Name, Position and Age:M’Elme Lan’thar (nickname ‘Elm’), Botanical survey leader, 54
Species and Appearance:The LavathulinNicknamed by humans as ‘the tree people’, the Lavathulin indeed are a plant based humanoid lifeform. They resemble regular humans, but are covered in flexible bark and small sprouts with leaves can grow from their bodies, most commonly from their heads. These sprouts grow slowly, at a speed similar to human fingernails. Contrary to popular belief, clipped off sprouts cannot be used to ‘grow’ new Lavathulin, the process of reproduction is much more complicated and includes blossoms, pollen, seeds and a lot of seemingly strange rituals between males and females.
As all plants, the tree people require water and light of a certain wavelength to replenish energy. They obtain other nutrients by eating various plant parts - on their homeworld, Vathul, their food usually consists of leaves, roots and seeds, while travelling with humans and other aliens the Lavathulin eat mostly fruits and vegetables from the usual crew menu. They cannot digest meat.
If not seriously injured or suffering from disease, the Lavathulin can live for centuries, although with time, their skin and bodies lose flexibility. At some point, they will stop moving altogether and enroot in one place, their mind falling in slumber forever. There are large groves on Vathul that serve as cemeteries, families often go there to visit their ancestors. The research of sleeping Lavathulin showed that there is still some brain activity, but it is considered to be more of dreaming than actually thinking.
The Lavathulin are exceptionally slow in almost every aspect of their lives. Since they live so long, there is always enough time for everything and quick actions are considered reckless and even rude. Every movement needs to be thoroughly thought through, considering all angles and possible consequences. They have amazing memory and are able to recall past events with great precision. They believe that all conflicts should be resolved peacefully and will rarely get angry or even violent.
Bio and Personality:Ever since being a young sapling, Elm didn’t really fit in the Lavathulin society. She was an impulsive quick thinker (for Lavathulin standards, a human would still consider her calm and contemplative). Wanting to see everything, try everything and most importantly know everything, she had very little patience for the slow and rigid ways of the Lavathulin society. She spent more time with humans from the ISA embassy than with her own kind, and it was the chief ambassador Hallen who suggested that she join the next transport away from Vathul and take a look at the Mars university courses which could interest her.
While she wasn’t the first to leave Vathul, she certainly was the first Lavathulin who chose not to return at the earliest convenience and rather stay exploring the various fast and turbulent worlds that the galaxy had to offer. Her exceptional memory made her a great student, soon she graduated from the Plant and soil science and Molecular and cellular biology courses at the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Mars university. She stayed there leading a research team, but upon hearing of a planned expedition to an unknown and unexplored part of the galaxy, she couldn’t resist applying to join the crew.
As a person, Elm is very calm and easy going, aiming to be on good terms with everyone and avoid any possible conflict. She has a very systematic mind and likes to think about possible outcomes of every possible option before making a decision. To humans it might seem like overthinking, to her own kind it seems like she is not taking enough time to decide - the irony of this often brings a smile to her face.
Skills, Strengths and Weaknesses, and Tools:Like all other Lavathulin, Elm has an excellent memory and a very systematic mind. She is resistant to most diseases and can heal from almost any non-fatal injury, provided she has enough time and energy to regenerate.
She is a pacifist and while she would probably fight to save her or someone else's life, she despises weapons of all kinds and would never attack first.
Quick decisions aren’t her thing, she needs time to think everything through.
Miscellaneous Info:She loves broccoli and cabbage and hates red apples. Loves water, but can’t actually swim, just ‘floats’ a bit.
