Raylah

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

I don't expect my character to be involved in the current mission, but plan to write some light post about life on the ship meanwhile, so don't wait for me with the mission.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Elm

Name, Position and Age:
M’Elme Lan’thar (nickname ‘Elm’), Botanical survey leader, 54

Species and Appearance:

The Lavathulin
Nicknamed 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.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

I have been lurking around looking for some RP to join after a long time and this seems awesome. My character is not really a first choice for the away team, but could go to some planets with the scientists and I was thinking maybe there could be some overarching 'plot' on the ship itself? People being friends or enemies or lovers or something, enjoying time between missions.

And by the way, I am NOT Groot!

Elm

Name, Position and Age:
M’Elme Lan’thar (nickname ‘Elm’), Botanical survey leader, 54

Species and Appearance:

The Lavathulin
Nicknamed 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.

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

I'm glad I managed to post before leaving for vacation tomorrow.
@6slyboy6 I will be away for two weeks. I will try to keep up with other people's posts (mostly because I'm very curious) but most likely wont have time to post anything myself. How long will it take to move to the next turn?

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

The sun was slowly rising above the mountains on the far horizon and the tribe members were waking up, moving around to warm up their blood and bodies. One male R’Bani stood at the side of the raft, finding himself unable to take his eyes off the scenery. The thick fog over the water was slowly dissipating - normally that would mean to him that the weather would be good this day, the sun will shine and no storms and heavy rains will threaten the raft. But today, there was something else, something deeper that he couldn’t really explain, that kept him almost frozen.

A sudden impulse made him pick up a large leaf and, dipping his fingers into warm lake water, draw a few lines on it. Just one straight long line and two smaller above it, forming a small triangle. After a short look at the horizon, he added a small circle peeking from behind the triangle. “G’Arr!” he exclaimed, a previously unknown but very pleasant feeling filling him. But as he looked at the leaf again, he noticed that the lines he made were slowly disappearing, water drying up under the first rays of the morning sun.

“G’ARR!” he yelled again, angrily. He liked that sound, felt like it is his own sound, like it describes him. At first he wanted to throw the leaf away, but a sudden idea came to his mind. Carefully laying the leaf on the ground, he jumped from the edge of the raft and swam to the lake floor, grabbing a load of mud. When he climbed back on the raft, he retraced the lines on the leaf, this time using mud instead of water.

A female came to him, curious about what he was doing. At first, it seemed to her like a result of mud battles the young ones tended to have from time to time. But then she raised her head to look at the horizon and opened her mouth in surprise, realizing that the long straight line is the lake, the triangle is the mountain above it, and the circle looks like the sun. “G’Arr,” she whispered in awe.

The male jumped angrily. That was his sound, his own, and others should not use it. “G’Arr,” he croaked at her, pointing at his chest.

She nodded, pointing at him, feeling a bit envious that he has his own sound. Now she wanted one too. She admired the painting on the leaf for a while and then picked up another leaf. Maybe she could make one too? But there was something else that caught her attention, she realized that the sun is not shining on her. Of course she knew that leaves provided shadow that was useful in merciless summer heat, so that her skin wouldn’t dry up, cracking painfully. But what if she used these leaves to actually create a protected place, instead of just hoping to find one when she needed it?

Soon she was deeply concentrated on trying to arrange the leaves into the shape that came to her mind. As the leaves wouldn’t stand on their own, she used some twigs as a support and mud to glue it together. She also found out that long straws of waterweed could be used to tie things together. It took her a while, but eventually she was satisfied with the results - a small hut supported by longer branches tied together, covered by leaves and mud. “Reea!” she clapped her hands excitedly, comparing her old den, merely a hole between the twigs, and this new thing she just invented.

Her old den was small and empty, no one else lived there. A sudden pain in her chest surprised her. Was she ill? Or injured? But the pain did not seem to have a physical cause. The feeling that came with it was very unpleasant and brought tears to her eyes. Her den was empty, yes, but it hasn’t always been that way, has it? She used to have a mate, a strong male that always brought the best food. Before. And now she doesn’t have him, after a huge predatory fish came unusually close to the shore and dragged him away. That was some days ago, she couldn’t even tell how many, because the thought of past and present never crossed her mind before. But there will also be tomorrow and more days in the future, perhaps she could find a new mate? Especially now that she has a new comfortable place to live in.

The thought of past and future occupied her mind. There were several tadpoles swimming around the raft, who will soon sprout legs and arms and climb from the water to join the tribe. That was always the time for both happiness but also great hunger for everyone, because there were suddenly so many mouths to feed. The R’Bani only gathered as much food as they could eat that day, but what if they brought a little bit extra every day and put it aside? That way the young ones would have something to eat before they learn to hunt and gather their own food.

“Reea,” she smiled and turned to the others who were already admiring her hut. It will be hard to communicate this complicated thought to the others, but she knew she could do it. After all, she managed to create her own sound. She wasn’t just one female R’Bani anymore. She was Reea now.

Actions

• The R’Bani became self-aware, realizing their individualities
• They discovered simple art
• Started building primitive huts from materials found around them
• They started assigning themselves simple sounds as names
• They realized the concept of time - the past, future and the present

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

R'Bani

RACE NAME: R'Bani
RACE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
The R'Bani are rather short (only about 4-5 feet) species who resemble frogs. They are amphibian and can breathe both outside and under water. They are cold-blooded and prefer warmer climates, in cold their metabolism slows to a point where they go to hibernation. They cannot survive in salt water.
Their lifespan is rather short, only about 30-40 years. The females lay several eggs, attaching them to the bottom side of the floating settlements. Multiple males dive to the eggs and attempt to fertilize them. Even in ideal conditions only around two thirds of the eggs hatch, releasing tadpoles into water, where they live for several months.
They are not very strong physically, but have other defensive mechanisms. While in danger, their skin emits a poison that is strongly hallucinogenic to other species, some smaller predators can even be killed by coming into contact with it.

POPULATION: 12
RACE BEHAVIOUR:
The R'Bani are peaceful people, deeply focused on family. If a danger arises, they prefer to run rather than fight, and use their brains to solve problems rather than brute force. Unlike other cold-blooded species they actually care for their young, protecting them until they are ready to climb out of the water.
The species lives on various debree floating in the lake - most of the time it is pieces of wood or plants intertwined with eatch other to form simple rafts. On these rafts they build primitive dens using plants and mud.
HISTORY:
CULTURE:
TECHNOLOGIES:

• - Basic Tools
• - Fire

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

@Odin Exactly. And while there might be an Anna alive, who would genetically be an ideal partner for Bob, she lives a few hundred miles away, and even if Bob knew she existed, he doesnt have time to go to her, because he has to work on his farm otherwise he will starve to death.
And yes, that is what I had in mind, only it is not grounded to the lake floor, but rather floating around.

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

@Odin Honestly I came across it in a random article, I think it was this one. There are some Harvard studies mentioned here that estimate the number as high as 14 000. It very much depends on the situation - if you take an exctinction type event that destroys most of the population on Earth, than you have a problem even with the 14 000, since people who survived are probably scattered around the globe and will have problems finding mating partners. Also if the infrastructure isnt in place, your people's lifespan will be much shorter (which of the people today really know how to make antibiotics out of nothing or how to take out person's appendix without killing them). The space pioneers mission calculations are much lower because people will be handpicked with needed specializations (and according to other aspects like age, fertility, hereditary diseases, etc.) and they will have all the tools and knowledge and technology available.

@6slyboy6 Ok, I have no problem with taking the spears out, that was just an immediate wild idea. And by the huts I meant something similar to the bird nests - if you have some twigs and branches intertwined, you will have some space between them, so you just stuff some things in there to make a "den", maybe that would be a better word to use for it?

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

@Raylah Maybe so, but every human alive right now comes from the womb of a single mother, our ancestral "Eve". So give or take 3-4 mates (('m just compeltely guessing) for said human ancestor, that's about 5 people whose genetic codes we share to one extent. And at leats one of them is an incredibly prominent one as it was the only female gene in that. Honestly, 12 people should be more than enough for a wide variety of genetic materials, as long as you doN't shy away from poligamy

@6slyboy6

I dont want to get into meaningless debates, but this is actually not true. It is true that all life on Earth does have origin in Africa, and it has been proven by genetic tests that it originates from one migration wave. But that was a wave of many people, not just one couple, or even one woman with multiple partners. Also it has been calculated (for space colonization purposes), that a minimal amount of people to start a healthy population is around 160. With strict social engineering you could get to about 80, but not lower.
But it doesnt really matter, since we have ant people and moth people, I think it is safe to omit this part of science xD.

What I wanted to ask about is how long the turns are going to be? Because if the turn took lets say one year (I think you said somewhere there should not be any two-year journeys in one turn, so I am just guessing), it would still take dozens of turns to pass several generations. Even if the species had shorter lifespans and matured at a very young age, it would take a long time to grow the population enough to be able to utilize new technologies.

Also while I like the idea of the blind map, I think in this particular case it might cause some problems. Lets say I have a race of frog people who live on floating lilipads and I pick a spot in the lake for them. And you tell me "yea that lake is in super high altitude, so it is actually frozen most of the year and also there are some poisonous elements in the water thanks to a nearby volcano". That just wouldnt work. At this point in history, the enviroment shapes the life, not the other way around, and if the species is not able to survive in their enviroment, they either die out or move somewhere else, if such location exists. If I understand the premise correctly, the species didnt just magically suddenly appeared there, they evolved in that spot.

All that saying, I would love to join, so here are my frog people living on floating lilipads :D.

R'Bani

RACE NAME: R'Bani
RACE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
The R'Bani are rather short (only about 4-5 feet) species who resemble frogs. They are amphibian and can breathe both outside and under water. They are cold-blooded and prefer warmer climates, in cold their metabolism slows to a point where they go to hibernation. They cannot survive in salt water.
Their lifespan is rather short, only about 30-40 years. The females lay several eggs, attaching them to the bottom side of the floating settlements. Multiple males dive to the eggs and attempt to fertilize them. Even in ideal conditions only around two thirds of the eggs hatch, releasing tadpoles into water, where they live for several months.
They are not very strong physically, but have other defensive mechanisms. While in danger, their skin emits a poison that is strongly hallucinogenic to other species, some smaller predators can even be killed by coming into contact with it.

POPULATION: 12
RACE BEHAVIOUR:
The R'Bani are peaceful people, deeply focused on family. If a danger arises, they prefer to run rather than fight, and use their brains to solve problems rather than brute force. Unlike other cold-blooded species they actually care for their young, protecting them until they are ready to climb out of the water.
The species lives on various debree floating in the lake - most of the time it is pieces of wood or plants intertwined with eatch other to form simple rafts. On these rafts they build primitive dens using plants and mud.
HISTORY:
CULTURE:
TECHNOLOGIES:

• - Basic Tools
• - Fire

map

From Dawn Till Dusk (Civilization Evolution RP)(Over)

GM: Let your imagination go wild! Make whatever you want!

Literally everyone: makes an anthropomorphic race

@6slyboy6

You did say it is supposed to be a humanoid race, soooo what were you expecting? :)
How long are the turns going to take? Are we all starting with just 12 "people"? It is not very much to build a viable and genetically diverse population, but since it is big part fantasy, I assume we dont have to stick to this level of realism.