The Darkness Beyond: A Space Opera [signups]

Only a couple more.

In the meantime, the Ydyffan Fleet is Accepted.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

I will have my characters from the Le'Ka Alliance here later on today.

EDIT: Considering the amount of edits I've been making to the main body of the text, it is safe to say this is still WIP. The main ideas are already here and won't be changed unless it is needed to fit with the pre-existing lore. Most edits will be to add details or to clear up some facts.

Name: "The Veranthi Hierarchy" officially. Known by outsiders as "The Dead Men of Thaphos" or "The Fiends of the Sheol Gate"

Species: The Veranthi are a digitigrade, reptomammalian humanoid species. While heavily resembling humans in many aspects, most of their body is covered in specialized insulating scales that bear a resemblance to feathers, well adapted trait to survive on Thaphos' cold climate. They possess 4 fingers in each hand, one of which is a vestigial claw that was once used for predation and defense by Veranthi ancestors, but it has become to short to be of any practical purpose. They are warm blooded, a necessary trait to survive in cold climate. Sexual diphormism, while quite obvious, is not as extreme as in other species: both genders have a flexible throat sacks that extend from the upper torso to the chin, but only males inflate the sack during mating season. Sexual diphormism also extends to height, whereas the average male measures from 1.78 to 1.81 meters, female average height goes from 1.88 to 2.10 meters. Their reproductive system is ovoviviparous; an egg develops but it is hatched inside the mother's body before giving birth. Veranthi don't possess cloaca, and instead opt for an excretion mechanism similar to the human one. Males are spindly thin while females are only slightly bulkier. Verathi's overall facial features are similar to many humanoid races: two front-facing eyes, one nose below them, mouth and lips. Their eyes have horizontally slit pupils. And they don't possess any type of body hair, but males tend to grow fleshy whiskers around the throat sack, females grow whiskers on the backside of the neck. They communicate through a mix of guttural, lingual and nasal vocalizations. Average lifespan pre-anima ranged from 40 to 60 years. Post-anima lifespan ranges from 100 to 200 years, depending on the amount of Anima infused in the subject's blood.

History:

1. The Verathi are the native dominant species of planet Thaphos. The 4th planet of the Avantha system, which lies on the micro-nebula know as The Sheol Gate. Thaphos is an ice world whose only inhabitable strip of land is the equatorial ring. The equatorial rings features tundra and taiga biomes, with forests becoming slightly denser and warmer the closer to the equator we get. It is common belief that the Veranthi managed to evolve without any "outside influence", while the idea was held as truth for a long time in Veranthi society, the discovery of a ship graveyard in one of Thapos' moons has led to some discussion about whether this is true or not. At the current age, no proof has been found that denies nor confirms these claims.

2. Pre-FTL society was clan-based; small tightly-knit groups of Veranthi who either developed settlements in the equatorial zones, or roamed the borders where the fringe and the cold wasteland that covers most of Thaphos' surface meets. Early records are cloudy at best, the lack of a unified language (each clan had their own language at the time). The earliest known "Great Empire" of Thaphos (which was more of a loosely-held confederation of clans and city-states) was the Zanzhanthie, or "The Union of Fringe Cities". The first Zanzhanthie lasted about four centuries (from 1290 CE to 1702 CE). The Zanzhanthie eventually fell when the its capital city was lost to an earthquake. The Zanzhanthie period was one characterized by its relative peace, where only the occassional skirmish between feuding clans would break it. While a clan system was adopted again, after the fall of the Zanzhanthie, scientific development was not slowed in the slightest by this. In fact, many of the ethical limits placed by the Zanzhanthie died with it, and many clans began focusing purely on research. The period following the fall of the Zanzhanthie was one of both massive discoveries, and unspeakable atrocities commited by the clans in their constant fighting.

3. It is in the year 2198 CE when a unknown group of Veranthi clans manage to develop the Anima a bionanotechnologic fluid originally invented to ease the creation of complex direct brain-to-machine interfaces. The Anima also had the property of drastically slowing down the aging process in biological entities. Later strains of Anima were developed with different purposes in mind. But it still remains the basis of modern Veranthi culture.

4. FTL travel was managed by reverse engineering some of the ships found in Kathos, Thaphos' smallest moon, on the year 2205 CE.

5. The increasingly widespread use of Anima fluid and the prospect of interstellar colonization led many clans to unite under a single banner. A war of unification swept Thaphos. The resulting government came to be known as the Veranthi Hierarchy, or the New Zanzhan. It is during this relatively short period of war (lasting from 2208 to 2216) that the Ghuúl servants were developed.

6. After the Rise of New Zanzhan, full colonization of the Avantha system followed soon. By the year 2289, all of the system was under Veranthi control and outposts had been already established in the five neighboring stars: Calabi, Amaranth, Ulvhen, Iverenór, and Calhabh. All of which would become colonies of the Hierarchy.

Government:

The Hierarchy is a technocratic semi-democratic aristocracy. The Singular Board rules over the empire; a council made up of 7 representatives elected by the High Civilian Council, which is itself a Council made up of representatives elected from each planet in the Hierarchy. However, for someone to be eligible as a candidate for a seat in any of the Councils, their anima blood concentration must reach a certain threshold.

Military:

The Hierarchy's military is divided in four branches: The Zanzhan Navy, The Legionnaire Corps, the Hand of Levh (Named after the ancient Veranthi god of deception), and the Military Police. However, the Hierarchy's main strenght lies in the use of Ghuúl Fighters and the psychological warfare that comes with them. The Hierarchy's pragmatic view of war has made them unpopular among other races, but its efficiency cannot be denied.

Infrastructure:

Veranthi society runs on Anima and their repurposed "undead" labor drones, the Ghuúls: corpses reanimated by Anima nanofluid infusions and advanced cybernetics repurposed to serve as a cheap labor force or as cannon fodder in ground engagements. Anima is also used in living Veranthi for direct brain-to-computer interfacing in all Veranthi technology; from comm relays to medical devices and even weapons. All while having the side effect of drastically increasing their lifespans.

(Anima is capable of slowing the natural aging process on living beings, while on Ghuúl servants it is used to stop natural rot and body decomposal from happening while allowing cybernetic implants to be more easily installed on the body).

Capital punishment is common in Hierarchy worlds, making them among the safest places in the Known Galaxy, and all criminal corpses are repurposed to become Ghuúls. Normal citizens aren't forced to donate their corpses to become Ghuúls, but it is encouraged by Hierarchy authorities.

Veranthi cities spread downwards, beneath the ground. Only a bare minimum of structures are built at ground level (normally it is only the spaceport). Denominated as "Burrows" by outlanders. Veranthi cities are built to preserve heat (or to vent it, in some of the colonies) as best as they can, and all cities in a planet are connected by an underground mag-lev train system and a telecomm system that allows quick transport and quick communication pretty much anywhere in the same planet. An unintended effect of Veranthi architecture is that their settlements are practically invulnerable to conventional planetary bombing.

Veranthi economy is highly dependent on the Anima. Most of their income comes from Anima augmentations and cybernetic enhancements. Another major source of income, but overshadowed by the Anima trade, is the pharmaceutical market. Most of Thaphos' plantlife has medicinal properties. And the Veranthi learned quite early in their history how to synthesize them. Material wealth and industry are important it only makes a small part of their income. However, manual labor generates no expenses in the Veranthi economy as a whole. Paid manual labor died when Ghuúls became commonplace.

Culture:

Veranthi culture developed within a very pragmatic mindset. All Veranthi use ornate metal gasmasks that cover the entirety of the head. All Veranthi are given a blank mask at the age of 10, and at the age of 25 they must forge their own mask. Each mask is unique, a representation of the wearer's personality. It is considered offensive for a Veranthi to remove his mask in public presence, and normally are only removed when in intimate situations with friends, family, loved ones, etc. Politicians, soldiers, and high-ranking members of the elite use a special horned variant of the standard mask. The taller the horns, the more important is the wearer. This also impacts their military performance. Many would-be raiders surrendered when seeing metal-pale demons marching alongside their unrelentless hordes of cybernetic undead.

Veranthi artistic development was stunted during the early periods of their history. Arts like architecture and music (which is where the Veranthi shine the most) could only be fully developed with the rise of organized Veranthi civilization, first with the Zanzhanthie, and then with the Hierarchy. Veranthi are highly pragmatic, when it comes to choosing function over aesthethics they'll always choose function, but they'll gladly have both when it is possible. In the present day, "Ghuúl" fabrication is seen by some as possible expression of art, leading to the creation of "Ghuúl Artesans": specialists that craft customized "Ghuúl" servants using surgical body modification techniques for wealthy customers.

Veranthi had gender roles in the early periods. Females, being more physically hardy than males, were the ones that served as soldiers, laborers, hunters, etc. While males, being more physically frail, served as politicians, medics, researchers, etc.

Modern Veranthi don't have a religion per se. But they share the common ideology that everything in this universe has a purpose, that both the living and the dead have a task that must be done, and the only true loss happens when someone can not fulfill that purpose anymore. This ideology, born out of Veranthi pragmatism, doesn't have an official name, but most people sum it up in two words: "Waste Not".

Territory:

The Veranthi Hierarchy is made up of six star systems: Avantha: 6 planets, 4 of which are colonized. (Among those is Thaphos,the homeworld), Calabi: 12 planets, 7 of which are colonized (which houses the main military training center of the Hierarchy), Amaranth: 8 planets, 3 of which are colonized (Amaranth houses the biggest interspecies trading center in the Sheol Gate micro-nebula), Iverenór: 3 planets, all colonized(the research capital of the Hierarchy, and also the construction sites of many super-projects), Ulvhen: 2 planets, both colonized (Ulvhen is the seat of the Shapers of Ulvh, and extragubernamental organization whose main focus is the development of terraforming technologies), and Calhabh: 11 worlds, 5 of which are colonized.(Its the most recent colony, and resting place of many advanced civilizations). The Hierarchy possesses a civilian population of 86 billion citizens spread over their worlds. The Hierarchy also possesses a Ghuúl population of 87 billion, only slightly surpassing the civilian population, spread over their worlds.

Trivia:

Despite their bloody history and morbid methods, the Veranthi are not a warmongering race. But they are a bit isolationist.

The Veranthi currency is the Vheron.

Pragmatism and morbid customs has put them at odds with many races during diplomatic meetings.

Cybernetic enhancements, even radical ones, are commonplace in modern Veranthi society.

Veranthi medics are among the best in the Known Galaxy, but are mostly shunned due to the unsavory customs of the Hierarchy.

edited 17th Jan '16 6:48:19 PM by georgiano

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

I feel the "undead Ghuuls" make the race seem a bit too much like fantasy. Either change it or repurpose that bit, please.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

You could perhaps change the Ghuuls from being undead, to being "full conversion cyborgs" - akin to a brain in a box - in order to keep the same general feel for your Ghuuls but with Man in the Machine and Brain in a Jar implications instead of zombies? It would possibly still have some of the undead implications if you consider using the brains of those who have recently perished, or died in a way that allowed the brain to be preserved?

• Name: Hayon Biot
• Age, gender, species: 157 (Around 27 in human age), Male, Le'Ka
• Appearance: 6 feet tall, blue body armor, Red visor and Faceplate, Two large Horns, Two Jump Boosters on Pack. Several Ports on Pack that connect into the body for extra arms
• Personality: Reserved, quiet, tends to focus on task during duties, off duty can be jovial and friendly with a interest into other cultures. Really hates being called a Robot, feels droid would be more accurate anyway.
• Equipment/Belongings: Le'Ka TN 15 Anti-Material Rifle, TN 12 Plasma Carbine
• History: A Mining class Le'Ka, during early contact with another species and colonization Hayon's crew was sent in to study the materials and minerals available on the planet. Funnily enough thanks to Hayon's work along with his commander he was promoted and has since joined the Le'Ka military and serves as a active Bodyguard to his CO Sigma.
• Specialization: Marksman and Software Engineer
• Combat Specialization: Improved aim for sniping targets, Tentacles can hack basic security on a ship (I.E Doors and disabling turrets), Tentacles also make for great multitasking tool when needing to cover yourself and hacking a ship.
• Trivia: Has 4 Extra arms stored within pack, they hooked up to his nervous system and are made to be telescoping so he can store them. Really likes music and soundwaves and can often be found mixing or even just listening in his spare time.

• Name: Sigma Yul
• Age, gender, species: 176 (38 in human age), Male, Le'Ka
• Appearance: 7 feet tall, Silverish body with singular optic band that displays a singular green "Eye" on head, Slender appearance, Pack is simpler, no fancy attachments or adornments to armor.
• Personality: Louder, always on task, very rarely drops the serious tone, cares not for what others call him and would rather sort out a problem.
• Equipment:/Belongings: Singular plasma cannon in left arm. Prefers to keep it off at all times.
• Credentials: Calm and authoritative, has commanded ships ranging from cruisers to miners for years (A lot can be done when you age slower), objective and always willing to look at the bigger picture.
• Trivia: Tends to get called a Zaku or a Cylon by a few humans, he tends to groan at these references.

edited 19th Jan '16 1:08:06 PM by EchoingSilence

What is science fiction if not a form of fantastic writing?

Joking aside, describing them as "undead" was supposed to be an analogue. Veranthi Ghuúls are supposed to be repurposed bodies that are converted into cybernetically enhanced labor drones. Imagine them a bit like Mass Effect's Husks, except that they have a wider range of uses, not only military ones.

BTW... you say the Ghuúls remind you too much of fantasy, but isn't psionics just Magicby Any Other Name ?

Interesting idea, but the point is that the Veranthi seek to recycle the brawn, the muscle, not the brains of the dead. Why waste precious metal building bodies that rust over time when you already have a perfectly fine body that only needs some tuning? That's where "Anima" (which is just a fancy name for nanite fluid) and cybernetics come in.

Plus, I'm not a fan of the Brain in a Jar trope. I'm all for mind uploads, but not for literal brains in jars. And I feel it wouldn't completely fit for the extreme pragmatism the Veranthi are known for.

edited 17th Jan '16 4:36:22 PM by georgiano

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

Ah, that explains it better. I still think that raising someone from the dead is pretty much fantasy. But if it's just turning them into a cybernetic worker drone, that makes more sense.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Any more doubts I have to clear or things I should double check before getting admitted? Or was that the only issue?

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

You should probably make it more obvious in your signup that the Ghuuls aren't actual undead but rather repurposed corpses using cybernetics and nanomachines^note son.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Ok, I did notice I only addressed what Ghuúls really were briefly in the history section. I changed some words when describing what Ghuúls are in the Infrastructure section and added to the same paragraph a more indepth description of how Anima is used in Veranthi society.

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

Here's my signup. WIP until further notice, gonna be hammering this stuff out in fitful little spurts.

• Name: The Churrskyll Systems
• Species: The woefully uncreative Churrsk people, a race of sapient, bipedal reptiles. Churrsk are short, squat little things, standing at an average of 1.3 meters tall and weighing around 59 kg. Physically, they bear heavy resemblance to Earth's own shingleback skink◊, coated from head to toe in thick, broad scales that look like the scales on a pinecone. These scales are tough and serve as a decent armor against would-be assailants, but are by no means impenetrable. Their proportions are also similar to those of shinglebacks, save for that their torsos aren't quite as long. Excess fat deposits are stored in the tail, which is usually quite short and small, but can be fairly large on pudgier individuals. They have short, strong little arms and legs, with four stubby digits (three fingers, plus a thumb) on each hand and three toes on each foot. Despite their small size, they tend to be well-muscled and are about as strong as a chimpanzee. Differences between males and females are negligible, and even the Churrsk themselves must sometimes ask to determine gender. Churrsk usually come in dull, earthy colors, most commonly black, chestnut brown and brownish-gray, though rarer color morphs include blonde, white and various shades of green. Like most other reptiles, they are ectothermic and become very sluggish in the cold, succumbing to hypothermia at around 10ºC (50ºF). Oddly enough, Churrsk do not lay eggs, but instead give birth to live young after a gestation period of 14 months. Babies are usually born in pairs, but triplets and even quadruplets are not uncommon. Giving birth to a single child is fairly rare and is usually viewed as either an immensely favorable or unfavorable omen, though this superstition is fading with the passage of time.
• History:
  • Prehistory: The Churrsk originate from the tropical bits of a warm, watery little planet called Hiyullrg'ja (literally, "The World". Wow, guys, real creative). They evolved alongside a sleek, fearsome race of warlike feathered raptor people called the Hachan and competed fiercely with them for resources and territory. Their rivals were actually a little more technologically advanced and threatened to wipe them out entirely, but were struck down before they could form nation states by a terrible epidemic of avian influenza. Immune to this disease, the Churrsk survived and went on to become the planet's sole sapient power. Even today, though, the figures of the Hachan still terrorize sleeping Churrsk in their nightmares, and representations of monsters and demons still bear the sleek, shiny feathers and razor-sharp teeth that killed so many long ago.
• Government: Who is in charge of your nation, and how do they go about ruling it?
• Military: What is your military like? How does it operate, and how big is it?
• Infrastructure: This is a big question but it bears asking: what sort of infrastructure helps your nation go? Science and technology, law enforcement, and the like.
• Culture: What sort of culture does your nation have? Do they have any traditions, or religious beliefs, or customs, or forms of art?
• Territory: How big is your nation? How many star systems of territory does your nation control? Any important areas in particular? The maximum amount of systems I am allowing is 20. How many people live in your nation? The highest I'm allowing for population is 1 trillion, but most of the NPC nations have anywhere from 70 billion to several hundred billion. Try and keep it in that ballpark.
• Trivia: Anything important you didn't mention earlier? Tell me about that.

edited 17th Jan '16 7:21:27 PM by MobileLeprechaun

make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019

Alrighty, here's my dudes.

---

Ambassador

• Name: Cliomone, first name usually shortened to "Clio"
• Age, gender, species: 363 year old Protz. ^note Protzen do not have genders. However, they typically "pick" a gender for the purposes of a voice for their translator devices, in this case female.
• Appearance: A somewhat short protz approximately 1.43 meters at the withers, with a silver fur color, while her mane is styled in a manner similar to feathered hair.
• Personality: Calm, peaceful, and reserved, Clio's propensity for being willing to hear out every side and seek true understanding is akin to the serenity found in the eye of a storm. While any other ambassador could be counted on for simple nationalism, she was largely selected because of her capability for empathically feeling for others from the bottom of her lungs.
• Equipment/Belongings: Aside from a cybernetic computer implant and steel shoes (akin to horse shoes), the only thing she wears is a relatively small protective device hidden in the fur of her back that generates an energy shield over her body, as a precaution against assassination or terrorism. ^note Their reproductive organs are hidden inside like a bird or lizard, and then further concealed by their fur coat, so there is nothing "indecent" that is visible.
• History: In the Sanctum, there are five main orders. The Attendants and Zealots, who serve others with their bodies, the Guardians and Architects, who serve with their minds, and the Martyrs, who serve with their souls. Clio belongs to the Order of the Guardians, and spent much of her life with duties that are comparable to lawyers and judges in other cultures, before becoming an ambassador. Wanting to be an astronomer at a young age, she quickly grew tired of dealing with unfeeling devices and numbers, instead choosing to work with people instead. Having a knack for working in the law, she eventually wound up finding herself specializing in the Supremacy's interplanetary relations, which later branched out into representing the nation in galactic dealings.
• Credentials: Clio has had a lengthy career as a member of the Order of the Guardians, holding a wide array of positions at nearly every level. She was formerly the ambassador to the Shyleran Commune before the foundation of the Galactic Nations, where she was selected to represent Aeresian interests.
• Trivia: Her favorite Earth drink is tea. She has an extensive collection of antique telescopes.

---

Crew Member

• Name: Daenemaeus, first name usually shortened to "Daene"
• Age, gender, species: 156 year old Protz. ^note Due to the voice on "his" translator, he tends to use the male pronoun.
• Appearance: A somewhat tall protz approximately 1.7 meters at the withers, with a fur coat that is black with red stripes, and his mane's haircut resembles a crew cut.
• Personality: 'Loud', boisterous, and somewhat cocky, Daene is far more energetic than your typical scientist. He hates red tape, gets swept up in all manner of other people's hobbies, and enjoys a strangely diverse range of television and movie genres.
• Equipment/Belongings: Wears an insulated full-body suit of powered armor that protect him in a wide range of environments with foreign, infected, or non-existent atmospheres, with a jet-black paint job. It has a decent level of armor as a fail-safe, but mainly relies on a powerful shield generator to provide ample protection to him and his carried equipment, but can be extended to a small bubble-shaped region around him at the cost of energy efficiency. He carries a heavy anti-materiel particle beam turret on his back that weighs nearly 35kg and shoots a 25mm-equivalent round with a low rate of fire, while a "sidearm" laser turret fires much less powerful 7mm-equivalent laser bursts at a much fast rate.

His main tool of the trade when out in the field is a portable laboratory that he carries in a pair of backpack-sized devices on either of his sides. It communicates directly to his cybernetic implant, and can interface with a wide array of computers physically or wirelessly as well. One of the packs houses the "omnimeter", and is capable of scanning and analyzing just about anything for relevant information, such as the electrical, chemical, biological, or material properties of objects. The two ways it can scan something are either by means of hand-held "scan gun", which allows it to analyze a large object, or it can perform a more-detailed scan of a small object by physically inserting it into a compartment. The other pack houses an additive manufacturer that can print out things that may be required in the field, such as circuits, scalpels, vials, bags, or petri dishes. Once he has hermetically contained objects of interest for later study, he has several empty pouches on his sides that can be used to carry them back to the laboratory.

• History: Daene started off at a young age in the Order of the Zealots, thinking that he would see the galaxy and excitement, but for most of the next decade served in simple technical and logistical roles. He eventually decided to pursue his studies in the Order of the Architects instead, spending nearly a century acquiring expertise in several scientific fields. Yearning once again for the chance to see the excitement he dreamed of in his childhood, and possibly due to an incident involving him, several of his co-workers, a shut-down chemical storehouse, and an untested theory, he returned to the Zealots. He was put to work in one of the science divisions for a brief period of time before applying to the special forces. Due to his service record and extensive scientific background, he was selected by the Supremacy for service aboard the Hermes in order to investigate any new and developing technologies encountered.
• Specialization: Chief Science Officer.
• Combat Specialization: Heavy Ranged Support. His scientific duties means that he is carrying a lot of equipment that preclude the dexterity needed for closing in on enemies in a combat situation, but he can still contribute by serving as an impromptu heavy infantry support.
• Trivia: His favorite Earth drinks are coffee, beer, and slushees, while his favorite Earth food is Mexican food. His father was an artist who taught him his craft as a child, and as a result Daene is relatively good at woodwork and whittling. In his off time on the ship he will sometimes carve away at one of the wood blocks he brought, and is always on the lookout for new pieces to whittle. He is also an avid player of the super-popular digital collectible card/dice/model game, Passion Accel!

edited 3rd Feb '16 6:52:13 PM by nman

Geez, I didn't realize just how many signups I had accepted. I don't think I'd be able to handle this much, but whatever.

Anyway, I'm sorry Georgiano, MobileLeprechaun, I simply don't have any more room for nation signups.

Okay, everyone, Nation sign-ups are now officially closed. I will make a notification of this in the first post. Anyway, those who are working on their characters are free to continue to do so. But no more nations will be Accepted.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Good to hear. Just glad I got the Le'Ka in.

Wikkit, Flanker, your characters are Accepted.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

WIP

Ambassador

• Name: 29079818241656 ^note  Her entire name is 29079818241656, batch 42124, crèche 45-A, but this is a bit of a mouthful, even in her own culture
  • As an ambassador, 29079818241656 usually adopts a name from that culture to help put aliens at ease. For the past few months, she has adopted the name Athena- the god of communication and orators- after spending time on Earth. She also answers to her full serial number or the common abbreviation 2907.
  • A/G/S: 22, female, Ummat
  • Appearance: Physically, Athena looks like every other Ummat, although that shouldn't be much of a surprise. She can be distinguished from other Ummats by the color and shape of her palm implant ^note red and hexagonal, which immediately identifies her as a diplomat/bureaucrat. When 'on-duty', Athena usually wears traditional diplomat garb.
  • Personality: Athena is still fairly young, and trying to find her place in the galaxy.

•Equipment/Belongings:

• History:
  • 29079818241656 was grown on Uuumaaa, in Garden 112; a mid-sized Garden chiefly used to grow and train low-ranking bureaucrats and civil servants. The moment she left her artificial womb, she and two hundred other clones— Batch 42124 — were enrolled into Crèche 23-F- an intensive training program designed to indoctrinate and prepare them for their future careers as colonial bureaucrats among the Fringe Systems.
  • At the same time, however, the supervisors overseeing the education of Batch 42124 -A noted that 29079818241656 was displaying a greater degree of autonomy and intelligence than was needed for a simple 'desk jockey', to use a Terran phrase. The supervisors took the matter to the Garden overseer, who recommended a transfer. 29079818241656 would be transferred up to Crèche 45-A, a smaller, elite class dedicated to training the next generation of extraterrestrial diplomats, a joint venture between all three of the Families.
  • Following the completion of her training, 29079818241656 was transferred to Earth, where she served as a liason to the Earthen government, even purchasing an apartment in downtown Manhattan and developing an affinity for Earth culture. Following several decades on Earth, Athena and her diplomatic retinue were transferred into the growing Alliance, serving as the primary representative for Uuumaaa.

• Trivia:
  • During her stay on Earth, Athena developed an affection for various Earth television shows and commercials, although she occasionally has trouble telling them apart. In particular, she enjoys sitcoms.
  • Her favourite human sitcom is the historical docu-drama Seinfeld, which she firmly believes to be the most accurate depiction of life around the turn of the millennium..

edited 24th Jan '16 2:39:31 PM by Locoman

Ironic that Hermes is not the one on board the Hermes.

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Finished up my Signups.

Oh, right. I might change her name cause that'll really throw people off.

Echoing Silence, I would like you to put a bit more information in the "combat specialization" section besides "improved aim".

Nman, your characters are Accepted.

edited 19th Jan '16 1:03:15 PM by AllHailThrall

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Like that?

Ambassador character(s) are go.

Official ambassador-

• Name: Welerate Darkspirit.

• Age, Gender, Species: 36, Female, nisi.

• Appearance: Nisi-In, (tall, thin, rabbit-esque ears) white and orange fur, dark grey eyes. Top of her head is at 5'2", and she has a relatively muscular and toned build, for a nisi. Has a prominent ring stripe pattern along her tail, but otherwise white with random orange spots.

• Personality: Welerate is brash and quick to anger, typically speaking her mind first and foremost, especially when displeased. Despite outward appearances though, she's intelligent enough to act and make decisions based on a bigger picture, which usually means deferring to her sister.

• Equipment/Belongings: Along with spare clothes and typical ambassador amenities and electronic devices, she keeps a pair of sword claws; nisi made weapons which are essentially gauntlets with large blades on the fingers.

• History: Welerate became matriarch of the Darkspirit family at age 26; the previous matriarch, her grandmother, had died very unexpectedly of a heart condition. Having died while still matriarch, a series of duels to decide the new matriarch were had between Welerate, her mother, her aunt, and her second cousin. Welerate beat all three of them one at a time, on the same day, with no breaks, displaying that she was far superior in combat than anyone else still alive in the family.

One year later, Welerate had the family pursue a career in the Department of War, looking for an honorable position in the military. Things went well for three years and she had ended up as captain of her own ship, but had developed a very unfriendly rivalry with another nisi matriarch who rose to a higher position in the Department of War. After beating Welerate in combat, she assigned Welerate and her family to an ambassadorial position, a very unpopular career among nisi as there is no honor seen in resolving matters through talking. The Darkspirit family spent five years acting as the Savages' ambassadors to another nation,^note Which nation is TBD when I figure out who would actually like the Savages. and were then transferred to be the Savages' ambassadors to the GA based on their success so far, along with a couple of gleep to more fairly represent both species of the Savages.

• Credentials: Very skilled in personal combat, three years of military service including ship command, over five years of acting as a successful ambassador. Has a higher up who hates her and thus stuck her with this job.

• Trivia: Nothing yet.

---

Actual ambassador-

• Name: Feonxi Darkspirit.

• Age, Gender, Species: 33, Female, nisi.

• Appearance: Nisi-In, (tall, thin, rabbit-esque ears) white and very dark blue fur. Top of her head is at 5'1", and she has an average build. Dark blue spots have distinct shape that are almost like swirls to varying degrees of acuity.

• Personality: Quiet, thoughtful, vague air of "I'm smarter than you" at almost all times. Probably because she's smarter than anyone else in her family, and smarter than a lot of nisi.

• Equipment/Belongings: Along with spare clothes and typical ambassador amenities and electronic devices, she has started collecting items related to her now favorite food, the Terran pigeon.

• History: Feonxi grew up with little aspiration to be matriarch, instead focusing her efforts on education and, once she was old enough, having children. While she is the smartest in the family and knows it, she follows Savages customs just the same and follows the decisions of her matriarch sister to the best of her ability. When the family became assigned to be ambassadors, Feonxi took up doing most of the actual legwork and negotiating, often speaking in place of her sister on her authority when Welerate didn't want to bother or felt overwhelmed.

• Credentials: Being Welerate's smartest family member.

• Trivia: Her first child was a son who has already left the family on his wandering instinct over three years ago.

---

Other members of the Savages ambassadorial party include:

• Cakis Darkspirit, Nisi-In, white and gray, their mother.
• Merucoco Darkspirit, Nisi-An, pure white, their aunt.
• Ngeth Darkspirit, Nisi-Ef, gray with red lines, their cousin and Merucoco's daughter.
• Ginyag Darkspirit, Nisi-An, brown and white, their first cousin once removed. (Their mother's and aunt's cousin.)
• Fesa Darkspirit, Nisi-An, brown and dark brown, their second cousin and Ginyag's daughter.
• Chessnut, Female gleep colored blue.
• Deacon, Male gleep colored yellow.

Also because of the way Savages society is about Female families, they're bringing their children too:

• Cssisi Darkspirit, Female Nisi-In, white and red, Feonxi's second child.
• Kouma Darkspirit, Female Nisi-An, dark blue, Feonxi's third child.
• Mica Darkspirit, Female Nisi-In, white, Feonxi's fourth child.
• Werun Darkspirit, Male Nisi-Ef, gray and brown, Ngeth's only child.
• Matuc Darkspirit, Male Nisi-An, dark brown and dark blue, Fesa's first child.
• Melini Darkspirit, Female Nisi-Un, brown and black, Fesa's second child.

Crew member character will hopefully be coming tomorrow night, but we'll see.

edited 24th Jan '16 1:53:36 AM by FirockFinion

You are reading this.

Alright, and here's the crew member.

• Name: Csang Whiteripper, which is definitely her real name and not a fake one.

• Age, gender, species: 29, Female, nisi.

• Appearance: Nisi-Un, (short ears with wide bases) solid gray fur. Top of her head is at 4'10", and she has a very slim and fit build.

• Personality: A cunning prankster, Csang can seem absent minded as she constantly focuses on having fun in some way or another. This is totally her real personality and she's not just putting it on to make everyone else lower their guard while she's actually very intelligent, calculating, and observant.

• Equipment/Belongings: A pair of high-end nisi made firearms which are very similar to Terran uzis, with a large blade on the front, folding stocks, and laser sights;^note Top left of this image.◊ loaded with armor piercing rounds. An armorweave jumpsuit with optional helmet to become environmentally sealed, and personal shield generator. A personal music player and a pair of headphones that definitely do not unfold into a Red Claw mask.

• History: Csang has essentially been in the military since her birth, her matriarch at the time having the family serving there, her successor continuing their service there, and Csang continuing their service when she became matriarch four years ago. She also became a successful ship captain and fighter ace, and after that definitely did not be contacted by and secretly recruited into the Red Claws.

• Specialization: With a long and accomplished ship career, she can fill in virtually anywhere, and will do whatever is most convenient for the captain at that current time.

• Combat Specialization: Melee and close quarters fighting, and could operate almost any small air/space craft in a pinch.

• Trivia: Did I mention that she's totally not a Red Claw?

edited 24th Jan '16 1:58:03 AM by FirockFinion

You are reading this.

Wow, that's a lot of characters.

Regardless, the Brady Bunch your characters are Accepted.

edited 23rd Jan '16 11:08:20 PM by AllHailThrall

I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.