Ilossa (Race)

The Ilossa (ill-LOH-suh) are a race of non-humans created by the god Carnis. They are a race of humanoid beings who bear a generic appearance to other members of their race. To those of other races, however, their appearance picks up the viewer's sexual preferences and ideals for beauty. They are often sexually rapacious, though that is not a unanimous trait.

Terminology
Singular - An Ilossan

Multiple - The Ilossa

Adjective - Ilossan, as "An Ilossan person" or "Ilossan architecture"

Appearance
To other Ilossa or anyone who has sufficient mental power to break through the illusion, all Ilossa look the same. They have no physical sex as a default, and tend toward toward pansexual sexual attraction when interacting with members of other races, with whom they are able to mate and breed by manipulating their physical forms to produce compatible reproductive organs.

In their natural appearance, as they see each other, the Ilossa are tall and slender and have skin ranging from creamy white to varying shades of gold. Their hair is usually worn long and matches their skin-color exactly. The Ilossa have pointed ears that lie close to their head, rather than pointing out like some other fictional elf races, and pure black eyes with black irises and black sclera that usually appear squinted.

Body art is popular among Ilossa; they usually tattoo and paint their faces to differentiate themselves from other Ilossa. Large eyes are also seen as a desirable trait, so many either paint or tattoo on thick black eyeliner. The Ilossa also often paint their lips and eyebrows black, and paint on other markings as well.

Perhaps as a result of this sameness to each other, they have a very potent concept of beauty in things beyond personal appearance and try to surround themselves with beautiful things. Everything from Ilossan clothing to their architecture is very rich and extravagant.

To a viewer of any other race, an Ilossan unconsciously projects the viewer's sexual or beauty ideal into the mind of the viewer. An Ilossan possess a limited power to change their physical shape, such as the creation of genitals to allow mating with another race. With sufficient practice, an Ilossan can even change their projected appearance.

Reproduction
Ilossa are generally not physically mature, or of a breeding age, until they are around 15 years old. At this age, they begin their reproductive cycles. These cycles are mostly periods of moderate sexual drive which last the majority of the year, with one annual mating Frenzy. This Frenzy usually lasts approximately one week and occurs at whichever solstice is closest to their birthday. As this inherently causes many Ilossa to Frenzy at once, biannual Grand Orgies are held in the biggest Ilossan cities. Frenzies are sated by mating with any being with whom the Ilossa can reproduce, as this act in particular will cause the proper hormone cocktail necessary to counteract the hormone build-up which sparks the Frenzy. Masturbation does not produce the correct hormones and cannot be used as a substitute to mating.

If an Ilossan does not mate with either another Ilossan or a member of any other race during their Frenzy, the build-up of hormones in their body will effectively poison them, causing death. Ilossa do not often live beyond the age of 30 as the recurring cycle and gradual build-up of hormones wears their bodies out quickly.

The Ilossa can breed with any member of any other race regardless of physical sex of the partner, as the Ilossa can modify their bodies to produce the appropriate genitals to mate with any of the other species, aside from the Niikai sub-race of the Kai which are incapable of any reproduction in general. Any child produced will appear and function as the race of their non-Ilossan parent with none of the traits of the Ilossa. An Ilossa-Kai child will have the Kai’s transformation ability, for instance, and an Ilossa-Pandesi child will be able to use magic. To create another Ilossan, both parents must be Ilossan.

Ilossan parents do not raise their own children unless they are in a committed relationship with the child's parent; such relationships are often quite rare. If the Ilossan leaves their non-Ilossan partner, the child is almost always left with its non-Ilossan parent so that it may learn to properly control its non-Ilossan powers and pass along its genes to members of the other races. Pure Ilossan children are raised by the temple and generally enter the priesthood, as their race's short lifespan would generally leave the children orphaned.

Martial History
Following the setting of The Great Trial, the Ilossa gave no thought to forwarding anything but the aspects of their deity, acting as a very wild and sexually savage race. In the war, the Ilossa worked largely as assassins and spies, using their natural capacity for disguise to help them infiltrate the enemy.

(TW: Rape) During the war, the Ilossa often took many prisoners of the other races and held them, often in relatively comfortable conditions, until the next Grand Orgy. As the early Ilossa were quite classist, the higher ranking Ilossa would have sex with each other to breed more, stronger Ilossa, while the lower-class Ilossa would pass their Frenzy by mating with the prisoners until either all the Ilossa were spent or the captives died. Prisoners who survived these orgies were usually rather respected and often became the personal slaves of Ilossan leaders.

After the war, though most Ilossa chose to turn from their war-like ways to more peaceful ones, some chose to still work as assassins, notably a group of monks who train themselves to have complete control over the illusions they project, occasionally selling their services to other races. The Ilossan tradition of capturing and raping prisoners was abolished, though the tradition still exists in other forms. The class system also fell by the wayside, once the Ilossa realized that their intensive inbreeding among the upper classes had shortened their lifespans by producing Ilossa with more intense Frenzies that wear out their bodies more quickly.

Religion
The Ilossan faith is still based on the goals of Carnis. They have regular religious orgies, outside of the annual Grand Orgy, in their city temples. Many of these recreate famous Grand Orgies of old; instead of prisoners, specially trained Ilossa now stand in to play the prisoners. Death during these rituals is not as common as it once was, though it can still occur, and any who are selected to play the role of the prisoners are well-regarded in Ilossan culture for their resilience and bravery.

The entire Ilossan faith is presided over by the single virgin priestess of the Ilossa. The priestess is often the eldest of the Ilossa, as she is the only Ilossan who never enters the carnal Frenzy which gradually poisons the other members of the race. Regardless of other identity, the priestess is usually the sole Ilossan with a gender identity, female as a counterpoint to Carnis's maleness. The priestess directs the orgies in the capitol and also has a major part to play in Ilossan mythology. In the end of time, it is foretold that the priestess will be visited by Carnis who will take her virginity and bring about the Ilossan dominance of the world.

Strategy for The Great Trial
The Ilossan strategy for The Great Trial is a long game. While most of their opponents are focused on martial combat or social prowess, the Illossan methodology relates to their unique reproductive traits.

When Carnis comes to the virgin priestess and beds her, any being living in the world who has even the smallest scrap of Ilossan ancestry will be converted into an Ilossan. The Ilossan practice of mating with members of any other race, though it appears to be simply just a racial quirk, is in an effort to spread their lineage into the other races. This plan is kept a secret from any of the other races, so none know the true Ilossan goal.