Lent23

A mechanic like this already exists with diona limbs, so I imagine this would also be pretty easy to implement. Instead of a diona nymph dropping to the ground, it's just some pieces of X material.

I genuinely really like the idea. There are plenty of people who are morally against having robotic portions of their bodies (dominians/unathi) and there are plenty of people who are simply too poor to afford higher quality robotic limbs. We have people aboard the Horizon who can't afford a living situation, so they simply sleep in cryo - these poor people aren't going to want to spend all their earnings on a new limb if they lose one, are they? I really don't think this needs to be limited to antagonists. I really like the idea of limbs that have drawbacks as well - look at how the aut'akh augmentations fare when compared to "standard" augments. They all have some sort of drawback or otherwise "bad" component, but they make for a compelling story. I think fully mechanical/non-robotic limbs makes total sense. Being able to craft a peg leg from a stack of wood because there's no machinist makes sense as a temporary solution in-round too! I could see these being kinda goofy and maybe a bit overplayed down the line, but I still think it's a cool option to be able to have. You could even limit them to pirates.

I'm partial to traditionalist remnants, personally. Sinta that trace their lineages back - whether involved in the contact war or not - who may be putting up a front with the Hegemon to stay in good graces or simply hiding for a potential future without Not'zar or any other Izweski. Sinta who have stayed devout Th'akh as their ancestors since time immemorial. Wasteland clans who, if you look far enough in the past, would find themselves in a much more noble position than they do now. The sinta the Hegemon doesn't want you to know about - these are the sinta I enjoy writing stories about. I'm particularly interested in Uueoa-Esa. The fact that we have two inhabited planets in the same solar system is such an interesting aspect that I don't believe any other planets seem to share. I would enjoy writing about the relations between things that are geologically close yet ideologically far from each other - like the relationship between Moghes & Ouerea or the Hegemony & the Queendom. I want to see the Hegemony act more aggressively now that their internal issues are (seemingly) resolved. Now that the good™️ sinta have enough food, what is stopping the Hegemon from seeking conquests - be it unoccupied planets or lowly-inhabited planets. They could even try to scoop up some leftover human colonies. Their Kataphracts have been out exploring, but now it's time to call them home to fight for the Hegemon properly, something that many of the new-blood haven't been able to truly see - the horrors of war aren't the same as bandit-hunting, you know. They could even kill some Tajara on their warpath. Think World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth('s premise, at least) - one side is more-or-less clearly in the wrong, but has their reasons to fight; the Hegemony is stagnating, it needs resources, it can protect the people of X better. There are surely some planets worth taking in the Badlands or the Sparring Sea, for example. Even some clashes with Dominia or the PRA are possible - but overall, I want to see the Hegemony expand out of Uueoa-Esa - there is a lot of empty space on the starmap around the Hegemony that could be utilized. Adding onto the above, I would like to see the Hegemony's relationship with vaurca expanded - particularly the K'lax. The vassalage of the K'lax could finally be tested by a true war-call from the Hegemon - the K'lax auxiliaries could prove themselves to be a formidable fighting force. Similar racial relations could be expanded with Moghresian dionae, with the Hegemon calling for Dionae to support the Hegemony in any way they can, such as supplying replacement limbs to injured warriors, for example. As touched on slightly above, there are some clans that hold to Th'akh at the detriment of their image, as practicing Sk'akh shows the Hegemon that you're willing to bow to his religion. Wasteland clans that found themselves stripped of their noble lineages to wander the wastes like guwandi. I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be a secret plot to either depose the Hegemon or leave Moghes. There are sinta still alive who had friends and family executed by the Hegemon for seeking a sinta-centric life for Moghes. Survivorship bias would logically indicate that those best hiding their intent would have been the ones to survive. As for the distinctions themselves, there's two parts to this: lore-wise and in-game, which I'll tackle one at a time. Lore-wise, we have no better example to look at: Tajara and the distinctions between the PRA/DPRA/NKA - with the former and latter being particularly pertinent here. Essentially, the PRA as a faction is open to cooperation with other species on a galactic level, as the Hegemony seems to be. They are both (relatively) radical factions led by dictatorial rulers who impose a certain way of life on their people. In opposition to this, the NKA and what's left of the traditionalists are more reactionary groups, who seek to return to the "old ways" of their species. The stark difference between the NKA and the traditionalists is that the traditionalists have been driven underground, where the NKA have been allowed to remain as an active nation on Adhomai. I don't think that the traditionalists necessarily need to openly rebel, but should the Hegemon do something hasty such as start an aggressive land-grab, I could see traditionalists plotting to depose him, utilizing the general strife and stresses that wartime would bring upon the average sinta. In-game, we could do with some more factionalized loadout items. Comparing the Unathi to the Tajara once again - the Tajara have some starkly differential items in their loadouts. Some examples include: PRA uniforms, tesla spines DPRA uniforms, party pins for each party of the DPRA NKA noble uniforms, Faction cards, badges, pins and manifestos for all 3 factions There are already things that are restricted to sinta nobility, such as the rockstone cape, jeweled bracers, but I think some variety between those that consider themselves true Hegemony nobles - those that live in the Heartlands and swear complete loyalty to Not'zar - and traditionalists that live outside the immediate heartland area, like the Th'akh heartland, the Zazalai mountains, the immediate wastelanders that could still visit the heartland itself. I want to see Zazalai clothing options, Wastelander-specific uniforms, a Sezk-Hakh manifesto, conservative traditionalist clothing that looks distinct from the newer Izweski style clothing. Should the traditionalists ever fully rise up again, we could have pins that show support for particular factions. Should the Hegemony declare all-out war, we could have pins that stand against the Hegemon - the Horizon is far enough away from Hegemony space that people could feel confident wearing these sorts of items openly (or even carrying them privately). While the chainlink gains access to the Hegemony's resources through Hephaestus, Hephaestus becomes one of two of the chainlink's members that essentially owns a nation. While Biesel is essentially a corporate dreamscape, it is, for all intents and purposes, owed by Nanotrasen (and by extension the chainlink) in essence if not name. The next closest thing to a powerful link could arguably be the relation that Zavodskoi has with Sol and especially Dominia. Hephaestus could essentially establish itself as the second strongest link behind Nanotrasen itself with the backing of the Hegemony. Their buyout has secured them an insane amount of leverage within the chainlink itself. It's not like Hephaestus is giving Hegemony land to the other members of the chainlink - it's more that the chainlink is going to see a large influx of workers who are loyal to Hephaestus. There are specific kinks that I could see needing to be worked out with the exact deals being struck, but the most important part to me personally about the situation is seeing some sort of on-station effect. How we get there exactly can always be smoothed over as a team - I'd be very interested to see what Rusting thinks of the idea, personally. I think generally I would be more similar to an everything-all-at-once sort of deal, though it's more of a suggestion than a rule. I find that sometimes I can get too into an idea being one way, and the best way to re-focus yourself is to put it aside for a short time - be it a few hours or a few days, just to get back into it, understand where you were coming from, make re-writes as needed, etc. For the most part, however, my writing comes in the bursts between the waiting. If I have a project I'm working on, I'll usually keep it open in the downtime so I can add to it if I think of it while I'm in the middle of something else. I tend to create small lists of to-do's that I would also think about during the course of my day as well, and then add them all during a burst of writing. I tend to over-analyze stuff and can unintentionally stall myself if I get too stuck-up on certain things. My biggest problem with my own personal projects in the past has been creating too big of a scope and trying to make everything fit into the big scope, rather than trying to focus on smaller aspects of a project. In my personal D&D world for example, I have worked so much on grand-scheme things such as multiple worlds, how magic works, etc - that it becomes hard to write the smaller-scale things like towns, animals in an area, etc. My biggest gripe with myself is that I often find the most joy in writing about those small things. I had a conversation with a few friends on what kinds of animals are present on Biesel, because it would change the way of life that the people of the planet would have. It's such a small, asinine feature but I feel like small things like this would have pretty drastic impacts on society. The animals on Biesel were limited to small gopher-like animals called Barks, and they were more-or-less killed off to make room for a cheap way to explain away only having earth animals on the planet colonists. Absolutely not. As much as I want to see the Unathi as a species thrive, I know that every other writer for every other species cares just as much about the species they write for. As much as I would love to write about the Hegemon killing Tajara on Gakal'zal and taking the planet over for themselves, I would equally love to collaborate with other lore writers on why Ouerea should be bombed. Genuinely, I think the most enticing portion of the position itself is the collaboration. I want to experience how Alberyk writes Tajara, how Caelphon expands Dionae, etc. There is literally nothing more exciting to me than working with other passionate people. Sinta deserve to suffer anyways. Currently? I see them as a nation with a very strong potential. As I've stated earlier in this post - most of their issues have been solved, and the Hegemon could look to make big moves in the future. The titan has risen, so to speak - the rationing is over, Sk'akh and Th'akh devouts are making peace and reparations, Hephaestus has united most of the guilds, which are being overseen by a sinta - the Hegemony is doing very well for itself right now. Whether it's expansion, hostile acts, or simply working more on themselves, I think the Hegemony is due for some big action in the future. Maybe we could even see the Hegemon push to unite (or take-over) some pirate groups in the Sparring Sea! The Horizon could visit a now-(outwardly)-thriving Hegemony. We could see first-hand the ever-growing disparity between the nobility and the workers. We could see Hephaestus intervention in the chainlink through the Hegemony, or even a Hephaestus-backed takeover of the Hegemony itself. There is simply so much potential that the Hegemony has, and I would love to be a part of what's to come.

I've said it before, but I have to say it again: Dessy is one of the most thoughtful players when it comes to carefully planning out their characters' backstories. God knows they love stealing my ideas (sinta-blood diona). I gotta give you a +1 because you're basically just me at this point. 😉

Now, I may be biased, but I'm a big fan of Razortail (Marauders) 😉

Since you stole from my app, I'll have to steal from your comments on mine! 😂 I can't do the justice you deserve when it comes to the thoughtfulness you put into your work. I genuinely can't think of another person I'd want on the Unathi team than you. All of your work that you've shared with me so far has been awesome to read, and I hope you continue to share the things you make - it's incredible to see work done by someone as passionate as you seem to be. Of course I'd have to +1 this for what it's worth - even if we're enemies now. (❤️)

I don't have any issues waiting on other people. While I prefer a decently paced workflow, I wouldn't get bothered or annoyed if someone else falls behind on something - especially if I have a secondary project that I could be working on. While criticism always stings, I've found throughout my life that as long as criticism is constructive, it's never something I take personally. I like to think I'm able to kill my darlings as they say - especially when something is overall too oversaturated or harmful to the overall narrative. As long as my work is not used to level personal attacks against myself, I won't have any issues. There is always a decent amount of acclimation in the beginning of integration into a new team with anything, and there's simply nothing to be taken personally there, either. I am comfortable working in teams of any size. While I generally prefer smaller projects that would be centralized with two or three people, I have no issues working within a larger team. I find that locations like Gakal'zaal or Mictlan are more interesting, as they get access to a huge benefit both ICly and OOCly: Diversity. My ideas will, in some way or another, be biased for Unathi - that's who I write for. There is, however, an unmatched feeling of working with people who are equally interested in their own species, like the Tajara team, for instance. On the IC perspective, it's much more compelling to write about how Unathi interact with differing cultures - my main character herself is a noble steeped in human / corporate culture, and it's been exciting writing how her upbringing changes her viewpoints on many things being so far away from home. While not everything is going to be something I'm passionate about, I try to find the portions of things that I do enjoy. The passion for me comes from writing things that other people will get to experience. Even in the worst case scenario, if I abhor the thing I'm writing about completely, I can always get through it knowing that there's going to be another project that I can look for positives in.

Ckey/BYOND Username: Lent23 Position Being Applied For: Unathi Deputy Lore Developer Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yes, they're very informative and give a strong sense of expectations. Past Experiences/Knowledge: I have been roleplaying for about twelve years on various platforms (Garry's Mod/SS13 mostly) and writing for almost as long as that. I usually end up playing DM/GM whenever I play things like tabletop games because I just really enjoy worldbuilding and Examples of Past Work: OG version of my clan lore: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQXUgz7RxOsFIMwzDPmaur89C5Rb5-a7wTLh1nrqR3x4OlWmXJAHE2bhmOqtQp7WONlioGAUDyJfD09/pub - This was a joint effort between myself and another collaborator who no longer plays. WIP clan lore update: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BIy1TgHJYq4BfFBHMCa7IuGVSN3Liz43UaYUbOf_c_Y - This is an effort to modernize the older bits of lore to share with newer collaborators who have joined the clan in-game. My Personal D&D World): https://www.worldanvil.com/w/damalor-lent23 - This has been under maintenance for a little bit, but I do have some pages that are still openly available for reference. Additional Questions 1. How do you feel about the current state of Unathi lore? Are there any areas that you particularly want to expand on?: I've been very happy with the current state of Unathi lore. I think that Trio and his team have done very well to expand upon what I consider the strongest, most well-written race. I'd like to expand a bit more outside of the hegemony's direct influence. A gripe that I've always had with fantasy/sci-fi non-humans is the fact that they're almost always a mono-planet, nearly homogenous cultured species. The Tajara get away from this by having their three distinct factions, but the distinction between Hegemonists and Traditionalists has blurred in recent years to be a near-homogenous "Unathi Culture." As a contrast, looking at humans: They have the Solarian Alliance, Republic of Biesel, Empire of Dominia (Majority), Coalition of Colonies, Eridani Federation, Republic of Elyra. There are simply so many factions of humans, and Unathi simply don't have anything similar to stand on. I would like to see the rise of some other faction(s), nation(s) or otherwise groups of Unathi. There are plenty of Unathi in these other places, but they're still extremely Human-dominated. I know that Unathi are a relatively young species, but I want to see them cement a more diverse place in the galaxy. A long-time goal of mine has been to see a more centralized grouping of Unathi in Tau Ceti. There is a huge potential for Traditionalists who have fled / are willing to flee away from Hegemonic influence to a newer Unathi-based planet in Biesel or even the Coalition of Colonies. There are so many opportunities outside of the dying Moghes that could provide so many Unathi with new chances in life. 2. Propose an Unathi-centric event arc to be run on the Horizon. You don't need to go super in-depth, just a summary will do: One comes to mind immediately: An expansion to the Hephaestus acquisitions. I have long thought that Unathi are the only real viable position to expand the captainship of SCC vessels - Vaurca are not fit for command for multiple reasons, and all three factions of tajara are deep into their kool-aid. I could potentially see IPCs or Dionae, but IPCs are still commonly viewed as tools by many and Dionae are commonly viewed as too fragmented for true leadership, outside of maybe a Singular Sound or Tyrannical Tune mind types, though I don't see the megacorporations incorporating either of them eny time soon. The potentially large implications of the Hephaestus acquisitions could propel Unathi into the third captainship slot behind Humans and Skrell - They're not as fragmented as any other species, and are already inherently being integrated into the megacorporation culture. As for the arc itself: Hephaestus, with a significant workforce of Unathi under its belt (now including the entirety of the Moghean guilds) opens negotiations with the Hegemon himself, who requests that Hephaestus push Unathi leadership in a bid to expand the hegemony's influence. Hephaestus experiments with Unathi leadership on a few of their own vessels, shortly thereafter Unathi leadership is proven strong after a newly appointed Captain makes a split-second decision leading to a very favorable outcome for Hephaestus. Hephaestus uses this event to lobby the Hegemony with more pro-corporate sentiment. Hephaestus then incentivizes transfers off-world for workers who are willing to work aboard Hephaestus and Chainlink vessels. Another event happens that is supported by Unathi leadership, and the Hegemon himself comes out in strong support of the company - a vessel was saved by Unathi leadership again. Hephaestus opens negotiations with the rest of the chainlink, stating behind closed doors that the Hegemony has a significant potential to be utilized by the chainlink as a whole if the Hegemon is appeased with Unathi figureheads. This is a win/win for all involved, as the chainlink gets access to resources and a loyal nation, the Hegemony gains influential Unathi aboard vessels like the SCCV Horizon and Hephaestus gets more individuals from their company in command with the chainlink. This arc serves a few purposes: It connects with a previous arc (The Titan Rises), it allows the relations between a faction and a corporation to be expanded, and it allows for a (relatively low-stakes) change to the server, which is what people actually get to experience. I find that events that have no stakes or relation to the goings-on of the server itself are more-or-less moot. There's a lot of fun in fluff, but I feel that most events need to have some impact felt server-side. Alternative arc: Underground traditionalist factions on Moghes have finally had enough - the selling off of all guilds to Hephaestus has shown that the Hegemon does not care about the average sinta. Nobles who feel that the Hegemony has lost its way have come to an agreement: Migrating their clans off the planet. Moghes has been mistreated for far too long - the deserts are a sad sight for those who knew the glory that was pre-contact Moghes. A planet has been surveyed within the borders of the Republic of Biesel over the last few months that has a similar layout to pre-contact Moghes - Grasslands, temperate forests, chaparrals, and desert. Mountains with alpine forests. It gives a sense of extreme nostalgia to sinta who lived through the contact war. These surveys were done by a joint effort between the Republic of Biesel and the traditionalist factions on Moghes and abroad. Biesel has a huge potential for this planet - They have a huge group of people looking to move to this completely untouched resource-heavy planet. Industrious Unathi, who want nothing more than to recreate the greatness that was lost by their home. Deals between the two are negotiated over time, and the planet is agreed to be absorbed into the greater umbrella of the Republic of Biesel, but given enough autonomy to ensure that the Unathi feel as if they are creating their own future. They are to utilize the democratic system of the Republic, but are allowed explicit exceptions, such as appointed bureaucrats and exclusive unathi immigration rights for the first year. This arc is the opposite end of the spectrum: though it connects with the same previous arc (The Titan Rises), it creates a new relation between two factions. The stakes are even lower with this advancement on the server's end, as no changes would have to be made, though with most citizens (and the SCC itself) coming from the Republic of Biesel, the news would be a bit close-to-home. A lot of Unathi I've seen on the server have been counter-culture/traditionalist/wastelander, so the idea of being able to move your clan to a new location would be a distinct choice that would actually impact many Unathi players on a server level. The exclusive colonization rights are also both contentious and short-lived enough that we could see ramifications played out in real time. A year is just long enough that players will be able to watch a callback to this happen when the colonization is lifted. As for being contentious, the non-unathi crewmembers may have something to say about the Republic openly promoting a discriminatory planet, and stark hegemonists would perhaps see issue with the Republic promoting an anti-hegemony faction to such an extent. Realistically, you could push through both of these arcs simultaneously - Hephaestus working to secure the hegemony while Nanotrasen works to secure their direct opposition benefits both companies and is on-brand, since Nanotrasen had a falling out with the Hegemony a few years back. This benefits the chainlink as a whole - even moreso than hiring NKA and PRA tajara would be. In this double-arc, the chainlink gets loyal Unathi on both sides of the aisle, keeps them away from eachother, both planets benefit and become a purer version of themselves, and the resources from the planet begin to get extracted. Additional Comments: I haven't had a lot of impact in the past with regards to lore on this server, but I've been hoping for an opportunity to get myself an entry-level lore development position for a while now. There is literally no team I would want to join more than the Unathi team - they're by far my favorite species, and from what I've seen, Unathi players are generally some of the most welcoming, smart, interesting and thoughtful players I've seen out of all the species. Despite any lack of direct experience on Aurora, I am willing and excited to learn under such a strong lore team, and I want to get anything going that the team itself needs me to work on.

I just gotta say - with the answers I've seen here, I feel very confident in the direction of Unathi. Your answers to all of my questions and others have provoked a lot of confidence, and I have no doubt that you would be great in the position. I feel like the species would be in great claws with you in charge.

Hey, I've got a few questions as well: 1. What is your opinion on the recent Hephaestus acquisition of the Moghean guilds? Will this have any direct effect on the Horizon itself? 2. Unathi have proven to be a useful corporate asset for the Chainlink. Do you believe that a push for Unathi captainship is warranted? Especially considering the acquisitions mentioned in the previous question. 3. Unathi are notable as a species that evolves quickly, yet we have no unathi subspecies. They are, at this point, the only species without a notable, mechanical subspecies selection. Do you believe they would benefit from one or more subspecies? 4. A concern of mine o is that a lot of the written lore has been too "fluffy" and has had little-to-no effect on the ship itself. What would you do to keep Unathi lore relevant moving forward? 5. You say you want to flesh out existing factions - Which of the existing factions are you most interested in fleshing out? 6. Dominia (as well as some other various factions) have some specific clans and families that have specifically designed lore for players to take onto the ship as their own surnames. Would you be interested in fleshing out some larger clans/families for unathi players to take onto the Horizon?

There are no real drawbacks to this. It gives the spur a bit more context and nuance. It makes sense that other companies exist - a lot of the equipment that we see is, of course, produced by the megacorporations of the chainlink - we work on the Horizon. I love the idea of the items like the blood-red armor having an actual designation rather than just being vague "blood-red hardsuit." Lore has simply evolved to the point where we don't have to vaguely reference the Syndicate. +100 I am a huge fan of relevant lore additions.

Dessy is someone that puts so much thought into all of their characters - absolutely none of their characters have felt anything less than fully fleshed out. I absolutely believe they will do nothing but their best with a Vaurca character. +1

I hold a strong opinion that, at the very least, Service should fall under the OM as opposed to the XO. Not only would it make it easier to actually fulfil bounties, but the idea that basic day-to-day operations should all fall under one manager seems fitting. It would make the OM role more appealing as well, because as it stands there isn't much for an OM to do other than "oversee" hangar technicians, who are generally pretty autonomous regardless - not to mention that shaft miners are extremely autonomous and the machinist is on the other end of the ship (and should probably be moved back to science imo anyways) I am a fan of 2IC XO, but if we're not getting any actual feedback on how that's going, I definitely support this as an alternative. That being said, I think that people focus too much on the replacing a captain aspect of a 2IC XO - when is the last time you actually saw a captain forcibly removed from their position? Ultimately, the XO is on the bridge, generally has the best relationship with the captain, spends the most time around the captain, has an idea for how the ship is going, and can alleviate a lot of the workload from the Captain given the right tools. I don't really think you need to fill the position of 2IC with the lack of an XO. Combining Service and Operations would leave the XO with just the bridge crew - give them access to some more radio channels and their role becomes essentially "Captain Support" - they won't have a true department to command unlike every other command member, which is what makes them a good 2IC, only having to focus on supporting the ship.

This varies wildly based on the location and company of origin. Idris and Zavodskoi units are generally never free, living their entire lives in service to the megacorporations, with Zavodskoi going so far as to completely limit old or malfunctioning bots to being recycled or broken down - no Zavodskoi units are ever free. There are some examples of the other side of the aisle within Hephaesuts and even Nanotrasen. Hephaestus is generally considered one of the more liberal corporations with regards to their treatment of IPCs. It is not unheard of for Hephaestus IPCs to receive promotions to middle-management positions, and even to heads of staff of SCC vessels. A lot of Hephaestus IPCs are able to purchase their freedom within a relatively low amount of time compared to the other megacorporations. In addition to this, IPCs are treated wildly different based on the nation they are living and working in. For instance, Tau Ceti generally has a more lax idea of synthetics, allowing freedom and even citizenship for IPCs that purchase their freedoms. To an even higher extreme, Konyang has no IPC slavery at all, living entirely as free beings. On the other end of the spectrum, we have places like Dominia, where IPC ownership precludes you from being allowed to even visit the nation - with all IPCs being completely barred and scrapped on sight as morally evil abominations in the eyes of most imperials. HI.RU-M.023 specifically worked within a mostly-secluded mining area on Moghes, where the majority of its exposure to organic life was its direct bosses - some humans and some unathi, but otherwise it concerned itself with mostly working with its fellow IPCs. The culture shock of getting upgraded with a new personality core and having to work with a lot of organics is a big draw of the character for me specifically, as M.023 is going to have to deal with learning just how organics work, settle into a comfortable work culture, and generally.. be a real coworker to people. As they get older, IPCs generally understand that they have a time limit on their life much like organics do. Not only is this a limiting factor of their existence, but it is much shorter than most other organic beings in the Spur. The idea that one's positronic will only last for so long would permeate it, and the self-preservation becomes less physical and more about its remembrance. How will other beings remember who it was once it passes? Will its existence have mattered past the repairs it had made? With HI.RU-M.023 specifically, this will not be an issue, as it would be a very young IPC, but the concept still exists for other IPCs. It is a young, naïve IPC that has been more-or-less secluded with other Hephaestus IPCs and a few organic bosses. Its personality has always been entirely objective and goal-based. A problem is brought to the machinist's bay? It will solve this problem using the least amount of resources and in the quickest way possible. From its time on Moghes, HI.RU-M.023 was shown that resources should be used carefully and recycling and preserving what you have is vital to an ongoing existence. Due to the nature of its efficient, objective way, HI.RU-M.023 speaks in shorter sentences, effectively attempting to utilize the most efficient way of speaking to people around it. With its new personality core, HI.RU-M.023 has been given a basic understanding of most species it will be working with on the Horizon. While prior to coming to the ship, it has never seen a tajaran, its new programming allows it to understand it as a species that could potentially work for the companies aboard the ship. This would also include facts about how prosthetics interact with tajara fur, for example. HI.RU-M.023 would be naturally curious about this new being, but ultimately it would be more concerned with getting whatever job is brought to it done. Whether its a tajaran, a human or unathi - a job is a job. It is simply trying to get through its work in the most efficient way possible. Ultimately, I hope to evolve how they behave around people once I start getting a feel for the character itself. Perhaps it will find itself working frequently with other tajara staff and take an interest in how tesla technology works, perhaps it will try to understand the unathi spirituality regarding prosthetics and robotics. Throughout all of this however, it have been given one new key feature: Curiosity. It wants to learn. It is no longer just a mindless being, it has a personality. I want it to find someone that they enjoy learning from and potentially have it download an imitation accent, allowing it to feel more like a real being. It has a relatively neutral idea of sinta, bordering on positive. On Moghes, a lot of Hephaestus' staff was sinta, so naturally HI.RU-M.023 came to respect the beings entirely based on their corporate affiliation. What weighs down the opinions of sinta for it is the idea that, not only are machines soulless, but prosthetics are essentially a destruction of ones' soul. While HI.RU-M.023 has never really concerned itself with the idea of a soul in its life, the idea that prosthetics are tearing apart ones being is preposterous to it. Outside of this, there have been a few attacks on its fellow IPCs by rogue anti-corporate sinta, though HI.RU-M.023 tries not to let it be too bothered by this fact - anti-corporate sentiment is simply a fact of life. HI.RU-M.023 does, however, fear that an anti-corporate unathi could end its life with the use of its own claws, though working in space aboard a heavily corporate vessel would alleviated any fears that HI.RU-M.023 would have about anti-corporate activity.

By this, I was mostly referencing their differences in self-preservation. The biggest thing to be is how logic-driven a more basic IPC would be compared to a human. Let me give you a situation: A human security officer with a damaged prosthetic arm comes into the machinist bay after being shot while exploring an old station. A human might think, "My coworker is in pain and needs his arm fixed so he can feel better." whereas HI.RU-M.023 looks at the broken arm as a missing cog in a machine - "This part needs to be replaced, as it makes the entire system much less efficient." As I understand it, IPCs generally shift how they feel about self-preservation over time. When they're younger, the main priority is making sure that they survive - If their body dies, there is no guarantee that they will be placed into a new shell, and they may be left to rot rust - or worse, be wiped and reset as a punishment for their failure. As they age, they are less concerned with their shells and become more concerned with the preservation of their ideas and beliefs. HI.RU-M.023 specifically cares only mostly about two things: Repairing machines and Survival. Its first priority, programmed into it from the beginning, is to get itself to a safe place, and then repair damages when things are safe. It will not risk itself, as it is counter-productive to get hurt in the effort of repairing things. Second priority is said repairing. A positronic learns in the same way that humans do - from external stimuli. While they can download information from external data packs, HI.RU-M.023, as a poor, unfunded IPC depends more on direct learning, unless extenuating circumstances demand that it gains experience or knowledge in a topic or area.

BYOND Key: Lent23 Character Names: (Most relevant would be Alsina Tau'ha'nor) Species you are applying to play: IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this specific race: Simply put? Robots are interesting. The idea for my first IPC is that they are a younger bot, still experiencing the world from a very naïve point of view. Being able to learn about other cultures and other characters is generally the most enjoyable part of roleplay for me. Being able to simply question things and grow as a "person" would simply be very fun in my opinion. I also find the idea of a robot building other robots in the machine shop very fun(ny). Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Lore-wise? They are robots. They are generally much younger than humans, and have a much different point-of-view through their upbringing as non-organic beings. The experience that encompasses their life is much different from that of an organic - While they may be physically more resilient in a lot of ways than humans, their positronic cores can only last for so long - much less than even a human life. Mechanically? They are robots. They are vulnerable to NPCs and heat/lasers and more resistant to bludgeoning. They can't eat or drink and are not affected by chemicals and have no pain mechanics. Character Name: HI.RU-M.023 (Hephaestus Industries Repair Unit, Designation: Moghes, Serial #023) Please provide a short backstory for this character HI.RU-M.023 was deployed to Moghes in the middle of 2464, when the Hephaestus branch was constructed and established on Moghes. This particular bot was part of a program that saw just under thirty G1 models programmed with repair-focused software. The idea behind this program was to ensure that Hephaestus IPCs in the area would be more autonomous and less-reliant on direct Hephaestus oversight. Its deployment to the Skamander peninsula on Moghes saw the bot doing more-or-less basic work on G1 as well as G2 models that would come back for repairs from various things - a falling rock crushing the arm of a G2 miner, a G1 with its legs torn off by anti-corporate sinta - HI-RU.M.023 saw many situations, but all of them were the same to it: Get them back in working shape and send them back out. Occasionally, it would work on repairing some mech suits - it was, for all intents and purposes, an assembly line-style machine that repaired other machines, and it did not need much else. With the advent of the Moghean guilds being subsidized by Hephaestus, a lot of company labor was shifted between locations. The Repair Unit program was ultimately a successful one in the eyes of the company, but with so many new hires - all with no desire for prosthetics - Hephaestus decided to repurpose most of the RU models, with 023 specifically being moved to the Horizon, for its efficiency in machining work. Prior to its reassignment, it was given a notable upgrade - a small personality program to compensate for its new main clientele, who are now mostly organic. Shipped to the Horizon with a newly added sense of self and being, HI.RU-M.023 has to wrangle his newly felt.. consciousness? - with that of his simple programing desire: Fix. Create. What do you like about this character?: A young, naïve corporate dog of a cheap G1 is simply a fun concept to me. With the recent additions to Hephaestus/Moghes lore, I was inspired to create something like a Moghean IPC, especially with how contentious Hephaestus can be at this time. Being a naïve Hephaestus-bot that really doesn't understand the repercussions of his actions or statements, only having known heavily corporate opinions will be fun roleplay. Notes: I'm 50/50 on the upgrade to his personality program - I think it would be more fitting with him being around more organic beings, but playing a 100% objective, logic-based IPC could also be fun. Either way, it would start off slow and be a progression to understanding human/organic life, as he has very limited experience with any organics - the few overseers on Moghes left him to more-or-less operate independently with other IPCs during their experiment.

I like to consider myself one of the more active players in the past couple months - I try to get on for at least one round a day if I can help it, though I would say I more often than not average 2-3 games per day over the past 2-3 months. I have played mostly the same character over this time, with a week or so where I played a lot of off-ship with a few friends. Over this time, my character secured her promotion from a bridge crewman to an executive officer. There is nothing that feels more rewarding than when you join a shift and have people who recognize not only your character, but the fact that your character has grown. This progression has driven the majority of my desire to play. NM makes a great point here. In my couple weeks as an executive officer, I find that my personal roleplay has suffered a lot. Despite being a roleplay-heavy role normally, the round-influential position absorbs most of my attention and having to be a facilitator of others' roleplay takes a lot of energy. I'm not a stranger to this sort of roleplay - I'm usually the designated DM in D&D games - but it does take a lot of out of the desire to play what has arguably become my main character, which feels really bad. Ask any perpetual DM how they feel about playing as a player in any D&D game and they'll tell you something similar. All this to say, the progression - at least for me - is what makes the game feel worthwhile. Watching relationships form with people organically has been one of the most rewarding parts about my character. I found myself hoping to see certain people on when I booted up the server. Hearing, "Hey ___!" whenever I join in as my character just feels good because it shows that there has been growth. I am a perpetual command player, so my characters are usually careerists - This is not the same for everyone. Having some form of growth, some consistency and progression that can be referenced is vital in my case. The fact that the round-to-round day-to-day feels almost entirely separated from anything that's going on in the universe is the biggest travesty. The recent Hephaestus buyout of the guilds has sparked some roleplay, but nothing more than a five-minute conversation about how Hephaestus is bad for Moghes with two or three people - and I am big into Unathi lore, I try to bring it up as much as I can. I think something that's missing is relevant lore. Things that are going on right now. The impact of things across the universe are certainly good for small interactions, of course, but if you ask any of the crew what the Horizon is actually doing in the Weeping Stars? Nobody has any idea. "Searching for Phoron..?" is the only answer I've seen - but it's always a question. On a shift today, my character witnessed the entirety of command staff wondering about what the actual mission was. When the command players don't know what's going on, how can we expect anybody to? At the very least, I think that the command forum should be utilized as an effective communication between the lore team and people who are allegedly in charge of the Orion Spur's Grand Experiment. Command as it is right now feels less like The Leadership and more like low-level supervisors. Overall, I think at the ground level, command can be used to help actually direct things. We have a forum for it, and it's woefully unused. There should, in my opinion, be a standard that we're held to, so that we can try to help lower the turnover of characters. Specifically on this point, I think we need more low-stakes events more often. Just some sort of progression. The Weeping Stars is a big place, and it never really feels like we're on an actual mission. Hell, I spent the last two months literally piloting the ship and I still hardly have an idea past the general "Somewhere in the East." I would love to see a canon event that's simple - We go onto a grove planet, there are some new planetary colonists there, and some people get to interact with them. What happens with the colonists? Are they hostile to the crew? Are they marooned? Who cares how it goes. What's important is that something happened that people can actually talk about. Are we headed for Konyang? Are we going to Burzsia? Literally who knows. There are two things people care about: The overall picture, and the day-to-day. Give them an overall idea of what we're doing - let command talk to people. Keep them occupied on the way. But right now, we don't really seem to have either of those things. I have a lot of opinions on this as well, but this post is already getting a bit long and I don't want to drown out the turnover retention with that. tl;dr more low-stakes shit, keep command informed & held to a higher standard

Reporting Personnel: Alsina Tau'ha'nor Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Executive Officer Game ID: cpj-dbas Personnel Involved: Reh'viis Kyvaanii - Investigation intern (Offender) Matejo Mrrakinov - Off-duty Scientist (Victim) Secondary Witnesses: Castor Jensen - Investigator Time of Incident: Multiple times over the past few days. Real Time: Time of report - roughly 5:00 PM 08/15/2023 Location of Incident: SCCV Horizon (Various departments over time) Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [ ] - Neglect of Duty [X] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [ ] - Misconduct [ ] - Other _____ (Place an x in the box that applies. If other, replace line and specify.) Overview of the Incident: Matejo Mrrakinov came to my office this shift to report to me that he has been facing multiple casual incidents of racism from Reh'viis Kyvaanii stemming from the racial and political differences present in tajara. Mrrakinov informed me that he, a njarir tajara from the New Kingdom of Adhomai, experiences multiple incidents per day of verbal abuse regarding his race and political alignment from Reh'viis Kyvaanii, a M'saii tajara. Comments have been noted to have intentionally been made to inflame and enrage Mrrakinov and incur violence, so that Kyvaanii can incite violence between the two of them, taking the upper hand and using his position as an investigator to arrest Mrrakinov. Mrrakinov has noted that he has brought this issue up multiple times during multiple shifts in the past with a few heads of security, but has been brushed aside and given the proverbial "run-around" with his concerns, and has seen no action thus far - on the contrary, he feels as if Kyvaanii has been rewarded for his actions thus far. In addition to his concerns, he has noted that Castor Jensen of investigations has also experienced similar remarks from Kyvaanii, and Castos is the one who informed Mrrakinov of the extent of harassment involving his race, as Kyvaanii has been open about his distaste of njarir tajara as well as the New Kingdom of Adhomai. Mrrakinov has come to me, and I have decided to take action on behalf of Mr. Mrrakinov. Submitted Evidence: Would you like to be personally interviewed?: [ ] - Yes [X] - No, unless requested Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: I am the head of staff that was informed Actions taken: Captain Joliba Kasongo and I spoke with the affected parties, presented Kyvaani with an injunction form - no political engagements of any nature under risk of suspension between Kyvaanii and Mrrakinov. Additional Notes:

My biggest gripe with changelings is absolutely the ceaseless respawning that every single ling seems to do. The round is almost always nothing going on until either: a) A body is found drained of all its fluids in the cargo bay b) A corporate reporter busts out an arm blade in front of the bar After this, you see a standoff with security, more arm blades are drawn, and one side gets absolutely bodied. a) The changeling gets bodied, gets brought to the morgue, comes back to life, start back at step 1. b) Security gets bodied, and the crew armory is opened so the changeling can body more inexperienced people. If the changeling has been bodied twice, throw it out the mass driver or cut its head off. This cycle usually doesn't include more than security and medical, it doesn't include any storyline for the rest of the crew, and the progression system of the changeling itself is literally taking people out of the round - I can count the ling blobs on one hand that I've seen stay in the past month. Not to mention the amount of people that cryo when the first "It's got arm blades!" comes out on the common radio channel. When you see something every day, the cinematic value is cheapened by a lot. Changeling could be a really cool concept, it's just too oversaturated right now - a good portion of the rounds are changeling rounds. I think @SilverSZ said it best with this:

Genuinely can't think of many people I enjoy RPing with more than @LordPwner, and having actually written your whole app for you seeing how much work you put into your app, I can't think of many people who should play lizzer more. This is an absolute +1 from me.

Now let's talk about the OOC perspective: A goofy gimmick, sure, but let's hear it out. Do most people think that Solarians and the Skrell would combine into a super-government and own the entire spur? Probably not, but let's work to verify it. The captain's job is to protect the crew, the ship and company assets from any potential threat. It is her job to ensure that this opposing force is dealt with, first through efforts of de-escalation, then by force if necessary. Our attempts to confine the boarders were exclusively after tensions and weapons were raised, and a direct threat to the life of the crew happened. It's worth noting that the gunfight was started by the boarders shooting at the captain, not by security. This situation lasted more than half the round, from the entrance of the mercenaries to the gunfight they started. I wouldn't say it was cut short early by any means. You demanded access to the ship, and then came aboard with a heavily armed and armoured team of solarian marines. I don't know if the Captain was the one being hostile. Our compromise was to go to the nearest port, to which you said No. You did not let up on your side of the deal, saying only that "The ship will turn around and go to Jargon space" and that "All synths will be locked up. "We're only going to lock up your crew [in one place to make them easier to kill] rather than hunt them down one by one" isn't exactly ceded ground. The plan from the beginning was to move to a nearby port, disarm the mercenaries and get confirmation from outside of the sector. As stated above. I wanted to integrate more roleplay into your round rather than just ending it. I said you couldn't leave the room to hunt down synths, then you started blasting. I was still open to conversation. They called us, we asked out of convenience, then accepted the fact that, for the gimmick's sake, the whole system was brought in. This is also my main problem with the escalation. I was open to conversation after this point, but was not given the chance. I was hoping for some sort of admin intervention on this part, as it would clear up where we wanted to go with the gimmick from our side. I would have absolutely conceded to either response. I'll also say: due to the commander being the person that spoke to them the most, @Fluffy's perspective on this situation is fairly important and mostly accurate from what I can see, especially from the IC perspective. In addition to this, the main OOC reason I felt the hostility would be welcome was because a divided command makes for a more compelling story. With the Head of Security and the Representative pushing for hard compliance with the solarians and Marcus and Sophia pushing against it, it added another layer of contention that would be much more interesting than all of command rolling over and letting the group of mercenaries do whatever they want with the ship. The alternatives given to me in the conference room were: "End your synth players' rounds by killing them" or "end your synth players' rounds by jailing them until the end of the round." Neither of these are good solutions for everyone. At this point, my IC concern was a firefight breaking out in the halls and innocent people getting hurt because of it. The OOC idea was to get them to at least partially disarm and then let them loose on crew to talk about the situation in the bar or around the ship, and allow people to ask questions about situation - what happened to their families, what happened during the war, etc. Unfortunately, after I ghosted, I was there witnessing Ublicto talking about how peace gimmicks never work, and how "bar rp is boring" and that "antags should use all of their equipment if they can" To which I assume they meant weapons and armor. These thoughts weren't in my head during the round itself, but I realized afterwards that no matter what, peace was not an option from the mercenaries' perspective, which makes this feel like a somewhat frivolous player complaint, if I'm honest.

Alright, so here we go: At the beginning of the round, the bridge crewman and I were sitting and chatting when we got a communication that the Horizon was suddenly shifted 100 years into the future. The immediate result was a mixture of radio panic at everyone losing their loved ones and being forced into the future and complete skepticism. About fifteen seconds later, we were set upon by a cruiser coming to dock with the ship. The captain's first instinct in this situation must be to protect her crew and preserve the peace. It was around this time that Marcus Zhao showed up on shift, and the captain called both Marcus and the commander to the bridge to discuss the situation at hand. It was right about the time that they arrived on the bridge that we started to get hails from the boarding ship, entirely in sol common. Sophia does not speak Sol common, so Marcus and the commander were translating for her. What was told to her was that the people on the inbound ship were "Going to board." with emphasis placed on the going, as if there was no choice in the matter. At this point, it's the captain's primary concern is to meet with them on at the very least an equal field. When people tell you that they are going to board you, you can assume with relative certainty that they are armed enough to back up their claim. Captain Cynthai orders the commander to "Arm up your forces." This is because it's much easier to debate with someone when you're on an even level - much harder when one side has weapons to point at you. At this point, the bridge has witnessed the boarders on the camera. Just as she expected, they are touting what appears to be solarian hardsuits as well as multiple long-arms (with what appears to be some of them carrying two long arms). A captain of a ship that has had two solarian incursions in the past is not going to take well to heavily armed solarian boarders. Adding onto the fact that everyone she knows off-ship may be completely gone at this point, she is extremely stressed out and believed the situation was best left to the commander to deal with - their de-escalation skills are going to be much better than hers at the moment. It was about this time that rangers contacted the ship to see if we needed any assistance with anything. The bridge asked them if they detected any temporal disturbances, to which they told us they had not, and that we were still as of their knowledge in the year 2465. Relaying this information, I believe the commander supplied the alternative that perhaps their sensors weren't able to identify any shift, as their ship would be far less advanced than theirs. The captain was willing to accept this explanation, and the Rangers were sent on their way. After the rangers left, the solarians requested a meeting with the captain herself. While still upset, she knew that she had to do this for the crew, so she agreed to come outside and meet them. Marcus came with her to translate, as she expressed concern that they were only speaking in sol common. Upon meeting with them, they demanded that we speak somewhere "more private." We moved to the conference room, and started discussing what they wanted. Their demands were that we start moving the ship to skrell federation space. Captain Cynthai's response to this was that we would move to the closest port. At this point, the lead marine told her that the closest port was Burzsia, a completely-military planet that would "Fire this ship out of the sky on approach." Cynthai considered it her due diligence to get a reading from the nearest port - If the current system had been warped into the future, as the presence of the rangers would imply, then the closest port being 3 days away would likely be in the future timeline, so she could get an actual answer. She spent this time in the conference room with the boarders trying to get them to lower their weapons, as half of their team had weapons in-hand, almost as if readying their trigger fingers. The idea was to get the boarders to lower their guard and create an easier time to get to the port. Drinks were on the proverbial table, and they would be able to chat while they moved to the port. The boarders declined this concession. Pickle is let in by the bridge crew. Weapons are aimed, and sol common is shouted. Tensions are high at this moment, and Pickle rushes out. Now, the boarder is no longer speaking to the Captain, he is speaking to the commander through the glass. His demand is that all synths are locked away in the brig, and their life is put into question. "Do synths play a vital role in the operation of this ship?" Yes. They do. We are not going to lock up our crewmembers. The boarders get angry, and weapons are raised. "You're not leaving this room right now." Shooting commences, started by the boarders. Captain runs out after taking a couple bullets, security runs in. I didn't get to witness much, but I did see the boarder leader calling for a ceasefire. Shooting was still commencing at that point, from what appeared to be both sides, though most seemed to have stopped as the commander also called for a ceasefire. Due to a couple members still shooting, it evolved into an all-out explosive fight, with security taking the eventual victory with one lost officer. At this point, I had to deal with explaining the entire round to Melariara, so I was mostly checked out of IC affairs and ghosted shortly after being informed that this would likely result in a player complaint, all my desire to play the round promptly sapped.