tall, visibly strong, and the way he looks at many people just makes them nervous. With his pale skin, his blue scales(The same color as his text), and his long, blue-back hair, not to mention the pointy, elfin ears and slight fangs, he's close enough to human to be appealing as well, though, and fairly attractive, at that! Some people can't get past the 'gloves and boots' scale pattern on him, though, and others have problems with the genetic engineering Warrior Mirkaeli undergo, to make them more effective.

You see, the Mirkaeli philosophy on war is such that any advantage should be taken. ANY advantage, be it natural or created, should be pursued. To this end, warriors get a few additions that allow them to take prisoners, and store food(which, coincidentally, are not always different things). Normal Mirkaeli have perfectly ordinary, lizardlike tails. Warriors... have prehensile, nommy tails, with a series of 'teeth' on the end, three of them, one per tails segment, which spread wide around their chosen target, and grip them as they're worked down that tail, into either their gut or their holding pouch. Feisty prey is dosed with secreted venom via their saliva, either through a bite or simply through enough skin contact once they're inside, pacifying them. It's... lead to some awkwardness, before, which is why most don't really deal with the Mirkaeli in person. This is further explained by the species being naturally vore-capable in other ways.

Still, awkwardness aside, Morinx is actually a genuinely nice guy! HE's friendly enough, even if he may not quite know what to say when he first meets someone, and he can be rather charming and sweet. Shame all the human women he meets look so cute and tasty, though....