#shral

You mentioned Shral having siblings in a previous ask and I was wondering if we could get more of his childhood and home life, and if we’re ever going to meet any of his family in the story!

Hope you’re doing alright!

Hello, hello!

Shral's family is a decent size, as Andorians consider such things, and while we'll be meeting some of them in Emigre we likely won't meet all of them. Part of the reason for this is that many of them are scattered around the quadrant in various Imperial Guard postings or as civilians.

In list format, here are Shral's parents! (Ages are as of Ch 1 of Emigre.)

Pekel zh'Hrisvalar - Andorian, 60; Shral's biological/birth mother, nee Hrisvalar. Information broker, civilian.

Zhyrah sh'Hrisvalar - Andorian, 58; Shral's secondary mother, nee Tesaal. Former science officer in the Imperial Guard, medically discharged to due injuries sustained in the line of duty.

Gelsyrn th'Hrisvalar - Andorian, 62; Shral's biological father, nee Sannev. Duelling master, noted for mastering multiple Clan styles.

Tovar ch'Hrisvalar - Andorian, 59; Shral's secondary father, nee Ivos. Weapons specialist in the Imperial Guard, active.

Shral's siblings are as follows: (Ages are as of Ch 1 of Emigre.)

Enan Hrisvalar - Andorian, 28; Shral’s youngest brother. Imperial Guardsman, logistics, located in the Northern Wastes.

Dalrhyss Hrisvalar - Andorian, 29; Shral’s youngest sister. Imperial Guardsman, nurse, posted to the IGS Nichaa. 

Thithta sh’Hrisvalar - Andorian, 31; Shral’s older sister. Chirurgeon, neurosurgeon specialist, located in Laibok.

Shyranni zh’Hrisvalar - Andorian 34; Shral’s oldest sister. Imperial Guardsman, academy trainer located outside of Laibok.

Anlel th’Hrisvalar - Andorian, 37; Shral’s oldest brother. Master Duellist, mobile/on Andoria.

As you can see, three of Shral's siblings simply aren't in the general area, and aren't likely to be able to show up to visit outside of getting leave, which can be kind of random depending on their jobs, their postings, and how much leave time they're owed.

As for Shral's childhood... it was relatively decent. As Shral would tell it, he was born to a good family, and during his childhood suffered no deprivation or major losses. He might go on to point out that all of the children born to his family unit survived to adulthood and went on to become respectable members of society. Indeed, his extended Clan was prosperous, though not so much as to be gauche. His parents, Shral might continue, were stern, but fair, and none of the children ever doubted that they were loved.

What Shral would not say was that he had the misfortune of being born an introvert in a species that cultivates extroversion and robust social connections. He would not mention feeling overwhelmed by his relatives on a daily basis, or haunted by the powerful need to escape somewhere quiet and still. He would certainly not speak of how his elder cousins seemed to know that there was something a little bit different about Shral almost as soon as they met him, and that they dedicated a remarkable amount of time and energy to 'fixing' him, or that they failed to do anything but reinforce Shral's introverted behaviours.

Shral's parents, biological and secondary, all knew that their middle son was born a little different from the others. Not strange, precisely. Not ill-formed of mind or body, certainly - if anything, their son was a little too smart at times and perfectly healthy. It was just that... well, Shral was a little different.

They worried - of course they did - but ultimately it was Shral's biological father who sat him down one day for a talk when Shral was about eleven years old. Gelsyrn asked if Shral was happy as he was, if he was lonely at all; if he wasn't getting something he needed from them; if he needed more space, or less, or something else entirely; if, most importantly, Shral needed help. (It was no secret that Shral's older cousins were a menace and regularly interfered with Shral's lessons, from schooling to duelling, but the boy had yet to ask for any kind of help at all and that concerned Gelsyrn. Perhaps, his father thought, the boy simply needed a nudge.) Shral just asked his father to look over his twenty-year career plan - which he'd finished that morning and was very proud of. Of course, that hadn't been what Gelsyrn meant at all, but nevertheless he took the datapad and reviewed everything. He'd expected to find a rough, choppy outline with vague notions of how much time should be dedicated to equally vague goals. Instead, he got a nearly professional outline detailing certifications, acceptable competency levels and grades, and a full battery of extracurricular coursework, including preferred instructors based on their specializations, notable accomplishments, and career histories. All of this, from a ten-year-old. "It looks good," was all Gelsyrn could say. "Very thorough - but, son, this isn't quite what I meant." "I know," was young Shral's response. "But you can't fight my battles for me, and you can't fight my cousins at all. This is something you can do. I thought it would be more helpful than listing all of the things I have to do by myself." That was about the time that Gelsyrn figured that Shral didn't actually need anyone's help at all most of the time. If anything, it was starting to look like all Shral needed was for people to get out of his way. That, at least, was something Gelsyrn could do something about. "I'm going to have a word with your duelling instructor," Gelsyrn decided then. "And have you placed solely under my tutelage so you can learn in peace. Let's give your cousins a nasty surprise the next time they decide to throw their weight around." "Oh," Shral blinked, surprised. "...I hadn't thought of that." Both parties walked away from the conversation reassured, if somewhat exasperated.

Shral's cousins did indeed get a nasty surprise the next time they tried to 'help' their cousin about a month later, and Gelsyrn was smug about it for a week.

Shral ended up helping his siblings figure out their career paths, too, once they figured out that constantly meddling in his affairs and trying to 'help' was only irritating their brother and driving him away, rather than acting as a bonding experience between siblings.

Larger image (STRONGLY recommended): HERE The resolution on this is painful, so I'm including detail shots below the cut.

This meeting room was furnished many centuries ago by a renowned artisan who could carve stone and shells in stunning detail, and could shape and colour glass in a way that was never seen before and has never been replicated since. He took the secrets of his techniques to the grave, dying at an unexpectedly young age in a duel with a public safety official over the seizure of a rare and extremely toxic pigment imported from a Clan to the far south. His name was Kelenthor, and he was the only Clanless to ever attain such a high level of renown and fortune purely on his artistic talent. He lived during what would eventually be called the Post-Unification Andorian Renaissance. While this artisan was alive, he had a somewhat adversarial relationship with various officials and was known to use his art as a medium to mock and criticize his social betters. He was beloved by the general populace for exclusively taking on students from the lower social classes - almost as much as he was resented by the upper classes for his habit of hiding subversive messages in his commissioned works. Regardless of where one stood with Kelenthor, none could deny his talents. If you wanted the best of the best, Kelenthor was the one to commission. As such, he was eventually commissioned to design and create furnishings for a number of rooms and even entire buildings which are now used exclusively by government officials today or otherwise preserved as precious cultural works.

This particular room is widely regarded as his best work: the walls are conspicuously and almost insultingly plain, barely carved at all. At the centre of the room lies a heavy and imposing table of solid marbled stone - also barely ornamented, save some bevelling along the edges. The surface was treated with a substance which renders the stone almost entirely impervious to damage. No matter how one might rain blows upon it, barely a scratch remains to remember them by - much like many of the politicians who have sat at this table since its creation, which many believe was the subversive message behind the thing in the first place.

The focal points are the throne-like seats arrayed around the blunt instrument of a marble table, intricately carved and inlaid with precious shell and glasswork, iridescent and shining under even the faintest rays of light. Each scatters prisms randomly around the room, illuminating the shadows and often causing quite a few headaches when meetings stretch too long. More importantly, every single one of them was deliberately carved to be as uncomfortable as possible. No one in a position of power, Kelenthor once said, should be comfortable there.

More in-progress pics!

Hey there! Sure, I can drum out a few bits of lore about Shral!

Shral spends a great deal of time being stoic and unreadable in his adult life, but he was a sensitive child. Rather than deal with his obnoxious cousins or nosey siblings, Shral became very adept at sneaking out and finding quiet, isolated little hiding spots to read and just be by himself.

Shral had his entire education and career path planned out by age 11 - including extracurriculars, optional courses and qualifications, and short lists of ideal postings. He followed the outline he'd made religiously, and while things didn't always go according to plan he more or less ended up exactly where he meant to. (His parents still can't decide if they're impressed by his strength of will and dedication or concerned that they've somehow managed to raise a workaholic loner in a society of extroverts. All of their other children turned out just fine...)

The very first time Shral met Dagmar, he was prepared to be deeply unimpressed with the Human his cousin Theb had shuffled his way for the endless parade of useless translators. When she walked into the room, however... Shral can't explain what, precisely, happened. One moment, he was fine. The next, he felt as though he'd been struck over the back of the head with a blunt object. It was an anime-worthy moment. (His expression revealed none of this. Dagmar legitimately thought she'd fucked up the interview.)

His current hobbies are physical training and duelling. (They're not actually hobbies.)

His favourite food is whatever he's served. (It's spice cake.)

Another in-progress pic for 'An Eventful Meeting' for you all! Blocking out the shading, currently, and absolutely enamoured with the chairs! So pretty! <3 I ended up adjusting the right-most gentleman's hair to resemble some of the old school TOS-era and comic Andorians, just for funsies.

And of course, for @horta-in-charge - here's the lineart version! If you'd like a larger image or a higher resolution, let me know!

Some more in-progress pics! Shral up top, and Thelen on the bottom. Flat colours only for now while I play around with skin tone and colour palettes, but overall I'm reasonably happy with the poses! Both of their chitin patterns are opaque for the time being as well, though that will change in the future.