Concordat setting: Aliens 1
Oct. 23rd, 2005 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreSince this is becoming a hard-sf setting, I want my aliens to be, well, alien. Not like us, in form or thought (but close enough in thought that we can interact with them, of course. I also wanted races that presented a unique set of challenges to those dealing with them. Since this a "local area" setting (within 150ly of Sol) I figure three or four alien intelligences would be good. So far I have:
The !kaf
These are the classic Grays, and yes, they did kidnap people and do anal probes. They have a technology far beyond the human level.. inertialess drives, antigravity, etc. They claim to have once ruled most of the local arm until their empire fell 6,000 years ago. They are not locals, but roam the area in massive city ships that travel at near light speed.
Physically, they are unimpressive. Averaging 1.3m in height, they have smooth grayish skin, small mouths, and large eyes that are black. Typically, they wear coveralls when around humans. Their speech is quiet, and filled with clicks and glotteral stops. Humans can learn their tongue, and vice versa. Biochemically, we can live on their rations although those who have done so describe them as bland and monotonous. !kaf prefer lighting levels lower than human norm, shifted more to the red end of the spectrum.
Psychologically, they are enigmas. Rarely does a !kaf show any emotional reaction; even to extreme events such as the death of a comrade. They are secretive about their lives and motivations. Most encounters between !kaf and other races are limited to a !kaf ship observing an event for a time, then vanishing. They do trade in information, but absolutely refuse any attempt to purchase their technology.
In fact, the !kaf are the survivors of a once great empire.. but it wasn't their empire. They are an artificial race, created as servitors for the race that actually created the technology used by the !kaf. The lords, called the uthpog by the !kaf, had a difficult time dealing with hyperspace. Nothing fatal, just severe hyperspace sickness that was endemic to the species. So they created a race to do the exploring for them (and later to build gateways that allowed the uthpog to simply walk from world to world.) The !kaf (the word means "servant") soon took on all the menial roles in uthpog society, leaving the lords to concentrate on study.
Then came what the !kaf refer to as the Ix nap to, The Great Loss. Ships returning to the settled worlds of the empire found them deserted. All the uthpog had vanished, and the !kaf on the planets had been exterminated. All the remain explorers were recalled, and the !kaf, for the first time as a race, had to make an independent decision. They quickly split into two factions: The independents who felt that since the uthpog had abandoned them, and killed their brothers, that their obligation to the lords was finished and the !kaf should found their own empire; and the loyalists, who felt the whole reason for the !kaf was to serve, so they would find the uthpog and continue serving.
The war lasted centuries. Many of the home worlds were destroyed, and at least one star was induced to nova by dropping a black hole into it (creating the Crab Nebula in the process), but in the end the loyalists won the day. They abandoned the ruined core of the empire and began searching the galaxy for their departed masters.
I'm not going to reveal what happened to the uthpog. I remember how finding out who the Ancients really were changed Traveller. So it will remain a mystery.
I remember coming across the Chancellor in his study. He was viewing the holo of an old encounter between our Fleet and a !kaf scout ship. We watched in silence as the tiny ship destroyed two heavy cruisers while not taking any damage from our fire. After the holo ended, Chancellor Daltry addressed me without taking his eyes off the tank.
"You wonder why I keep watching this, yes? I rule over 250 worlds. I have power that a Napoleon, Alexander, or Hitler couldn't dream of in their wildest fantasies. And yet that tiny ship represents something even greater."
"Ah," I replied, "it is a lesson in humility then?"
The Chancellor laughed. "No, something far more important." He pointed to the frozen image of shattered ships. "Humility is taught to me by the Senate and my own Ministers on a daily basis. This teaches me that for all my power, I am but a child in a room filled with predators. This teaches me to fear."
The Blimps
Our closest friends turn out to be gasbags. The blimps have no spoken language, but instead communicate by changing the coloration and pattern of their skin (much like octopi). An average blimp is about 1.5 meters long, and somewhat egg-shaped. Their natural coloration ranges from a light brown to a reddish hue; but the nature of blimp communication and emotional display means this color is only seen occasionally. Blimps have four eyes in two pairs (one set optimized for seeing at a distance, the other for close up vision) which see slightly farther into the IR spectrum than we do. Certain shades of violet appear black to them. The eyes are set at the front of the "big end" of their gas sacks. The far-seeing eyes are above the close range pair. The mouth is on the underside of the body.
Blimps have four thin multi-jointed legs that end in curved claws. Blimps use these legs to pull themselves along, which is their primary means of movement. They also possess six tentacles in two clusters of three between the eye cluster and the mouth. Approximately 5% of blimps are born with eight tentacles. In addition, a specialized tentacles called the snorkel hangs from the body near the mouth. Its purpose is to draw water. This water is used both for metabolic processes, and is split into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is used to keep a blimp flying, of course, and most of the oxygen is exhaled. A blimp can breath using either air or water (assuming adequate oxygen, of course.) The blimps also store a small oxygen reserve. This is part of a unique defense mechanism. When threatened, a blimp can expel and ignite its supply of oxygen (with a small amount of hydrogen and suddenly rocket up several meters. This "mouth rocket" doesn't hurt the blimp, and is used only in dire emergencies. (One of the hardest things to train blimp soldiers is not to rocket when threatened.. since that leaves them hanging in mid-air, helpless.)
Blimps have two sexes. Reproduction is complex, and causes a bit of a poor reaction in the squeamish. Once a year, females release a clutch of 10-20 eggs into a specially prepared pond. Males then release their sperm into the pond. In modern times, the ponds are supervised. After approximately 60 days, the eggs start hatching. What causes distress among humans is the fact that the early hatchers immediately begin eating the other eggs in the pond! Typically, almost 75% of eggs laid are either eaten by hungry newborns or not fertilized. The surviving newborns are fully aquatic for the first three months, eating voraciously until their gas bags inflate and they leave the hatching pond. Young blimps are raised by the community, with no real regard placed on parentage.
The blimps evolved in a large swampy area similar to the Everglades or the Mekong Delta. They would pull themselves along, using their tentacles to pull up edible plants and snag fish. Climate change forced them onto drier land, and technology followed. By the time they were contacted by humanity, they had colonized several star systems using sublight generation ships. They were slightly ahead of us in optics and electronics, and trade between the races has been heavy.
Blimps communicate, as noted above, by shifting the coloration and pattern on their skin. The primary area used for this is a relatively smooth area of the gas bad above the eye clusters. The simplest expressions are emotional states, are these are shown by color changes. Yellow, for example, is the color of aggression or anger (with subtle shading showing degrees of anger.) As they evolved communication became more complex. The language is best describes as pictographic, with symbols representing entire words or concepts. Grammatically, the blimp language has been compared to sign language in the lack of articles and rhythm. Blimps "speaking" will often add emotional colors to their pictograms to add intensity. Blimp writings also use this convention. Humans can learn the blimp language, and blimps can learn to understand human speech.
Society is based around groupings labeled "squadrons" by human sociologists. (Aviation terms abound when discussing the blimps). A voluntary group of up to a dozen adults bound by mutual attraction and interest, these are the closest thing to a family the blimps have. Membership in squadrons is voluntary and a blimp may live in several as he ages. Squadrons are legally recognized by the blimp government, and have protections similar to marriage. Blimp starships tend to be crewed by squadrons, and many areas of labor or research that require tight-knit groups also are filled by squadrons.
The Blimp government is best translated as "Confederation of Worlds" and is known as the Blimp Confederation among humans. Each world elects representatives to a parliament based on their population, and that parliament elects and executive council that runs the government. Blimps suffer from the curse of bureaucracy as much as their human neighbors. The blimps control about 40 worlds, mostly to Spinward and South of human space.
Technically, we should call them "dirigibles." The cartilage frame that supports the gas sacks mirrors the frame of those great airships. But hey, what's scientific fact in the face of a popular name? - Dr. Therese Hetfield, Xenobiologist
More later. Any comments, suggestions, etc.
The !kaf
These are the classic Grays, and yes, they did kidnap people and do anal probes. They have a technology far beyond the human level.. inertialess drives, antigravity, etc. They claim to have once ruled most of the local arm until their empire fell 6,000 years ago. They are not locals, but roam the area in massive city ships that travel at near light speed.
Physically, they are unimpressive. Averaging 1.3m in height, they have smooth grayish skin, small mouths, and large eyes that are black. Typically, they wear coveralls when around humans. Their speech is quiet, and filled with clicks and glotteral stops. Humans can learn their tongue, and vice versa. Biochemically, we can live on their rations although those who have done so describe them as bland and monotonous. !kaf prefer lighting levels lower than human norm, shifted more to the red end of the spectrum.
Psychologically, they are enigmas. Rarely does a !kaf show any emotional reaction; even to extreme events such as the death of a comrade. They are secretive about their lives and motivations. Most encounters between !kaf and other races are limited to a !kaf ship observing an event for a time, then vanishing. They do trade in information, but absolutely refuse any attempt to purchase their technology.
In fact, the !kaf are the survivors of a once great empire.. but it wasn't their empire. They are an artificial race, created as servitors for the race that actually created the technology used by the !kaf. The lords, called the uthpog by the !kaf, had a difficult time dealing with hyperspace. Nothing fatal, just severe hyperspace sickness that was endemic to the species. So they created a race to do the exploring for them (and later to build gateways that allowed the uthpog to simply walk from world to world.) The !kaf (the word means "servant") soon took on all the menial roles in uthpog society, leaving the lords to concentrate on study.
Then came what the !kaf refer to as the Ix nap to, The Great Loss. Ships returning to the settled worlds of the empire found them deserted. All the uthpog had vanished, and the !kaf on the planets had been exterminated. All the remain explorers were recalled, and the !kaf, for the first time as a race, had to make an independent decision. They quickly split into two factions: The independents who felt that since the uthpog had abandoned them, and killed their brothers, that their obligation to the lords was finished and the !kaf should found their own empire; and the loyalists, who felt the whole reason for the !kaf was to serve, so they would find the uthpog and continue serving.
The war lasted centuries. Many of the home worlds were destroyed, and at least one star was induced to nova by dropping a black hole into it (creating the Crab Nebula in the process), but in the end the loyalists won the day. They abandoned the ruined core of the empire and began searching the galaxy for their departed masters.
I'm not going to reveal what happened to the uthpog. I remember how finding out who the Ancients really were changed Traveller. So it will remain a mystery.
I remember coming across the Chancellor in his study. He was viewing the holo of an old encounter between our Fleet and a !kaf scout ship. We watched in silence as the tiny ship destroyed two heavy cruisers while not taking any damage from our fire. After the holo ended, Chancellor Daltry addressed me without taking his eyes off the tank.
"You wonder why I keep watching this, yes? I rule over 250 worlds. I have power that a Napoleon, Alexander, or Hitler couldn't dream of in their wildest fantasies. And yet that tiny ship represents something even greater."
"Ah," I replied, "it is a lesson in humility then?"
The Chancellor laughed. "No, something far more important." He pointed to the frozen image of shattered ships. "Humility is taught to me by the Senate and my own Ministers on a daily basis. This teaches me that for all my power, I am but a child in a room filled with predators. This teaches me to fear."
The Blimps
Our closest friends turn out to be gasbags. The blimps have no spoken language, but instead communicate by changing the coloration and pattern of their skin (much like octopi). An average blimp is about 1.5 meters long, and somewhat egg-shaped. Their natural coloration ranges from a light brown to a reddish hue; but the nature of blimp communication and emotional display means this color is only seen occasionally. Blimps have four eyes in two pairs (one set optimized for seeing at a distance, the other for close up vision) which see slightly farther into the IR spectrum than we do. Certain shades of violet appear black to them. The eyes are set at the front of the "big end" of their gas sacks. The far-seeing eyes are above the close range pair. The mouth is on the underside of the body.
Blimps have four thin multi-jointed legs that end in curved claws. Blimps use these legs to pull themselves along, which is their primary means of movement. They also possess six tentacles in two clusters of three between the eye cluster and the mouth. Approximately 5% of blimps are born with eight tentacles. In addition, a specialized tentacles called the snorkel hangs from the body near the mouth. Its purpose is to draw water. This water is used both for metabolic processes, and is split into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is used to keep a blimp flying, of course, and most of the oxygen is exhaled. A blimp can breath using either air or water (assuming adequate oxygen, of course.) The blimps also store a small oxygen reserve. This is part of a unique defense mechanism. When threatened, a blimp can expel and ignite its supply of oxygen (with a small amount of hydrogen and suddenly rocket up several meters. This "mouth rocket" doesn't hurt the blimp, and is used only in dire emergencies. (One of the hardest things to train blimp soldiers is not to rocket when threatened.. since that leaves them hanging in mid-air, helpless.)
Blimps have two sexes. Reproduction is complex, and causes a bit of a poor reaction in the squeamish. Once a year, females release a clutch of 10-20 eggs into a specially prepared pond. Males then release their sperm into the pond. In modern times, the ponds are supervised. After approximately 60 days, the eggs start hatching. What causes distress among humans is the fact that the early hatchers immediately begin eating the other eggs in the pond! Typically, almost 75% of eggs laid are either eaten by hungry newborns or not fertilized. The surviving newborns are fully aquatic for the first three months, eating voraciously until their gas bags inflate and they leave the hatching pond. Young blimps are raised by the community, with no real regard placed on parentage.
The blimps evolved in a large swampy area similar to the Everglades or the Mekong Delta. They would pull themselves along, using their tentacles to pull up edible plants and snag fish. Climate change forced them onto drier land, and technology followed. By the time they were contacted by humanity, they had colonized several star systems using sublight generation ships. They were slightly ahead of us in optics and electronics, and trade between the races has been heavy.
Blimps communicate, as noted above, by shifting the coloration and pattern on their skin. The primary area used for this is a relatively smooth area of the gas bad above the eye clusters. The simplest expressions are emotional states, are these are shown by color changes. Yellow, for example, is the color of aggression or anger (with subtle shading showing degrees of anger.) As they evolved communication became more complex. The language is best describes as pictographic, with symbols representing entire words or concepts. Grammatically, the blimp language has been compared to sign language in the lack of articles and rhythm. Blimps "speaking" will often add emotional colors to their pictograms to add intensity. Blimp writings also use this convention. Humans can learn the blimp language, and blimps can learn to understand human speech.
Society is based around groupings labeled "squadrons" by human sociologists. (Aviation terms abound when discussing the blimps). A voluntary group of up to a dozen adults bound by mutual attraction and interest, these are the closest thing to a family the blimps have. Membership in squadrons is voluntary and a blimp may live in several as he ages. Squadrons are legally recognized by the blimp government, and have protections similar to marriage. Blimp starships tend to be crewed by squadrons, and many areas of labor or research that require tight-knit groups also are filled by squadrons.
The Blimp government is best translated as "Confederation of Worlds" and is known as the Blimp Confederation among humans. Each world elects representatives to a parliament based on their population, and that parliament elects and executive council that runs the government. Blimps suffer from the curse of bureaucracy as much as their human neighbors. The blimps control about 40 worlds, mostly to Spinward and South of human space.
Technically, we should call them "dirigibles." The cartilage frame that supports the gas sacks mirrors the frame of those great airships. But hey, what's scientific fact in the face of a popular name? - Dr. Therese Hetfield, Xenobiologist
More later. Any comments, suggestions, etc.
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Date: 24 Oct 2005 00:24 (UTC)