#neozo

WELKIND aka Kind She/they. 847 years. 8'2" Song: "Country Air" by Soak Onsite: Cloud Eyrie Lawful Neutral / Gemini Powers: North Wind Wind-related powers, including a powerful ‘wind shield’ for protection. The 'last' of the Welkin, the Children of the Sky, a race of gryphon-like bipeds with air magic abilities who 'evaporated' hundreds of years ago. Banished Nebursa (her younger sister) from the planet after Nebursa betrayed the Welkin. Has been lonely for a long time. A little pious/preachy and out of touch with others. Maintains the Tower, the last remaining site of the Welkin race. Has a soft spot for small cute things.

NEBURSA aka Ursa She/her. 842 years. 7'11" Song: "Miss Murder" by A Fire Inside (AFI) Onsite: Stealthy Vandagyre Chaotic Evil / Scorpio Original Powers: Mists and fogs. Control of mist/fog, a form of 'heavy air' that can be used with enough force to knock a man down. Mutated Powers: Void Hair is a prehensile void that functions as an additional limb(s). Control of gravity and its' affects on items as large as a bus (on planet) or her entire spaceship (in space/void). A Welkin-born woman who was warped by the void after her banishment into space. Has turned space pirate to get by and amassed a crew of loyal (if fearful) creatures to work for her. Manipulative, single-minded and self-interested. Has a casual romantic relationship with Feosh, her first mate ghost who is posessing her spaceship The Artemis. Once had a male eyrie lover on Neopia, who she had a daughter with, allowing her to have a surviving heir hundreds of years later. Nebursa is not intended as a sympathetic character and is notably homocidal and megalomaniacal. She is fixated on killing her sister and returning to Neopia and sees Toame as her last chance to break the spell keeping her from this.

TOAME He/him. 28 years. 5'08" Song: "Vanishing" by A Perfect Circle (APC) Onsite: Plushie Eyrie Neutral Good / Aquarius Powers: Aether Also called quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere. Has some control over this material and can use it to sedate/anaesthetise. Element is pleasant-smelling and highly, highly flammable. Nebursa's sole 'Welkin' descendant, many generations removed. Welkind's (distant) nephew. Raised as an eyrie by eyrie parents however somehow much closer to a Welkin genetically and physically for unknown reasons. Works at a library and has few friends. Nervous, insociable but not impolite. Tends to wear comfortable somewhat-feminine clothing.

NEOZO He/him. 32 years. 5'6" Song: "Starlight Brigade" by TWRP feat. Dan Avidan Onsite: Eventide Aisha in Robot Casings True Neutral / Virgo Powers: Penchant for simple water magic. Channels magic, does not embody it. All aisha posess some skill in magic, though those of Neopia have a better connection to Neopia's elements. Has to access magic through ritual or drawing it from an object and cannot hold it within himself. Neozo is a hybrid clone commissioned by his superiors, and suspects he was spliced with Koi DNA but does not hold a high enough rank to access his own records. He has whiskers like a koi and has the ability to breathe underwater. He was engineered for deep-sea exploration and recovery. His last dive ended with him being maimed by something in the deep. He lost most of his legs and requires a prosthetic, but was only supplied ill-fitting Robot Shoyru leg-plates. He has since become a part of Nebursa’s crew and has been tasked with teaching Toame how to access his innate magic. Has become close friends with Toame.

FEOSH aka Fish (Nebursa only) He/they. 39 (at time of death), has been a ghost for a further 67 years. Song: "This Tornado Loves You" by Neko Case Onsite: Ghost Lutari Lawful Evil / Cancer Powers: Ghost abilities. As a ghost he has access to the abilities you might expect. He has some telekinesis and the ability to pass through solid objects. He can also posess people and inanimate objects. Most notably he has posessed Nebursa's ship The Artemis and acts as the crafts' entirely devoted intelligence. He has a casual romantic relationship with Nebursa, his Captain. He often appears throughout The Artemis as a hologram, and pretends to be an AI to non-crew.

I was originally going to make Neozo a spider aisha, kinda like the Spider Grundo. I decided against it because my partner is severely arachnophobic and that made it harder to research spider anatomy or ask their opinion on the character art/design. Neozo was originally going to have pedipalps instead of barbels.

For brevity’s sake: AA = Alien Aisha The original aishas, not of Neopian origin. Generally have four antennae at birth. NA = Neopian Aisha Aishas as they are known on Neopia. Generally have only two antennae at birth.

I settled on the headcanon that all Neopian Aishas are crossbreeds of Alien Aishas and Neopian species. This means in my headcanon Alien Aishas have spliced their own DNA with multiple Neopian species. There can be aisha hybrids with almost every Neopian species, and they were usually created with a set purpose. No hybrid holds a rank approaching that of an AA, but NAs can get the closest. The Hybrid Program takes place on an AA mothership (name unpronounceable by Neopian standards) in orbit of Neopia, not the Virtupets Space Station. The Neopian Aisha is believed to be an aisha/wocky hybrid. AAs have skin/fur similar to a velvet gecko or sphynx cat, but NAs have fur that is similar in texture to wocky/cat fur. Neopian Aishas’ tails are also thicker than AA tails and NAs move with a wocky-like grace not shared by many of their AA relatives. They also weather Neopia’s gravity better than AAs. They are the oldest and most refined hybrids. Generally they receive a better quality education than other hybrids. “Hybrid” is a blanket term for any non-AA/non-NA engineered by AAs. Sometimes the term “Crossbreed” is used, though this is considered derogatory by some. They are lab-born and do not have parental figures. They are generally ‘raised’ in classes of up to 50 hybrids to a tutor until they reach maturity. Most will never know the identities of those whose genetic material they were grown from. They are usually placed with similar hybrids and entire classes are often the commissioned property of an AA. Unfortunately they generally are not socialised well and may have identity/social issues. 

After the Neopian Aisha one of the more common hybrids are aisha/acaras - they hybridize easily and the acara ancestry makes them adept in the water as well as on land. Sometimes called Aisharas they are versatile, obedient soldiers. AAs use Aisharas as pawns - they don’t care about Aishara safety, so they can afford to just throw as many Aisharas at a problem as they have available. Physically Aisharas look similar to NAs however they have four ears/two antenna and either no tails or very short stubby ones. Oddly, there are no aisha/grundo hybrids. The first (and only known) aisha/eyrie hybrid broke containment and is missing. The hybridisation program has come to a halt while the AAs try to capture locate them. Details are confidential, but given the size of the hole they left in Lab 31713 they were massive - approaching 3m/9ft tall. The Hybridisation Program has been inactive for about three Neopian years. This has angered some AAs who are fast running out of pawns. Mutant aishas are actually full-blooded alien aishas. Only high-ranking AAs know what exactly happened to mutate them. Neopians believe it has to do with Sloth’s transmogrification, but no AA official has commented publicly. Mutant aishas do not have the same priveleges as other AAs, but they are not usually owned by AAs as (non-NA) hybrids are. AA public opinion on mutants is mixed, ranging from total acceptance to disgust.

Neozo believes he has koi DNA, but his low rank does not allow him to review his own files. He was raised with Aisharas and can stay underwater for a long time, even surviving depths that would crush some others. His barbels are sensitive sensory organs which allow him to navigate even muddy or dark water. Unfortunately he has had little opportunity to swim since an incident that cost him several of his limbs. He’s not even sure if his prosthetics would be alright submerged in water. He is no longer ‘employed’ by the AA who commissioned him, as he is considered damaged goods. It is a sensitive subject.