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handful-of-seagulls · 8 months

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It’s been a while since i’ve posting anything here lol whoops. I suppose it’s good to come back with a bang! Here’s a sapient alien race concept I’ve been conceptualizing for about two years. It started out as a simple scribble labeled “alien E” to a little world building project. Below is a long description of the species, their culture, and biology! Hope you enjoy!

The Radials

On an earth-sized planet approximately 600 light years away from earth, humans discover their interstellar neighbors.

The planet has three main continents dotted across it’s surface, each painted in splotches of orange flora. 78% of the planet’s surface is covered with turquoise water, filling large stretches of shallow oceans and spacious rivers. Storms dot the sky of this alien planet, with hurricanes being a common sight in some areas. The planet is seemingly in a greenhouse period, with little glacial activity.

Even from space, the fruits of sapience are visible; a colossal bisected ring has been built around the planet, suspending a massive orbital sky hook that hovers only a few miles above the planet’s surface.

With supports larger than an entire football stadium holding it up, this monolith of engineering is used for bringing space vessels in and out of orbit.

Colossal internal active supports keep the structure rigid, essentially molten aluminum constantly being pushed throughout the length of the ring and it’s orbital beams at high speeds. Like water being pushed through a hose, this pressure helps to prevent the structure from buckling under the planet’s gravity.

Labeled as the pride of the species, this ring and its support beams also serve as the base for large orbital cities. Each interlocking building maintains a stable internal gravity through constant rotation, to ensure minimal long-term health risks during off-planet living. Each building is interconnected through low-gravity tunnels with designated automated transportation.

Mining is done exclusively off planet, with large drones mining through the neighboring asteroid belts. The plentiful resources within their twin asteroid belts have rendered on-planet mining obsolete with time.

The planet is inhabited by bizarre radially symmetrical vertebrates, which humans have pointed out are built like barrels (mouth on top, cloaca on bottom, and a ring of eyes in the middle).

The dominant life form of the planet, which humans have been in radio contact with long before reaching the planet, are known by humans as the Radials. The planet they call home is known as Agurh, the old radial word for ground.

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Radials are a sapient egg-laying species, producing leathery eggs each about the size of a tennis ball. During development, radials will molt their skin regularly like a reptile. While they can live for up to fifty years, they reach sexual maturity at the age of eight.

Radials are mostly a tannish orange in color, with the top for their body being a burnt red to protect from sun exposure. Their skin is very leathery, with only their pale-yellow wrinkly underside remaining soft.

They are warm-blooded, however unlike earth vertebrates they bleed blue; this is due to their blood being based on copper rather than iron.

Radials are sexually dimorphic, with men being smaller and more slender than the women. While adult radial women are roughly 8% larger than their male counterparts, most radials never exceed a height of about three feet.

Radial women also tend to possess brighter coloration than the men, usually taking form in contrasting white patterns on their legs and faces.

They have four triple-jointed legs that each possess a pair of toes raised above the ground; their actual foot being a heel-like hoof. These toes are tipped with large hooked cone-shaped claws, that can close down with enough force to crack bone.

This interesting feature has been found to be an evolutionary hangover from an insectivorous ancestry, which was abandoned after a mass extinction opened up more active predatory niches.

It is believed that it was this shift in lifestyle (from insectivorous scavenger to pack-hunting predator) that spurred the furthering of their intelligence, which later led to sapience. While one branch evolved to outrun their prey, the line that led to the radials instead learnt how to trap their prey.

Between each leg is a breathing spiracle that houses olfactory chambers; thanks to their scavenging ancestry, a radial is able to smell from nearly a mile downwind. These spiracles can open and close like a valve, which aids in respiration.

Situated under the body is a tapered extendable cloaca. In males, it is long and thin for easy insemination. In females, it is long and wide to assist in egg-laying.

This cloaca is prehensile and can be used to pick up objects; however, it plays a relatively minor role in manipulation. The limb is tinted a deep purple, similar to the giraffe’s tongue; this is believed to be an adaptation to protect the sensitive tissue from frequent sun exposure.

This limb is supported by various rings of cartilage and erectile tissue, giving it strength while allowing it to remain flexible and collapsible; this feature is very unique on their planet, likely an evolutionary result of their tool use. When fully extended, it is on average 20 inches long. When not in use, it can be retracted into a pouch-like tube that hangs under them.

While their prehensile tendrils and cloaca are more gracile and are used for delicate manipulation, their powerful walking limbs have been observed being used for heavy manipulation. Radials are capable of balancing on two legs, which becomes handy when pushing large and/or heavy objects.

Above the legs is their main body, which is cylindrical in shape. In the middle of the body is a ring of sixteen black camera-style eyes, each with a glossy waterproof outer coating and a pear shape (as opposed to our spherical eyes).

Each eye possesses a tapetum lucidum, making their eyes glimmer like a deer’s caught in the moonlight. These eyes are situated in a way that ensures that every direction is watched with at least four eyes. Each eye is supported by a sclerotic ring, similar to owls.

On the top of their body is a large mouth that is protected by a cross-shaped lip. Due to the top of them being a massive blind spot, whiskers sprout near the lips to help guide food towards the mouth.

The mouth is built similar to an Aristotle’s lantern, like the sea urchin. The inside of their mouth is full of spike-like papillae, similar to the camel. Their jaws consist of four short vertical rows of teeth, situated in a cross pattern. The jaws move in a shearing motion to help chew food. The top teeth are sharp triple-pointed canines, while the bottom teeth are short rounded molars.

Surrounding the mouth is a crown of four whip-like tendrils that are used for bringing food into the mouth and for grasping objects. Similar to the elephant’s trunk, the tendrils are hollow and are often used for drinking. Unlike the elephant’s trunk, however, these tendrils are supported by intricate interlocking cartilage instead of pure muscle.

Near the tips of these tendrils are rows of small hooked claws that can close down at will. Under the base of each tendril is a rounded bulge with a horizontal slit in the center, which functions as an ear.

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Radials have a ring shaped brain that surrounds their digestive tract, which seems to be an outcome of their ring of eyes.

However, Radials have much more complicated brains compared to other creatures on the planet, having many folds and enlarged protrusions to aid them in abstract thinking. Despite it’s density surpassing that of modern humans, the actual ring is no wider than a sharpie.

Their language is a mixture of bioluminescent flashing, chirping, honking, and a sound similar to that of sneezing. Their bioluminescence is based on luciferin, the same used by fireflies in their displays; it is believed that their bioluminescence is an evolutionary hangover from their aquatic ancestors, as most vertebrates on agurh retain some ability to produce this chemical.

The photophores used in these bioluminescent displays are mainly centered along the width of the torso.

While their bioluminescence is used relatively sparingly during close conversation, radials instinctively use their flashing alone during long distance communication.

Expression is often conveyed by furrowing the skin above the eyes, similar to how humans may furrow their brow.

Individuality is usually conveyed by an individual’s unique smell, similar to some species of albatross. Radials will often identify friends or family by smell alone, rather than by appearance. Having individual smell as a major facet of their social life has led to a lack of taboo towards the body and it’s excretions. Because of this, most radials only wear clothing for utility or social display.

Radials are hypercarnivorous, gaining a large portion of their diet from various meats. Alongside herd animals, the radials farm large colonies of domesticated eusocial invertebrates. The meat is very spongy and is often used as a filler in dishes (not too dissimilar in use to rice).

Treats often come in the form of various salted or fried foods; a few popular snacks on agurh are cuts of salted bone marrow, bags of fried organs, salted fat chews, and bits of solid gravy. Keep in mind, radials lost their ability to taste even simple sugars far back in their evolution. Where humans would usually use sugar, radials use salt.

Traditional homes are built similar in shape to a wigwam, with a nesting area in the center and various household commodities built around it. These were originally built from a stick and hay structure with a clay or mud covering.

However, more urban homes are built similar to apartments on earth (but still with the pre mentioned layout). About 93% of Radial society is urbanized, with the remaining living in isolated herding towns, small hunter-gatherer groups, and coastal fishing villages.

Most of their urban society uses automated trams instead of private vehicles, in an effort to both reduce pollution and remove mortal error. Even the many continents of the radial home planet have been interconnected with the use of bullet trains.

However this is not a constant. More rural areas still use private vehicles for travel, with some areas having a small following of modifying old transit cars into off roading vehicles.

Radial society is mainly matriarchal, as their pack-hunting ancestors’ had a hierarchy similar to hyenas. In these early societies, females always ranked higher than the males; females often had a main mate, with one to two subsequent mates that help with childcare.

This ancestry is suspected to have resulted in the absolutist monarchy that most Radial societies are based upon, with some Radial societies even going as far as having a totalitarian government.

A radial’s rank in many societies were based on their sex and parent’s rank. If they were male, they would inherit their birth-father’s rank. If they were female, they would inherit their mother’s rank.

Polyamorous relationships are still a very common tradition in Radial culture, traditionally with one female and 2-3 males.

Body piercings are also a common tradition in radial culture. Common piercings include four ladders of individual rods that run the length of their torso, rods lining their tendrils, and even frenum studs lining their cloaca.

While ladder piercings originally symbolized wealth and beauty, frenum studs were almost exclusively associated with warriors. With the tissue being particularly sensitive to pain, many studs symbolized high virility and stoicism.

Radials are largely crepuscular during warm seasons, being most active during dawn and dusk; while in winter months, they are strictly diurnal. This is hypothesized to be a behavior evolved to avoid the heat of midday in the seasonal steppe the species originated from.

While still awake during midday, radials will often spend this time relaxing within their homes.

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Radials upon first contact were a type 1 civilization, using various forms of sustainable energy production to power their sprawling cities and looming megastructures. While fusion energy is by far the most prominent, more coastal cities would take advantage of storms and ocean currents to produce energy. Radials are even going through the slow but fruitful process of constructing a dyson swarm around their star.

A new project is blooming just beyond the swarm as well. While few in number now, colossal hollow orbs have begun to surround the radial’s home star.

These rotating space habitats are intended to be the next step in radial space colonization, having several internal layers hidden beneath its exterior like a celestial Russian doll.

Each layer is large enough to support it’s own weather system, with immense towers that will bathe each layer in pseudo-sunlight using the energy from the growing dyson swarm.

When completed, each layer would rotate at varied speeds to maintain a consistent gravity between each section of the megastructure.

From these hollow shells will birth the most immense cities of the radial empire, far exceeding even that of the planetary ring.

Some radial economists worry that to procure the necessary materials, they might have to resort to planetary deconstruction to avoid depleting their asteroid belts. The construction of these monoliths will be daunting, but the many radials believe the payoff will be exceed its price.

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Due to the extremely similar planetary conditions of agurh and earth, Radials and basal humans are able to coexist with one another without special equipment or habitats. However, due to vastly different styles of communication, cross-species translation devices have been implemented to overcome the language barrier.

During initial radio contact, both species worked with one another to share and develop new technologies that lead to a golden age in advancement.

A few hundred years into radio contact, the two species developed a new technology that would not only allow both species to meet face-to-face for the first time but completely redefine space travel as a whole; the Nietzsche probe.

#worldbuilding #alien species #aliens #speculative fiction #speculative biology #speculative design #speculative worldbuilding #writing #speculative writing

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aisla229 · 3 years

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Finished the first arc of the tabletop rpg game I’m GMing, I can finally post all the art! More about the worldbuilding under the cut:

Sauris is a white moon who’s visible surface is mostly composed of clouds. It orbeting around a gas giant, Caelophy. Millenias ago one of the pieces of the crust rolled over in the sea, exposing its side to the sunlight above, past the violent chemically active (and colorful) clouds inbetween. Life boomed on the continent, giving birth to complexe lifeforms such as plants and animals. Currently, civilisation is on the verge of an industrialisation, with a wide and diverse range of trades, for the first time spanning the massive and entire continent.

The active Inner Cloud layer, in an event called the Cloud’s Shift, can burst outwards. When it touches the continent it is believed to be the cause of creation of magic, causing all kinds of odds events as well, like making felines walk on two legs, plants change color, or give mysterious abilities to hidden creatures.

Any magic needs to be cast with a magic circle, each categorised by naturally occuring sigils at the centers. There is 13 known sigils, each named and tide to the planets and moons of Sauro. However tides are about to move, with a few wary travellers coming across a 14th unknown sigil, with the only proof of it being a reserved kid and a suspicious necklace.

Dinosaurs are the prominent life form on Sauris, with only a few mammals (mostly rodents and our beloved humanoids), fish in the rivers, and giant insects in the bogs. Here is a world where dinosaurs are found as locomotion, pets, food, and terrifying predators. It being very cold on Sauris, all year round, they also all rock some fluffy feather/proto-feathers coats.

The seasons no Sauris, are divided into two summers and two winters, spending a large portion of the year partially obscured of Sauro by Caelophy. The highest temperature is around 10°C , and the lowest -30°C

Here on the continent:

- The Tower of Almonious: A distant land discovered by a great sorcerer who has constructed a massive tower on top. Not much is known to the common people of Sauris, and stays inaccessible even today.

- Pol Malleo: An Active volcano, that unlike the ones on Earth does not eject lava, but a hot water-like liquid. Said liquid, named Azura, has a bright blue-turquoise color that glows a powerful green when it comes in contact with certain gases. The jets can go as high as 50 km high in the sky, forming a long colorful trail as it floats away.When an eruption occurs during Altieme, the droplets of liquid tend to freeze instantly in contact with the cold air, forming icicles that drop on the land below, often causing great problems as they bullet the surface.

- Tiacus Mire: It is currently the land in which resides the biggest city of Sauris; Aegyp. It also has the biggest lake: Great Ophora. During Primaestas, the majority of its land gets flooded, creating humid bogs, prospice to massive creatures, such as insects, Spinosaurus, and water dwellers like the massive mosasaurus.

- The Isles of Breviq: It probably has the most unique land shapes of the entire Continent. Long, relatively thin pillars of land have slowly come apart from the main land mass over many centuries, resulting in its numerous islands appearing to float between the clouds. The people of Breviq are known for having tamed the difficult beasts of the sky; riding pterosaurs.

- Pol Incus: The tallest mountain of Sauris, and so the tallest point of the entire moon. Its difficult climb has challenged many minds to reach its freezing top where the air grows thin. Temples and even old artefacts lie across the peaks or hidden under it’s rocks, proving the curiosity this mountain has always inspired.

- Thyreophor: The biggest land of Sauris. Thyreophor is most defined by its lush forests with massive trees and year-long colorful plants capable of holding under massive amounts of snow. It still holds the title of largest population in total.

- The Sdomorphia Wild Plains: Long stretches of grass and brush-like plants extend for as far as the eye can see. Sdomorphia is the land of nomads and the biggest of the animal kingdom: the Sauropods. It might not contain many streams or lakes, but it’s vast stretches borrow perfectly for herd hunting.

- The Austro Tundra: Unlike the other more South lands of Sauris, the Austro Tundra’s soil never melts away. Its rock-solid earth and ice makes it difficult to build houses on, but it has not stopped villages from sprouting even on the coldest land.The Austro Tundra is the land of Theropods, having the biggest number of raptors alike, many of which have prized feather coats.

- The Coelorus Coast: It has some of the biggest rate of precipitation of Sauris, standing on the right side of Pol Malleo against the strong air currents brushing the clouds below. Perhaps from the warmth created by Pol Malleo, the snow in Coelorus tends to melt a lot quicker than the other lands, and with the high amount of rivers and streams lining the soils, it also is one of the most fertile places. The steep sides of the volcano create perfect ranges for step agriculture, and primarily corn and rice.

- Cephalia: It currently has the title of the land with the biggest number of farm-land. Cephalia is often defined as the most friendly populace. With its loudest voices being farmers and workers, it has a particular streak of freedom and carelessness attached to its name.

- The Shantung Sway: A land carrying its own ecosphere, the people of Shantung have remained centuries without connection to the rest of Sauris. The current path to its land is extremely recent and trades have yet to be initiated. Apart from a very few explorers that have left Shantung to see the lands, and all described as fairly eccentric, interactions have been minimal so far.Shantung has been described as odd and fairy tale-like. With plants that glow in the dark, upside-down trees that prevent snow from reaching the ground, and weird spiky structured rocks. With bizarre animals, dinosaurs naked without feathers, small floating octopus creatures, and long leg-less organisms that slithered like tree branches.

- The Tenonto Canyon: The great divider between Malleo and Incus, the canyon expands down as far as can see, battered with wild winds and dangerous looking tornadoes beneath the clouds. A single bridge has been built on the closest edges, where the trade route quickly bustled with life, and ultimately created Mer, an unique city split in two across each side, one in the Tiacus Mire and the other in Thyreophor.

I’d like to say a big thank you to the players for being so patient and being so invested in this world i created, I love you guys. And thanks to anyone who actually read this!

#long post #doodles #dinosaur #austroraptor #protoceratops #avaceratops #worldbuilding #fantasy world #fantasy #DnD #dungeons and dragons #tabletop rpg #my art #I'm trying to make a summary of this 35+ pages doc OH BOI

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thecowardlycreative · 5 years

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Hey! Here’s an AU idea I had. Should I keep working on it?

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Pairing: Klance

Summary: AU where everything is the same except Allura & Coran woke up long before Shiro crash landed back on Earth. Also there are no lions. Also Keith is full-Galra, born and raised. So, really, not a lot is the same.

Word Count: 850 (in this little bit. I don’t want to start another big project, though, so I’d like the finished product to be no more than 20k)

Notes: Would you look at that? I’m still alive. Nice seeing you all for the first time since Dec 16 last year :) If you’d like to know what I’ve been up to, hit me up. Or if you have ideas for a title, please also hit me up because I’ve got nothing.

Sometimes he sees her in his dreams. Sees her that night as she’d burst from the belly of the alien ship, teeth bared and staff held at the ready, the long blades at either end iridescent with an otherworldly light. She looked human enough, other than the pale pink markings that glowed faintly beneath her eyes and the slight elongation of her ears. But, still, there was no denying that this woman was not of Earth.

Her duochrome eyes that flashed a brilliant turquoise and magenta as she glared at him were entirely alien. Her canine teeth were just slightly too sharp to be human. She was dressed like no one he had ever seen -- clearly in armour but an armour that was as thin as cotton, only thickening over the vital organs of her torso, and with a short cape that dangled from below her shoulder-blades to the backs of her knees. Her hair -- and what hair it was! Such a crystalline white in stark contrast to her dark skin and kaleidoscope eyes -- was pinned in a series of complicated twists and folds against her skull. And when she spoke… He may have been an ignorant boy, only having travelled to two countries on the planet, but he could safely say that was not a Earthen language. It was clearly a threat, whatever she said, despite the lilting, flowery, almost Romantic cadence of it. She bared her too sharp teeth again, the moonlight reflecting off the thin stream of blood that slowly seeped out from her hairline, and Lance, despite almost three years of military training, immediately raised his hands in surrender.

He’s not surprised that he dreams about that night. He’s thought about it so much it’s little wonder it’s invaded his unconscious mind as well. What would his life be like if he’d never pulled off the road to see what had just plummeted out of the sky to crash in the desert beside him? What if he’d never surrendered, let her kill him and get it over with? What if he and Hunk had never decided to drive into the city at all that night? Just let the Garrison have her and continue on with his life as he’d known it. Would things be better off?

Clearly, in one of these scenarios, Lance would be long dead but, some days, dying in ignorance felt like the better option.

His alarm blares yet again -- he’s already hit snooze on it three times -- and he fumbles around blindly for something to chuck at it. The pillow hits the consol by the door dead-centre and silence floods back into the dark room but the damage is already done. He groans, scrubbing harshly at his face with both hands in the hopes it’ll wake him up just a little.

“Lights on,” he grumbles as he reaches for the communicator in the alcove cut into the bedhead and slips it over the back of his ear like a hearing-aid.

The lights are slow to turn on, a gentle fade in egg-yolk yellow -- just the way he’d programmed it to be -- a best-fit replica of the sunrise on Earth.

“Anything I need to know happen overnight?” he asks the empty room, still lying flat on his back with the heels of his palm pressed against his eyes.

“It was quiet overnight,” says the electronic female voice in his ear. “We passed by Deriden’s Belt at 0330 vargas, as predicted, with minimal damage via asteroid collision. All damage has already been repaired. There were 15 distress signals received.”

“Any we’re following up on?”

“Squad A-12 has been sent to investigate one distress signal originating in the Alcantia System. Squad B-3 has been sent to investigat--”

“But nothing for Voltron?”

“The Voltron Squadron is clear of all duties until the commencement of classes at 0950 vargas,” the automated voice responds.

Lance gives a sigh that is more than half groan and, finally, rolls himself out of bed, his bare feet cold against the alien-plastic of his bedroom floor. “Great. Thanks.”

“No problem whatsoever. It’s been a pleasure to be of service.”

He closes his eyes briefly as the castle’s automated admin AI gives its usual sign off. He’s trying not to turn back around. It’s a struggle he faces every morning these days. Even after five months, it’s still so hard not to turn back for one last glimpse of Keith’s sleeping face, curled up and warm, fur fluffy and ears bent against the pillows in their bed.

Because he’s not there.

And he hasn’t been there for a long time.

But habits are apparently hard to break because, even as Lance argues against himself, tells himself Keith left five months ago for an undercover mission that could potentially take the rest of his life and there’s no possible way he’s in that bed, he still finds himself turning around. And there’s still that stab of disappointment when all he sees is his messed up and empty sheets on the mattress.

He gives another sigh and heads for the bathroom to start his day.

#klance #klance au #voltron #lance mcclain #keith kogane #voltron: ld #voltron: legendary defender #voltron:ld #writing #fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #galra keith #I feel like I'm starting tumblr all over again... how does this thing work again?

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