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21882 No. 21882 ID: 1e1bc8

Opinions, feedback. Any questions you want answered maybe, then ask away.

And try to keep the huge debates out of the quest thread this time, guys!
Expand all images
>>
No. 21884 ID: 35212e

i'll try, can't make promises for any one else though.

my big question is how fleshed out is this universe we are playing in?
>>
No. 21885 ID: 1e1bc8

>>331684

I've got a strong grip on things the quest will involve, as well as on the main character's species and their closer relations; and I'm solid on a decent selection of other details.

However, I've left myself room to add stuff as I go, since I'm sure to get good ideas while the quest is running.
>>
No. 21886 ID: 35212e

okay cool.


... so how did you think these things up? zerg but hot? something else?
>>
No. 21888 ID: 35212e

actually, with the fusion with the fungus thing they are more like ORKS from 40K.
>>
No. 21889 ID: 1e1bc8

>>331686

It started with thinking about in-game justifications for player suggestions (such as the Orb of Infinite Psyche). Then I got the idea of them being the influence of a hivemind, and I started to think up a quest based on that.

I have been under a number of other contributing influences, as well.
>>
No. 21890 ID: 5d55cd

>>331689
I have to know, was one of the influences for the psychic powers Aeon Trinity?
>>
No. 21892 ID: 8bdb6a

It really is like the opposite of an overmind.
I like the concept. Being able to reincarnate should make suggesters more willing to take risks.

We also made the protagonist highly attractive, with an extra long tail that produces increased quantities of lubricant and sticky goo.
That's not weird or anything.
>>
No. 21896 ID: d6a592

Why is there psychokinesis AND telekinesis?

And why is metacreativity missing?

I'm not mad or anything, i'm just interested in how people design their game systems.
>>
No. 21897 ID: 754124

>>331686
To me it seems like a sort of hybrid between Avatar's sort of biological hivemind thing (but wireless) and a general sort of Hindu reincarnation and castes.
>>
No. 21922 ID: b71d29

>>331690

No, but after looking it up I can see why you'd think so.

>>331696

It's the result of the quest's system, mostly. There are six psychic disciplines and each one has six "ranks", which each provide a new power when learned and which collectively increase general proficiency.

The way I've sorted it, psychokinesis is about making and projecting energy in the form of light, heat, sound, etc., while telekinesis is various kinds of "force" effects.
>>
No. 21923 ID: a594b9

Wait. We have 1 rank in everything except TK and PK. Does this mean we're able to access all types of powers, but we're only really going to get mileage out of those two?
>>
No. 21925 ID: b71d29

>>331723

Listing time
Maolla has...

Telepathy (1): Message
Maolla can send a short telepathic message to another person. At this level, she can also converse telepathically with other psychics.

Psychokinesis (1): Basic creation; (2) Basic projection.
Maolla can produce low levels of heat, light and sound, not enough to damage anything. She can project the source of these several meters from her body. Scellor, not having vocal cords, use their basic psychokinesis in order to communicate through sound.

Clairsentience (1): Psychic Sense
Maolla can perceive psychic disturbances, if she's close or if they're particularly powerful.

Telekinesis (1): Push/Pull; (2) Lift; (3) Telekenetic Bubble
Maolla can telekinetically pull or push objects, lift and manipulate them in complex ways, and produce rough shapes of telekinetic force that have many uses, such as impromptu shielding, cushioning a fall or maneuvering in low gravity. She can control up to six objects at once, though she can manage much less weight with each division of her concentration.

Psychometabolism (1): Hibernation
Maolla can put herself into a sleep-like state that reduces her biological needs.

Psychoportation (1): Decelerate
Maolla can slow the passage of time in a small area.

Maolla can meditate to draw on the psionic energy of the undermind; this takes five minutes and will increase her rank on the next usage of psychic power.

She can also attempt to combine disciplines for interesting new powers, but this is possible only at a level one lower than the weaker of the disciplines being used. For example, she could try to combine Telekinesis and Psychokinesis, but can only produce a rank 1 power. More disciplines reduce the result more; combining three rank 4 disciplines could produce only rank 1 or 2 powers, and so on.
>>
No. 21926 ID: 3b77b9

6 ranks in everything and then combinded into one super power.
>>
No. 21929 ID: 754124

Just a reminder: Maola is only 11 at the moment, so any nudity is illegal.
>>
No. 21930 ID: 3b77b9

>>331729
hah, you have to remember it is based on adult age for the species, they grow to adulthood quickly and have mental maturity to match.
>>
No. 21933 ID: 754124

>>331730
nope that's not how law works.
>>
No. 21935 ID: e973f4

>>331733
It'd have to be sexually explicit nudity that fails an obscenity test to qualify as illegal under the relevant US statute (18 USC ยง 1466a), and even then because the character isn't exactly human and does not "appear to be" a minor I have no idea what a court would say. Although I am under the impression that our server is in some other country that I can't even look up the relevant laws on, so I'm not really sure how it works at all.
>>
No. 21936 ID: 8bdb6a

Her mind is lifetimes old anyway.
>>
No. 21940 ID: d560d6

>>331735
There's no way I can not derail this into a stupid politics conversation if I say any more than Jukashi has technically potentially already overstepped the line in the UK by drawing her topless.
>>
No. 21941 ID: a41aaf

>>331740
>UK
Yeah, but over here we don't really bother to uphold these laws anyway. Heck, buggery was technically illegal even with consent until 1969, but that had little effect on bumfucking.

Basically, unless you're importing truly massive quantities of badly drawn violent rape porn, it's unlikely anyone is going to give two shits.
>>
No. 21943 ID: e3f578

>>331741
Apparently no one would give two shits if it was all drawn good though
>>
No. 21954 ID: a41aaf

>>331743
Tentacle hentai: porn
Fisherman's Wife: art
Double-standards, ahoy.
>>
No. 21955 ID: 754124

>>331735
Looks like Czech Republic here. Googling turns up some of the following:
>The Czech Republic is one of the few countries in Europe where it is not a criminal offence to download or possess child pornography
>the production of child porn is, of course, punishable.
But that's from 06, and there was some indication that laws could be changing. I found no information on drawn pornography specifically, which it might be reasonable to assume is still fairly legal. At any rate, there's unlikely to be any prosecution over it.

>>331741
>buggery
Nobody knows what that means. It's generally ideal to replace regional slang terms with more widely used words, when on the internet.

>>331754
Some modern tentacle porn exhibits considerable effort and technical quality. I think it's more a function of age than of artistic integrity, at least in that case. As a side note, I know of no one with a Fisherman's Wife print in their living room.
>>
No. 21958 ID: bc37f0

>>331755

I reckon it's kind of like how, these days, Tijuana Bibles are valuable antiques.
>>
No. 21959 ID: 359c2a

Interesting concept so far, Jukashi. I look forward to seeing what challenges you lay down for us.
>>
No. 21968 ID: c00244

>>331755
>Nobody knows what that means.
Many, many people know what that means. While there are uses of that word which would qualify as regional slang, that wasn't really one of them. Not any more than referring to an elevator as a lift, anyway. And in context it was quite obvious what he was talking about.


>>331725
Is telepathy line-of-sight, or can it go through objects? Can it speak to any people who may or may not be present- that is, give a "shout" which anyone in range might pick up? Does Maolla have to know where someone is to reach them with a message, or can she just target a specific person and it'll get to them if they're in range? And what is Maolla's approximate range with it?

How far does hibernation reduce biological needs?

Can Maolla use her telepathy to propel herself, or to push/pull herself in relation to things, rather than things in relation to her?
>>
No. 21969 ID: bc37f0

>>331768

Moalla has a low Telepathy rank, so her targeting abilities (and the complexity of the messages) are low. She can send a simple message to a person she can see, or whose precise location she can otherwise sense. She can also send messages to people she has already formed a strong mental connection to. Other Scellor are easiest, thanks to the mutual connection to the undermind. At her level, however, anything beyond a few miles is impossible.

At her level, hibernation will half her biological needs.

I assume you mean telekinesis, and not really, not by pushing and pulling. She could make a telekinetic bubble and then hold onto it while she moves it around, though, which is particularly useful for moving in microgravity.
>>
No. 21978 ID: e31d52

>>331769
>She could make a telekinetic bubble and then hold onto it while she moves it around, though, which is particularly useful for moving in microgravity.

This sounds a lot like Dominion Control from Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer.
>>
No. 22103 ID: 8bdb6a

>three tongues and retractable teeth
Nonstandard mouth-parts on a quest character are generally one of those 'show, don't tell' things.
Just sayin'.
>>
No. 22105 ID: 4ea75e

>>331903
actually test, if you look at
>>/quest/218662
you can see the three tongues in there
>>
No. 22110 ID: 8bdb6a
File 128244820091.png - (699B , 79x67 , huh.png )
22110

>>331905
I see. Huh.
>>
No. 22351 ID: d560d6

>>/quest/222780
>It's a mystery is what it is.
Well, that's it. Thanks to Time Team, I can now only hear Maolla's voice with a westcountry accent.

It...actually sort of works.
>>
No. 22358 ID: f4963f

Hey Jukashi. Just wanted to tell you that I'm really enjoying the new quest. You just got a loyal new reader.

I've set up a page for the quest, but it's still rather bare-bones: http://quest.lv/wiki/Will_of_the_Undermind

Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds! Keep up the good work. <3
>>
No. 22362 ID: a41aaf

>>332151
Shit, now I can't unhear it either! If Moalla ever mentions geofizz my head would probably explode.
>>
No. 22375 ID: 7aff7e
File 128303454334.png - (222B , 15x16 , favicon.png )
22375

Adding favicon over here too because apparently that's how it works.
>>
No. 22436 ID: 8bdb6a

So, the mysterious source of gravity is either the ship spinning, (unlikely since it seems to be the same everywhere) the ship settling on a planet (unlikely since there's vacuum outside... also, crashing into a planet tends to do worse than knock over the shelves) or is being towed. (Seems most likely)
>>
No. 22437 ID: 1a99f0

>>332236
so how does getting towed cause the weird gravity? I'm a bit slow with space physics...
>>
No. 22439 ID: 754124

>>332237
Presumably he means we're getting towed at an accelerating rate, in which case inertia causes the illusion of gravity.
>>
No. 22446 ID: 8bdb6a

>>332239
Yeah, that's what I meant. (If you've got lots and lots of fuel, like these ships appear to, you'd might as well accelerate/decelerate the whole trip)
>>
No. 22447 ID: 97cb33

>>332246
the fact they need inertial compensators to keep from going squish i doubt it. they would be squished if they were accelerating under the force of an intact ship.
>>
No. 22448 ID: 3e7f27

Let's be careful, guys. We don't know how strong this miasma is - if we divide our attention we may not be able to do anything. Let's focus on:
1) commanding the medical drone that's physically nearby, thereby gauging our ability at counteracting the foreign presence
2) helping Lorn reestablish his mind-body connection
Poking at our abilities at this point is tempting, but I don't want to overextend things and have us lose contact with Maolla in the process.

Although on another note... after that last conversation, I'm beginning to worry that we're the foreign presence. Boy, that'd be a twist, wouldn't it?
>>
No. 22450 ID: 3e7f27

>>>/quest/224223
Rereading this, another thing occured to me: Maolla's response to our picking the drone back up doesn't seem to fit the explanation of us just powering aside the onboard psychic interference - "What did you do!?" reads less as disbelief and more as shock and dismay. Is this thing we're doing, like, a major cultural faux pas or something? Are we unknowingly performing an encore of that headtuft suggestion from earlier? ._.
>>
No. 22451 ID: 97cb33

>>332250
they listen to the undermind, if anything we make the rules. the head tentacle sex thing was more like "ewww, why would you do that?" not "that is against the rules!"
>>
No. 22454 ID: ac4f0e

>>332248
I think that we very well may be the forigen presence. But lets not tell anyone that in the thread, shall we? Might cause us to be distrusted. Also, they are all going to freak out when they see all the drones suddenly getting up and act under our commands.
>>
No. 22455 ID: ac4f0e

>>332254
ALso, just because it's funny, I want us to sometime go an-ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL. JUst for laughs, of course.
>>
No. 22456 ID: 97cb33

>>332254
i HIGHLY doubt we are. she could clearly feel that we CAME BACK, meaning we were the ones talking to her when she was born. she recognized us.
>>
No. 22463 ID: d78508

>>332256
Ah yes, I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out to me. :3
>>
No. 22480 ID: 97cb33

okay guys. stop dicking things up with conflicting orders. focus on one thought at a time. it worked first time cause we had 4 things saying the EXACT same thing. saying it even a little different counts as a conflicting order.
>>
No. 22481 ID: d677cc

Alright, so, uh, lest we waste more than a dozen updates figuring this out and accomplishing nothing else, this controlling-the-drone works by having a bunch of people suggest exactly the same thing, or...?
>>
No. 22482 ID: d560d6

>>332280
I disapprove of any mechanic that basically runs on groupthink.
>>
No. 22483 ID: 97cb33

then just don't command the drone. talk to the other character, tell them what to do. let someone else handle the drone.
>>
No. 22484 ID: 7ecb3a

The problem was more the attempt to reach multiple characters than it was the different suggestions, causing an overload for the signal carrier (Maolla). A clear majority is all that's necessary. To make things more clear, this is really meant more on the level of a single ability rather than a massive game mechanic. The need for consensus is an intentional handicap, since the psychic powers of a hive mind would otherwise be able to do far too much.

Though there are other things the players can do as the Undermind, if they discover how...

On another topic: niiar mood! I want to talk about it a bit, just because. In human terms, it is very close to the emotion you feel when Shit has Gotten Real and it is time to Man Up and Get Things Done. Scellor feel it more often and in more subtle shades, and get more emotional payoff from obeying it. Mostly it serves to make them feel better about doing things that otherwise would be boring, onerous or frightening.
>>
No. 22485 ID: d560d6

>>332283
That boils down to "agree with me or shut up".
>>332284
Ok, so we don't need to THIS-flood whoever posts first anyway.
>>
No. 22486 ID: d677cc

>>332284
Okay, that's fine.

I was just gonna say that the close-to-uniform-agreement thing has been tried before and it was a mess.
>>
No. 22520 ID: 97cb33

think current drone objective is to just help fix up the other guys in the med bay. once they are done we can drop the med drone and start up another one. like a maintenance drone, have it help us get the engine on.
>>
No. 22521 ID: 97cb33

the drone doesn't need pants, we are about to leave it here and do something else. so we wont be looking at it much longer. getting people fixed is a better priority.
>>
No. 22533 ID: 3416ec

>>332321

I'd rather not stare at his junk the entire time. Let's just give him some pants.

Plus, he's easier to draw with pants on.
>>
No. 22534 ID: 97cb33

>>332333
it's a medical drone, it isn't going to be useful anywhere but in the med bay. once we leave the med bay we don't have to look. and we will be leaving once we are done with the arm.
>>
No. 22535 ID: 8bdb6a

Medics are only superfluous until you need one.

I guess it might make sense to leave him in the med bay, though. That's sorta what it's for.
>>
No. 22536 ID: 97cb33

yeah. if we DO need it then we can ether call it over or go to it.
>>
No. 22539 ID: 754124

>>332333
So don't stare. It's just a cock. It's not even big or particularly detailed.
>>
No. 22560 ID: f4963f

>>332333
Maolla said early on that it's very common for drones to walk around without clothes - there are going to be pantsless people in this quest, sir. It seems sort of silly to break setting over mild frontal nudity.
>>
No. 22639 ID: 2eac65

>>332333
I like him just the way he is.
>>
No. 22641 ID: 620bfb

Doc is ours. I don't care if he's sentient or useful, he is ours dammit. Even if we leave him there in the medbay, we're never getting rid of him.
>>
No. 22666 ID: 5c7574

It's not that the drone NEEDS pants, really. I think we can all live with a naked drone. It wouldn't kill us to look at, and it's part of the setting apparently or something.

The thing is, this is OUR drone now. And we want pants. It's not about the pants themselves. It's like our obsession with hats elsewhere. Somebody mentioned pants, therefore we want pants, therefore there MUST BE PANTS.

The pants are to indicate that the drone is ours and under our control. The pants are a symbol. They have gone beyond mere pantsness, and become a physical manifestation of our ability to exert our will upon the world around us by mere suggestion, since we have no direct corporeality within it. Everyone who sees the drone will see the mark of our influence, and know of our presence.

Or maybe people really just don't like looking at drone junk, hell I dunno.
>>
No. 22668 ID: f4963f

>>332466
Easy solution: Steal Mitrel's Pants.

Everyone wins.

By everyone I mean me.
>>
No. 22697 ID: fc882d

>>332466
You're right, we should just get the drone a hat.
>>
No. 22703 ID: f52552

>>332497
Yes.
A top hat.

...

To wear on his junk.
>>
No. 22714 ID: 2eac65

>>332468
But that would be rather inconsiderate to him. Since drones don't typically wear clothes, I'd assume sentients would think of them as a symbol of their identity, and consider public nudity to be degrading.

Or maybe I'm just going off on another weird chain of assumptions.
>>
No. 23176 ID: 8bdb6a

PANTS ACQUIRED

GLORY TO KOMATO
>>
No. 23202 ID: 2912e6

Ok, gotta, gotta do a good bit of drawing now

for dramatic purposes
>>
No. 23204 ID: 3416ec

Jukashi, how come I never see you in IRC?
>>
No. 23205 ID: 0b2a05
File 128452643540.jpg - (50.27KB , 360x471 , we_can_do_it.jpg )
23205

>>331682

It seriously took this long for someone to post this?
>>
No. 23206 ID: 8bdb6a
File 128452752198.jpg - (20.96KB , 400x347 , FOREARM[1].jpg )
23206

>>333005
Actually...
>>
No. 23218 ID: 0c3ff5

>>333006
...she is about to give us the finger?
>>
No. 23219 ID: 2912e6

>>333018

In latin countries, mostly in europe, that gesture is a rude one in and of itself.
>>
No. 23220 ID: 754124

>>333019
It is here too. California, so arguably not Latin. It's not as common as the finger, though.
>>
No. 23230 ID: 9c401c

Down here in Brazil, >>333005 means "I'm strong" (tapping the biceps) and >>333006 means "F-you" (but crossing wrist or forearm with biceps).
>>
No. 23236 ID: 8bdb6a

Oh snap, we crashed into a facility quest.
>>
No. 23239 ID: 87181c

>>333036

Surprise!
>>
No. 23240 ID: 97cb33

got to admit, totally did not see that coming.
>>
No. 23361 ID: b9bd4f
File 128487100877.jpg - (9.25KB , 280x180 , Plasma Cutter.jpg )
23361

Just posting some pictures of weaponry that Maolla would be proficient in, seeing as how she is an engineer.

Here we have the Plasma Cutter
>>
No. 23366 ID: 175f4a

>>333161
if she get's that then all enemies are fucked, and not in the nice way :p
>>
No. 23371 ID: 939372
File 128489042151.gif - (12.90KB , 701x683 , rubygaze.gif )
23371

>Ruby Gaze
If this is an intentional pun, I am ashamed of taking so long to notice it.
>>
No. 23438 ID: 82d1d6

>>333161
Actually, while THAT particular tool would be rather overpowered considering it's effectiveness in severing ENTIRE LIMBS, it does demonstrate the kind of armaments that Maolla would be proficient in. Namely, re-purposed engineering tools.
>>
No. 23440 ID: 175f4a

>>333238
the ship may have one, that particular tool is a mining device. in the game the reason it had ammo in the tens was because it was set at overloaded lvls of power and the beam was altered into a cutting rather then pulverizing edge. if used for it's normal purpose, namely crushing rock, you could get over a hundred shots per clip.

anyway, i doubt they have any actual weapons at all. Kole would fight guys by shooting them with MIND BULLETS. and if you think about it, what maolla has is a built in GRAVITY GUN. we are also on a place that minds stuff then when her race eats it they get MORE POWERFUL. if we geta bucket of the glowing purple rock maolla will probably be able to lift much heavier things at less strain. that big ol machine that she struggled to lift off of lorn? be able to fling that thing like nothing.
>>
No. 23441 ID: 4cdabb

Green is best.
>>
No. 23442 ID: 175f4a

>>333241
agree.
>>
No. 23447 ID: fd4aa7

>>333241
Apparently there are female orkz.

And they're shapely.
>>
No. 23454 ID: 4cdabb

We need to try getting the crew together, or at least in communication. Handset radios probably don't work inside a ship. I don't know.

Crew - Caste - Situation:
Mitrel - Orthan - Healing in the Medical Bay
Rel - Orthe - Unknown
Muun - Ulkam - Active, inside the aft sections
Shiia - Ulkam - Unknown
Kole - Niiar - Active, inside the Facility (ere we go, ere we go, ere we go)
Lorn - Praal - Healing in the Medical Bay
Ferram - Praal - Unknown
Doc - Drone Orthe - Active, With Maolla
??? - Drone Ulkam - Inactive, With Maolla
Unknown number of additional drones

>>/quest/232657
>There are lifesigns in some areas, though. Several in the drone barracks, one in the crew quarters... and someone down in a jeffries' tube beside the ship's core.

One would assume the things in the drone quarters are more drones, unless a shipmate's hiding there.
Beyond that, we've got three missing people and two life signatures. There might be a third (or more, if one of the signatures is an intruder!) elsewhere in the ship.

Wild guess: Ferram is the one in the jeffries tube, fixing something. Shiia is the science and first-contact person, usually bored, so she's probably getting into trouble somewhere the sensor can't see. That leaves Rel in the quarters, probably trapped or hurt real bad, otherwise she'd have been in the medical bay to help.
>>
No. 23456 ID: 9efdda

>>333254

For convenience, I'll tell you that there are twelve drones on board. As for communications, the computer can do wireless access, but it mostly only works within one room; the Ruby Gaze is built with very heavy, solid materials that block most such signals. Hence why Maolla had trouble with the sensors; rather than having one node that can scan the whole ship, they work more like branching nerves, many of which have been cut off. On the upside, without the heavy bulkheads, the radiation would have been much worse.
>>
No. 23476 ID: a09a03

Guys, we've established that the drones don't wear clothes.

The pants-stealing thing was funny once.
>>
No. 23477 ID: f8bb5e

>>/quest/232885
Sure, it was probably the bandwidth issue. But what happens when you try to shout across a canyon? Best-case scenario, the drone is able to "remember" a simple set of instructions and carry them out, but Maolla seems to be pretty sure it doesn't work that way. More realistic is that the drone will just go catatonic again, and she'll have to backtrack to get it moving. And the worse-case scenario is we overstress her brain and this distracts her when she's doing something mission-critical. I admit I'm probably being overcautious on this matter, but in a system with so many unknowns already, I figure it's better than being undercautious.
>>
No. 23478 ID: a5b1d9

>>333277
or we just need to take a bite in the meteor to control every drone forever!

>>333276
yeh, beefcake and cheesecake for everyone!
>>
No. 23483 ID: f8bb5e
File 12852063025.jpg - (18.02KB , 275x200 , beef+cheese.jpg )
23483

>>333278
Oh, I totally agree - "nomming delicious psykonium" is an excellent variable to include in our drone-control experimentation. I just feel like we should hold off on those experiments until everyone is rounded up and accounted for.
>>
No. 23571 ID: 991a5a

I'm quite worried about this "fire" thing. Yes, I know she can make a TK bubble around it, but...what if it's beyond her capacity to contain?
>>
No. 23572 ID: cbb63e

>>333371
uh, it's not HOLD it in a bubble the whole time. just wrap it and it will burn itself out really fast. let the bubble go and wrap the next spot. unless the ENTIRE thing is on fire it will be fine. if the whole thing IS on fire then we punch a hole into space and seal a bulkhead.
>>
No. 23573 ID: 991a5a

>>333372
Ooh, good idea, I hadn't thought of that. When in doubt just open a window...we're already wearing breathing apparatus, anyway.
>>
No. 23579 ID: 991a5a

For the love of all that is good and is just and is holy

Someone, please, colorize >>233631 before it's too late!
>>
No. 23580 ID: 991a5a

>>333379
I am fail.
I meant http://quest.lv/kusaba/quest/res/218385.html#233631
>>
No. 23587 ID: 2563d4

>>333380
If you're feeling really fancy, you meant
>>/quest/233631
>>
No. 23590 ID: 991a5a

>>333387

...yes, yes I did. I'm still getting used to this board.
>>
No. 23628 ID: bd4219
File 128554670566.png - (13.33KB , 800x600 , crawlinthetunnelcolour.png )
23628

>>333379

Guess I'll oblige!
>>
No. 23629 ID: e3f578

Stripes! :3
>>
No. 23630 ID: 991a5a

>>333428
Wonderful! :D

On the latest developments: oh dear. That doesn't look good...let's hope that they're not TOO susceptible to smoke, and that whoever is down there is in better shape than they look.
>>
No. 23631 ID: 7815b9

>>333430
agree, hopefully they are just burnt and not fried crispy. good thing we have a doctor with us, just get them stabilized an the fires out and we can take them back to the med bay.
>>
No. 23632 ID: dad664

>>333428
Greeeeeeeeen :D

Are Scellor normally a shade of green or do they run the gamut?
>>
No. 23636 ID: bd4219

>>333432

They run the gamut of... green! Sometimes they can have different colours, but only in spots or patches or such. And it's green all the way through, for the most part, not just the skin.
>>
No. 23637 ID: e31d52

>>333436
>Green
>part plant
:3c

Did they paint the ship red to make it go faster?
>>
No. 23663 ID: a09a03
File 128557556071.png - (22.24KB , 800x600 , fresh_pine_scented.png )
23663

>>333428
Nice.
Though I didn't even notice the pattern at first, the colors are so close together. Lemme increase the color difference just a little.
>>
No. 23665 ID: a594b9

>>333428
I like a lady with interesting skin. Especially when the inner thighs are a different color!
>>
No. 23666 ID: 6834bc
File 128557826190.png - (30.32KB , 283x393 , super early pchat concept of maolla by Jukashi.png )
23666

Don't mind me, just posting something from a May paintchat that shows just how long Maolla's been rolling around in Jukashi's noggin.
>>
No. 23667 ID: a594b9

>>333466
How'd you know we'd pick that particular archetype? Or is that sortof a base model and it would've been altered only a little depending on which 'job' we took?
>>
No. 23668 ID: 6834bc

>>333467
I'm just postin' what I saved on impulse after Jukashi said something about paintchat.
That was like, mid-May. So maybe it wasn't exactly a Maolla prototype and we just lucked out, picking the right species/caste/blurbity-blah-blah or whatever; I dunno. It's basically Maolla now, so I can edit the name to whatever I please and act like that's what I had saved it as in the first place.
Besides, calling it Maolla is better than "some alien chick by Jukashi"
>>
No. 23670 ID: a09a03
File 128557988746.jpg - (10.11KB , 200x125 , maola_dairy_company.jpg )
23670

How do you keep your line thickness so well controlled, anyway? It's very nice.
Does it have to do with the tablet you use? I have a tiny tablet and I'm not sure if a big one helps.
>>
No. 23687 ID: d5a47a

>>333437
Orks were an influence, I admit. ;)

>>333467
I did several drawings of her around that time, with different castes and outfits and such. Mostly on paper. That's just the one that I did the colours on; you can see that I changed a few details later.

In hindsight, the opening image of this thread should have had her in colour.

>>333470
Well, I've had a small tablet and a larger one, and I can say that the larger is definitely superior, though I don't know how much of that is just the make. As well as that, there's the pure black pixel lines; they make minor corrections a lot less noticeable. As for technique, I draw the characters rough with transparent coloured lines first, then do the blacks over them, zoomed in, with long, quick sweeps of the pen where possible (and my finger over the command-z). That's something a big tablet is good for.

It's probably more effort than would be practical, but it's good drawin' practice.
>>
No. 23688 ID: 2563d4

><TestPattern> God damn it, I was going to update again instead of debating fresh pine scented tits.
><justN> Test: I, too, was distracted by lime breasts. :\

This quest is taking a horrible toll on the board!
>>
No. 23689 ID: 991a5a

>>333488

Obviously we need to spread emerald breasts to the other threads as well! Then people will be able to focus on something other than this.
>>
No. 23835 ID: 2a9922

the undermind boost power seems to be like the Kao Ken that goku uses. it powers you up but hurts you too. could probably turn this space station intoa pancake at the cost of blowing maolla up by casting "UNDERMIND BOOST X INFINITY!!"
>>
No. 23837 ID: 06e9b4

>>333635

Basically, the undermind boost increases Maolla's powers, depending on how many suggestions go into the boost. It's putting her past her limits, though, so the stronger the boost, the more strain for her.
>>
No. 23839 ID: 2563d4

>>333637
>depending on how many suggestions go into the boost

What, you didn't have enough squabbling and duplication in the suggestions? :V
>>
No. 23847 ID: 06e9b4

>>333639

I would hope that people just make their own suggestions without debating with each other. Unlikely, but I live and dream.
>>
No. 23954 ID: 754124

>>333647
The squabbling is half the fun, though.
>>
No. 23974 ID: 991a5a

>>333637

Ohh dear. Is she capable of nay-saying the boost - not using it, to keep from hurting herself?
>>
No. 23975 ID: 2a9922

>>333774
probably not, but YOU could nay-say the boost.
>>
No. 24008 ID: 2eac65

>>333647
Personally, the way I'd do it is to use the main thread for talking about the immediate situation, and the quest discussion thread for talking about the quest in general. Giving reasons behind our suggestions and responding to each other's reasoning is a big part of the whole experience; it's generally not a problem unless people start getting mean and sarcastic.

That's my philosophy on that.
>>
No. 24068 ID: a41aaf

OK, so now the clock has gotten it's own panel. We're definitely running out of time for something...
>>
No. 24069 ID: 1f7c74

>>333868
or it is just saying "time passing and nothing really interesting is happening"
>>
No. 24079 ID: a09a03

If there's other critically wounded people, time is definitely of the essence.
>>
No. 24348 ID: 3416ec

Get well soon, dude!

C:
>>
No. 24364 ID: 991a5a

Jukashi - hope you feel better! Rest up and don't let the bastards get ya down.
>>
No. 24365 ID: 520d61

>>334148
>>334164
can someone explaine ?
is jukashi sick or something?
>>
No. 24366 ID: d677cc

>>334165
Indeed.
>>
No. 24367 ID: 520d61

>>334166
what the illness?
i'm worry
>>
No. 24369 ID: 620bfb

>>334167
It's just a cold, he'll live. See keychain.patternspider.net
>>
No. 24370 ID: 701a19
File 128623371022.jpg - (272.37KB , 795x1004 , life_of_a_yukkuri_by_Ashurasonic.jpg )
24370

>>334169
Yea, we just don't want him to stress out over this.
>>
No. 24442 ID: 67c611

Jukashi

People are acting like there is only the one person in living quarters. It's not stated clearly in recent posts that there is a second lifesign near the core. Make sure everyone knows that and suggests with that in mind before you commit us to any course of action.
>>
No. 24444 ID: a09a03

I actually am a little confused by the Core vs the Computer Core, now that I think about it.
>>
No. 24445 ID: dad664

>>334244
Computer Core and Power Core.

Like a Warp Core or a Fusion Reactor.
>>
No. 24448 ID: a09a03

The power cores/blocks are arrayed on the outside, though, not the center of the ship.
>>
No. 24456 ID: dad664

>>334248
Then I dunno :U
>>
No. 24457 ID: 7afa6e

>>334248
Alright, here's how it works.

I actually intended to avoid calling it the "computer core", for clarity, but I must have slipped up - normally I will just call it the main computer, or central computer. So, my bad.

The engine blocks, on the outside, as well as the main engine at the back, are responsible for motive force and for powering the ship.

Now, the actual ship's core is, to start with, the central pylon around which the rest of the ship is constructed. However, it is also important in that it contains all the technology required for FTL travel. There are various projectors and arrays linking it to the surface of the ship, but "the magic" happens in the middle of the ship where it's most protected.
>>
No. 24466 ID: 754124

>>334257
This just in, in Jukashiverse, FTL is magic. You heard it here first!
>>
No. 24469 ID: a09a03

>>334266
1) That was obviously just a phrase.
2) All FTL is magic, because FTL drives are impossible with our current understanding of physics.
>>
No. 24471 ID: 127c1a

>>334269
the LEAST physic rapey of the FTL systems is the Wormhole system. which makes the distance shorter instead of the speed faster.
>>
No. 24473 ID: 2044df
File 128637969590.jpg - (11.99KB , 200x181 , 2009-02-27-professor_farnsworth.jpg )
24473

>>334269

Of course Faster Than Light travel is impossible! That's why scientists increased the speed of light in 2208!
>>
No. 24474 ID: b04fd6

FTL is for pussies. Real men travel slower than light and hope their frozen sperm will arrive at the destination in a million years.
>>
No. 24475 ID: 125b88

Can you imagine the pick up lines these things have? "Hey baby, lets synchronize!"
>>
No. 24476 ID: 18a0dd

Note that she 'was' formerly synchronized with the crew before the accident happened, so... given the choices on methods
>>
No. 24477 ID: a63596

>>334276
yes, but the whole crew was synced already, so no she didn't fuck everyone. probably depends on how they feel at the time. feeling horny when they want to sync they do it, if not (yeah right) then they go with the other way.
>>
No. 24480 ID: 18a0dd

>>334274
Real men become tranhuman androids with abs of sculpted steel, superconductors, and mircrotubule impregnated ceramics. Then they leap through the heavens and engage comets in a rousing match of fisticuffs.

>>334277
I didn't mean to imply that they all just had a great big crew orgy to establish connection. Just that given the choice of methods she's probably 'synchronized' with at least one of these guys.
>>
No. 24486 ID: ad3693

>>334280

Oh, no, they totally had an orgy. They do that whenever someone new joins the crew. It's traditional!

A lot of scellor traditions involve orgies.

If you are ever invited to a scellor orgy, be sure to say yes! Potential brain damage is a small price to pay for a truly unforgettable experience!

- scellor tourism manual vol. #7884
>>
No. 24487 ID: bd86c3

>>334286

8D
>>
No. 24488 ID: a41aaf

>>334280
Real men transfer their consciousness to an Orion-style body and ride a string of nuclear fireballs between the stars.
>>334286
Truly, there are few problems that cannot be solved by orgies.
>>
No. 24490 ID: 991a5a

>>334286

This is now my favorite alien race, by an extremely wide margin.

Don't suppose there's any sort of conversion package for other species?
>>
No. 24491 ID: bd86c3

>>334290
only thing i can think of is to have Kel implanted into your brain where is copies mind/pattern. but due to the fact that you are not psychic you need to start as a drone. that is the absolute BEST case scenario.
>>
No. 24492 ID: 921817

>>334291
Nah, starting as a drone wouldn't work - the whole point of drones is that they don't have a Noble Soul attached. The way I reckon it, your best bet would probably be to grab a shitload of psykonium somehow, use it to give yourself enough telepathy for an uplink to the scellor collective subconscious, and then croak and hope your psychic pattern takes.
>>
No. 24493 ID: bd86c3

>>334292
yes, drones do. Maolla was a drone a long long time ago. but one day she just got so angry that she ignored the collective and changed from thinking as WE and instead as an I.
>>
No. 24494 ID: 9406d6

Good quest, best author.
>>
No. 24495 ID: 921817

>>334293
Hmm, lemme read back a bit...
>>/quest/218662
Okay, yeah, chalk another one up in the "stuff I forgot from earlier" column. I guess the Drone/Not Drone question all depends on how likely you are to not get crushed under the Orb of Infinite Psych your first time out, then.
>>
No. 24510 ID: 754124

>>334280
Real men don't need transhumanism.
>>
No. 24511 ID: ad3693

>>334292
Scellor can synchronize with non-scellor psychics, too, but it doesn't "take" so well, and usually wears off after a while if not maintained. Theoretically, if a non-scellor died while connected to the undermind in such a fashion, they could get sucked in. They don't blab about it, though.

Very powerfully telepathic scellor can even form a link for non-psychics, so long as they have a psychic pattern. Any creature with a brain that has evolved rather than being made will usually have a psychic pattern of some kind, as natural selection will usually take advantage of the psychic field that pervades the universe, in subtle ways (or obvious ones in the case of the scellor and other psychics).
>>
No. 24513 ID: 991a5a

>>334311
OK, sign me up for absorption into the Undermind on body-death, then. If they'll have me, anyway. :D (...and if I ever somehow fall through a hole into that particular universe.)

I was wondering, also - maybe we could directly stimulate whatever Maolla's equivalent of endorphins are, to help her deal a bit better with the stress of the situation? Just something to make her a bit more able to disregard minor frustration.
>>
No. 24559 ID: a09a03
File 128650775026.jpg - (60.28KB , 600x600 , you_will_never_join_the_undermind.jpg )
24559

>Any creature with a brain that has evolved rather than being made will usually have a psychic pattern of some kind, as natural selection will usually take advantage of the psychic field that pervades the universe
>>
No. 24563 ID: 3e4ea2

>>334359

Hey, now, Penj, maybe your creators designed you to have one anyway! And if they didn't... look on the bright side! Telepathy won't work on you! That's good for your line of employment, right??

((PS: lol))
>>
No. 24565 ID: cbb20c

She is essentially a psychic null from some data we got in the quest... so yeah, Penji cannot a psychic wheel-of-life.
>>
No. 24566 ID: c59f60

actually, while you were out we wondered if psychics would see her like psykers see Nulls in 40K. a hole in the psychic field.
>>
No. 24567 ID: 3e4ea2

Well, in Undermind's setting she would read like an inanimate object or a robot would, assuming she just lacks a psychic presence rather than being actually anti-psychic somehow. But I don't know how Test has his psychics set up.
>>
No. 24569 ID: cbb20c

>>334367
She seems to actively resist psychic energy, like that weird hypertech missile, it dumped all the inanimate stuff around her into subspace but left her.So she's like a negative psy sink... maybe?

Also, the Shirm mention was quite amusing. One of the reasons I love /quest/ is because authors drop references.
>>
No. 24578 ID: 8d499a

>>334369

Ah, well, in that case she'd show up as a psychic dead spot, which paradoxically in the undermind setting would mean she does have a psychic pattern, because the only way to make one is to actively invert the psychic field and you can only do that with psytech or psychic powers. Her brain could conceivably be set up to have no psychic power beyond making a psychic inversion, which would make most other powers useless anyway.

So they'd be able to sense where she is, roughly, but still not read her mind; and she'd have the added bonus of almost complete immunity to mind bullets, direct telekinesis and other powers.
>>
No. 24604 ID: a09a03

As far as humans can tell, tozols are pretty thoroughly stealthed against psionic detection. Telekinetic matter-sensing and scanners (which work on the same principle) can't see Penji. They don't spot a bubble of anti-psi, either. Psis don't get a headache when they try to use psychokinesis or telepathy on a tozol. It just doesn't work, and they won't even know one's there unless they can see it by normal means. I guess it's like Easily Overlooked Presence Method plus Integrity-Protecting Prana.

Of course, that's just pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo, so if a tozol were actually in WoU-verse, it'd pretty much just come down to whatever Jukashi decides should happen.

Contrariwise, if a scellor were in Tozolverse, they wouldn't just fall over dead due to lack of a universal psychic field. That would defeat the whole purpose of stealing referencing them. Maybe there is a psychic field but nobody mentions it. It's not really important to the plot.
>>
No. 24609 ID: 8d499a

>>334404
This is getting increasingly irrelevant, from an already purely theoretical standpoint to begin with; but man, I still want to hammer this out, if only to help develop my ideas on how things work in my setting myself.

So, in that case, Penji is basically a psychic "ghost", invisible and intangible. That would be caused by a psychic effect which "averages" the psychic field around her into whatever the local norm is, in a very localized area around her body. Call it a Psychic Cloak, a very precise ability, which would be beyond the abilities of almost any species to replicate or even understand.

Which sounds in-theme for tozols.

Appropriate vulnerabilities in such an ability (to prevent total marysuedom) would be a "lag" when moving between areas where the natural psychic field differs (such as in the presence of psykonium), and a lack of protection from indirect uses of psychic power (such as having heavy objects thrown at you).
>>
No. 24611 ID: 8278f9
File 128659138385.gif - (14.85KB , 650x450 , 01993.gif )
24611

Personally, I'm more interested in a setting crossover with a certain other race of psychic aliens. Space Opera combat between a circle of Niiar and a flaysquad of Threshecutioners would just about make my day.
>>
No. 24624 ID: 991a5a

>>334411
GOD DAMN I STILL HAVEN'T READ THIS.
...well, started to read it. I think. Is that the comic that starts with the guy trying to name himself?
>>
No. 24628 ID: fd6d7e

>>334424

Yep it's mister Pooplord! It starts to get interesting around the time you switch to Rose. Quite a ways in actually...
>>
No. 24634 ID: 2563d4

>>334286
>Scellor crews have orgies to synch up
>Maolla chose a female body because they're rare on ships

What is it with sailors?
>>
No. 24635 ID: f49dcf

>>334434
I admit, I laughed.
>>
No. 24714 ID: 991a5a

5Copper brings up an interesting dilemma.
Do telekinetic abilities count as cheating while riding a mechanical bull?

...for that matter, do mechanical bulls or some equivalent thereof exist in this universe?
>>
No. 24996 ID: 2a15c5
File 128703246039.png - (67.29KB , 652x910 , maollapinup.png )
24996

A request.
>>
No. 25003 ID: 1854db

>>334796
Note: the colors are supposed to be more like this:
>>333428
>>
No. 25004 ID: 4643fd

>>334803
Jukashi drew it.

:E
>>
No. 25005 ID: 3416ec

>>334796

Helloooooooooooo nurse!
>>
No. 25009 ID: a7a85a

>>334796

I approve with the intensity of a thousand suns.
>>
No. 25010 ID: f52552

>>334805
You're doing it wrong.

Helllooooooooooooo engineer!
>>
No. 25036 ID: 991a5a

>>334796

Hello, new wallpaper!
>>
No. 25039 ID: 8555c2

She can be my mechanic anytime.
>>
No. 25040 ID: 3416ec

>>334839

She can fix my gearbox anytime. *tiger grr*
>>
No. 25054 ID: 754124

>>334836
Your monitor's got some funny dimensions to it.
>>
No. 25058 ID: a41aaf

Underwear cheesecake is always wonderful, but at the expense of Sexy Overalls?
A QUANDRY
>>
No. 25068 ID: 991a5a

>>334854

Nah, I have the image centered with black space around it. That way I don't have icons cluttering up the picture itself, they all go on the sides.
>>
No. 25069 ID: 2563d4

>>334868
I would have thought white would have been better. And/or pad (possibly flip) the image out so it actually aligns to the side rather than truncating in midair, since Jukashi helpfully left the right and bottom edges clear.
>>
No. 25072 ID: 991a5a
File 128718249066.png - (409.18KB , 1920x1200 , desktop.png )
25072

>>334869

I like having a mostly-dark desktop. Makes the icons stand out more, and makes it look like a nice frame for whatever picture I've chosen as my wallpaper of the moment.

Yes, I know my desktop is fairly cluttered.
>>
No. 25078 ID: 3416ec

>>334872

McAfee Security? Really?

For shame, sir.
>>
No. 25079 ID: 991a5a

>>334878

You got a problem with it?
What's wrong with the program? I haven't had any virus issues since I got this computer.
>>
No. 25080 ID: a1591c

>>334879
How many has it prevented?
>>
No. 25081 ID: a09a03

ITT: Nitpicking other posters


SO HOW ABOUT THOSE GREEN TITS?
>>
No. 25082 ID: 63647c

They are green, and awesome. But I think I require a few more samples.
>>
No. 25084 ID: 445c48

>>334879
I use Microsoft Security Essentials, actually. The Windows 7 version is supposed to be very good.
>>
No. 25202 ID: 2eac65
File 128742115362.jpg - (101.60KB , 800x378 , cutenid_present.jpg )
25202

I just realized I haven't posted any cute pictures in this thread yet, so...

Happy (belated) birthday, Jukashi!
>>
No. 25318 ID: 991a5a

So if that thing Shiia has is "not quite" a flower - what is it, exactly? A sign of physical maturity? Is it structurally more like a flower or like leaves?
>>
No. 25319 ID: dad664

>>335118
It's a flower in appearance only, but not function.
>>
No. 25322 ID: b7dde4

>>335118
also a sign of age. shiia is a older lady and flowers appear when they are getting older. course the aging will stop once we cut a chunk of psykonium out of the rock and make a smoothie out of it and give it to her.
>>
No. 25333 ID: 1ca2ce

>>/quest/246181
You didn't hear this from me, but synch converts are actually the only way the Scellor can increase the size of their pattern pool (and thus their theoretical population ceiling). This whole quest is secretly a big fat recruitment video.

(The quest author can't read spoilers, right?)

(...right?)

>>
No. 25335 ID: b7dde4

>>335133
uhhhhh, no. we already talked about it on IRC. they have no pop ceiling. every time a ovum hatches and no old pattern is in it it makes a new one.
>>
No. 25336 ID: 1ca2ce

>>335135
oh
i was just goofing around but maybe this is a sign that i should actually go in irc someday
>>
No. 25342 ID: deba6f

the mad scientist could have beene trhu mennopause already. the flower may be a indicative she is no longer fertile.
>>
No. 25347 ID: 991a5a

>>335142
Given the purpose of flowers in full plants, that would be just plain bizarre.

...now, I'm wondering what, if any, kind of fruit a Scellor might produce. Bad thoughts!
>>
No. 25348 ID: b7dde4

>>335147
none, the flowers are vestigial. they have nothing in them. it's part of a thing where plants flower when they feel they are about to die, so that a new generation can be made before that. give Shiia a dose of psykonium and she will be just fine.
>>
No. 26022 ID: 991a5a

PUMPKIN!
That is all.
>>
No. 26124 ID: 679e7a

So, uh... any idea on a new update? I know you're busy with Keychain and all, so no pressure, but I am curious.
>>
No. 26210 ID: 2eac65

Random thought: If a new mind forms every time a scellor is born and nobody's in the undermind to occupy the body, then the current backlog of bodiless scellor minds could mean that, in the past, their species was much more numerous, but suffered a massive population drop for some reason.
>>
No. 26211 ID: fd6d7e

>>336010

It's probably more likely that most of the undermind is just lazy. It takes an independant mind and a strong will (read: drawing ability) to go and take a body for your own. If each of us undermind could just randomly claim just any body, then there wouldn't be all those drones around. That and the fact that without a steady supply of psykonium, which is extremely rare and contested, nobody can get out of the undermind at all.
>>
No. 26212 ID: 2eac65

>>336011
Drones' psychic patterns reincarnate the same way the sentients do. Counter-intuitive, but that's how I remember it.

Am I interpreting things correctly, Jukashi?
>>
No. 26229 ID: 0d59df

>>336012
That's how I remember it too. Psychic patterns circulate through the system until they get distinct enough to make the jump to sentience for the first time, and new drone patterns are only created when nobody (awakened or otherwise) claims that body.
>>
No. 26230 ID: 31e5bb

>>336029
correct, reason the undermind exists mostly due to some forgetting HOW to get bodies. that si what we are, scellor that have forgotten who and what we are.
>>
No. 26234 ID: 190d9e

>>336012

Drones and sentients both have psychic patterns that reincarnate; the only difference is that sentients are able or care to discern their own desires from the thoughts that wash in from the Undermind. Aside questions of raw strength required to pull free, it's very liberating and comfortable to surrender your will and accept commands from the undermind or from sentient scellor, especially since full acceptance of the undermind's presence creates a mental buffer that (mostly) shields the drone from really experiencing anything unpleasant.

(A sentient... chooses. A drone... OBEYS!)
>>
No. 26260 ID: 2eac65

What about the mass scellor deaths? Did that actually happen, or is there another reason for the surplus of bodiless psychic patterns?
>>
No. 26264 ID: 31e5bb

>>336060
the surplus is because they just didn't feel like being reborn.
>>
No. 26291 ID: c99f30

Interesting note, since Jukashi estimated the Scellor Population as somewhere in the hundreds, possible thousands of billions and Miss Syrup's first memory is of being a tribal spear hunter on the homeworld, she is fucking ancient.

By my estimate older that 99.99999999999% of the rest of her damn species.


Now we can't be sure that it was really a long time ago. Could be only a few thousand or even hundred years ago given how quickly they reproduce (given sufficient psykonium) and that most of their tech is bartered or borrowed from other species (green space whores seem to be good at 'acquiring' gifts of all kinds.)
>>
No. 26294 ID: 0d59df

>>336091
Might explain how her Undermind channel is so old that it's actually forgotten how Scellor society works.
>>
No. 26516 ID: 2eac65

Another random thought: Scellor don't use their mouths to speak or breathe. Some of them might wear fashion accessories in their mouths that would be inconvenient for more humanlike species.
>>
No. 26731 ID: 2eac65

When you're drawing action scenes, could you not use so many close-ups of the characters? They only give us a vague sense of where people and things are in relation to each other, which makes it hard for us to assess the situation and environment. It would be very helpful if we got some more "zoomed out" pictures which showed more of the general area at once.
>>
No. 26734 ID: a09a03

>>336531
Or maps, like Brom does it.
Probably not too much of an issue in the current situation, since it's just a hallway with a door at the end and the enemy wasn't even there.

>>336316
Novelty dentures everywhere.
>>
No. 26760 ID: 2eac65

>>336534
>Or maps, like Brom does it.
I think that would be too far in the other direction. It would be hard to make out details. I liked the way Ruby Quest did it, with wide-angle shots to establish the scene and close-ups for exciting moments.

>Novelty dentures everywhere.
Also flowers, bubblegum and lollipops. And ball gags.
>>
No. 26762 ID: 66bf15

>>336560
no molars would make it hard to chew gum. just razor points the whole mouth.
>>
No. 26768 ID: 991a5a

>>336560
A scellor wearing a ball gag would be a terrible waste. Go for a ring gag instead...though...given the retractable teeth, wouldn't that be redundant anyway?
>>
No. 26790 ID: 8555c2

>>336568
It would make 100% sure they don't bite even if they wanted to.
>>
No. 26829 ID: 679e7a

Jukashi: how do you feel about us eventually getting the crew synced up so we can monitor multiple characters? I think it's a cool idea, but if you don't, you'll never give them ten minutes' downtime, and I wouldn't want them to be punished for my desires. :V
>>
No. 26846 ID: 13b6d1

>>336629

Even if/when you have them all synced up, Maolla will be the only one "naturally" attuned to you, so the quest's perspective will follow her. You'll be able to talk to the others and to look in on them if you want, but for the most part you'll just give them tasks and leave them to it.

Or so I hope.
>>
No. 26932 ID: 56dc25

>>/quest/257348
Good god, Jukashi. What have you done?
>>
No. 26933 ID: 991a5a

Wait a second...is this thing not hostile?
Oh please god let it not be hostile. Lacking a handy freeze-ray, this could be a nasty fight in the extreme. Only suggestion I could make would be to trap it in such a position that it wouldn't be able to gain the leverage to free itself - buried in rubble, maybe?
>>
No. 26934 ID: 669e52

>>336733
it would normally not be hostile, but it is mind-controlled. so destroy it's brain so it has a different mind that isn't controlled or psychic pierce the control aura.
>>
No. 26941 ID: 2563d4

>>336732
NOT AS EXPECTED >>332154

But, man, noticing that that thing has both eyes on one side of its head. Oh lordy.
>>
No. 26953 ID: a09a03

If you cut a Space Doobie in half, does it turn into two Space Doobies?

Come and think of it, same question for regular doobies.
>>
No. 27011 ID: 4703e7

i think they may have extreme vulnereability to fire

acid is usually explosive due to extra hydrogen molecules, and they are pressurized. so im guessing if we want to ruin the ship, we can give a smoke to our new friend
>>
No. 27040 ID: 2eac65

Random thought: At what point in a scellor's life cycle does he return to the undermind? Is it possible for some of his personality to linger in his body after it's been made into biotech?

Because it would be nifty to have devices possessed by the spirits of ancient, powerful scellor who refused to completely die.
>>
No. 27042 ID: 6834bc

>>336753
Nah. Regular doobies don't have the doobius regeneration needed to do so.
>>
No. 27133 ID: 754124

>>336753
>Come and think of it, same question for regular doobies.
The answer here is no, at least in the Unified setting, which as far as I know is the only place where doobies have anything concrete. Doobies don't just regenerate body parts from nothing, they have to actually hold a severed body part to the stump for a few moments and it reattaches. I think that is vital body parts are separated from each other, the parts will just die. They might just sort of become dormant until someone sticks the doobie back together, though.
>>
No. 27364 ID: 2eac65
File 129050731218.gif - (142.66KB , 713x800 , cutenid_basket.gif )
27364

Hi again! I heard you were feeling under the weather, so I brought you a gift basket to help you feel better!

Also, random question: Is a scellor's antenna sensetive to touch, or is it protected by their skin like the rest of their body? Would it hurt if it brushed up against something?
>>
No. 28052 ID: e5760f

>>337164
It is more sensitive than most of the rest of them, but only about the level that your hands are more sensitive than the rest of you.

So, in other news, sorry for the long stretch of no updates, guys! I've had a couple of things to bother me. Hoping to start up again soon.
>>
No. 28056 ID: 3416ec

>>337852

We'll be waiting! :)
>>
No. 28058 ID: a09a03

>>337852
Funny, I was just drawing some Scellor in an OC when you posted.
>>/draw/1826
>>
No. 28103 ID: 4abc82

>>337858
Nude scellor are never a bad thing.
Is the plural "scellor" or "scellors", by the way?
>>
No. 28222 ID: 2eac65

>>337903
The plural of "scellor" is also "scellor". Jukashi used it earlier in this thread.

>>337852
Did the cutenids help you feel better? I can get some more if you need them.

Also, request: Given the number of ways we have to boost our psychic ability, it would be helpful to have a full list of powers from levels 1 to 6, rather than just Maolla's current powers.
>>
No. 28236 ID: a27eb1

>>338022
>full list
Oh blimey. Alright, let's see if I can gather myself up, then.

Telepathy
1: Message. Send a short message to a non-psychic or hold conversations with other psychics.
2: Empathy. Sense emotions, detect deception, etc.
3: Contact. Conversations with non-psychics, complex information transfer with other psychics. At this level you can also Jam other people with distracting signals - or do the opposite and take distractions away, Focusing them.
4: Read. Detect surface thoughts in unwilling subjects, deep information/memories in willing. You can also Disrupt other people's minds, stunning them.
5: Delve. Extract complex information and memories from unwilling subjects, mindmeld-like contact with willing ones. A scellor with this ability can form unified minds with other scellor.
6: Mental voyage. Journey into another's mind, psychonauts-style, to uncover hidden information, battle neuroses and even rewrite them from the inside.

Psychokinesis
1: Creation. Produce sounds, light, heat and other energy forms.
2: Projection. Use Creation at range.
3: Psiblast. Fire a disrupting bolt of psychic energy.
4: Manipulation. Alter existing forms of energy.
5: Illusion. Light, sound, etc. can be formed into convincing fabrications, and the user can cloak most all emissions, turning themselves invisible.
6: Kaboom! Blow stuff up real good.

Clairsentience
1: Psychic Sense. Perceive psychic disturbances, powerful psychics, etc.
2: Psycholocation. Know the location and nature of everything within a certain range, trumping most forms of concealment.
3: Farseeing. Project any of your normal senses somewhere else.
4: Precognition. Receive visions of the future, either as helpful instinctual urges or vague prophecies.
5: Fabrication. Sad you can't see in infrared, hear radio signals or sense gravity wells? Well, now you can, by making new senses!
6: Show me. Send your senses hurtling back into the past to witness history, either in your location or along your own timeline. Alternately, send your senses forward along your own timeline, sensing anything that you personally will - inescapably - experience.

Telekinesis
1: Push/Pull. Do either of those.
2: Lift. Carry things.
3: Telekinetic Bubble. Create "solid" objects of telekinetic force.
4: Telekinetic Crush. Apply contracting or expanding force. Doing so in a "burst" creates a shockwave. Contain liquids, gas and other dangerous substances in TK bubbles.
5: Telekinetic Harden. Focus Telekinetic Bubbles into stronger shapes, making effective shields, walls, and so on. Focus pulls or pushes into telekinetic "punches". All TK becomes more powerful.
6: Telekinetic Slice. Part things from each other at the molecular level.

Psychometabolism.
1: Hibernate. Reduce body's consumption of resources and slow its processes.
2: Physical Enhancement. Improvement of strength, stamina, dexterity, etc - at the cost of the body's resources.
3: Healing. Induce faster healing or regeneration. Useful when training.
4: Renew. Help the body replenish itself faster, healing at a low level and clearing away defects as it does. Requires food.
5: Mental enhancement. Improve reflexes, quick thinking and senses, again with the cost of resources - and the chance that the brain will overheat.
6: Mutation. Who wants superpowers? Takes time.

Psychoportation
1: Decelerate. Slow the passage of time within an area, relative to the rest of the universe.
2: Accelerate. Make time flow faster in an area, relative to the universe at large.
3: Gravity field. Press temporary dents into spacetime, creating small but powerful gravity wells that you can manipulate. Fun at parties.
4: Teleport. Twist through space to transport yourself elsewhere.
5: Gate. Create a pair of in/out portals that you can manipulate.
6: Reverse. Turn back the clock - but only in a limited area, and only 20 minutes. Very dangerous!
>>
No. 28271 ID: 2eac65
File 129215655632.jpg - (59.10KB , 486x800 , cutenid_zoanthrope.jpg )
28271

>>338036
Thanks very much! Here's a zoanthrope of gratitude for you.
>>
No. 28272 ID: e43bfe

>5: Gate. Create a pair of in/out portals that you can manipulate.

Thinking with portals, anyone?
>>
No. 28324 ID: 5df5d4
File 129221675838.png - (188.95KB , 640x480 , Nox Stare.png )
28324

Only twenty minutes, you say?
>>
No. 28377 ID: bc9415

>6: Mental voyage. Journey into another's mind, psychonauts-style, to uncover hidden information, battle neuroses and even rewrite them from the inside.

i am the milkman, my milk is delicious.

also, that is a list of all BASE powers, mixing them up results in crazy shit. max out all of them and fire off all 6 at once to unlock the secrets of infinite cosmic power.
>>
No. 28454 ID: 27e02d
File 129254188443.png - (389.47KB , 640x480 , amalia_derpface.png )
28454

>>338124
For the curious; That picture is of Nox, an evil Time Mage from the French cartoon Wakfu http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wakfu
It's a pretty good show with exquisite animation, albeit quite lighthearted for the most part, as it's a children's cartoon.

Pictured: Heroes Evangelyne (left) and Amalia (derp) going shopping.
>>
No. 28467 ID: 2eac65

Also, my ponderings about scellor psychology have led to strange and elaborate ideas about their society. Do you mind if I post some of them here?
>>
No. 28483 ID: c402ca

>>338267

Well, sure! Don't expect any canonical adoption of your ideas, however. Although, you should also not be surprised if you come up with ideas that I have, uh, already come up with, cough cough.
>>
No. 28530 ID: 2eac65

>>338283
...and now my fanon-writing mood is gone.

I don't think I've brought this up before, but I find it intensely aggrivating when people joke about how they aren't saying what they mean. I have no problem with you getting inspiration from me (every fan likes that, and it's non-profit, so there's no law against it), but the way you said it is almost insulting to my intelligence.

So that's how I'm feeling right now. Sorry for the drama, but I just had to say that. Maybe I'll be in a better mood tonight.
>>
No. 28532 ID: 476456

>>338330

Well maximum fuck you
>>
No. 28533 ID: 2563d4

>>338330
Hahaha what.
Well, I think we've just avoided a horrible payload of terrible fanwank!
>>
No. 28542 ID: 92bd74

>>338330

Really? All I intended was to say I might borrow ideas from you if they were good, and tried to be amusing as I did so. I don't see how it would be insulting. :/
>>
No. 28543 ID: bc9415

>>338342
it's just some people can't take a joke, don't take it personally.
>>
No. 28551 ID: a09a03

Update the quest!

C'mon!

I'll draw scellor porn!

Interspecies!
>>
No. 28552 ID: bc9415

>>338351
Copied down forever, I'm gonna hold you to that.
>>
No. 28556 ID: 2eac65
File 129271691044.jpg - (131.58KB , 711x800 , cutenid_flower.jpg )
28556

>>338342
I'm fine with that. It's just that one specific type of humor (the "denying the obvious" kind) that grates on my nerves. I'm not really sure why it upsets me, but it does.

Anyway, here's a flower to make up for the drama. I'm in a better mood now, so I'll get to writing something.
>>
No. 28557 ID: 2eac65

Free Will Collective

The Free Will Collective is a political movement that has existed is scellor society for quite some time. Formed in reaction to the early government's consolidation into a single power, they believe that the government is corrupt and obstructive, seeking to dismantle it and replace it with their own ideology of Free Will.

When most species think of the term "free will", they think of the individual's right to make decisions and choose their own path in life. The Collective's meaning of Free Will, however, is something very different; it refers not to the will of the indivudual, but the will of the undermind. The Free Will Collective believes that the undermind represents the most complete, harmonious, and unbiased expression of the scellor race's needs, thoughts, and desires; as such, the scellor will be best off when they serve the undermind directly, without the wishes of any individual getting in the way. According to their members, the government - any government - is inherently obstructive, distorting the undermind's will through the mind of limited, biased individuals, forcing the scellor to obey their authority and distancing them from what is truly best.

Of course, as any scellor knows, the undermind is far from harmonious, united, and unbiased. Free Will believers reply that serving individual rulers will lead to the same problems, but worse.

As with any political party, members of the Free Will Collective vary widely in their beliefs, even in the context of their ideology. Some believe that Free Will sounds nice, but the government's doing a decent enough job as it is, and it's best not to do anything drastic. Others commit acts of terrorism and sabotage against government workers and facilities. Some want to go as far as forcibly coverting all sentients (or, as they call them, "deviants") back to drone status, thinking this will calm the chaos of the undermind and make the scellor race into a truly unified whole.
>>
No. 28558 ID: bc9415

>>338357
interesting, excpet for the fact that the undermind would say no to terrorism and if they don't listen to it say that then they are MEGA hypocrits. in fact i am pretty sure the government is just a farce so the other races have something substanial to look at as 'in charge'. also the undermind could probably turn anyone it dislikes into a scellor phariah and force them to constantly emit a signal that they are not to be approached. for a race as social as the scellor this would be a horrible punishment.
>>
No. 28559 ID: 0405f3

>>338357
>>338358
Pretty sure they could work to block anyone who caused problems for the Undermind or any various forms of 'anti-social behavior' from being respawned... if not by mere force of will. Then due to the fact that any clutch of scellor Ova is likely to be tended by several drones under the control of the Undermind.

Scellor also have a fairly limited lifespan (40 years or so) unless they regularly get Psykonium.
>>
No. 28592 ID: 92bd74

>>338351

Oh Test, you know just how to motivate me.

And the rest of the internet.

>>338357

That sounds like something that would exist! Wherever you get a government, there'll always be someone who doesn't like it. There's a few things I can say, though. The terrorism and such... well, for scellor, that's pretty impossible. To get away with, anyway. Remember how, in the quest, you were able to direct your messages towards Mitrel? Any scellor's portion of the undermind can do the same. It's hard to get off free from anything when the voices in your head can go "IT WAS HIM HE DID IT".

Scellor can commit crimes against other species with no problem, though. The Undermind can usually only speak to other Scellor, even if it were inclined to care.

The government itself I haven't really talked about much, either, so it'd be hard to say what exactly they object to. To give a rough outline, the government is "ruled" by the Onnka - sentient Scellor who have "transcended caste" by developing all their psychic skills to a high level - and by the Interpreters, a group of mostly Orthan and Ulkam whose job is to figure out the broad scope of what the Undermind wants. Both are very high level, species-wide, and government on the level of mere planets is mostly just administration, carried out by Orthan and Ulkam once again, assisted by a large amount of drones and a good few weak AIs and advanced computers. Usually each planet has a few Onnka who throw their weight around, but for the most part, thanks to ansible technology such as quantum entanglement communicators, they can take direction from the higher government with speed. In a pinch, they can just obey the Undermind, which will usually give good advice.

Other branches of what we consider government follow pretty much the same model, though with different proportions of different castes involved. Military has mostly Niiar, agriculture office has mostly Orthe, and so forth. And woven through it all, and extending out into other stellar nations, is the special service, composed of Ayaar, who are pretty much secret agents. Every planet and every branch feeds back to advise the Onnka. It's not terribly efficient, organized or regulated, and relies heavily on the presence of the Undermind to smooth everything out.
>>
No. 28689 ID: 2ea108

Can Onnka go rogue?
>>
No. 28694 ID: 758e19

>>338489

The only way for any scellor to go rogue, if I understand what you mean, is to suppress their connection to the undermind. But no scellor will willingly do that.
>>
No. 28702 ID: 2eac65

I had assumed that, since different parts of the Undermind have conflicting opinions, they could group together for specific purposes that could conflict with other parts.
>>
No. 28745 ID: 2ea108

When I say 'go rogue' I mean 'become a complete rat bastard out for themselves'.
>>
No. 28754 ID: 9f837e

>>338502

Mmm, not exactly. Each scellor is attuned to a particular "frequency", but what links all the patterns on one frequency is their age and power, not their opinions or ideologies. Wouldn't survive past death, either - even if they knew each other in life, only patterns with an extraordinarily close individual bond can find each other again through the undermind.

>>338545

The scellor emotion known as "niiar mood" is an innate urge to do what's best for the species and to obey the undermind. A sentient scellor can try to suppress or ignore it, but not forever or against very strong instances of it. Theoretically, you could get a scellor who doesn't feel niiar mood, but it'd be like a human who couldn't feel fear, or joy. And even in the case of physical brain damage causing that, reflected psychic emotions off the rest of the species would mean they could still feel it.
>>
No. 28800 ID: 701a19

>>338554
Here's a question for you:
Can a pattern become damaged as a result of non-fatal brain damage? If not, then where is the pattern stored?
>>
No. 28803 ID: 80d5f3

>>338600

What a psychic pattern is exactly and how it is connected to the actual brain is a subject that top psientists have been researching since basically forever.

Some hold that the psychic pattern is merely a distortion in the universe's psychic field caused by the brain itself, just as large masses distort space to create gravity; however, most alterations to the brain do not cause changes in the psychic pattern.

Another theory holds that the psychic pattern is an "invisible" extension of the brain, formed from the "substance" of the psychic field. This theory is derived from studies of the scellor, who "unplug" their psychic patterns from their bodies on brain death and reconnect them to new bodies; in rare medical cases, sufficient brain damage can leave a scellor body alive but cause the psychic pattern to be withdrawn into the undermind without actual death. However, this theory does not hold up with current ideas of how the psychic field works and how it affects the material universe.

Psychic stuff gets scientists all kinds of worked up!
>>
No. 28804 ID: 8bdb6a
File 129321607433.gif - (303B , 32x15 , emot-argh[1].gif )
28804

>psientists
>>
No. 28895 ID: b66841

So suppose a scellor intentionally damaged their own brain to destroy their capacity to niiar... is that conceivable? A boogieman figure?
>>
No. 28933 ID: 2eac65

Since I didn't give you anything on Christmas, here's another strange idea I came up with.

Kel Haunts

To the scellor, death is inconvenient but not tragic. For most of them, dying means returning to the Undermind, leaving some of their memories and skills behind, and starting a new life in another body, while their old body is recycled by the Orthe into useful organic machines. Some, however, cannot abide by this.

At times, a particularly willful scellor will become so attached to his current state of existence that he refuses to pass on even as his body begins to fail. Usually motivated by some sense of purpose too strong to ignore, he will use his psychic abilities to remain behind, subtly warping his body so that he may continue to inhabit it even if he can do nothing else. This is seen as a sad state to exist in, both because it is mentally and emotionally painful for the short time it lasts, and because the interference makes their bodies hard to work with. Some Orthe, however, have managed to put these souls to good use.

Officially named Psychoactive Echo Technology (Echotech for short) and nicknamed Kel Haunts, these machines are designed to work with, rather than against, the lingering scellor mind. The result is a stable organic machine which can live without its inhabitant's focus, instead letting his psychic powers serve as the device's function. Echotech comes in a wide variety of forms and functions, from a gun that shoots powerful bolts of psychic fire, to a vending machine that can heal the injuries of those who sample its drinks, to a satellite orbiting a dead planet which shows millennia-old images of when its inhabitants were still active. However, most of them have some features in common.

First, they tend to be bulky. The presence of a semi-functional scellor brain and the organs needed to sustain it means that the device must be larger than normal. This is generally only noticeable for portable equipment, though.

Second, they require a sentient scellor to operate them. Kel haunts are focused beyond reason on their own personal missions; letting such a mind run autonomously would risk disaster, and a drone would merely serve as a new body for the haunt to operate itself with. Even a strong-willed sentient can easily fall under the influence of the haunt's powerful emotions, which will in any case affect how the device functions. A weapon might impart its hate of humans onto its wielder, while a medical device could mutate its patients to match its own unique sense of aesthetics. While inconvenient, this same focus is capable of extreme power; combined with their specialized designs, kel haunts can peform feats of psychic might that are all but unthinkable for a "living" scellor.

Third, they tend to require a startup period. Echotech is generally designed to hibernate when not actively in use, although there are some devices which operate continuously. Properly designed echotech can live for thousands of years and reach legendary status in people's minds, as lost artifacts of incredible power, or as magical forces "haunting" a local area.

For obvious reasons, echotech is a controversial subject among the scellor. Some believe that creating it is horrifyingly cruel and that kel haunts should be mercy-killed for the sake of their own mental health. Others say that creating it is doing a favor for the kel haunts, allowing them to fulfill their self-ordained purpose when it would otherwise be impossible. Former haunts are generally grateful that it happened to them, but at the same time relieved that it's over; if there is any psychological damage, it appears that it doesn't last after rebirth. Both sides of the argument use this fact to support their cause.
>>
No. 28950 ID: 075638

>>338733

Ok, I really like this. Whether you put it in the setting or not would depend on the precise feel you're going for - by default, Undermind tends towards a sense that even if you don't know how something works, there's a sense of science there somewhere - these are more space fantasy-ish than that, a bit mystical even, but that's perfectly good in itself and would be great when used sparingly.

They'd have to be rare in any case, since there's really nothing stopping a scellor from just reincarnating and getting on with what they wanted to do; some scellor have held grudges or tasks longer than they could remember why they started in the first place. Though they could still not want to wait the five or so years it takes to come back, or risk reincarnating halfway across the galaxy or something. A very interesting idea.
>>
No. 28954 ID: 70d9eb

[00:34] Theta][Sigma : Scellor males confirmed for ejaculating maple syrup
[00:35] Slinkoboy : "Pancakes are done but we're out of--" "no we're not :3"
[00:36] Theta][Sigma : "Pancakes are done!" "Where's the syrup?" "One moment *fapfapfapfapfapfapfap*"
CONFIRM/DENY
>>
No. 28962 ID: 2eac65

>>338750
Thanks! It's nice to know that my ideas are appreciated. Especially when they're that big.

About the sci-fi vs. fantasy thing... It's true that they're reminiscent of enchanted items and undead spirits, but they seem to me like a plausible result of certain aspects of scellor biology (psychic powers, organic technology made from their corpses, manipulating their own bodies, etc.) I think this sort of thing could happen in any setting which includes psionics: someone builds machines to harness them. So it's like fantasy, but not unlike science, at least in my opinion. Then again, I tend to approach fantasy settings with a scientific mindset (which is why I like Exalted so much), so maybe I'm unusual in that regard.

>They'd have to be rare in any case, since there's really nothing stopping a scellor from just reincarnating and getting on with what they wanted to do; some scellor have held grudges or tasks longer than they could remember why they started in the first place. Though they could still not want to wait the five or so years it takes to come back, or risk reincarnating halfway across the galaxy or something. A very interesting idea.
Or because they were already highly skilled and powerful, and wanted to stay in that life because they wouldn't have another chance to get so much psykonium anytime soon. It's like how a Lunar Exalted Moon Hero would want to stay alive if she could, even if she thought that living in the Underworld or reincarnating was an acceptable fate: you'll still be alive and active, but what are the chances that you'll be chosen again?

Of course, that's assuming that the scellor is thinking rationally. To become a kel haunt, he'd have to be a little crazy to begin with. Which is why that technology is used to make dangerous but useful equipment, and not to make super-scellor with unrivaled psychic power.

Speaking of which, does "they could just reincarnate if they wanted" mean that normal scellor can simply detach from their bodies if they want? And if so, what happens to the bodies?
>>
No. 28963 ID: 2eac65
File 129353944572.png - (557.46KB , 720x540 , Rain_of_Text.png )
28963

...wow. That post did not look that huge when I was writing it.

>>338754
I was thinking more like lime sherbet.
>>
No. 28966 ID: 9ff4e3

>>338754

Wait.
What?
>>
No. 28996 ID: dad664

>>338766
I BLAME LAWYERDOG.
>>
No. 29003 ID: 2ea108

PLZ TO BE CONFIRM
>>
No. 29013 ID: 8b2f25

Uh. Well.

The fluid which would be analogous to what humans produce would probably be a bit more sugary, but it wouldn't be like maple syrup. They do produce another substance as well, which might well be (probably be more like honey, though), but they don't ejaculate it, it's more... secreted.

sorry to ruin your fantasies bros
>>
No. 29014 ID: dad664

>>338813
It was a silly joke in IRC that started from something LawyerDog said.

And then he had to paste it in here >:T

Anywho, in an effort to steer this away from 'ohgodwhyareyouaskingaboutthatkindofstuff', a somewhat legitimate question!

What's Scellor fashion like? Not work clothes but like, their designer wear and stuff like that. Do they do piercings? Tattoos? Body modification of any sort?
>>
No. 29015 ID: 8b2f25

>>338814

Fashions are different across different worlds and different regions of the galaxy. Scellor do indulge in fashion and body modification, but they don't get as much into it as some other species do, and it's never an identity thing. There is one exception: freegene scellor (like Maolla) get a mark encoded with information on their family tree, so as to avoid accidental boffing of relatives. But it's more like a barcode than a decoration.

Try guess where it's located! :D
>>
No. 29016 ID: dad664

>>338815
I'm getting an amusing mental image of it being in "Tramp Stamp" territory, am I close? :V

How about architecture then? Do the buildings that Scellor create share any defining characteristics or is it basically ranging a gamut of different appearances?

And on a note unrelated to the actual Undermind universe, how the hell do you draw such smooth (as in non-scribbley/wibbley-wobbley) lines? Do you use SAI and one of the Stabilizer settings?
>>
No. 29052 ID: 2eac65

This emphasis on clothing has given me an idea for a new adventure in fanon! A more mundane one, this time.

Keybit

In spite of the scellor having exceptionally dextrous mouths, due to their retractable teeth and multiple prehensile tongues, the scellor tend not to use them very much. Since they breathe through their ears, and speak with their mental powers, the typical scellor will mostly use his mouth for eating or for manipulating certain sensetive equipment. Some enterprising engineers have seen this as an opportunity to grant the scellor a bit of extra convenience in their day-to-day lives. The result is an accessory known as the keybit.

Usually taking the form of a bar worn between the gums and held in place by flexible straps, the keybit is a miniature computer which can be used hands-free. Beneath each of the wearer's teeth rests a button which he can press by extending that tooth; meanwhile, the inner surface holds touchscreens, wheels, more buttons, and other controls which he can manipulate with his three tongues; in this way, the keybit can replicate nearly all the functionality of a standard control console in a readily available, easy-to-carry package.

The "standard" model of keybit is a fully functional, self-contained personal computer consisting of the standard bar mouthpiece, an elaborate series of straps, and an eyepatch which serves as the computer's screen; audio output is provided by vibrating the wearer's skull, leaving the breathing tubes free. Several variations exist, such as a ball-shaped mouthpiece; a partial mask which covers the wearer's mouth, hiding the mouthpiece to minimize embarrassment; an eyepiece which rests to the side of the user's head, allowing use of both eyes but forcing him to twist his eyes to use the device; a fully internal model which can be held in the mouth invisibly; a model which provides output telepathically (generally considered a waste of good psykonium); and many more. In addition, keybits exist that, rather than containing an internal computer, serve as input for another device, such as an arm-mounted firearm or a vehicle.

The use of a keybit is far from intuitive and takes a lot of practice, due in no small part to the fact that the user can't see the controls he's operating (some critics claim that the keybit would only be useful to someone capable of ESP, which fortunately includes much of its target audience); however, a practiced user can find it extremely convenient to have a device always available for use while leaving his hands free for other things. They are particularly popular among praal, who often find them easier to use than machines which would require their clumsy hands to operate. Overall, however, keybits are not very popular, considered more of an exotic toy, fashion statement, or "weird kinky thing" than something meant for practical use; most scellor are content with using standard consoles and handhelds rather than learning to use a keybit's arcane and limited controls.
>>
No. 29318 ID: d98c33

Looks like the battlemind is breaking up.
Either that or Maolla's own personality is more "distinct" in this zone.
>>
No. 29348 ID: 7661e8

The concept of "mind boobs" is giving me some very strange mental images.
>>
No. 29353 ID: 15b51b

Can we seduce our way out of this?
>>
No. 29393 ID: 2563d4

Is there a situation the Scellor can't seduce their way out of?
>>
No. 29396 ID: e472ce

>>338852

This is a very good and sensible idea, and fitting with the subtle but pervasive perversity of the scellor species, but one things prevents it. Scellor teeth aren't individually retractable - the whole jaw snaps in or out at once. They'd need some really crazy jaw musculature to pull it off one by one!

>>339153
>>339193

Ironically, most scellor aren't very good at seduction, simply because they've never needed to be. Among themselves, it usually comes down to "hey guys I'm bored let's fuck" and that's it.

Only scellor who deal regularly with other species develop any skill at it.
>>
No. 29398 ID: 2eac65

>>339196
Yay! I love validation!

Yeah, I figured that scellor teeth might not work like that. Still, keybits could be made with just the tongue controls, though that would make them even more awkward than I had originally envisioned.
>>
No. 29510 ID: 2eac65

>>339198
Come to think of it, since the scellor have an acute sense of taste, they could work around the visual problem by designing keybits with flavor-coded keys.

Also, question: If a scellor wants to move on to a new body, can he simply detach from his old one at will, or does he have to separate from it through physical damage?
>>
No. 29514 ID: f34f5d

>>339310

A scellor in the position of wanting to reincarnate immediately will usually just off themselves somehow, or get someone to do it for them.

They can just "pull out", if they're suitably adept with telepathy, but they choose not to. The "empty" body stays alive, intelligent, even sentient - and really, really creepy, almost always thoroughly insane. And it will only live for a very short time, as the absence of the psychic pattern's control will allow the kel throughout their body to rapidly grow and consume them; often in irregular patterns, so that they become horrific shambling plant-monsters.
>>
No. 29516 ID: f6360f

>>339314
Hmm.

Could a sufficiently telepathically adept scellor swap bodies with someone else, instead of just pulling out of theirs, to avoid that problem?
>>
No. 29528 ID: 2d8fe3

>>339316

If they were both scellor and both strong telepaths, conceivably. It would be a very delicate procedure.
>>
No. 29530 ID: 679e7a

Could the Undermind be used to transmit important data quickly across long distances? As an extreme example, if the crew of a ship gets wiped out by an Alien Menace, could their return to the Undermind send a signal to the rest of the Scellor? Or would they have to go through the whole rebirthing and maturing process before they could meaningfully communicate?
>>
No. 29547 ID: f6360f

>>339328
I was thinking something more along the lines of "Welp, I want to switch castes for a while and there's this drone handy..."
>>
No. 29585 ID: 2ea108

>>339314
Oh my god, you mean we can make sociopathic soulless scellor husks who mutate in to horrible monsters? This is the best New Years gift ever!
>>
No. 29586 ID: 5e72b1

>>339330

If there's an urgent thing that is important to the whole species, the Undermind can be convinced to pass it along to everyone. Less important information can also be picked up by some living scellor who specialize in examining the Undermind for such things. This sort of thing is not terribly common, though.

>>339347

That would be highly unethical!
>>
No. 29589 ID: 15b51b

Update already!

It doesn't have to be a ton of images each!

Do three updates in the next week and I'll draw more porn.
>>
No. 29590 ID: f6360f

>>339386
How so? The drone is just run by the Undermind anyway, it's not like it's going to say no. Or even have a significant opinion. As long as you make sure its mind ends up safely ensconced in the other body, what's the problem?
>>
No. 29597 ID: 5e72b1

>>339389

Well gee now I have to, don't I???

>>339390

The precise status of drones is... peculiar. It's one of the topics that weirds out other species when they try to understand it. The closest human understanding is "something like an animal, and something like a child", but then the idea of having sex with them is weird, and there are connotations of slavery, both of which don't really apply.

Basically, a drone is not a person, but they can be, in time; and the part of them that can become a person is the psychic pattern. Messing with the psychic pattern itself, then, is unethical - as scellor view it, anyway. Much moreso than sending them to serious physical injury or death.

Most scellor find the idea of any kind of "unnatural" psychic pattern manipulation to be sort of disquieting, in any case.
>>
No. 29601 ID: dad664

>>339397
>something like an animal, and something like a child

So...a dolphin? :V
>>
No. 29633 ID: 40cb26

>>339397
Ever try explaining it in metaphysical terms? Other species might find it easier to accept them as beings incomplete souls or similar. Even if you know better the fact is they can't relate to scellor existence so you need a workaround.
>>
No. 29665 ID: 43d730

>>339397
Any cults like the one from Perdido Street Station that prize the mindless state of the drones?

More humorously, has anyone tried to get the drones to revolt?
>>
No. 29671 ID: 2eac65

>>339465
I've actually been developing some fan-stuff (Fanon? Fanfiction? Fancakes) on that subject, but I wouldn't want to get in the way of Jukashi's universe.
>>
No. 29672 ID: 15b51b

The term is indeed fancakes.
>>
No. 29673 ID: be8ffc

>>339433
Scellor usually don't think of lying, they're not used to it. Comes of having telepaths all over the place.

>>339465
There are plenty of scellor who prize the drone state of being. They're called drones!

If a sentient scellor wanted to be a drone again, they would be. It happens sometimes - a sentient scellor suffers some trauma, or is stressed out beyond reason, or develops ennui, or whatever, and they just... relax. And let the Undermind take over (though it's considered quite shameful). Any sentient scellor, by definition, likes being sentient - or at least, needs it to accomplish something.

Even those latter ones, however, are unlikely to prize the drone state of being. Sentient scellor soon come to understand the limitations drones have. They sometimes have trouble telling the Undermind's good ideas from the bad/weird/perverted ones.

Getting them to revolt would be particularly futile. Only non-scellor would try, and most who've ever met them wouldn't - they don't act like people. Drones don't even speak unless it's an emergency.

>>339471
How would it get in the way? I'm the one with total control.
>>
No. 29674 ID: 15b51b

>>339473
>It happens sometimes - a sentient scellor suffers some trauma, or is stressed out beyond reason, or develops ennui, or whatever, and they just... relax. And let the Undermind take over
I bet some of them learn how to drift in and out. Only surfacing (or only bothering to take over) when adrenaline's pumping. Or when something fun is happening. Or just whenever.

"Not having sex? Lame, zzzz, drone awaiting orders."
>>
No. 29685 ID: 40cb26

>>339473
It's not lying only... being creatively interpretive! It isn't like such things defined in a way as to be proven untrue anyways. Maybe not worth the hassle but I think better PR for your species by way of changing the idea of "creepy non-persons" to "vessel for a growing soul" might inspire a few less people from harvesting your corpses for their psykonium.
>>
No. 29703 ID: 2eac65

>>339473
I just thought it might be rude to post an elaborate fan theory that wouldn't work because you already had something different in its place in your official version.

But if you don't mind, I'll write this:

Church of the Green Star

Once upon a time, all scellor were of one mind, and this one mind was of all scellor. Thoughts and feelings flowed freely between them, and every scellor worked for the good of all, without knowing loneliness, hatred or ignorance. Then one day, something happened; perhaps a reality-warping catastrophe, or merely a stray thought, but the end result was Chaos. Its many ideas forgot that they were of the same whole; its appendages looked upon each other and saw friend, rivals or enemies; it began to love itself, hate itself, compete with itself, lust after itself; the One Mind had shattered into a multitude of small, ignorant, petty, selfish, greedy beings.

Such is history as told by followers of the Green Star. Several of its members can confirm this, having memories which predate the Shattering. Many non-members claim that this cannot be true, as they were alive since the scellor's earliest times and know of no such event, but of course no one's memory is very reliable after too many incarnations.

The core tenent of the Church is that the minds of all scellor are in fact different parts of the same mind, and that they are ignorant of this fact because of what they call "Chaos", emotional influence that distances them from each other by distorting their perspective and driving them to irrational, selfish actions. Their goal is to increase harmony and contentment among the scellor in hopes that their psychic patters will eventually reunite and once more become a single, brilliant Green Star, shining with enlightenment in the psychic realm.

Nonbelievers often ask them "If you want us be united, why aren't you a drone?" The typical answer is that drones are not properly functioning minds (probably due to Chaos) and do not represent how the scellor would behave as the Green Star.

The church is divided into many sub-factions. The Primevalists, for example, believe that not just the scellor, but all sentient beings are parts of the mind of a single universal omnipotent being; they cite as evidence the fact that the scellor can access the minds of other species (which should not be possible if telepathy was unique to them) and exert limited control over matter and energy with their minds. Primevalism enjoys a measure popularity among other species, some of whom are inspired to undergo the operation to join the Undermind so they can be "closer to God".

The Purists have a more mundane worldview, believing that the scellor were simply a species whose brains were united telepathically into a single mind, until it encountered other species began to share their thoughts and ideas (by bringing their minds into itself, or simply through mental or social contact) which caused "glitches" in the mind's processes, eventually leading to its current divided state. Members of this belief system tend to be hostile towards scellor whose patterns were of another species in a past life; in practice, this usually amounts to "people who act in ways I don't like", since they have no real way of telling the difference.

Obviously, there is considerable overlap between this group and the Free Will Collective; however, their philosophies are not the same, and many members of either group will be quite eager to explain the difference to anyone who confuses them with each other. For example, many believers in the Green Sun support the government hierarchy, believing it an excellent tool to guide the scellor away from chaos and ignorance; while it would be unnecessary to a whole Green Star, the Undermind obviously isn't there yet.
>>
No. 29710 ID: 43d730

>>339474
"We must consult the great Oracle of War! BRING THE FRENCH MAID OUTFITS AND TAKE HIM OFF JANITOR DUTY!"
>>
No. 29735 ID: 15b51b

>>339397
>Well gee now I have to, don't I???
TICK TOCK
>>
No. 29738 ID: 701a19

>>339503
This brings up something that I've been curious about:

Can members of other species join the psychic collective?

If so, I would expect there to be a faction who believe that the purpose of the Scellor species is to unite the universe in harmony by adding all sentient life into the undermind.

I'd expect that to itself be divided into two sub-factions; those who believe that the Scellor form is the ideal and wish to add only their minds, and those who view species as an extension of the caste system and wish to take in other species as a whole by changing their bodies to host psychic patterns.
There would probably be a smaller faction that believes that non-Scellor minds are harmful to the collective, and wish to adapt other species bodies to host psychic patterns for physical diversity, but not bring their minds into the collective.
>>
No. 29740 ID: d8cd1f

>TICK TOCK

AAAH
>>
No. 29755 ID: 2eac65

>>339538
>Can members of other species join the psychic collective?
They can. This was mentioned a while back. It can happen if another psychic dies while synchronized with a scellor. I'd imagine they could also do it deliberately through some kind of surgical operation.

>If so, I would expect there to be a faction who believe that the purpose of the Scellor species is to unite the universe in harmony by adding all sentient life into the undermind.
That's an interesting idea, but one problem with it is that the scellor have their population capped by the amount of psykonium they can get, and no one known how to synthesize more of it. Absorbing all sentient life into the Undermind would mean that nearly all sentient beings would lead an insubstantial half-existence and only a tiny fraction of the inhabitable universe could actually hold life at once.
>>
No. 29756 ID: 92b648

>>339555
>Absorbing all sentient life into the Undermind would mean that nearly all sentient beings would lead an insubstantial half-existence and only a tiny fraction of the inhabitable universe could actually hold life at once.

Sounds like an idea that could be combined with somewhat extremist environmentalism.
>>
No. 29768 ID: d71dc2

>>339556
>extremist environmentalism
>flower aliens
I see no problem with this.
>>
No. 29771 ID: 2eac65

>>339556
The scellor can psychically control their ecosystem and use it to create biotechnology. They also have trees on their spaceships which they need to reproduce. I don't think many of them would go for the "hands-off" variety of environmentalism.
>>
No. 29784 ID: a41aaf

>>339571
Then again, for the Scellor any forestry necessary would be the equivalent of tending to the incontinent elderly.
>>
No. 29932 ID: 2eac65

...I have to say that, as inspiring as the lore is, the actual events are becoming somewhat less interesting. In these past few updates, it hasn't been clear what sort of suggestions we're meant to make or what effect they'll have, and Maolla's inner monologue isn't much help because she doesn't phrase it in a way that actually describes what she's talking about. It seems that all we can do is wait for events to play out.
>>
No. 29937 ID: 2939a6

>>339732

Yes, I know! It messed up the pace of the whole thing - I intended it to be sort of climactic but then it dragged out, and trying to force it back into line with Maolla's ranting made it so that the suggestions feel kind of irrelevant.

To be frank this psychic journey thing is a bit of a mess and I don't think I'll bring it in again, or at least I'll try to structure it better.
>>
No. 29938 ID: 2eac65

>>339737
Actually, I think the problem was that it was too short and... I think "straightforward" is a good word here. An extended venture into another being's mind, where we get to see its complexities and intereact with it creatively, would be more interesting.

But we were just trying to remove a foreign influence, so that wouldn't have worked for this time. Instead, I would have the invading presence confront us directly when we went in, or otherwise make it a more identifiable threat.

It didn't work too well this time, but something like it might be fun later.
>>
No. 29940 ID: 2939a6

>>339738

If I do it in future it'll probably be the focus of most of a chapter. This one has been going on too long anyway, though!
>>
No. 29942 ID: b6c6fc

Jukashi, much apologies for the OC pic I did . . .
>>
No. 29944 ID: f6360f

>>339740
>This one has been going on too long anyway, though!
Yeah... I miss the lovely Miss Rockblossom quite a bit. Was one of my favorite quests, and while Undermind is fun it just doesn't measure up.
>>
No. 29946 ID: 2563d4

>>339744
...conversely, I've been finding Undermind far more interesting. (Also it gets less Exalted derp all over the place. :V )
>>
No. 29947 ID: f6360f

>>339746
Perhaps the fact that Lunar Quest was my first significant exposure to Exalted improved my perception of it.

But more than that, I don't really have any significant empathy for Maolla- perhaps because whenever we need to learn something new about her world she has to explain it to us like we're idiots. Saulanna discovered things as we discovered them, was confused when we were confused and reached conclusions as we reached them, which was much more comfortable; also, the fact that there WAS a lot of background lore which we could tenuously build on for knowledge in the discussion thread meant that there was a sense of more long-term planning being possible than we can do in Undermind. Planning and speculation is good fun and all Undermind gets is "we should find some more psychic metal and become more powerful" because we have such sharply limited information on advancement mechanics and worldsetting that it's difficult to know what else would be viable.

It's mostly a matter of effective emotional attachment. Basically, if Maolla fucked up and died, I wouldn't really care, whereas if Saulanna died I would be bitterly disappointed and sad. Actually, scratch that; if Maolla died I'd be largely ambivalent until realizing that maybe now we'd get more Lunar Quest, and then I'd be happy.
>>
No. 29948 ID: 4531bc

Personally, If Maolla died, I'd be super sad. If Saulanna died, I'd just bother Jukashi to update KoC more. :/

WotU FTW AOIG!
>>
No. 29949 ID: 2eac65

>>339738
>If Maolla died, I'd be super sad.
Why? She'd just get a new body.

For a long time, Will of the Undermind was, to me, something mildly enjoyable to pass the time until Lunar Quest restarted. It took me a while to really get into it, but when I did, I really got into it (as you can tell from the HUGE STACKS of FANCAKES). So now I'm happy with both.
>>
No. 29986 ID: 2563d4

>>339746
>Exalted derp

That said, I will be happy if I never have to read a suggestion consisting entirely of "+1 undermind hurr" ever again.
>>
No. 29987 ID: 2eac65

>>339746
>>339786
>hurr derp durr :V
I am unconvinced.
>>
No. 30317 ID: 2ea108

>That said, I will be happy if I never have to read a suggestion consisting entirely of "+1 undermind hurr" ever again.
I give +1 Undermind Boost to this comment. :|
>>
No. 30509 ID: 2eac65
File 129645385861.png - (79.38KB , 600x848 , Cutenid_Commissar_by_40_Kun.png )
30509

Welcome back again, Jukashi! Here's a fresh cutenid picture I just found.
>>
No. 30625 ID: 2eac65

...Did we finish while I wasn't looking? The last I checked, Maolla was just waking up from her overload-induced headache.
>>
No. 30630 ID: 55c4cf

The thread is being modified slightly and will return in a timely manner. Jukashi is welcome on IRC if he has questions.
>>
No. 30631 ID: 3416ec

>>340430

What's "modified slightly?"
>>
No. 30633 ID: 40cb26

I am guessing it was too hueg and is being divided up.
>>
No. 30642 ID: 55c4cf

>>340431

500 Post pages, which means the thread can go on endlessly.
>>
No. 30647 ID: 9d59b9

Wait why is som holding the thread hostage to get me to code, this makes no sense.
>>
No. 30649 ID: 9d59b9

Also paged mode is optional and I can load undermind easily on this terrible connection and pentium II; there's no reason to hold it in questarch just to make me code faster. Putting it back first~
>>
No. 30652 ID: 15b51b

>>340430
But why was it moved to the archive?
>>
No. 30665 ID: 91441a

To hold it ransom to get jukashi onto irc to tell him to end the thread. Even though he's on it plenty. But none of that is necessary so :|
>>
No. 30666 ID: 15b51b

>>340465
I'm assuming that's not the case, because that doesn't make any sense at all.
>>
No. 30676 ID: 8555c2

Thread gets too big and it starts being unloadable by some people. He needs to do better at finding stopping point and ending/starting chapters/threads.
>>
No. 30678 ID: 15b51b

I didn't see any warnings or offers to split the thread (like Brom did once) posted.
>>
No. 30679 ID: cc04a7

>>340476
By who? I want a name or a system information dump. The thread is smaller than a good number of individual images in it and loads on the worst computer I could find.
>>
No. 30682 ID: 55c4cf
File 129669380080.jpg - (48.25KB , 640x480 , dick.jpg )
30682

Yeah, I apologize again. Even though I don't participate, I do like this thread, but I know what it's like to have a terrible connection and anything over 400-500 used to give me problems. This thread is absolutely huge and I wanted to work out a solution. The temporary move was unnecessary and I didn't mean to upset anybody. I'm very sorry, but it would still be nice if Jukashi got on so we could talk about his giant ass threads while dylan is being a code monkey because it might be unwanted or unneeded.

I will refrain from tying damsels(threads) to train tracks in the future.
>>
No. 30685 ID: cc04a7

>>340482
Still, I have a godawful connection and even the full anon thread wasn't an issue. The thread is currently about 200KB. You don't even get to large image level until you reach multiple thousands.
>>
No. 30686 ID: 55c4cf

>>340485

Define: Godawful connection.
>>
No. 30689 ID: cc04a7

>>340486
Half the images I load on imageshack or 4chan time out, and half the ones that don't take at least a minute to load. Against more stable servers I can expect 10-15KBps.
>>
No. 30729 ID: 2eac65

Well, that explains that.

Also, had some computer problems. Testing to see if I can still post. If you see this, I'm doing fine.
>>
No. 31181 ID: 2eac65

...Um, are you doing okay, Jukashi? Want me to get some more cutenids? I could write some more fanstuff, too, if you think that would help.
>>
No. 31185 ID: 99458c

>>340981

No, I'm not ok, physiologically. So I'm trying to keep my computer use to a minimum for now, that's all.
>>
No. 31332 ID: 05f8b0

Sorry to hear that, Jukashi. Take care of yourself, alright? Don't push yourself too hard to amuse us... even though you're damn good at it. That was an excellent ending to the first WotU chapter. Made me laugh something fierce, and the whole thing's been very enjoyable. Really enjoying the whole universe-creating thing you've got going.
>>
No. 36008 ID: 07416a

>>341132
He's not depressed or anything, his arm is fucked up. He's eager to do stuff, he just can't afford to draw right now.
>>
No. 36017 ID: 26d95d

>>345808
Speaking of his arm; I would take this time to point out that, while stunts are an important part of any Exalted game, there is a point at which you may be going TOO over the top and may injure yourself or others. Remember: keep stunts to 3 die and below.
>>
No. 36238 ID: 2eac65

>>345808
Different set of health problems. Back in February, he was suffering from eye strain and lung problems. Now his arm is sprained.

Polite sage for inactive quest thread.
>>
No. 44619 ID: f80f15

On average, what height and weight are each of the castes? Is there any sexual dimorphism in height between castes?
>>
No. 44625 ID: de42d9
File 131934860721.png - (461.43KB , 500x1250 , scellorevolution.png )
44625

>>354419

Orthan and Praal (like Mitrel and Maolla, respectively) are smaller than most humans could be, around or under 4 feet. Ulkam and Orthe (like Shiia and Rel), along with Ayaar, are about as tall as a normal but noticeably short human. Niiar, finally, go up to about 7 feet.

Niiar and Praal have dense muscles and bones and are heavy for their size. Orthe and Ayaar are a little heavier than a human the same size would be, and Ulkam and Orthan are about the same as a human for their size. Precise weight, of course, depends on what planet you're on - the scellor homeworld has gravity that's a fraction higher than earth's, a little more than 1.2 gees.

There is no notable sexual dimorphism in regards height among scellor. They do have differently shaped bodies, of course, so there is a weight difference, but not as much as between humans.

... oh man now you've got me going.

Ranting Time!

The scellor homeworld is less dense than earth due to somewhat less metals, but is a good bit larger, so has higher gravity. It orbits a binary star system which, in turn, orbits a supergiant, which is located unusually near to the galactic core; there is no "night" on the world, since even when all the suns are out of the sky the stars are far brighter and denser than on earth. It has one moon just barely large enough to hold a thin atmosphere and three that are smaller but still visible from the surface. There are many other planets in the system, generally tending towards hugeness. The homeplanet's crust is thin, with small tectonic plates; no large mountains or deep trenches and no major continents, mostly large islands and island chains spread over shallow, warm and mineral-rich oceans. Lots of earthquakes, though not as intensely, and lots of volcanic activity. Aside this disaster-prone environment, a quirk in the way this star system worked meant that every 86-and-a-bit million years the binary stars "stretched out" from each other and got closer to their planets, usually causing an extinction event.

As a result of the intense emissions of local stars and the weaker magnetic field, life on the scellor homeworld is much more resistant to radiation than on earth, but still suffers a high mutation rate, which in combination with the fast-changing environment resulted in quick natural selection and evolution, with extinction events giving regular opportunity for species to "reinvent the wheel" in myriad forms.

One form of life that persisted from an early stage, however, was kel, something like a plant or fungus that is notoriously hard to classify, as it changes itself very rapidly. It can do this because it absorbs psykonium from the environment and developed a primitive, vegetative "mind" which it uses to alter itself to mimic other plants or adapt better to its surroundings; kel spores can develop into trees, seaweeds, funguses, algaes and even develop entirely new forms when exposed to a new environment. The first animal life forms on the scellor world bonded with kel that developed symbiotically, using it in place of the mitochondria that exist in terrestrial animal cells. Almost all animals on the homeworld have some psychic ability, mostly low-level, primitive telepathy amongst members of a species; social animals are thus extremely common and can come in very large groups. Some animals instead developed internal psychic powers that enhanced their physiology, allowing the emergence of immense superpredators.

The ancestors of the scellor dwelt in trees; they might be thought of as something between squirrels and monkeys, with rudimentary tool-use on the level of poking sticks into holes to get food out and making nests to sleep in. These creatures, under pressure from predators and the lure of warming seas, moved to coastal swamps and began to develop some facility with moving in water; on a diet of fish their brains grew larger, and they developed more sophisticated tools, most noticeably in the weaving of nets. They developed longer "snorkling" ears and developed "false scent" glands on the ends of their tails to throw off predators. As they advanced and spread further, they were exposed to natural disasters and became more nomadic, developing for better and quicker adaptation by adding again to their brain size and tool use, becoming properly sentient, more humanoid and developing into the first properly recognizable proto-scellor. It is at this time that they began to develop civilization.

The proto-scellor spread across the world, and eventually developed into three "races" or subspecies: island or sea-dwelling scellor, who were smart and streamlined and lived off the ocean, who used their discoveries in combination with psychic power to begin to develop biotechnology; coastal swamp-dwelling scellor who were smaller, more reclusive and most adept with psychic powers; and land-dwelling scellor who roamed the hills and forests and developed fire, stonework and metallurgy. This was the scellor species in its natural state, before any alterations made deliberately to themselves. Each sub-species had a basic subconscious psychic link and easy telepathy amongst its members, but the Undermind did not exist and individual scellor did not normally reincarnate as they do now. Lacking the constant lure of their race-mind, all scellor were intelligent sentient persons.

In time, the ancient scellor developed astronomy and learned the fate their star system had in store for them. Eventually, they decided to mine psykonium on a massive scale and plunged into psychic development, with the end goal of pooling all their psychic power into a minor adjustment in the orbit of their smaller sun, which would end the cycle of extinction their planet had been subjected to. The attempt was a success, but the ancient scellor were trapped in the joined mind they had created and its overwhelming influence eradicated their individuality and self-awareness. It was hundreds of years before any scellor's psychic pattern became strong enough to distinguish itself as a sentient being once again, wrestling their species' overmind into an Undermind and beginning the state that their species exists in now. In time, the scellor encountered visitors from beyond the stars and embraced technology with ease, adopting a transhumanist outlook which eventually saw them modify themselves into the physical forms they now have, including the restructuring of the original three races into six castes.

Woo!
>>
No. 44627 ID: b57910

>>354425
motherofgod.png

We all wish we could create things so deeply fleshed out and real.
>>
No. 44679 ID: 2d6d07

I suppose this makes more sense here.
>I think a better question is, do serial incarnations of a scellor tend to resemblance in any noncoincidental fashion?
>...does any Scellor know, since reincarnations "hop all over the galaxy"?

More interestingly, are there/what are Praal, Orthan, Orthe, Ulkam, and Ayaar moods?
>>
No. 44681 ID: de42d9

>>354479

Serial reincarnations of a particular psychic pattern generally tend to at least partially resemble each other in behaviour. Although they do bounce around all over the place, scellor retain enough information between lives to be able to identify and communicate with surviving acquaintances from their previous incarnation, and there's technology to facilitate this; thus, scellor do know that their personalities persist.

The names of the castes are all words in the scellor language chosen for their associations; most scellor words have a lot of possible translations and depend on psychic "tenses" to specify, so they have quite broad meanings. Niiar are the only ones for whom a direct emotion was chosen, though the others do carry some connotations of various emotions and sensations.
>>
No. 44795 ID: 2eac65

Something I've been wondering about: do psychic powers work differently for different species. or do they all draw from the same power list?
>>
No. 44805 ID: 5bf190

>>354595

They work somewhat differently. Because scellor have their orel to act as a sort of transmitter or focusing dish, their powers are more precise than psychics of other species. Because they have more formal study, the different disciplines are also more clearly defined and formalized to them. Other species' psychics powers are more vague and mystical, and instead of following six set paths upwards in skill there would be more of a general rise in broad ability, leaning in particular directions. However, psychics of other species also tend to have more raw power than most individual scellor. Partly this is because scellor often take their psychic powers for granted, and because psychics of other species will dedicate their entire life to their powers, as opposed to the scellor who will learn other things as well and depend on others to fill the gaps in their ability.

It's like, if only a few people among humans were able to do math at all, all those people would basically be required to become proper mathematicians, and they would be valued and prestigious and be richly rewarded (possibly). But because we can all do basic maths, there's no pressure.

Another difference is in the available disciplines of psychic power. Only scellor can use psychometabolism, because their biology supports it and they can use their powers precisely enough. However, there is another branch of psychic power called Fabricognition, which essentially "makes the mind real", i.e. creates real-world manifestations of what you feel, imagine, etc.. Because of the Undermind constantly intruding on their minds, scellor lack the mental clarity to use such powers.
>>
No. 46794 ID: b79855
File 132329648296.png - (637.70KB , 1400x700 , fucked_up_monitor.png )
46794

So, I got a new monitor. It displays colors with greater maximum intensity/saturation than my old one.

Apparently (unless the new one is wrong, or both are) I ended up with a totally inaccurate idea of what color Scellor are.

Left: Original / Right: Using filters until it looked the way I've been seeing them.

Discuss.
>>
No. 46796 ID: 453e62

>>356594
interesting, so your monitor made them look platinum blonde. i find this funny.
also
>>354605
what if SOMEHOW the undermind channel talking to a scellor actually focused and all said to make the same thing, like a bulkhead has a crack in it and it NEEDS to be fixed but they have nothing close enough to fix it so they all say to MAKE a patch. all however many voices talking.
>>
No. 46797 ID: b79855

Platinum? Isn't that like almost white?

In hindsight, maybe there's just a lot more variation between monitors than I had realized, and this isn't the most useful observation ever.

tl;dr: Their tits look a lot more neon to me, now.
>>
No. 46798 ID: 5bf190

>>356594
In "real life" they'd probably be a bit more dull than I make them. It'd depend on the lighting. However, they are indeed supposed to have a sort of tropical-flower nature photography sort of vibrancy to them.

>>356596
It'd be very unlikely, so no scellor would be able to get enough practice with it to learn the technique properly. Telekinesis could serve the same purpose, anyway, at least for a while.
>>
No. 46799 ID: 1444d5

>>356594
Have you calibrated your new monitor / switched it away from the default-showroom-OHGODMYEYES colour settings to regular old 6500k/sRGB?
>>
No. 46800 ID: cdb8cb
File 132330168921.png - (635.88KB , 1400x700 , love my new monitor.png )
46800

I got a new monitor and this happened.
>>
No. 46811 ID: 5bf190

>>356600

o u
>>
No. 46844 ID: d199dc

>>356600
where can I get a boob enlarging monitor?
>>
No. 46868 ID: bd7cc2

>>356644

At the photo shop.
>>
No. 47775 ID: b6178d

Last night, I dreamed that Jukashi had returned to /Quest/ to create a new thread.

I realized it was a dream when nobody was getting naked.

I miss you and your expansive little settings, Jukashi. And your webcomic.
>>
No. 47783 ID: 10d022

We miss you Jukashi ;_;
>>
No. 47785 ID: 784dcc

>>357575
see
>>355591
>>/quest/366586
>>
No. 47830 ID: 3947e9

>>357585
I don't think that is a jukashi quest... the scellelor don't look quite right
>>
No. 47838 ID: 10d022

>>357585
that was over a month ago
>>
No. 47839 ID: 2563d4

>>357630
>not a Jukashi quest...scellor don't look right
>Has updates with Jukashi's name to them
>Jukashi is OP of the dis thread
>The Scellor section of the quest was drawn by Jukashi because it's a collaborative fucking quest by the three authors
>>357638
>that was over a month ago
>Running quest which updated within 48 hours
>>
No. 47842 ID: 10d022

>>357639
>the post by Jukashi you linked was over a month ago
>last post by Jukashi in said running quest was 12/17
>my face when you don't even know what you're posting
>>
No. 47844 ID: 2563d4

>>357642
Squeegy, I know you only have one brain cell that works, but "collaborative" doesn't mean "taking it in strict turns and having absolutely no input the rest of the time".
>>
No. 47845 ID: 10d022

>>357644
If you could stop being a dick for half a second you might be able to read what was being posted you might understand that people are talking about Jukashi posting not collaborating in a quest.

Oh also you might be able to not shit on people being nice to someone. Just saying, LionsPhil.
>>
No. 47846 ID: 4183c9

>>357645
I was nice once.

It was awful.
>>
No. 47847 ID: 10d022

>>357646
But then you took an arrow to the knee?
>>
No. 47848 ID: 4183c9

>>357647
Actually, I was patrolling the Mojave.

Almost made me wish for a nuclear winter.
>>
No. 49431 ID: 1854db

I have questions.

How likely would it be for a Scellor to not be particularly interested in sex? Or sexually reserved? What about being seclusive? Antisocial?

Would it be out of the question for a Scellor to have the same approach to sexual intimacy as the average human?
>>
No. 49432 ID: 1b0f2f

>>359231

The average human is as much a product of their culture as the average skellor. Surely some would be more reserved, but your question is like asking if it's possible for someone to have the same approach to sexual intimacy as the average Athenian. The context is entirely different, and they'd at best be retro xeno enthusiasts, which the average human is most certainly not. As for reclusive skellor, not frikkin likely. That is to say, they all were annihilated when the psykonium experiment that went horribly wrongright combined everyone into the Undermind. Your hand can't be a loner, and neither can Skellor.
>>
No. 49433 ID: 1854db

>>359232
>the psykonium experiment that went horribly wrongright combined everyone into the Undermind.

Err, what?
>>
No. 49435 ID: 82a03b

>>359231
They see it as a mental illness. Read ITQ, Maolla was so concerned about the astranians she wanted to rape them having a healthy attitude towards sexuality and honestly didn't understand why that was a bad idea. This is why Scellor have a caste dedicated to diplomacy and xenopsychology.
>>
No. 49436 ID: ed57e8

>>359235
indeed, the ones specially trained for it can handle other species not thinking a quick fuck means hello.
>>
No. 49444 ID: 48bcc4

>>359231
It's possible for a scellor to have a lower sex drive than usual, for various reasons, but it's considered to be unhealthy (it usually is). As for seclusion, it's impossible. The concept itself is alien to them, and those of them that try to understand it are swiftly terrified by the very notion. This is from an internal perspective, though; if the question is instead whether scellor ever behave in a reclusive or antisocial way, the answer is that it can happen, usually with aliens. Ironically, it's the scellor that have the most experience dealing with other species that are most likely to act that way.

Now; could a scellor ever think of or approach sexual intimacy the same way as a human? No. I don't think so, anyway. There are a lot of factors in how humans think of sex, obviously, but one of them is the desire to "drop the mask", to bare oneself to another person and be accepted without adornments, including the basic biological aspects of our nature that we normally cover up. Part of the desire to be intimate with another person is to liberate something we normally keep under wraps, and for good reason; contrariwise, when sex is not consented to, it's a terrible personal violation.

A scellor, however, lives their life with their thoughts and feelings and every action on display and under judgement, secure in the knowledge that any other member of their species will be able to understand and accept them. In essence, emotionally speaking, all scellor are like family to each other. This is why scellor have no sense of personal space, little concept of privacy, and would probably never think nor care about intimacy, just as a fish would probably never think nor care about water.
>>
No. 49446 ID: 369d34

>>359233
Jukashi has a large post here with the basic origins of the Scellor and the Undermind: >>354425
>>
No. 49455 ID: 1854db

Oooh here's a fairly important question-
How often can Scellor use their tail abilities? Praal glue/grease, etc. Maolla has the longtail trait that lets her use it more often, but it was never really mentioned how often is normal or how often she can use it by comparison.
>>
No. 49459 ID: b4b0c9

>>359255

It depends on how much they use them. Essentially, there's a gland or such which produces whatever substance, and a sac that holds it. They can use the whole thing at once, or a little at a time, and when they use it all up they have to wait for it to refill. It can take longer to refill if they haven't been eating properly. Use of psychometabolism or application of certain drugs could make it happen faster.

In terms of a more mechanical, game-system type question? I'd say a normal scellor would have to wait about two days after running dry before they're full to the top again, but they could use whatever they do have before then.
>>
No. 49466 ID: 1854db

>>359259
Okay, well, for example, using Praal tail glue... assuming a full tail, how many people would a Praal be able to get completely stuck? How many doses, basically? This is for game mechanics.

Converting all of the scellor tail chemical usage rates into 'uses per hour' like this would be really handy for deciding how much the abilities should cost.
>>
No. 49476 ID: cfd2dc

>>359266

Well, it's a question of how much you want to simplify it. For something like D&D, it'd be a very basic 1/day thing. For WotU itself, I was thinking of adding a basic sort of "interface" to represent a few things in the second chapter, such as the tail juice, which would be a bar ranging from full to empty. There are a couple of extra mechanics I plan to introduce then.

And again, it's how you use it. Getting a person completely stuck would run a praal dry, but just a squirt on their feet would be less, or a glob or two on their back followed by pushing them into a wall.
>>
No. 49742 ID: a2853b
File 133037614842.png - (520.72KB , 419x407 , Capture.png )
49742

Check it out: Proto-scellor!
>>
No. 49748 ID: 1854db

>>359276
Err, okay, how about just making their feet stuck? How many times would a Praal be able to do that with a full tail? Same with the usual applications of the other tail types, please.

The system I'm working with could probably manage 1/day stuff but I don't think people would really like it. (It's for a MUD) I'm thinking the best way to do it would be for it to cost a certain percentage of the player's 'Move' which is effectively physical energy. Just gotta figure out what percentage it should be. 20% maybe?
>>
No. 49787 ID: 1444d5

>>359548
That sounds like a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Doing little things uses a little, doing a lot uses a lot.
>>
No. 50219 ID: 32857c

You know, this just occurred to me.
They've been noted to 'process' fallen scellor to recover the psykonium... How common/taboo/inconcievable is straight-up cannibalism?
"I need more psychic oomph to get us out of this mess, and we can get you robot legs when we get back home, come on, man..."
>>
No. 50220 ID: ed57e8

>>360019
you forget the other guy is psychic too. they can just combine powers. if the guy in question is already dead then yeah sure no problem. but unless it is that sweet nectar stuff mitrel gave maolla it is gonna take a while for it to take effect.
>>
No. 50243 ID: 12c19f

I never saw a direct or relevant answer for this so I'll ask here, forgive any ignorance as I'm still trying to process the concepts of this race. What has so far kept the Scellor from ruthlessly conquering everything without abandon? Is it their overambitious and adventurous nature? Do they have a sort of gnome/kender scenario where the chance they'll likely get their-selves killed escalates as the crazier the things they do are?

What keeps them in check?
>>
No. 50244 ID: 5bf190

>>360043

Several factors. The first is psykonium itself; they don't need to consume it just to maintain themselves (it just goes round and round in the ecosystem), but they do need more if they want to increase their numbers, and it's pretty rare. Second is food: scellor eat a lot, way much more than humans. They have really incredible biotech for producing food, but there's still a limit on how many scellor can be supported by X amount of land. They also need places to live in, even though they have no sense of personal space and live piled on top of each other, as well as the need to use up land for power plants, infrastructure, factories, etc. etc. The estimate I gave earlier in the thread for their population growth - 2 children per year for each adult female - is only given the conditions of adequate food, psykonium and land.

And, on top of this, they are pretty fucking crazy. Scellor have slack safety standards compared to most other species, and presented with the good/cheap/safe trio they'll always toss out the safety first. They're pretty happy to throw bodies at any problem that can be solved by attrition - there are planets bathing in radiation, for example, that scellor keep pouring drones into for mining - and individual scellor are pathologically inclined to do new things and go new places even if maybe there was a reason they hadn't been done/gone to before. Sentient scellor also develop a certain ennui that adds to the urge to take risks. Add to that the wars with people they can't get along with, and we see why, even though the base scellor lifespan these days is about 30 years, it's not an overwhelming majority that dies of old age.

Finally, the scellor aren't really the conquering type. They're the colonizing, expansionist types, but that's not necessarily the same thing. They don't really want to fight people, it just happens. For all the people they're fighting, there are loads more they have decent diplomatic relations with.

Oh, and space police.
>>
No. 50246 ID: 12c19f

>>360044
>here are planets bathing in radiation, for example, that scellor keep pouring drones into for mining

I've a new found respect for this race.
>>
No. 50250 ID: b6edd6

>here are planets bathing in radiation, for example, that scellor keep pouring drones into for mining
Well that would be a rather unfortunate time to gane sapience.
>>
No. 50258 ID: 2563d4

>>360044
>Sentient scellor also develop a certain ennui that adds to the urge to take risks.

You say this, and yet Radde didn't make planetfall by surfing the burning wreckage of a giant electric guitar while making love to his entire command staff.
>>
No. 50259 ID: ed57e8

>>360058
that's cause they are also sentient. you can refuse dumb orders.
>>
No. 50260 ID: d5ee6f

>>360058
Radde is doing something important. The MOST important thing, actually.
>>
No. 50261 ID: ed57e8

>>360060
also that. decided the objective is more important then having fun.
>>
No. 50268 ID: 369d34

>>360044
It sounds like the Scellor would lean towards building dense, highly vertical or underground cities, to save arable land; Arcologies would be right up their alley. They sound like they could handle the jam-packed conditions better than most other space faring species.
>>
No. 50270 ID: 5bf190

>>360058
>You say this, and yet Radde didn't make planetfall by surfing the burning wreckage of a giant electric guitar while making love to his entire command staff.

I'll remind you that the quest did not actually follow the scellor descent directly.

>>360068
>It sounds like the Scellor would lean towards building dense, highly vertical or underground cities

That's right! Lots of ridiculously tall towers and platforms built very close together. They're not in the habit of building underground as much (their home planet has a thin, rather waterlogged crust), but they do do it a lot on their colonies when they start running out of room, and are fond of asteroid bases as well. They also have a tendency to let various bio-repurposed plants grow all over the place, so there's lots of climbing and hanging vines, bushes and other foliage.

It's all very messy and noisy and packed, so they're not great tourist destinations.
>>
No. 50271 ID: ed57e8

>>360070
maybe not the sight-seeing kind :3c
>>
No. 50680 ID: 2eac65

Random thought: Since the scellor had psychic powers since the early parts of their evolution, they would most likely evolve to use them in many of their biological processes. This would mean that the scellor use a portion of their psychic strength constantly to support basic life functions; this would, ironically, make them less powerful than an alien psychic of the same level, as the alien could use all of their power on a particular effect. If a scellor tried to use strength above a certain safe limit, his metabolism would be messed up; this could cause sickness and fatigue at first, and eventually his organs would start shutting down. A truly extreme display of power might even cost one his life.
>>
No. 50682 ID: ed57e8

>>360480
uhhh no. the psy powers were grown with FIGHTING other things with psy powers. so evolution would put all pints into being able to use the powers as much as possible.
>>
No. 50741 ID: 2eac65

Many of which have, and I quote, "internal psychic powers that enhanced their physiology, allowing the emergence of immense superpredators". So there's a precedent for that. And we already know that scellor biology makes some compromises; they don't have vocal cords because they can make sounds with psychokinesis, and their senses are less developed than an alien species because clairsentience and telepathy could compensate.

Besides, y'know, the kel spores. Which slowly eat them from the inside and have to be kept in check with their psychic powers. That's the reason they have such short lifespans, and why stronger psychics live longer. If nothing else, they'd have that to deal with.

But we're really just making guesses, so we might as well just ask. Is this theory true, or am I off the mark?
>>
No. 50745 ID: 5bf190

>>360480
>>360541

Scellor do have psychic aspects to their physiology. They don't have any "psychic organs" like the predators you mention would, but their cells have kel-based organelles. Theoretically, too much psychic power running through them could indeed do damage to their body functions.

However, they would have died of brain damage long before then.
>>
No. 50756 ID: 2eac65

>>360545
Thanks, but that doesn't quite clarify things for me. What I meant was, does the kel use up some of their power that an alien could use for other things, and could they instead use it to do something very important at the expense of their health?

I'm interpreting things this way because it would be nicely ironic. Usually, members of a "psychic race" (eldar, asari, frall, thar sort of thing) are portrayed as being among the most powerful and skilled of all races when it comes to their powers; it would make a nice contrast if they were actually weaker than alien psychics instead. Plus, it would be good fodder for dramatic moments.
>>
No. 50772 ID: 5bf190

>>360556

Hmm, well. Scellor do, overall, tend to be weaker psychics than do psychics of other races, but it's not because of their biology. In fact, scellor can use the psychic potential of the kel going through their bodies, adding a bit to their power; so a scellor who loses a limb or such actually gets a bit weaker. The reason they're weaker overall, though, is because 1) most individuals don't usually push their psychic powers to the maximum, since they have other things to do with their lives, and 2) part of their "psychic bandwidth" is constantly split off towards their connection with the Undermind.
>>
No. 52196 ID: 05746e

>>Add to that the wars with people they can't get along with, and we see why, even though the base scellor lifespan these days is about 30 years, it's not an overwhelming majority that dies of old age.

How old is Maolla again ?
>>
No. 52197 ID: 5bf190

>>361996

About 11, if I'm remembering myself right. Six years from birth to maturity (remembering that scellor are "born" with equivalent development to a five-year-old to begin with), then 5 years serving on a mining ship.
>>
No. 52202 ID: 5029d1

>>361996
also gotta remember that the more psykonium they eat the longer they can live. if they have to the crew can gnaw on the rock they are on.
>>
No. 52203 ID: 5bf190

>>362002

Theoretically a scellor with enough psykonium could live forever, but so could anyone else with enough wealth, given the setting's medical technology.
>>
No. 52205 ID: 71d68e

>>362003
And it's not as if they're that attracted to living forever in a single body, given what they already have.
>>
No. 52235 ID: 369d34

>>362005
They might be a little more attached if they have a lot of psykonium invested in it.
>>
No. 52378 ID: 197830

I hope that WotU part 2 comes after Lunar Quest 2! I loved this quest.
>>
No. 52446 ID: 4b0077

I have to ask, this has been driving me nuts - is there anywhere I can find a collection of the fanart/bonus art for Will of the Undermind?
>>
No. 52447 ID: 4bdd79

>>362246
Go through the main fanart threads.
>>
No. 52469 ID: 2563d4

>>362247
If you're feeling really enthusiastic while doing that, populate http://tgchan.org/wiki/Lunar_Quest#Gallery using http://tgchan.org/wiki/Help:Contents#...add_fanart_to_a_quest.27s_page.3F , since currently it only has a few things uploaded old-style. I was going through all the fanart threads migrating stuff into quest articles at one point but it was somewhere between "tedious" and "questionably worthwhile".
>>
No. 52510 ID: 4349bf

>>362247
Don't forget the [body part] Day threads, either!
>>
No. 55052 ID: 197830

>>52469
Will do!
If there is no objection, I'll also start uploading pics to /tg/booru.
>>
No. 56534 ID: 06e7ca
File 134093387810.png - (340.14KB , 1000x783 , scellorprimitives1.png )
56534

Pardon for digging up my own thread (if that is a transgression? Possibly not!), but I've been solidifying more data about scellor, and I figured maybe there are still people around who'd be interested. So, moving on from >>44625 , today I'm going to talk about scellor culture. But wait, Jukashi! you say. It has been heavily implied (and outright stated, in ITQ) that scellor do not have much in the way of culture! Which is true.

But they used to.

So let's talk about pre-Undermind scellor.

Before the Undermind was formed, scellor were very different to how they are now. They were biologically the same species - a modern and primitive scellor would be able to reproduce, though the offspring might have health issues without advanced medical conditioning - but a lot has changed. Primitive scellor were not biologically optimized as modern scellor are; though they had few diseases compared to humans, they could develop internal health problems, particularly with age. Scellor women at this stage carried their children to term as placental mammals do; children were born as infants and had to be raised, though they still grew faster than humans did, reaching physical maturity at about 10 years of age. That's terrestrial years - the scellor homeworld's years are more than twice as long, and the ancient scellor usually measured long time periods by how often their pair of binary suns crossed each other in the sky (about once every 5 earth months).

Psychically, primitive scellor were far less developed than their later descendants; most individuals were capable only of empathy (actually pretty similar to Lagotrope's neumono) and basic telepathy with individuals with whom they were "attuned", usually members of the same community. There was a spoken language, several of them in fact, but scellor vocal cords and diaphragm control was always rudimentary (modern scellor are even worse), and the relatively simple sounds they could make to form words had to be augmented with empathic inflection. Beyond that, other psychic powers were rare, but almost all scellor would at least have heard stories about them; for the most part, any serious psychic potential was the domain of hermits, mystics, cultists and occasional rare prodigies. Working in groups was a necessity for any truly impressive psionic feats, again except for rare individuals. Scellor could, as they do now, use psykonium to enhance their psychic abilities, but deposits of psykonium had a tendency to attract various giant monsters and other living dangers. Overall, psychic powers were treated like magic! And relatively low magic. Perhaps some day it'd be interesting to do a "sci-fi fantasy" story set in this time period, but not any time soon. Or perhaps someone else would like to? Hm. Well, let's move on.

The different castes didn't exist. Instead, as described in previous posts, there were three major races - illustrated here from left to right, girls along the top and guys along the bottom. The first, older race might be referred to as pygmy scellor, being small, and who lived in tropical swamps, marshes and waterside forests by preference. Then seafaring scellor, who lived on islands and archipelagoes; and, finally, the giant scellor (actually only about the same height as a normal human), who lived on what you might call their planet's pitiful excuse for continents. The largest continuous landmass is smaller than australia, and even then is a twisty mess of fjords and inland seas, riddled with volcanic activity. Again as previously mentioned, the scellor homeworld has a thinnish crust with smaller and more numerous continental plates than earth, and its extra suns and moons contribute both to the geological activity and chaotic weather. Natural disasters were a problem for all the ancient scellor.

The pygmy scellor (not their proper name, obviously - they didn't even call themselves scellor) were the most reclusive of the three, dwelling in relatively crude treetop villages in secluded corners of their waterlogged homes. They were the least technologically developed, mostly because they had no access to materials that wouldn't rot away in a few years. Occasionally they might get something more advanced from the other races, but the extent of their own development was simple devices of rope and wood, used for hoisting goods into the trees or laying traps for their food animals. They had small boats, of course, and had a particular fondness for nets: aside being their main source of food and essential for carrying things, they would also drape them around their homes to make climbing easier, and endowed them with religious significance, metaphorical for the strands connecting and tying together themselves and all other life in a great web. They liked them so much, wearing them was common, both for decoration and to have them handy to use; most other "clothing" was camouflage, usually involving leaves tied at the extremities to break up the outlines of their bodies and blend colours so as to let them fade into the background of their environment. The pygmy scellor had the most psychics of the three races, partly because of their funeral practices; bodies were moved to "gravegroves" where the bodies, consumed by the kel spores inside them, would become trees or other local plants. On significant days, fruit from these trees would be eaten, allowing the tribe to gain the "strength" of their ancestors (actually the traces of psykonium that had been in their bodies). These gravegroves were pretty sacred! Most of the trees would be marked in some fashion, and decorated in ways the tribe would feel was too dangerous for their own homes. Outsiders visiting and especially interfering with the grove could easily upset them; they were relatively dangerous in and of themselves, with spooky psychic phenomena drifting between the trees, faint echoes of the scellor who had died to produce them. Because of the pygmy scellor's isolated, tight-knit communities, their shaman-like psychics' powers tended towards the sympathetic: telepathy, prognostication and healing powers directed at other individuals. Overall, they were quiet and reserved; making a lot of motion and sound was discouraged, to avoid attracting dangerous predators. However, they were remarkable painters, with access to plenty of natural pigments, and filled the insides of their huts with vibrant colours in order to offset the relative gloom beyond their doors. There was little difference between the sexes.

Sea scellor, while having the most isolated settlements, were ironically also the most well-travelled of the ancient scellor, with a tendency to form vast trading networks. While they were as much at the mercy of the weather and geology as other scellor, their island homes were safe from giant predators (though the oceans were a different matter); with this relative safety, especially when combined with more environmentally secure islands such as as those formed by extinct volcanoes, they were able to develop a stronger sense of their own history and invest in more long-lasting structures, both physical and social. Stone circles designed for various time-telling purposes were common in their early history, leading on up to more elaborate works such as stepped pyramids and buildings carved out of natural rock. Despite having limited land, they made use of natural (and later, artificial) bays and tidal lagoons to develop sea-based agriculture, farming fish and shellfish, seaweed, and a kind of giant sea millipede (that's good eatin'!). A trained sea scellor diver could hold their breath for a bit more than 20 minutes at a time. Having little to fear from predators and an eager interest in showing off to outsiders, sea scellor were keen on decorating themselves, making use of leather, carved bone, stone and wood, leaves, flowers and whatever other sufficiently prestigious materials were at hand; they had little concern for coverings beyond that, especially those that would get in the way in the water, and mostly used crude skirts of leaves and crude rope to keep some of the sunlight at bay. In their spare time, storytelling was a common form of recreation, along with singing and woodwind music that humans would consider quite crude and simplistic. The majority of sea scellor societies disposed of their dead at sea, currents permitting, but a few disreputable cultures practiced cannibalism. This was a dangerous prospect for ancient scellor, as fragments of the dead scellor's personality could impress themselves on whoever ate their body; doing so repeatedly could cause insanity, depending on one's strength of mind. At the same time, however, such individuals developed stronger psychic powers, which sea scellor were otherwise pretty lacklustre with compared to the other two races. Such psychics were most famous (or infamous) for using telepathy to tame giant sea creatures; less immediately impressive, but more dire, was their tendency to develop inauspicious powers of prophecy, which also allowed their most advanced masters to sense the fabric of space-time and become the first scellor to manipulate it. The vast majority of scellor were understandably wary of and often repulsed by these people, but in time, secret cults practicing similar methods would spread through other scellor cultures. Other sea scellor psychics, few though they were, tended to dabble in more agricultural uses of their powers, and in later periods would begin developing crude biotechnology. Typically, female sea scellor mostly tended to the farming, while males went fishing further afield; males were responsible for trading with others, but females were responsible for dealing with traders who came to them.

Giant scellor, finally, were to become the most "civilized" by standard human reckoning. After early years as nomads, the majority would settle into fortified towns designed to fend off dangerous creatures and, later, other giant scellor city-states. They developed proper agriculture, pottery, the wheel, metalsmithing and even the production of glass. However, the scellor homeworld has a significantly lower proportion of metal than earth; iron, in particular, was split with psykonium, leaving it about three times harder to find than terrestrial iron. As already mentioned, psykonium itself, in ore form, attracted the giant beasts that used internal psionic powers to sustain themselves, making it horrendously difficult to mine even when it could be found. Combined with the scellor world being so waterlogged, all metals were valuable commodities, and the history of the giant scellor was rife with conflicts over supplies of the stuff. Warriors used armour crafted from the bones, hide or carapaces of superpredators, and the majority of the population made do with weapons and tools made of bronze when possible, saving more advanced aids for when real necessity required it. The sciences beckoned: natural disasters were still a plague for giant scellor, with tales abounding of settlements wiped from the map or crippled in such a manner that the creatures of the wilderness could finish them off, leaving abandoned towns and ghost castles to tempt foolish explorers. Environmental pressures, then, begged for the scellor to develop systems to analyze and predict the patterns of their world, observing the shaking of the earth, the surge of the tide and the sweep of the suns and moons for signs of disaster. The giant scellor led the way in such advances, though prompted and assisted somewhat by sea scellor, and it was advances in this field that allowed them to chart the stellar cycles that would eventually push the species to its fate (or doom). Wealth permitting, relatively advanced chemistry was available, as well as relatively crude (and expensive) clockwork devices. In contrast to their more nudist cousins, giant scellor wore something closer to what would be considered proper clothing, having developed weaving and its attendant advances. Furs were also common, and jewelry, albeit with gems set much the more often in wood or bone or elaborately woven strands of cloth than into metals, precious or non. Giant scellor enjoyed music and dancing when times were good, with particular favour for string and percussion instruments. Giant scellor settlements had a broad variety of ways of disposing of their dead, but most involved shipping them quite far away, so as to avoid attracting predators. The psychics of this race tended most towards the more blunt, brute-force psionic powers, such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis, and most often put such skills to work for crafting - or, somewhat more rarely, used them to combat monsters and enemy warriors. More rarely because such individuals tended not to live so long. Giant scellor had the most pronounced cultural differences between the sexes, with men as warriors and taking care of the most physically strenuous labour, while women handled more sedate crafts.

All ancient scellor tended towards a certain fatalistic approach, partly from the relatively high probability of unexpected disasters, and partly due to influence from individuals who could genuinely get some sort of feeling for the future, though other scellor tended not to be comfortable around them (stop talking about that vast roar of endless voices screaming at you from centuries yet to come, dude!). There was a strong tendency in the whole species, as there is in modern scellor, to produce as many offspring as possible and send them out to colonize other lands, knowing that if there wasn't anywhere free for settlement, there soon would be. Politically, scellor were relatively varied, though humans would find them unusual in their lack of centralized leadership. By "default", each community would form internal, informal collections of individuals with similar skillsets, who would automatically become leaders when the situation called for their expertise. Within said groups, shifting tides of personality and strength of will would modify leadership every day, with empathic intuition clearing the sense of who was in charge at any particular time. Some communities, especially those who were more "civilized", would be more formal in their politics, with guilds or councils or advisorships or similar, but the basic structure was usually there. Psychics, though powerful in their communities, tended to be more interested in their abilities than in taking charge, a quality responsible for getting them the powers in the first place. It was only in the case of groups of psychics, for example the aforementioned sea scellor cultists, that psychics might tend to dominate a society's decisions. Which is not to say the scellor never had leaders: occasionally, particularly powerful personalities, most often well-respected polymaths (or unscrupulous telepaths) would effectively become chiefs of their communities.

There was art, and philosophy, and politics. Relations between different tribes, different nations, both benevolent and hostile. War, crime, exploration, wonders and treasures and adventure. Music, stories, architecture, history. Culture. So what is left? Perhaps a few stones, piled oddly, covered in vegetation.

All else is buried, sunken in the ocean of endless thought and noise.
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No. 56535 ID: 06e7ca
File 134093406019.png - (337.58KB , 1000x783 , scellorprimitivescolours.png )
56535

Holy moly that was a huge post.

Here's the same picture but nudified, just so's I can show off some different scellor pigmentation. I've got a hankering to do another post about scellor biology, we'll see if I actually get around to doing it.
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No. 56540 ID: 132b99

i like the giant female's hair, it's like a jungle flower.
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No. 56541 ID: eea689

>>56534

Don't have time to read more than the beginning of that now - but I'll be looking forward to the chance to read the rest tomorrow, it looks fascinating!
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No. 56607 ID: 1444d5

>>56534
>I figured maybe there are still people around who'd be interested
Yes.
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No. 56615 ID: a3b384

The ancient scellor world would be an awesome place for a quest, and the transitional period would be even better. But I'm happy sticking around with Maolla for a while yet.
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No. 57415 ID: 24b8ac
File 134271822667.png - (184.25KB , 500x800 , scellorbonding.png )
57415

More scellor information! Not biology, though, not yet. We're crossing the distance with something that's somewhere between culture and biology. Also, psychic powers.

Namely: scellor romance.

Once again I hear your cry, "but Jukashi! I thought scellor didn't have romance!". Once again, you are an attentive and keen-minded examiner in xenostudies. And the truth is, you're right! They don't. But, as with culture, they used to have something... sort of similar. Close enough that a human could confuse it for the same thing. Listen now, and I'll tell you how things used to be, and how this ancient feature of scellor minds turned from a helpful social force to a dangerous mental illness.

To start us off, we have to understand a few essential differences in the scellor mindset. The scellor homeworld is incredibly fecund - it's borne life for a long time, life which has been prone to very rapid mutation, and the result is that practically every corner of the place is crammed full of thriving lifeforms, thus providing more food than anyone needs. For most of their history, the scellor as a species also had no need for metals or other rare supplies (or at least, had not discovered a need), so ultimately, scellor groups only had only one environmental resource to really fight over: places of safety. Competition between individuals - for the best food, furs, etc. - was relatively unheard of, compared to humans, at least. This is part of what created the scellor's natural tendency towards "leadership by profession" (as mentioned in the last post), which in turn created a situation where competent, capable individuals were a valuable resource in themselves. When two scellor groups fought over land, they tended not to fight to the death; they would fight until one side was clearly going to be the victor, upon which the best of the losers would be taken into the victor's group to replace their losses. In some cultures this was slavery, in some a sort of timed servitude arrangement, some even just wholesale adoption, but the overall theme was the preference for capture rather than killing. Scellor, even at this point in their development, were almost never really inclined to do each other any serious harm; anger, hate or fear between scellor just doesn't inspire violence, the actual need to eliminate a threat, as it does between humans. The only scellor emotions that cause that sort of thing are either the dispassionate "needs must" of niiar mood, or a very extreme type of disgust or contempt that is relatively rare.

The reason I explain all this is to provide the reason why scellor have a function which builds relationships quickly and strongly; the wholesale transplant of individuals into a new group was quite common. This is where we get back into our space magic, because the psychic powers are coming in. Two scellor who felt the same emotion towards each other - even if it was mild, and regardless of what type of emotion it was - would, if they stayed close to each other for long enough, start to feed their emotions back into each other. If for example they admired each other, the admiration of one would be telepathically felt by the other, feeding into their own admiration, which would feed into the first one again, raising theirs again, and back and again and so on, until the two would be experiencing an invigorating emotional high every time they came near each other. This bond would allow easier telepathic communication and encourage intimacy and learning about each other: co-labourers would work better together, rivals drive each other to new heights, males be persuaded to stick around with pregnant mates, and so on. And, because at this stage scellor only had so much psychic power available to them, there was a built-in cap preventing things from escalating too far. If the emotions involved in a bond were affection and physical interest, then the relationship would become something that a human could easily identify as romantic.

With the Undermind in play, however, the whole thing went tits up. All scellor now receive a constant influx of emotion and psychic energy from the Undermind; thus, when this some bond begins to form in modern scellor, it escalates without any natural cap to put a stop to it; not only that, but any number of random, chaotic feelings and thoughts from the Undermind are prone to get pulled into the loop. The individuals involved will become dangerously obsessive, addicted to the intense emotions of the link; in time they'll begin experiencing mood swings, then go insane, and eventually suffer brain damage and, finally, death. Fortunately, the increased psychic link between all scellor allows other individuals to drag the participants out of their feedback loop, at least in the early stage. It's only when a pair are isolated together for long periods that danger looms, and this is, understandably, rare.

So: scellor sort of have something that looks like romance? But they wouldn't think of it as such, and in modern scellor it's a ticket to crazy town. Most scellor would not be aware that it's anything more than an unfortunate glitch in how their minds work.

Modern scellor do experience a phenomenon whereby multiple psychic patterns develop a tendency to pull back towards each other in successive reincarnations, but it is also rare, and its human equivalent would be more like a sibling relationship.
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No. 57428 ID: b85f8c

>>57415
I would think there might be psychic limiters to serve as an emergency cure for that sort of thing. Or alternatively, for more liberal-minded scellor, to facilitate safe emotional resonance.
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No. 57429 ID: a3b384

>>57428
I think the broader issue is that they don't even see it as a problem that needs solving, only a thing to avoid.

I wonder though, if a kind of rapport between a scellor and an alien of limited psychic ability could have a relationship akin to the scellor bonds of old. Perhaps a scellor isolated among aliens might have found themselves in that situation before? I could see there being some undermind backed interspecies relationship studies around that.
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No. 57439 ID: bf54a8

uhhh, yeah, they kinda don't REMEMBER the stuff that happened before the undermind. the fact they used to for personal relationships is completely foreign to them. how can you fix something you don't eve realize IS broken?
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No. 57445 ID: b85f8c

>>57439
Jukashi said that MOST scellor aren't aware of it being more than an unfortunate glitch. That implies that some know more about it than that.
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No. 57463 ID: 100061

its probably known to them as an obscure bit of academic knowledge. the scellor don't see the need for the kind of one on one intimacy that kind of link would bring. they also probably don't need it. scellor seem to naturally deal well with having lots of close friends rather than one partner they are devoted too.
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No. 61091 ID: b417cb
File 134828546667.png - (344.87KB , 800x700 , scellorbiology1.png )
61091

Gone a long time without a quest update. Perhaps some more information on scellor would be a bit of compensation?

Scellor Biology

I am not a biologist, so if any real biologists are devastated by my ignorance, please point out anything that's super dumb. Pointers on how to make things make more sense would be appreciated!

Any understanding of scellor biology must begin with the basis of all animal life on the scellor homeworld, kel spores. Are they a plant? A fungus? Their own funky thing? They can be almost anything. After eons of mutation and extinction cycles, any individual kel spore contains several species' worth of genetic code; somehow, mystifyingly, the spore can use trace elements of psykonium to sense its environment and select the code it needs to adapt and thrive. No one species of kel spore can turn into anything, but each species has a vastly diverse range. One single species - that found in the scellor themselves - is responsible for forms as tiny as the trichloroplasts that live inside other cells, up to specialized organ systems, to the heavy seed-like ovum, even on to the massive trees that grow from a dead scellor's body.

Speaking of cells - scellor cells start off roughly similar to those of a terrestrial animal, if a bit larger. The main difference is the kel spore inside each one, which as mentioned usually takes the form of a trichloroplast, serving the same symbiotic function as terrestrial mitochondria (though not quite as well). Even now, however, the kel is ready to switch it up as conditions change. If exposed to high light levels, it will push out normal chloroplasts to begin photosynthesis; perhaps more interestingly, if it finds itself in an otherwise healthy cell that doesn't seem to be moving around, it will drift towards the cell membrane and begin building its cell some cellulose armour, as we see along the top of the attached image. If, after a long period, the cell remains where it is and is not stretched or deformed, it will find that it has developed a sturdy cell wall. The upside of this for the scellor is that soft tissues that don't move much - away from the joints, against the bones and cartilage and under the skin - stiffen and become an extra layer of protection against physical injury. The downside is that inactivity carries the risk of one's limbs seizing up. Thus, although many scellor are more than happy to maintain health and strength using medical treatments, they must pursue a strict regimen of flexing and stretching if they want to stay mobile. Maolla, in the bottom left, would rather this was not the case. But what can you do?

As a symbiotic but independent organism, kel spores can survive the death of their host cell, upon which they will devour its remains and begin growing into their tree-like form. Fortunately for their greater host, a young and healthy scellor's immune system actively searches for and destroys any "wood" growing in their body. What about big injuries, though? In the bottom right of this picture we have an example of what happens. Poor torpedotits here, after receiving a terrible wound and losing her arm besides, is bleeding profusely and has a ragged mess of dead cells bordering her injuries, too thick to let her immune system reach in. Exposed to the air (assuming her native atmosphere), a sugary sap-like substance in her blood swiftly gums up the wound and prevents blood loss. Coincidentally, this (delicious) rubbery gunk provides a feast for the kel to begin growing, consuming the dead flesh around her wounds but prevented from growing too far into her living tissue by her immune system. Over time, it will be pushed back as fresh cells pour in to replace those lost, and her wounds will eventually heal. Mostly. Scellor can develop scar tissue just as terrestrial animals can, save that theirs is consumed from within and develops into something very similar to wood. Thus, battle-worn scellor will appear to have patches of bark across their skin; particularly large scars may even put forth leaves or flowers.

Scellor blood is a very dark brown (resulting in a variety of unimaginative epithets), ranging in precise shade depending on the individual's lineage, age and health; scellor entering old age have blood tinted more towards green, while young scellor or those engaged in a lot of physical training will be more reddish. A variety of other pigments, which normally express themselves through eyes, hair and flowers (if any), may tint the shade towards other colours. Generally, however, the casual observer under normal lighting will assume that their blood is black, and a scellor with flushed skin will merely show a darker shade of their normal skin tone. Many scellor would prefer if their blood was actually black, and individuals who demonstrate particularly dark blood through the shade of their lips or eyes are often considered especially attractive.
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No. 61093 ID: bf54a8

oh man, in scellor a dude being nick named like, 'captain flowers' would mean he is a heavily scarred badass with so many scars that they are flowering.
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No. 61095 ID: b417cb

>>61093

Indeed. And the scellor translation of the word "syrup" could have associations with spilled blood!
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No. 61101 ID: b0d1a8

Would you have any objections if someone used scellors in their own quest or something?
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No. 61102 ID: 2b7692

... So, what I'm getting out of this is Scellor are tasty and their homeworld covered in monsters. That seems rather unfortunate for them. On the plus side, bonus for those who like rough bitey synchronizing.
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No. 61103 ID: bf54a8

>>61102
the monsters are just as tasty. everything on their planet is integrated with the kel to some degree.
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No. 61105 ID: 2f4b71

So Kel spores act as symbiotic stem-cells, mitochondria, platelets, form add-on cell walls (kind of like Myelin sheaths), and can form a Blastema? Cool.

>Indeed. And the scellor translation of the word "syrup" could have associations with spilled blood!
I guess Scellor may take a rather dim view of american-style pancakes.
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No. 61106 ID: f2c20c

>>61091
Wooden scars seem like they would rip open frequently.

Can't you just surgically remove the bark and let the body heal better, anyway? You'd think that scar removal would be something they can do, since right now we can remove scars. Lasers!
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No. 61107 ID: bf54a8

>>61105
why? sounds like humans enjoy eating breakfast with the blood of their enemies. sounds like a kickass warrior race to me.
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No. 61111 ID: b417cb

>>61101

So long as the person didn't pretend they invented them, that's fine. And if it's somewhere people wouldn't know already, a note somewhere about them being mine would be nice.

>>61106

Certainly they can remove them, but some scellor prefer not to bother. As for the tearing open, well, I did say "very similar" to wood, not that it was actually wood.

>>57463
>>57445

There are a small number of scellor who take an interest in uncovering their past. Archeologists, basically. A few attempts at historical recreation. There are very, very few of them, however, and they all live on the homeworld.
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No. 61182 ID: ca202e
File 134843899835.png - (153.00KB , 800x500 , scellorsenses.png )
61182

What there's more???

Scellor senses

Along with a couple of other things. Once again if anything I say is monumentally stupid, tell me about it.

As previously discussed on Xeno Theatre, scellor evolved on a world close to the galactic core, which was thus endowed with a particularly dense sky. A pair of binary stars orbiting a massive supergiant effectively provided them with three suns, making night and day erratic affairs; even when all three were on one side, the night sky on the planet's dark face was filled with stars and nebulae much larger and brighter than on earth. Early lifeforms were so swiftly dependent on light to find their way around that bio-luminescence became extremely common in organisms that had otherwise adapted for dark environs such as forest floors or deep seas. What this means for scellor is that they have poor night vision, their eyes suited to a light level somewhat higher than the galactic average; a human in a scellor ship or lit building would probably consider it uncomfortably bright. And, because scellor are adapted for environments with limited visibility - forests, swamps, hills, under murky water - they are also slightly more short-sighted than humans, though this difference has been minimized since modern scellor "tuned up" their bodes with genetic modification. The upside of this otherwise poor vision is that scellor are significantly better at seeing colours than humans are, able to identify smaller differences and perceive some additional colours.

Scellor hearing, on the other hand, is worse in almost all ways than human hearing; it has a slight advantage underwater and is otherwise pretty terrible. They are compensated somewhat by being entirely better with another, more subtle sense, their proprioception - the sense of where their body parts are in relation to each other. This gives them an advantage when moving in three dimensions: their ancestors enjoyed this underwater or in the treetops, while modern scellor find it helpful in the absence of gravity. Combined with the use of their tail and other additional appendages, an average scellor has a better sense of balance than a normal human does.

Scellor have a very rudimentary set of scent receptors in their ears; if those pick up anything that hints at being interesting, they'll take a breath through their mouth, where their secondary tongues will take a much more delicate sample. The primary tongue in the center, larger and longer than the other two, functions much like what humans would consider a "normal" tongue with normal tastebuds, while the secondary tongues to either side are thinner, more delicate, and covered in softer, feathery receptors that pick up more complicated scent and taste. Thus, for scellor, holding one's mouth open to breathe is an indicator of alertness and tension.

Since we're in the area, I'll also talk about scellor teeth. Like certain earth animals such as rabbits, scellor teeth continue growing throughout their lives, albeit very slowly once adulthood has been reached. Their front teeth are terribly sharp: however, their hardness and thin edge make them very brittle, necessitating the ability to retract their teeth in order to protect them from casual damage. This also allowed the use of a length of firm tissue behind their gums to actually sharpen their front teeth every time they come out, so once again, they are very sharp; some ancient scellor harvested these teeth from their dead for use in tools and weapons. They have slightly blunter teeth towards the back of their mouths, but scellor do not really chew like humans do; these back teeth are for cracking shells or briefly biting into large chunks of food to see if anything dangerous or especially tasty is concealed within. The real work of grinding the food down is taken care of by the gizzard, which has its own chitinous "teeth", like some terrestrial insects do.

All physical scellor senses are constantly being checked and cross-referenced with their psychic senses; on their homeworld, all living things produced a considerable psychic field, with animate organisms producing even stronger ones. Scellor bodies developed this checking system as a counter to camouflage, allowing them to tell whether that erratic boulder was actually made of rock or was in fact an example of the rare four-clawed granite grabber; or whether their mouthful of fruit contained any venomous wasp larvae. The downside of this for modern scellor is that they have a hard time identifying dangerous creatures that don't have any psychic presence (killer robots, for example), since a part of their mind has already disregarded it as an unimportant background element. Sources of extreme heat are an exception to this, provoking a strong fear response of the sort that develops when your planet has lots of volcanoes and you catch on fire easily.
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No. 61183 ID: 2f4b71

>>61182
>poor low-light vision
>wider colour range
Posit: Scellor retina do not posses rod-cells. The periphery is populated with a low density of cone-cells. The fovea contains a higher density of smaller cone-cells, responding to several different, partially overlapping regions of the EM spectrum. Tetrachromats or Pentachromats, or even more (e.g.
Mantis Shrimp, with 16 different photoreceptor types) with the ability to see the polarisation of incoming light.
Actually, polarisation sensing would make sense with their amphibious ancestry.
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No. 61184 ID: f2c20c

>>61182
>firm tissue to sharpen the teeth every time they come out
I don't think that's possible. You sharpen a blade by drawing it across a whetstone or something similar, not towards it. The edge would just catch the sharpening tool, either blunting the blade or cutting the tool. Now, it may be possible to sharpen the teeth when they retract, as then you would be moving the blade away from the tool rather than towards it. That's how sharpening blades on a stone wheel works. Also, the sharpening tool needs to be harder than the blade, or else the blade wins against the tool and nothing beneficial occurs. On the other hand, sharpening ANYTHING creates stray particles. There would need to be some sort of mechanism for carrying away the particles, lest they get stuck up there where the teeth retract. Mucus would do it.
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No. 61185 ID: bf54a8

>>61184
cat's claws, they have a soft inside and a hard outside, is why they scratch at trees and such, it wears away the inside faster then the outside and thus sharpens them.
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No. 61189 ID: 3c4e45

>>61184
Nah man, you can sharpen a knife with a push or draw motion on a whetstone. 'Sides, teeth (atleast earth teeth) depend entirely on a relatively blunt shape, compared to a knife or chisel where you have a thin almost microscopic cutting "burr".
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No. 61266 ID: b3952d

>>61095
No wonder she thought that was a bad-ass pirate name. Captain Maolla Blood does sound pretty cool.

Mistress Blood sounds ...worrying.
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No. 61267 ID: b3952d

Also I'm glad to see you're still thinking about these guys Jukashi. I hope there's more Will of the Undermind in the future. Yes, I enjoy Lunar Quest and Keychain of Creation too, but this sci-fi setting you've made is pretty awesome and I'd very much like to see more.

Maybe you could turn it into a novel series even?
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No. 61268 ID: b3952d

Reading through the Scellor history you've posted, I find myself wanting to come up with D&D stats for the various Scellor species and then start building a game.

I don't have time for this brain, stop bothering me.

....Maybe I could just build a city or something.....

Any suggestions?
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No. 61759 ID: b0d1a8

about how tall are scellor anyways?
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No. 61779 ID: 26a7c1

>>61759
We've been over this before. The smaller types are all around 5'0-5'6, while the fighters are around 6'6-7'0.

Could be remembering wrong though.
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No. 61802 ID: ed5132
File 134958853955.png - (512.52KB , 1100x1200 , scellorcastes.png )
61802

>>61268

Best wait until I've finished unloading information. I have a few more big presentations to give!

>>61759
>>61779

By complete coincidence, this next infodump of mine carries a picture to answer your question - the grey sketch with each pair of scellor indicates a human of average size or so. The following mass of text will also be a general guide, in addition to the made-up sciencey nonsense, to how scellor are supposed to look, and some thoughts on why I draw them in a particular way. Just in case you want to draw your very own!

Scellor Castes

As established, there are six castes of modern scellor; six was actually a pretty significant number to the ancient scellor, as was three, as they had three moons and three suns (actually, they have four moons that are visible to their naked eye, but one of them is small and only visible when no suns are out, and they generally thought it was some special wandering star). All of them are heavily modified and mixed from the three races of pre-Undermind scellor, but I'm saving the talk on the scellor's general modification of themselves for another post to itself. All scellor contain the genetic instructions necessary to develop the traits of any caste; diet, training and treatment during childhood is what decides what an individual will become, usually with strong consideration of their existing genetic predispositions.

Praal, the "builder" caste, are small (to make navigating the innards of ships and buildings easier) but strong and solid. They have dense muscles, sturdier skeletons, and firmer skin than most other castes, and of course are thus heavier than their size would indicate. You've possibly noticed that all scellor tend to go barefoot, and have a tendency towards what might be referred to as "mega man legs", where their proportions seem to increase outward from the knees down. This is because scellor evolved in marshy swamps and coastal areas where the water (or dense undergrowth) was filled with little bitey things, so scellor essentially developed boots built into their feet. In Praal, who were assumed to all have telekinesis anyway, the overdevelopment of the forearms and hands was for similar purposes; they don't need them for fine manipulation, so instead they've traded dexterity for strength and protection. Thick gloves built into their hands, to re-use the metaphor. Four fingers have been merged into three thicker, stronger ones. They have "claws" where the skin at the tips of their fingers is particularly hard and comes to a blunt point; they aren't sharp, but do make it easier to jab into vulnerable areas. Praal are the second most populous caste, making up the majority in urban areas.

Praal, like three other castes, have a "fat" orel that thickens out before tapering to its point. They are small and cute, but should also have a little sense of power to them; stocky is not quite the right word, but compact. A slight sense of contents under pressure. A bit of muscle definition. They have spikyish hair, sort of a clean but unkempt look, and usually shortish but not enough that it looks like they particularly care beyond practicality. Similarly, I don't draw female praal with defined eyelashes, the goal being to make them look a bit less delicate. Their faces are a little rounded.

Niiar, the warriors, are the caste closest to the old "hill" scellor race. Knowing that by galactic standards their species was not very agile, scellor on the cusp of their new era decided their fighters would go for more brutish power. Big guns, big armour, and lots of troops, that's the scellor strategy. Space marines, but more like bootleg knockoff space marines; mass production would be the order of the day. Thus, Niiar were designed mostly for size, strength and toughness, and to be able to carry big chunky war machines. They borrow a lot of elements from Praal, enjoying the same benefits to skin, muscle and skeleton, and have a similar structure to their arms and hands, though Niiar arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than other scellor. Niiar would be the most populous caste if one judged by how many are produced; being warriors, though, the rate of attrition puts them in third place.

Niiar orels have a "scorpion tail" look, with a little crest flicking back over the tip. They're not only taller but a bit broader than other scellor, particularly in the shoulder; they look powerful, but in a somewhat crude way. Just a little bit of hulk. Spiky hair, like Praal, and usually much shorter. Their eyes are a little smaller in proportion to their face than other scellor, and their faces are longer and a bit more angular. Plenty of muscle all over.

Orthan, the "diplomats" or managers, are small and thin, scrawny even, and closely related to the ancient swamp scellor. Based on the assumption that no-one would need more intimidation by their species, the scellor decided their emissaries should present a more vulnerable face; Orthan are designed, therefore, to evoke sympathy and concern. Being small is also a big help in that it reduces their dietary needs; Orthan can go longer without appropriate food than other scellor can, and their lower weight makes it easier for them to handle high gravity. Overall, they have been tinkered with in such a fashion that they are actually very adaptable; though comparatively vulnerable to direct injury, they are more comfortable in extreme or alien environments than other scellor are. Still, they are the second rarest caste; orthan drones are seldom used for anything else than telepathic relays.

Orthan are tiny, thin and cute. Their orels are slim and whip-like. They have soft-looking curly hair, usually a little long, and have big, big eyes, often with large, defined eyelashes.

Ulkam have a somewhat nebulous "purpose", being divided into two main professions: science and transportation. They're relatively unmodified compared to the other castes, being a more direct port and upgrade of the ancient island scellor. In a way, they're the closest to an average from which the others deviate, and ulkam sentients are the most likely to forego the traditional roles of their caste. They do, however, have particularly sharp senses compared to other scellor, with a bit more room in the braincase for the processing power to deal with it, and they have little more delicacy in their hands.

Ulkam are the most plain-looking scellor. They have slightly longer faces, and straight hair. What makes them as characters is what they do or what they know; they're a little less scrutable than the others.

Orthe, called the "doctors" by other species because that's what the ones they meet tend to do, would be more appropriately called "growers". They are the most populous caste, making up the vast legions of scellor who produce food, create and tend to biotechnology, and raise children. Whole continents of scellor worlds are given over to production of food, with a layer of orthe spread out over the whole thing; even in cities and on space craft, biotech life-supporting and life-easing systems need daily supervision and gardening to keep them in line. Orthe were designed, then, to be a bit more efficient than other scellor (excepting Orthan), needing less food and able to go for longer without it. Orthe can be thought of as the "default" caste; a scellor child who somehow grows in isolation will become one.

Orthe, being life/biology-themed, are the "sexy" caste, in a breedery sort of way. The females are a bit softer and curvier, and the males are a little more romance-novel-cover-er. Like Orthan, they have soft, curly or wavey hair, which is usually pretty long.

Ayaar, finally, are the spies, saboteurs and secret police of the scellor. They are the rarest caste, as they are only made "on demand"; when a sentient psychic pattern inhabits an ovum and indicates that it wants to become one of them. They are scellor with all the optional extras, given the best features of each other caste so far as they can be pushed without interfering with each other. With the advantage of extra medical effort and expense put into their physical development, they're the most versatile of all the scellor castes; the most agile and dextrous, while still being decidedly hard-wearing, powerful and economical, with decent senses and keen brains. "Not the best at anything, but second best at everything."

Ayaar are the most physically variable caste, and can blend traits in regards face structure, eyes, hair and build, so long as they don't go to the extremes of the other castes. They are usually around the same size, though, and should have an air of competence and, especially, danger. Ayaar are in some ways the "best" scellor, so of course I would usually use them to represent the worst of the scellor, bringing the lurking threat and alien nature of the species closer to the foreground when they're involved. Ayaar characters, then, would be usually drawn to look crueler, creepier or crazier than other scellor.
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No. 62246 ID: 2eac65
File 135053407197.png - (40.76KB , 265x287 , happy_floral_xenoparty.png )
62246

>>61802
>Still, they are the second rarest caste; orthan drones are seldom used for anything else than telepathic relays.
Aww, that's a shame. I bet there are quite a few folks who'd be fond of them.

It looks like someone's having fun, at least.

I probably should've said this sooner, but I really like all this lore you're creating. It's all very fun to read. I especially appreciate the part about the pre-Scratch scellor civilization (for obvious reasons).

Happy birthday, by the way.
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No. 64155 ID: 67e8b2

>>62246
>Aww, that's a shame. I bet there are quite a few folks who'd be fond of them.

They're the diplomatic caste. That's kind of the idea.
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No. 64157 ID: bf54a8

yeah, it's orthan DRONES that are used as relays. drones are the dumb ones that can only follow orders. sentient orthan are diplomats
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No. 64861 ID: 623deb

>>61268
Well, the Scellor are statted up and everything in tgMUD. Even programmed the psychic and tail powers for them myself.
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No. 66808 ID: 5bf190
File 135965393829.png - (222.71KB , 800x640 , scellormods.png )
66808

Been a while since I did one of these. But they're fun to do. Once again, if I've made up something stupid for my fictional aliens, tell me about it! So.

Scellor Genetic Modification

Being crazy into transhumanism (or rather, transcellorism), the scellor have rummaged around in their own chromosomes in a way that only a species that considers its bodies disposable could. Now, there are a few unengineered scellor around, but they're only a small breeding population of a few hundred individuals, kept on the home world as, essentially, a backup. There are similar small groups of scellor with nonstandard modifications, just as alternatives in case some common feature turns out to not have been such a good idea after all. Since the scellor number in the hundreds of billions, however, these groups are hardly worth mentioning. A larger but still minority segment of the population represents "freegene" scellor, who are still modified, but are not screened for genetic defects during development; this is just so that the species gene pool doesn't stagnate. The vast majority are still smoothed-out, overclocked superscellor, enjoying a range of improvements that the species as a whole was eager to pile on almost as soon as they got into space. Aside the reordering into castes that I already discussed, and the changes to their reproductive system which I may dedicate a post to at some point, I'm going to list the major features that the scellor have pushed onto themselves here, and the reasoning behind them.

The first modification, before anything else, was what you might call a general tune-up. The early spacefaring scellor paid a lot for advanced alien scientists to unravel all the mysteries of their own biology, and developed their own medical knowledge in the process. That done, the first round of changes was a general sweep of cleaning up, ironing out inefficiencies and improving systems wherever possible, mostly in the internal organs. This work eliminated a lot of the more glaring flaws, but in the main, it was used not to improve their bodies' functioning but rather to have smaller organs that could still do the same work. This would create room for more radical modifications, and has the added benefit of making the scellor less susceptible to puncturing wounds; smaller vital organs simply means less chance of having your heart or guts lethally pierced by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel.

This done, the scellor focused on more colonial needs. There are a lot of habitable worlds in the setting the scellor live in by default, but variations in climate, gravity and other environmental factors make for some large differences between "liveable" and "comfortably liveable". The scellor species, and orthan in particular, were modified to be more at home in a wider range of situations. Their skin was altered to need less moisture while regulating temperature better, making them more comfortable in cooler or hotter climes; their bones were made a little more sturdy against high gravity, and along with their muscles were proofed against degeneration in low gravity. Their lungs were fitted with filtering that allowed them to deal with different atmospheric mixes and even screen out some more directly hazardous gases. The largest change was to their digestive system, with a set of organs and associated plumbing that would allow a far wider variety in the scellor diet. The new scellor can digest foods that would have been toxic or inedible before, including food from worlds where the amino acids are flipped around, though in for example that latter case the process is terribly inefficient, and an individual would have to eat nigh constantly to keep themselves from starving; thus, it's only of any real use on worlds that are already civilized to the point of having a surplus.

But this was not enough! There existed, and had existed for a long time, a set of modifications for spacefaring, which in most species were usually only for the children of wealthy spacedwellers. The scellor, enthusiasts as they are, piled it in with all the rest. Their existing high resistance to radiation was bumped up another notch, the nausea and other discomforts of microgravity were proofed against, and a complicated overhaul of the respiratory and circulatory systems was put in place to protect against depressurization. Scellor can't live in a vacuum - that's still a bit of a tall order - but can survive space emergencies far better than most all-natural species. In the best-case scenario, given a chance to catch their breath and cover their eyes, a scellor could go for an unprotected space walk for a bit more than 10 minutes without permanent damage, if they didn't mind being in constant, increasing pain.

Such rampant tinkering has not gone unnoticed by other species. There are a lot of groups that oppose these sorts of sweeping alterations, from ideological groups that oppose the "unnatural", to political groups that simply disapprove of anything that could mean more alien influence in their own territories. At the same time, however, after initial input from more developed species in the early decades, the scellor rapidly advanced in the biological sciences and did most of the work on themselves by themselves, taking most outside help only at the earlier conceptual stages. Given that biotechnology became their biggest export, the scellor have handily become the biggest advertisement for their own work.
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No. 66818 ID: 2f4b71

>>66808
One more useful adaptation for vacuum survival is skin; the ability to greatly increase skin tension at will (maybe specialised 'locking' muscle fibres in the dermis?) to act as mechanical counterpressure in a vacuum, and relax again in an atmosphere. This aids in movement, preventing fluid pooling at joints and restricting movement, as well as preventing the pressure drop causing internal bodily fluids to boil. Also, extra strong sphincters over any orifice that deals with gas pressure differences (lungs, ears, nose, anus) to avoid torn membranes.
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No. 66822 ID: 67e8b2

Hey, neato scellor tidbits!
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No. 66832 ID: 5d98c3

>>66808
Some kind of fluid shielding which hardens in vacuum would be a useful modification. Instant visor, just add space, peel when done. Probably hurt like a bitch to remove though.

By the way, speaking of the Scellor's (legendarily bad) political relations to alien nations, how's jolly old Earth doing? Seems in every single one of these adventures, Earth is either at war with everyone or currently on fire. I know the Scellor are imperialists, so how do they get along with all the other imperialists?
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No. 66836 ID: 67e8b2

>>66808
>The new scellor can digest foods that would have been toxic or inedible before, including food from worlds where the amino acids are flipped around, though in for example that latter case the process is terribly inefficient, and an individual would have to eat nigh constantly to keep themselves from starving

I was going to nitpick how proteins/amino acids are only one part of metabolism and they'd be able to get energy from carbohydrates, only to do some research and discover that simple sugars also have handedness. I found this interesting enough that I thought I'd share even though it sunk my argument.

There's also fats, but those can get pretty complex and thus have lots of room for incompatibility. I think triglycerides can be chiral, but fatty acids can't. Could be wrong.
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No. 66967 ID: a28731

>>66836
The sugars and fats are easily digested for full effect.
The issue is that amino acids are not digested until they naturally break, they are recycled.
Proteins are separated into the various amino acids which are then absorbed whole and utilized (unless individually defective in which case they get broken down for energy and components)

Being on a mirror world would mean that you cannot absorb a single amino acid, this means that:
1. You need to construct every single amino acid used in your body which is an expensive process.
2. Intake of mirror amino acids needs to be identified and either prevent intake (shit them whole) or broken down completely for energy and component to use for rebuilding. Likely the latter as there needs to parts from which to build the new amino acids, and such digestion can be energy negative. It is also hypothetical to design some specialized enzymes that "rotate" certain wrong sided amino acids although that gets into quite a high level of advancement and might include so many costs and difficulties (such as interfering with other boosts) that its just not worth it.

So even though they are getting full energy from the fats and sugars in the foods from those worlds they would still need to eat very large quantities of the food overall. Jukashi seems to pretty much nailed that one.

PS. this would make it the ideal diet food :)
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No. 67017 ID: 67e8b2

>>66967
>The sugars and fats are easily digested for full effect.
That's what I thought, too, before I discovered that sugars can be mirrored into a form unusable by humans.
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No. 67047 ID: a28731

>>67017
The chirality of sugars being consumed is a whole different beast then that of proteins.
Proteins have their amino acids recycled whole primarily, while sugars are mostly broken down for energy rather then serving in construction.

Both amino acids and sugars can have multiple points of chirality (more so with sugars actually) but in amino acids the D/L is referring to the skeleton of the amino acid (the part that is chained together with other amino acids to form polypeptide)

The majority (but not all) of the sugars used in higher earth creatures are the D enantiomers not L, but AFAIK not all D enantiomers are used either. D/L enantiomerism (mirror images) when applies to sugars is applied by convention (when linearized the chiral carbon furthest from the the carbonyl group must face right for it to be D).

Take for example the Ketohexoses. They have 4 chirality points; and are comprised of the D/L versions of: Tagatose, Fructose, Psicose, and Sorbose.
D-Fructose: One of the core sugars most commonly used on earth
L-Fructose: cannot be digested by humans and hasn't been found to exist naturally in any creature on earth yet.
Psicose: Extremely rare in nature, D-Psicose is digestable for a mere 0.3% the same energy sucrose.
Tagatose: 30% the energy of sucrose from digesiton
L-Sorbose: The form naturally occurring on earth.
D-Sorbose: Has not been observed naturally on earth.

So as you can see, sometimes the L form is the natural form, sometimes BOTH the L and D forms are used... and L/D are mere conventions because each sugar formula produces a fuckton of variants.

In order for humans to efficiently digest every single possible sugar configuration you would need to do some work on our genome. But once work is done said breakdown would probably be pretty efficient.

The main reason subsisting on a mirror world's protein intake would be so inefficient is not necessarily that digesting those proteins for energy would inherently lead to less energy being recovered (there is gonna be some variance on each), but that in normal consumption amino acids are recycled rather then digested and digesting all of them means having to build every single amino acid used.

Also, the isomerism of sugars is unrelated to that of the proteins. So creature from a mirror world could use the same sugars, and a creature from a world that uses the same type of amino acids could use different sugars.
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No. 67049 ID: a28731

>>67047
>Proteins have their amino acids recycled whole primarily, while sugars are mostly broken down for energy rather then serving in construction.
Except... cell walls are made out of sugar chains and Scellor are part plant with hardening issues due to excessive cell wall production... oh wow. So I guess for them certain specific sugar types WOULD be primarily used...
However, unlike proteins you could directly isomerize different types of sugars (in fact, MOST steps in the digestion of sugar by earth creatures involve doing just that with enzymes, without consuming any ATP; either slightly absorbing or slightly releasing insignificant amounts of ambient heat)
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No. 67050 ID: bf54a8

would mirror world pathogens not work? like, would their very DNA spiral the other direction, making viruses worthless. would make a mirror doctor EXTREMELY valuable because literally nothing on the planet could infect him.
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No. 67055 ID: a28731

Their DNA might or might not spiral the other way. Mirror worlds have mirrored proteins. DNA and sugars are indepedent and might or might not be mirrored as well (but do not warrant a "mirror world" statement)
Viruses would be useless for any extra terrestrial. everything else is still dangerous (except non cannibalism prions which never were).

Longform:
Lets take a look at a breakdown of pathogens:

Prion - A prion is a misfolded protein whose misfolded form does not do its original function but can somehow transform properly folded proteins into copies of itself. Only a few prions were ever discovered, mad cow disease is one. Mad cow disease can only be spread through cannibalism (they lightly cremate dead cows in factory farms to recover the protein and minerals for feeding other cows; said cremation destroys viruses and bacteria but not all proteins since it isn't done hot enough for that, on purpose). There has never been a case of a human actually being infected by mad cow, the panic was because that initially, nobody knew what was causing this disease. This is extremely implausible thing to occur, having it happen in a non cannibalism situation even more ridiculous... with a mirror world its effectively rendered null since the proteins are backwards.

Viruses - A virus is a protein capsule that injects DNA/RNA that hijacks cellular machinery to manufacture more of itself, it produces more and more until the cell bursts and releases a whole bunch of virii. A virus is not alive.
Any extra terrestrial virus (mirror worlds included) would indeed be useless as it does not have the proper encoding (if it even uses the same structure of DNA). Mammal targeting viruses actually need to spoof some DRM like mechanisms that exists in the DNA of mammals so we are pretty resilient for viruses that primarily target other creatures.
Even on earth there are differences in how DNA encodes for proteins (it is totally arbitrary) so there is absolutely no way that an extra terrestrial will have the exact same encoding. So all they get is random garbage instead of useful proteins.

Single cellular - On earth those are currently split into protists and bacteria (based on their ancestry). Most bacteria is harmless, the dangerous ones are typically dangerous because they shit poison (although some rare predatory ones exist). Being a mirror world those would still be dangerous. Protists also have their share of predators, Look up Naegleria fowleri in wikipedia. So yea, just as dangerous. It is possible a rare few will find your body unsuitable for them... such as if they depend on you for amino acids (most do not, but some do depend on external production of certain amino acids; see vitamin)

Fungus - its a hybrid between single and multi cellular creature. Harmful.

Multi-cellular - Parasites that lives in your body and eats your tissue or at lives in your intestines and eats your food. Just as dangerous although it is possible that some will not be able to survive in your body.
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No. 67059 ID: a28731

>>67055
>Even on earth there are differences in how DNA encodes for proteins (it is totally arbitrary)
To clarify, there are huge similarities, but there are still some differences
Here is a list of the 18 known encoding formats found on earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_codes
The alternate codes are described in how they differ from the "standard" code
Here is a video on how it works on standard code: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd0PQzmyo6c

PS. this is also why masturbating on a tomato and having it result in a tomato-wo/man is more plausible then producing an offspring with an extra terrestrial, even if that being looks just like a human.
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No. 67060 ID: a5228d

>>67059

There are interstellar hybrids in the undermind setting, but they're not actually real. The parents hire science dudes to examine their own biodata encoding whatevers and then engineer up a kid from scratch who has a mix of their features.

It's ridiculously expensive and almost everyone thinks it's stupid and there are groups against it.
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No. 67062 ID: a28731

>>67060
>Artificial hybrids
Interesting bit if info there :).
It does not contradict what I said though (I am not sure if you meant it as such). If you do it completely artificially it would certainly be possible (although obscenely difficult and expensive). I was strictly referring to sexual reproduction being impossible rather then complex and expensive bio-engineering.

I am sure it's only a matter of times before a couple of furries gets a genetically engineered baby IRL.
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No. 67317 ID: 67e8b2

>>66808
>This work eliminated a lot of the more glaring flaws, but in the main, it was used not to improve their bodies' functioning but rather to have smaller organs that could still do the same work. This would create room for more radical modifications, and has the added benefit of making the scellor less susceptible to puncturing wounds; smaller vital organs simply means less chance of having your heart or guts lethally pierced by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel.

I'm of two minds about this one. On the one hand, you'd have to make some pretty large spaces between organs before you start seeing a significant chance of bullets sailing through without hitting anything. Seems pretty wasteful.

On the other hand, I like the style of improving their action-movie-style "it went in and out / just a flesh wound" survivability.

Though, if you do feel like being realistic about it, and you don't necessarily have to, it's important to focus on the things that actually make you die before you can get to a hospital. For humans, if your heart and brainstem are okay when you get to the emergency room, and you haven't run out of blood, you've got a pretty good chance. I figure Scellor would focus on things that help people who already have medical services available, since that's 99+% of the population. Even the WotU characters in their crashed spaceship now have a working sickbay.
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No. 67318 ID: 5bf190

>>67317

Well, as said, the first reason was making room for new systems. Various plumbing for extracting and disposing of harmful gases before the lungs absorbed them, secondary digestive organs for alien foods, some extra giblets to deal with motion sickness, another whole layer on top of the circulatory system to proof against decompression sickness, little sense organs and scraps of semi-brain material for telling when this optional stuff needs to come on, et cetera. Horribly inefficient, because most of the time for most individuals it's not needed, but it all takes up space and better one of those gets pierced than the everyday bloodpushers. It's not much, but small percentages in survivability add up for a species that has huge numbers and lax safety standards.
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No. 67340 ID: 47a120

>>67317
>you'd have to make some pretty large spaces between organs before you start seeing a significant chance of bullets sailing through without hitting anything.
Does that even need to happen? A bullet to the heart is fatal, a bullet to the kidney is not (unless both kidneys are lost completely)

AFAIK liver and some other organs are pretty compartmentalized to the point individual cells are performing certain functions independently on a cell by cell basis (just massively parallel). As such any injury to them that doesn't completely destroy the organ or cause infection or excessive bleeding can be survived, 70% of a kidney is perfectly able to do its function.

Lungs for another example are minimally compartmentalized (2 lungs) so a single bullet hole often causes death by deflation and/or drowning in your own blood, something that should be fixable via genetic manipulation (10 smaller lungs? would have to work on efficiency too). And kidneys, livers, and other such organs could be split into several smaller organs and made to regenerate from damage.
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No. 67358 ID: 8b9215

Point is there are 5 of everything. If one gets destroyed it's no big deal. It's not that things aren't getting hit. It's that when they get hit only 20% of that function is gone.

It's like a RAID array. Less efficient. Benefits can still outweigh the drawbacks.
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No. 67367 ID: 47a120

>>67358
>It's like a RAID array. Less efficient. Benefits can still outweigh the drawbacks.
That makes me wonder about redundant memory storage for a human combined with a regenerating brain to hook into it. :D
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No. 67440 ID: 197830

So the three tongues/retractable teeth/breathe through their ears bit was pure evolution, before they started self-tinkering?

Man, some species just have the best luck.
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No. 67446 ID: 5d98c3

>>67440
They got PERFECTED IMMORTALITY and UNLIMITED UNIVERSAL PSY POWERS right off the bat via evolution, and you think great oral sex is the high point?
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No. 67447 ID: 997ce7

>>67446
Yes. No point in having infinite life and nothing to occupy your time.
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No. 67448 ID: bf54a8

they are also doing all the SCIENCE that every other race feels is too dangerous. because being effectively immortal lets you do the crazy shit that has a 99% of blowing the entire research area up.
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No. 67452 ID: 5d98c3

>>67448
Aye. They're basically Tralfmadorians, but less fatalistic, and with more dangerous psy-powers.
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No. 67518 ID: 47a120

What is a Tralfmadorians?
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No. 67530 ID: 5d98c3

Read a Kurt Vonnegut book. Short version is they're 5D aliens from the future that can experience time nonlinearly and are thus immortal. They at one point blow up the universe while working on a new form of engine, and don't think to simplu NOT blow up the universe, because they're too used to nonlinear time. Though they do teach a human to be nonlinear at one point, and I think he tries to fix it. Anyway, the point is their undying nature made them extraordinarily reckless and foolhardy.
>>
No. 67545 ID: 47a120

>>67530
thank you for the explanation
>>
No. 68767 ID: ae0215

>>67440

I wonder if Maolla Syrup has a habit of chewing-up her pencils?
>>
No. 68783 ID: 5c20c0

>>67340
Hm, The actually would pose the question of how the modified lungs are shaped, most terrestrial lungs are sacks simply because it's the simplest form and it moves well, the lungs are very mobile organs and if the membrane sticks in a spot it can be painful and possibly rub through the membrane, which makes multiple sacks a bit difficult unless each has a diaphragm or something.
You could probably just boost efficiency and durability as much as possible so they could cough a bit more safely or use something that clots when ruptured, but... things that are complex break down eventually.
>>
No. 68797 ID: 2f4b71

>>68783
With the Scellor's widely separated bronchi, they could have peristaltic through-flow lungs (like internal gills), or some variant of faveolar (pulsed through-flow) lungs like in birds.
>>
No. 68904 ID: cf49fc

>>68767
Unlikely, she'd probably gum them given how fragile Scellor teeth are.
>>
No. 68923 ID: 145f4f

>>68904

Kinda-sorta missing the totally prurient point. ^.^
>>
No. 69562 ID: 52d91f

I really enjoy the Scellor info you've given us here. I'm curious if you have any plans to set up a Scellor fact wiki or anything similar.

I'd certainly enjoy buying a novel set in this universe from you in the future too.
>>
No. 69563 ID: d6ef5d

>setup scellor fact wiki
Doesn't need to be setup. It already exists, though it's not up to date with the most recent infodump(s).
http://tgchan.org/wiki/Scellor
>>
No. 69565 ID: 65449b

>>69563
Hey, jackass, I worked hard on that, so if you want to complain about it, you can damn well contribute to it yourself!
>>
No. 69566 ID: 52d91f

I'm considering creating some Scellorian Animals. Anything I should avoid/concentrate on? Should I just not do this at all?
>>
No. 69567 ID: d6ef5d

>>69565
It wasn't meant as slander or complaint, my good man. I apologize if it sounded that way.
>>
No. 69573 ID: 52d91f

>>69565
And I very much appreciate it, thank you!
>>
No. 69576 ID: 65449b

>>69567
GOOD. >:V

>>69573
You're welcome! It is a labor of love, same as adding Scellor to the MUD.
>>
No. 69583 ID: 3dd384

Took the liberty of adding some images (and the genetic modification post).
>>
No. 69587 ID: 52d91f

Oh, Jukashi, I have a question. Given the extinction cycles, tectonic activity, giant monsters, and waterlogged nature of the planet, how long did the longest lasting Pre-Undermind Nation last? What was it like?

I'd also enjoy hearing how first contact went. I'm betting it was pretty weird, on both sides.
>>
No. 69592 ID: 52d91f

Also, when Mistress Syrup explained how the clocks work to us, she said "The ship's clock shows the time since the last maintenance reset. Days, hours, minutes. Human standard, of course, those cheaters."

I'm curious why she said that last bit. What exactly is the position of Humans in this setting?
>>
No. 69593 ID: 52d91f

Also, when Mistress Syrup explained how the clocks work to us, she said "The ship's clock shows the time since the last maintenance reset. Days, hours, minutes. Human standard, of course, those cheaters."

I'm curious why she said that last bit. What exactly is the position of Humans in this setting?
>>
No. 70258 ID: 41971a

>>69587

That's a tricky question! An island scellor group considered themselves a cohesive group for almost three thousand years, but in actuality they were a bunch of separate settlements scattered across islands and coasts that were linked in a complex trading network, with a formal system of migration between each other every generation or so. The longest-lasting "settled" nation was a sort-of-empire that had developed accurate measures for weather and volcanic activity and developed a solid system for contextual evacuations for different disasters, and they lasted several hundred years before they got hit by a bunch of stuff at once. Some survivors moved in with other people and the knowledge was revived, but the nations that rose after that didn't last so long, simply because the whole Undermind thing happened before they had the opportunity.

>>69592

In the Undermind setting, every few hundred years, all the engineers and scientists in the interstellar community get together in a big conference/contest to decide what measurement systems should be the standard, among other things. For a few thousand years it was just an excuse for all the hugest geeks to get together and show off (and give a middle finger to all the other people who thought they had say-so for this kind of thing), since everyone can't be bothered to shift from the last standard, but there are usually a few new species who make a go at it. The whole process is very secretive, which annoys the rest of the galaxy since they'll have to put up with it, but all the engineers are in a big union and they have a lot of power. So nobody in the wider interstellar community is quite sure what happened the last time, when humans somehow won and made their systems the standard. People like Maolla occasionally refer to humans as "cheaters" and when caught off-guard might mutter something about genetically augmented bears being totally against the spirit of the rules. The standard still went through, though, and they all refuse to talk about it.
>>
No. 70263 ID: 9ddf68

>>70258
genetically augmented bears, that sounds like a story in itself right there. Any chance we will ever learn more on that or no not really?
>>
No. 70265 ID: 41971a

>>70263

Nope, not really.
>>
No. 70266 ID: 41971a
File 136702376203.png - (790.13KB , 2669x700 , aliensqueuing.png )
70266

And now: Scellorverse aliens!

From left to right.

Hetketten, or martians, were resurrected by Humans who had discovered the remnants of their long-extinct civilization deep beneath the surface of the red planet. The ecosystem from which they had evolved had drawn its energy from the heat of Mars' molten core, and died when it cooled. As a subterranean race, their technology had developed along far different lines, but in some respects they were more advanced than humanity was at the time. These more advanced elements were, of course, ripped off without qualm, leading to the development of fusion power for the human race, among other advances, and somewhat of a social/cultural revolution. Using information left in ancient long-storage devices, some humans revived the people of mars through cloning, though the first few generations had some rather terrible health problems. Hetketten - the original name for themselves, discovered after long and difficult translation efforts - are blind, unable to sense light but equipped with echolocation, a strong sense of smell and heat pits in place of eyes to allow them to "see" temperature. Their cloning caused a huge ethical stir, but fortunately as a race they're naturally rather peaceful and cooperative. In time, humans and hetketten (though the latter remain a tiny minority compared to the human population) developed basic gravitic technology and produced a rudimentary system of FTL travel, which was only really useful for in-system travel but attracted other aliens to the solar system. Thus they are technically considered to have developed FTL without assistance, which is a prestigious achievement in the galactic community.

Thorr Worms developed intelligence solely for social interaction, with one worm capable of communicating with hundreds of others at a time through vibrations, thanks to their unique segmented brains. Discovered by aliens, a small number of thorr worms volunteer (or are coerced) to be fitted with cybernetic implants that allow them to participate in the rest of the galaxy's modes of communication, and live profitable lives as living communication nodes, dealing with tasks that require observation and coordination on massive scales. Unfortunately, since these implants have to go on the outside, augmented worms can no longer dig. Thorr worms are hermaphrodic and don't involve themselves with each other much to mate; one worm leaves a package of genetic material for another to use, usually by arrangement, but they don't particularly care so long as the general population remains high.

Cybolds are somewhat mysterious. Even they don't know where they come from originally, but they're spread through the galaxy, living rather short and careless lives in nigh-religious servitude to technology. Many's the time explorers have landed on new worlds to discover pieces of ancient technology being thoughtlessly maintained by semiferal tribes of cybolds. The prevalent theory is that, long ago, they were discovered and modified into cheap workers by some advanced race. Though occasionally thought of as vermin, and sometimes treated with sympathy, most people are happy enough to have cybolds running underfoot, exploiting them for inexpensive maintenance and repair drudgework, and cybolds are usually content to be exploited, particularly by artificial intelligences. All cybolds are equipped with a thought port, an implant which allows them to "telepathically" communicate with machines, and seem to consider it "lucky" to suffer accidents which give them an excuse to replace their limbs or organs with cybernetic parts.

Leficars were once members of an ancient race who "ascended" to beings of pure thought more than two billion years ago. After a few thousand years, however, they discovered that their thought-bodies were degrading, and they needed to inhabit flesh-and-blood bodies to maintain themselves. Most of their race became the Law, making contracts with other beings to inhabit their bodies and lend them massive psychic power, in return for service as a peacekeeping force for the galaxy. Some, however, chose to break from their fellows, and possessed the scientists of several advanced races, bringing them together to design and create powerful artificial bodies for themselves. None now understand how these bodies work, but in their "natural" form, they resemble masses of inky black goo that contain glowing pearlescent orbs in various bright colours. Leficars can shapeshift into almost anything, and can even mate with other species, somehow, to produce half-leficar offspring. In time, such children are hunted by their parent and devoured to sustain their nigh-immortality, but some have succeeded in overpowering their progenitors and consuming them instead... and, in so doing, become full-fledged leficar themselves. As if their shapeshifting abilities and near indestructibility were not enough, leficars are also powerful psychics; however, they are rare and prefer to live among other species rather than having much to do with each other. Obviously, they do not get on with the Law, and so tend towards lives of crime.

Scellor, I think, you know.

Space Doobies have also been discussed before.

Ruut-truut are semiaquatic creatures, with a stiff but pliant shell over their upper body to protect several organs and allow them to withdraw their tentacle-like upper limbs. Their air-breathing organs are inefficient and require a higher oxygen concentration in the atmosphere than most species, so most individuals carry breathers around to take an extra gasp every couple of minutes; once settled in a work or living space, they'll generally demand the life support controls be adjusted so that they can breathe easy. They're closely related to the creature that quoddles were based on.

Routenites are floating gas bags, like flying jellyfish, whose vital organs hang underneath them, amidst their many tentacles. Some of these tentacles have venomous barbs, but routenites who live among other species usually get them surgically clipped; they grow back after a few months. They have no eyes, but strong senses of smell and a sensitive electromagnetic sense. They drink a lot of booze.

Shenchenii, who should actually be called Hirudin for the species name (Shenchen is their government), are interesting biological oddities, and notable for being from another galaxy, accessible through an ancient portal device. Hundreds of millions of years ago, their ancestors were created by a species that had thoroughly messed up their world with chemical pollutants, and were designed to adapt to harshly contaminated environments in order to suck up harmful substances and convert them into benign and useful products. While they waited for the world to be fixed, that ancient race moved to another world... where, for unknown reasons, they went extinct themselves. Eventually, the leech-like creatures they had left behind evolved into several other species, one of which became a sentient, tool-using race. The hirudin are living chemical factories who can produce a vast range of organic and inorganic compounds, but any one individual can develop only so many internal organs. Thus, depending on diet, environment and other factors at key stages in childhood and adolescence, individuals are guided into different roles, leading to a society strictly divided along family lines. They cannot speak, and use voice boxes to translate their own scent-based language for other races.

Krantikes concentrate all their vital organs into their ribcage, which in their case is more like a thickly armored ribshell, aside a few in/out tubes. They have a long tail with grasping claws on the end, and similar appendages that extend from the back of their shell. So long as their vital organs remain protected, they can regenerate from most injuries (though on a far more realistic level than space doobies), and are considered great soldiers, though they don't have any more particular cultural inclination towards the military than most species.

Heimogena are another semiaquatic species; the beak-like protrusions on the back sides on the head (and another larger one on the back) contain large gills for breathing underwater, and close shut in the open air to protect them from drying out. Like krantikes, they can walk on all fours if they wish, and of course are adept swimmers, making them highly mobile in a range of environments. When two heimogena want to mate, they engage in a fight to the death; while the defeated lies dead or dying, the other lays eggs in their body and removes the corpse to somewhere safe, where they'll protect it until the children are born, having consumed their weaker parent. Though the words do not translate exactly, a heimogen that is victorious in the consummation of their kill-lust prefers to be referred to as female, as they donated the larger gametes and take a lot of trouble to raise their offspring, who usually come in clutches of five to eight. Referring to an individual as male implies they're more the type to get killed, though this is not exactly insulting, as many heimogen dream of eventually being gloriously murdered; in fact, it's considered rather a tragedy for them to die any other way, so much that doctors are encouraged to sexually euthanize their patients if they're going to die anyway. The whole process carries a lot of prestige and romance for heimogena; repeated victors with lots of children become famous and desirable, and the race's media follows their lives with a great deal of pageantry, producing an amalgamation of reality tv, celebrity gossip shows, professional wrestling and snuff pornography.

Other species feel kind of weirded out by all of this.

Aside from the killing each other, however, heimogena are very civilized and were quite advanced when they were discovered; they are hard workers eager to embrace innovation in order earn repute for them and theirs. They feel an intense attachment to their kin, and their society is ruled by the interaction of powerful aristocratic families. Arranged marriage-duels are still a popular way to cement political alliances. Many heimogena still believe that the spirit of their dead parent lives on through their descendants, though psychics like the scellor say there's no truth in it, since the individual's psychic pattern doesn't survive. However, a clutch of heimogena children will profess an attachment to the friends and family of their dead parent, and often demonstrate uncanny talent with skills they possessed; the current theory is that the children somehow absorb such information directly from their deceased parent's brain.

Kohrahng are large, furry, mostly quadrupedal creatures from a world where most of the habitable space takes the form of isolated, geothermally warmed pockets amidst icy but volcanically active mountain ranges. They're keen warriors, massively strong and tough, and possess deep, powerful lungs that allow them to unleash a powerful blast of air, strong enough to stun prey, knock enemies to the ground or send lesser creatures flying off a cliff. Besides their legs, they possess a pair of more dextrous hands on arms underneath their bodies, and they can walk on their hind legs if necessary. They're technically hermaphrodites, but develop at different stages, becoming viable males first, slowly growing larger over their lifespan and eventually going through a second puberty in which they become even larger and tougher and develop their female organs, with which they can have their vast litters of offspring. These females (though still also males) become less mobile but earn an instinctual subservience from younger, merely male kohrangs. Though intelligent, kohrangs were primitive when discovered and were employed by other species for military service.
>>
No. 70267 ID: 52d91f

>>70258
...Ok, I love this. That was awesome.
>>
No. 70268 ID: 2a8a2a

That is quite a variety of aliens.

What stage of growth is the pictured Kohrahng at?
>>
No. 70270 ID: cf49fc

>>70266
Your art and writing are as ever very pleasant to look upon. Although I do wonder what this queue is for... An ebook signing perhaps?
>>
No. 70271 ID: cee89f

>>70267
Agreed, though I can't help but wonder what they're all in line for.

>>70266
>Hemiogena
>Commits murder and then has their babies
O_O

...That's fucked up.

...

I like it. ^_^
>>
No. 70272 ID: 9ddf68

>>70266
ok one this is freaking awesome

two, how well do all the races get along with each other, I mean it seems that Cybolds are seen mostly as cheap labor and are generally stepped on by the other races but they seem to like the other races just fine, especially if they get to work with tech.

And three, how long did it take you to come up with all of the races.
>>
No. 70273 ID: d6ef5d

...okay, the Heimogena are by far my favorite of the bunch.
>>
No. 70278 ID: 52d91f

>>70266
Yet more awesome!

...I think I have to agree with the rest of the Galaxy about the Heimogena's reproductive practices.

Also, how're truut-ruut different from ruut-truut?
>>
No. 70279 ID: 9e1727

>>70270
>>70271
Looks like some kind of bureaucratic queue to me; Either governmental or business. Since Maolla is in line (unless that's another Praal caste who just happens to look like her) I'd say it's from sometime before Will of the Undermind. She did mention she had dealings with a Mars mining dynasty in an ITQ response, and with the bureaucrat being human maybe this is from one of their offices.
>>
No. 70280 ID: 6389ae

>>70266
Man, all of those look awesome to me. I can see a couple of similarities to a couple of other races from other settings I have seen, but since I liked those settings I kinda mean that as a compliment. Man, I am now feeling bad about my own creative endeavors.
>>
No. 70283 ID: cee89f

>>70279

>Since Maolla is in line (unless that's another Praal caste who just happens to look like her)

Malloa said when she set out to the stars that pronounced sexual assets were rare for scellor, so it probably is her. I assumed that the line was made for the purposes of showing off the aliens and was not a depiction of actual events. Which is kind of an annoying/amusing belief to hold when you simultaneously want to know why they're in line. Speaking of which...

>bureaucratic office IN SPAAAACE

I was hoping for something more specific, but thanks, that works too. =p

>>70280
Tell me about it. I thought the Hodran and Horos were cool ideas (albeit derivative in the latter's case) but this is bloody awesome. Must! Redouble! Creative! Efforts!
>>
No. 70284 ID: 52d91f

So I came up with some fan made Scellor plants & animals. For the record, these have specific names in the Scellor language, but, since I don't know it, I had to make do with translated versions.


Grasping Trees - Known variously as Hungry or Grasping Trees, these plants have developed rudimentary psychic powers. As they're maturing they detect the kinds of trees around them and modify their own growth patterns to blend in, looking just like the surrounding forest, the only differences being the telltale "hinged" branches, strong psychic field, and animal bones at the base of the tree.

Once the tree matures, it uses low level bio-telekinesis to move its branches and kill prey, burying them near its root system to absorb the nutrients, especially psykonium. This strengthens the tree's psychic powers, allowing it to grab larger prey. According to legend some elder trees were capable of amazing feats, like limited flight or the killing of the largest megafauna.


Mother Tree - Another psychic plant, these trees have a special hollow filled with rejuvenating sap that can heal wounds and even somewhat reverse aging. It's also laced with addictive compounds and other drugs that make creatures susceptible to the tree's low level psychic commands. While sentient beings can throw it off fairly easily, it does mean that each of these trees is likely to have one or more very dangerous protector animals living near it.


Fast Fish - A rare delicacy to the Scellor, these fish travel in large schools near the surface of the ocean, feeding on both microscopic plants and photosynthesizing energy from the suns. They're also very hard to catch.

See, like many animals the've developed the lifeform sense power, so they all run away the moment an unfamiliar animal draws near. And, if it continues to stay near to them, they have a limited ability to accelerate time, but, multiplied over all the fish in the school, it lets them rapidly outdistance any predator. So far the only successful strategies to catch them are either psionic concealment or spooking a school into running into a properly placed net.


Flash Squid - A multi-legged aquatic predator the size of a large dog, the flash squid has developed the ability to emit stunningly bright flashes of light, both to frighten predators and stun prey.


Crystal Spiders - See the Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix.


Rock Tortoises - Very large and placid herbivores, they do little other than move through an area, slowly eating plants. They can afford to do this because their bodies are covered in natural armor that's almost three feet thick in some places, and, anywhere it isn't, they can curl up under them. About the only thing that can rouse them from their placid existence is a threat to their thinner shelled children. The psychic strength enhancements they have that allow them to move their armored bodies make them very dangerous, if aroused.


And the rumors that there is a shark like predator native to the Scellor homeworld with natural psychokinesis that allows them to fire beams of coherent light are completely untrue.
>>
No. 74687 ID: a01b62

Scellorverse continues to be awesome.
>>
No. 76561 ID: 49f001

Live, ye thread. Thy time wilst come. :(

Hey, who's Cigarette on the wiki, doing the much-needed editing for the Scellor page? Do you go on IRC?
>>
No. 76566 ID: 3dd384

>>76561
Yo! >>69583 here. 'fraid I don't frequent IRC, though.
>>
No. 76568 ID: 49f001

>>76566
Do you have Steam?
>>
No. 76603 ID: 3dd384

>>76568
Hrm. Yes, but I don't like making permanent public statements linking my tripcodes with identities that are not tripcodes.

Tell ya what. I'll idle in IRC, and if I see you there we can swap contacts at that time.
>>
No. 76623 ID: 49f001

>>76603
Aight. I'm Squeegy on IRC, but I don't go in the channel.
>>
No. 76804 ID: 3dd384

Huh.

In the space doobie infodump,
>the famed pulgian scientist Quelg Toongiddler
seems to be from a species not mentioned in >>70266. Either that, or "pulgian" is a cultural/ethnic/&c adjective, rather than a species one.
>>
No. 76805 ID: 9da4cf

>>76804

That picture does not represent any sort of limitation on the amount of aliens in the WotU setting.
>>
No. 76810 ID: 3dd384

>>76805
Okay, yeah, that's fair.
>>
No. 77943 ID: 5f9fca

>>70268
Seconding this. How much "even larger and tougher" are we talking, here?
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