whitewolftamer

I've only really been able to interact with Vakha Richardson out of their characters, but from the interactions I have had they seem to have a very good grasp of roleplay and I've no doubt that they would be able to fill that part of the role well. That being said, I have not the slightest clue as to how they would do in command, but I suppose that's what the trial run is for. +1 from me

BYOND key: Whitewolftamer Discord name/id: whitewolftamer (.whitewolftamer) Borg / AI names: N/A Have you read the Aurora wiki page about the AI?: Yes Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I have an idea for an AI I think would be interesting; E.B.L.I. Evolution Based Learning Interface, I could elaborate on it further if asked (and if I remember to check this application) Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Yes; "Roving around station as a scientist with self-made armor and weaponry to hunt antagonists. Don't do this, please." I'd certainly say that's pretty bad or at the very least not good, however id also hope that i've grown away from that in the... two-ish years since then? At the very least I think I have. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? yep

An Idea I had for how different mindtypes may respond to Pastorale Nymphs. Feel free to disregard or assimilate this Singular Sound Most similar to human mental disorder, one could interpret it as having a single part of their "brain" malfunctional but still technically working. For example, a Singular Sound who's Pastorale Nymph is "Depressive" (Ie; leeches emotion, leading to a state of apathy, or abulia) would likely express this as a mild depressive disorder, with symptoms getting worse the more "Depressive" Pastorale Nymphs there are. Competence Choir A Pastorale nymph in this mindtype would likely happen due to growing alongside the nymph, rather than acquiring it later in life. In the case of acquiring a Pastorale nymph later in life, it would likely be similar to gaining a new skill, or ability, with the trade-off of whatever issues the Pastorale nymph has. In some cases, there may be no benefit to the acquisition of a Pastorale Nymph, with the acquiring gestalt only recieving the negative attributes of the nymph In the case of growing with a Pastorale nymph, it would likely be similar to simply having a congenital deformation. The gestalt would likely be more than content with having the nymph be a part of their collective, and view it as little more than an inconvenience if anything else. Of course, views may vary, depending on the gestalt themself. Tyrannical Tune There would likely be extremely few Tyrannical Tunes with Pastorale nymphs, with the few exceptions being A. Tyrannical Tunes where-in the Pastorale Nymph is in charge In this case the malfeasant traits of the Pastorale Nymph would be front and center, as they run the show. In this case the Pastorale nymph likely operates as the primary sensory input for the gestalt, and by contorting the gestalts view of reality into the distorted realm of the Pastorale nymph, it can convince the others to obey its commands to navigate what is to the other nymphs an incomprehensible jumble of sensory inputs B. Tyrant Nymphs who personally want the experience of a Pastorale Nymph In this case the Tyrant of the Gestalt wants to experience a Pastorale nymph, and simply decides to accrue one, whether the rest of the gestalt wants to or not. In this case I can see the Tyrant quickly growing tired of and disposing the pastorale. The Tyrant may view the Pastorale as a hallucinogen, or a tool to enjoy psychedelic experiences C. The rare case of a Tyrannical Tune growing with a Pastorale Nymph instead of simply discarding it In this case the Gestalt likely has become used to the jumbled output of the Pastorale, and depending on the beliefs of the Tyrant, may view it as divine messages, or foresight, and act accordingly, with this mix being attributed to religious zealots Chaotic Cacophony They're already arguing, now with the added bonus of mental illness. This mindtype retains the individuality of each nymph, and as such having a Pastorale nymph would likely have little effect on the internal and external machinations of the gestalt, with only the occasional twitch or outburst from the Pastorale Tumultuous Tacet Entirely dependent on original mindtype Seasoned Song In Seasoned Songs that acquire a Pastorale nymph later in life, symptoms are likely similar to a second-hand experience, likely acquiring the Pastorale nymph for personal, or belief-based purposes, the Elder nymph would likely act as a mentor, or guide to the Pastorale nymph, attempting to help it grow and learn to live with its condition. In Seasoned Songs where-in the Elder nymph is the Pastorale nymph, it's likely similar to example A. for tyrannical tune. Where-in the Elder nymph acts as the primary sensory nymph, and disorients the rest of the gestalt with the strange sensory information, and, due to their seniority, are trusted to be giving an accurate representation of the outside world, thus unintentionally trapping the other nymphs in the gestalt to the Elder, as they do not trust themself to navigate the disorienting and confusing world that the Elder/Pastorale shows them. (eg; a Depressive Elder/Pastorale would lead the rest of the gestalt to believe that a depressive train of thinking is normal/optimal, potentially leading to other nymphs in the gestalt acquiring depressive viewpoints) Learning Lyrics A Learning Lyric with a Pastorale Nymph likely acts similarly to a family or friend group attempting to help someone learn to live with a mental condition. For example, a Pastorale nymph that is "Schizotypal" will suffer from delusions or hallucinations, and the greater gestalt would act to help the Pastorale establish reality checks to help differentiate reality from delusion. Another example would be a Pastorale nymph that is "Paranoid" would be comforted by the greater gestalt, and would likely be shown the world through the lens of a gestalt that is comfortable with the world and trusting of those around them, so as to establish a comfortable environment with which to help the "Paranoid" Nymph adapt to everyday life Emphatic Echo An Emphatic Echo would likely not grow alongside a Pastorale nymph, and more likely acquire one later in life. In these instances the gestalt may acquire "tics" where-in the gestalt as a whole remains mostly unchanged, outside of twitches, phrases, words, or other tics caused either by specific stimuli, or simply misfires from the Pastorale nymph, further symptoms would be dependent on the disorder of the Pastorale nymph itself Scholarly Song In regards to Scholarly Songs who have grown alongside a Pastorale nymph, symptoms and how the symptoms are expressed would likely be dependent on the original mindtype of the Gestalt (ie; the original mindtype determines symptom expression, not being a Scholarly Song [eg; Tyrannical Tune -> Scholarly Song expresses symptoms like a Tyrannical Tune]) In regards to accruing a Pastorale nymph later in life, many Scholarly Songs may do so simply to acquire the knowledge and experience that comes with it.

"They nerfed Eva Meier" Joking aside, great RPer. Fun to play with, has a strong grasp on lore of the other characters they play, and from reading their character story I don't doubt they understand Tajaran lore. +1

If you're going to toy with the blood eternal and the wastes of moghes, here's something fun for you to chew on. Bones have a lot of DNA in them. Assuming skeletons aren't fossilized (and sometimes even when fossilized) they have a lot of DNA stored. Meaning... Dionae in the wastes could stumble upon the corpses of Unathi from the contact war who have been entirely picked clean by Siro and other wasteland creatures, whose only remaining body is their skeleton, and entirely consume them. And although they would not have flesh or blood, they still have the DNA from bone. Meaning... A clan of traditionalists who fought against the Hegemony may have had an ominous moment where a diona wandering the wastes consumed the bones of their prior clanmaster, and tracked them down to take back their leadership. A Unathi who was dead for 20 years is now alive again through a Diona. And they want their power back. Or other things like that. It's just sort of a fun concept to toy with.

I believe a compromise could be struck such to allow characters who are the hardline industrialists who have no desire to ensure stability of their actions while still allowing characters who desire stability, or the general "tree that's J chilling" vibe. Dionae do not percieve the consumption of living things to be violent, or even murder To a Diona, when something is consumed, it lives on in them. If Gestalt A consumes Gestalt B, they are assimilated into the greater whole, Gestalt B doesn't die, it simply becomes part of the Gestalt A In this way war, or even violence are entirely foreign to Diona as to them "Violent" acts are simply a means to an end. A civil war between dionae is simply the coalescence of the weaker gestalts into the greater whole, and once all of the dissidents have been assimilated into the reigning group, whichever ideology bears majority in the newly formed Gestalt simply becomes the new leading Ideology Here's a scenario to help me properly depict what I'm trying to portray There are two Groups of Dionae. Group A, who believes in X and Group B, who believes in Y Lets say Group A is more powerful than Group B, but Group B has more people A civil war breaks out between Group A and Group B. Group A wins, and assimilated Group B into their mass. While the original nymphs of Group A believe in X, the (now majority) nymphs that composed Group B believe in Y, meaning that the Gestalt formed out of Group A and B (let's call it Gestalt AB). Gestalt AB now understands the beliefs and the reasoning behind the beliefs of both groups, meaning that when it splits apart it will likely believe in whichever belief is more accurate to the combined experiences of the greater whole In this way, "War" to dionae is nothing more than a heated debate. "Violence" is just an argument. Because when a Diona kills and consumes a human, to the Gestalt, that human doesn't truely die, because it has become a part of the gestalt. Dionae consuming and devouring an entire planet does not seem like to destruction, or ecological devastation to the Dionae, because to them, those living things dont truely die, instead living on within the Dionae. When Dionae consume planets, there is no guilt or strife, because nothing dies, instead it's brought with them to the next planet, and the next, and the next. With this, more primal/unrefined Dionae could easily lean into the "All-Consuming Devourers" aspect of the Dionae, where-as more "civilized"/refined Dionae could place themselves into the perspective of the other races, and even though they themselves do not view it as destruction, they can recognize why others would see it that way, and refrain from doing so. I've also spitballed some quotes that might work for like a Diona philosopher or something if this is accepted as canon "It is... the nature of all... living things to... expand... And yet... We have expanded... And we are scorned for doing so... Has humanity not... expanded..? Has humanity not... consumed..? The... Sinta on... Moghes... Have they not... torn their world... apart..? Are we not... The same as them..? The vaurca... claim innocence... above even the... Skrell... And yet... their myths tell of... the extinction of a race... extinguished by... chitinous claws... You claim... Like many others that... We are horrid... That We are wretched... That We are worse... And yet... I see no other who is not... the same..." -Recollection of Myriad Forms Across Untellable Galaxies "We... Do not hate... We... Do not kill... You claim that We... are destroyers... that we remove all that is... not us... But this is not... true... All that is... consumed does not... die... It is Us... We are that which... is consumed... We have not killed... and we never will... For we offer... Eternal life..." -Perpetuation of Foreign Psyches Through Subsumption

I have no doubt that Cael will do well in this position. I do however, have a request. Please don't make Dionae a purposed organism. Reading the Aliens comics where Xenomorphs are an extremely adaptive invasive organism? Cool as fuck. Finding out that now they're just "Bioweapons"? Cringe Please don't have Dionae be a purposed organism who were designed to be Bioweapons. Instead, dionae as intense consumers come from a planet where-in they had to outcompete other species who would eat anything that they didn't, thus prompting the evolution of Dionae unto endless consumers who will eat everything they can so that they can get it before their competition does. I'm absolutely a fan of leaning into the concerning/all-consuming aspect of dionae. I just don't want them to be designed for that purpose. On top of this, having them be an organism which naturally consumes things leads into an irreverence for nature. The natural world is just more food. Perhaps it warrants respect as food. But other than that it is fuel. TLDR: Please no purposed organisms.

Absolutely love it. The expansion on the art culture is done in a way that is believable, and having an off-shoot counter-culture only helps to further flesh it out. Also, Miner Mercenaries? That's cool as fuck!

Nothing big clunking around in my head as of yet. I like the way things are going with vaurcae. For the most part the thing I enjoy the most is fleshing out pieces of lore that have gotten comparatively minimal love. I firmly believe Vaurcae should still be Alien. They should be weird, and oftentimes gross. The reason I meantion Trophallaxis of Zk'reii as a negative is because it is explicitely mentioned as something which is disgusting to vaurcae. Were it not stated as such I'd have no problem with it, but given that it's a major disgust/cultural taboo to vaurcae I prefer the alternatives I provided in my prior comment I'd like to catalogue all the different bioforms Vaurcae have. There's a ton of interesting bioforms and warforms mentioned in different places on the wiki, but there's no central place to reference the different bioforms that Vaurcae have Potentially categorized by Hive of Origin and then from there by brood, or purpose As an aside from the Wiki I would frankly really enjoy writing the account of a Vedhran Ta' who is trying to both A. Categorize and oversee the reverse engineering of Lii'draic technology (The small bits they can recover) and B. Try to think of the reasoning behind the Lii'draic hiveminds various actions Because of its nature as a second-hand account it could remain an unreliable insight into how the Lii'dra function, giving more information for antags to toy with, while still not being 100% fact that Joe McHuman knows for some reason. Potentially as a forum post? No idea how that would actually work in regards to actually posting it

Laville I'm sure you're already aware I deeply enjoy interacting with you both IC and OOC. On top of this I have no doubt you'd be an excellent member of the lore team given your overall polite and courteous attitude towards others. I do have a question though! You mentioned the things that you would like to work on and expand. Imagine that you already did have that power. What would you like to do for these expansions? How would you say the Phalanx is organized and trained? How would you say the K'lax comes across to the average peasant, so on so forth. Essentially I just want you to explain on how you'd go about expanding it if you did have the power. Regardless of answer. You're great, and you've got my +1

I'm incredibly torn in regards to High Queen Zo'ra. If I were king in charge there would be four potential options that I'd have the vaurca team vote on A. High Queen Zo'ra has left for the frontier, and is establishing a new Zo'rane empire far away from the gaze of alien species B. High Queen Zo'ra has returned 1. After mustering her forces to return the Zo'rane hive to its rightful position as rulers 2. After getting assaulted by a Lii'dra force, and seeking security from the queens of her hive. C. High Queen Zo'ra has been assimilated by the Lii'dra D. Leave it unresolved For option A, I think it'd make sense for a Vaurcesian Queen who has lived their entire life "above" others to want that position back again, and try to establish an empire where she would rule without question or opposition again For option B1, it has about the same explanation as option A. She desires to be powerful, as she once was For B2, the Lii'dra are lurking in the dark. And when one ventures where the light doesn't shine, they're bound to find others who did the same For option C. The entire invasion of New Gibson was to put pressure on the "Biesel Hive" to deliver High Queen Zo'ra to the Lii'dra. Only makes sense that if Queen Zo'ra fled the rest of her hive alone with only her brood the Lii'dra might see that as an opportunity prime to take her for themselves For option D. it always helps to leave a vote option that's just. "Leave it as it is" I would personally like more information on the Lii'dra. Things that those from Tupii, or Vedhra's brood could reference or speak of. Or just people who have had the misfortune of interacting with the Lii'dra in general could talk about. While there is a good amount of Lii'dra lore when you look for it. I think it would be nice for there to be some more research. Perhaps a group of Vedhran warriors managed to raid a Lii'dra complex in the deep frontier, and though the Lii'dra successfully destroyed everything, they were able to take the corpses of the Lii'dra they did manage to kill and study new augments, both biological and synthetic. There's also the Lii'dra bioform that interacted with a Diona gestalt in the New Gibson invasion that I think would be cool as fuck to expand upon. I think the Lii'dra should stay in the shadows. But just because something is in the shadows, doesn't mean you cant see its writhing silhouette in the dark. With Vedhra constantly scouring the stars for Lii'draic influence. it's hard to believe that even with the Lii'dras approach of "Burn it all. Let them learn nothing" Vedhra hasn't discovered anything. I don't think the Lii'dra should be an active force in the main-show. But it should be something that lurks in the dark. You don't swim in the ocean without thinking about the shark. You don't dive deep into unmapped frontier without thinking about the Lii'dra. Were the Horizon to enter the deep frontier, it would recieve a distress signal from a small corporate colony. Probably Hephaestus given they would strip-mine Earths Moon if they could get away with it. Upon arrival the colony fails to return hail, prompting an expedition to the planet. The colony itself would be a mining colony of middling size, with a large pit, similar to a cobalt mine. Or perhaps a mine system built into caves (caves would probably be more feasible given the horizontal nature of SS13) Any vaurcae visiting the colony would hear a deafening "static" over the hivenet. An intensely uncomfortable cacophany of indecipherable pheremones. The colony itself would be empty. Save for the occasional splatter of blood. Red, Blue, or Yellow. Venturing into the caves would similarly be a "quiet" trek. Constructs of resin, flesh, and bone adorning the passageways as the stone walls around them slowly close into biological resin chambers. From there. The caverns and chambers would extend deep into the ground. With the occasional fissure in the wall. Veterans of the Hive war would recognize these fissures as spelunking passageways. Not the spelunking of Mankind or any other species, but rather the land-based combat the Lii'dra revived in the great hive war. Throughout the caves would be the unconscious bodies of K'laxan workers and warriors. Should the expedition crew harm the unconscious bodies, they will awaken, transmitting an alert broadcast to the greater whole. As those bodies would not be of the K'laxan hive anymore, having been assimilated by the Lii'dra. Upon this alert being sent out, the other K'laxan bodies would awaken, slowly awakening the slumbering giant which lay dormant within the stone. 10 minutes after the slumbering giant has been awoken, a hivenet broadcast by "Ta'Avixiet'[Placeholder] Lii'dra" would project "the delirious cogitation of one who has awoken after a long slumber". 30 minutes after awakening the Lii'dra. Ta'Avixiet'[Placeholder] Lii'dra would project "intense nauseating hatred" and a squadron of warriors, (4-5) would be sent to attack the expedition team. Should the expedition team decide to linger even longer for some reason, at the 45 minute mark, two squadrons would be sent. So on-So forth, until the crew evacuate. Afterwards, in newspaper likely, Vedhra would send a large group to purge the planet of Lii'draic presence. Depending on how long the crew had lingered. Vedhra would either be faced with a large group to face, but being able to learn more about the Lii'dra, or be faced with an empty cave complex, with the only sign of Lii'draic occupation being the excavation of the stone to form a Hive complex (The longer the crew lingers, the less that Vedhra would be able to discover) One of my favorite piece has almost zero writing for it. It's the Lii'draic bioform that interacted with the Diona Gestalt. A strange form with a distended abdomen, which shed the carapace it "wore" to speak with the gestalt. Eldritch horrors. I love it. Another would be the extensive writing for the Great Hive War. It's just well written and genuinely interesting to read. My least favorite piece is a relatively minor complaint, but still something that doesn't sit well with me. The Zk'reii transfer phoron through trophallaxis. ...Which is something that is explicitly stated as disgusting to Vaurcae. As for a solution, there's a couple of different options. Could have it so that Zk'reii droppings are refined for their phoron. Or that Zk'reii eat the k'ois and vomit out a phoron paste which is then refined. Or if you want vaurcae to be gross could have it so they dont refine it at all and simply consume the Zk'reii byproducts for the phoron.

Also, who did the drawings for the Lii'dra on Elyra? Shit fucks. This image was on the header for the uh Jan 14 2018 (2460) article

Honestly, I quite like it. While as a whole the relation ship between the Zo'rane Hive and Biesel is friendly, due to High Queen Vaur's being friends with president Dorn, It ranges from Friendly to Terse or Apathetic depending on which Queen you "ask". For example, Queen Zoleth I would most definitely describe as having a terse relationship with Biesel. She is polite, and actively works towards maintaining positive relations with Biesel, but it rarely feels as though she truely likes Biesel. More-so abiding by the wishes of her High Queen and remaining friendly in order to ensure the safety and continued power of her Hive. Heck, she literally sent kill-teams to assassinate Gang Leaders in Biesel because she wasn't confident in Biesels ability to deal with it. In older pieces of lore there are often things which I am going to call "Skrell Moments". Where-in the Federation is able to perform some unreasonable display of power. The only real thing I'd want to rework, Is the "Skrell Moment" where-in 28 Tup Commandos were able to Kill a Lii'raic Lesser Queen and Extract the body while only suffering 12 casualties. Sincerely: Part of my immense discontent with this is the Tups only suffering Casualties. Maybe I'm misinterpreting, and by casualties they mean 12 deaths, but in my head a casualty is an Injury and a fatality is a death. So they Killed a Lii'draic Lesser Queen after battling through what is undoubtedly a minor hive city AND extracted the queens body fighting their way out with it and only had 12 people get injured. Skrell Moment. Other than that. Yeah they're pretty rad. They're called invasions but in my head they're pretty much just a mineral excavation, or scouting incursion. What's a queen to a Hivemind that places no importance on these fancy titles. To them a queen is literally just a powerful vessel that can produce eggs. It's a strike forward to test the capabilities of a new opponent, and potentially, if the opponent is weak enough, foment themselves in a staging area to strike out at other enemies. Heck, if you're a massive hivemind, why wouldn't you make a queen on planets you've established a foothold on. It just means you can get warriors on the field faster, and eventually have a self-sustaining warrior producer. In the invasion of Bursa, the Lii'dra established themselves heavily, if somethings going well, why not try to make it even better. Until Elyra had access to Cardox the Lii'dra were pretty much unstoppable. Other than the Skrell Moment. The front on Bursa was described as the Lii'dra continuously expanding outwards, and despite the best efforts of Elyras military it couldn't be stopped until the Skrell Moment happened.

I really like this! Always a fan on expanding upon pieces of lore that have minimal writing, but clear soul Reading through it, it keeps most all of the original soul of the Lost of the Traverse, and expands upon them in a way that makes sense both in keeping with the original soul, and with the setting. It also involves other pieces of lore (Ti'raqki) which I'm always a fan of. Tie-ins always make things feel more fleshed out in my goofy little head. Overall? Great work! +1

Sup king! I only have one question. Because I think it's cool If the Spur were to gain knowledge of High Queen Lii'dra. How would you portray her? A hulking leviathan of organic and synthetic modification? Almost entirely unchanged from the original form of a Queen? A cold calculating overmind? Regardless of answer. You're a great part of the community, and given your answers thus far, I have no doubt you'd do well as a deputy lorewriter. Best of luck!

Were I able to I'd live to add more mechanics to all augments to be quite honest. However that takes coding and spriting and so-on so forth (Pain). If I was able to though, I would like more Vaurcan augments. Both to make Viax even more of a piece of equipment than they already were, and also to lean into the aspect of Vaurcesian lore which is the merging of organic and synthetic. There are four seperate queens (Scay, Xakt, Vedhra, and Xetl) who are focused on augmentation, be it through synthetic augmentations or biological augmentation. And it would be great to be able to reflect that on the Horizon. Nanotrasen only hired "minimally" augmented Vaurcae, but with the formation of the SCC, I could see them having a more relaxed policy, allowing for more intensively augmented Vaurcae being allowed on the vessel. As their further specialization could improve whichever department they are assigned to work in.

I feel that the with the Hegemon dispatching K'laxan warriors to aid in quelling the riots on Ouerea, it shows a level of trust in the loyalty of the K'lax as a vassal. With this, had I the power to do so, I would like for Zkaii to try and foment themself not only on Ouerea as peacekeepers, but also to expand their presence on Moghes, potentially forming a K'laxan Peacekeeper Guild, with which they may act to protect the Hegemons interests, and by extension, their own interests. Doing so would not only deepen the relations of Hive K'lax with the hegemony by becoming a guild, and thus a subsidiary member of Hephaestus, but would also provide the K'lax with greater funding for Vetju and Vhedra. With Vetju, greater funding would allow her to pour more resources into revitalizing Vaurcesian technology, and with Vhedra, the manpower and funding would allow her to grow as a military power, strengthening the K'lax and allowing Vhedra to continue scouring the spur for Lii'dra. As for how this would affect their opinion on vassalation by Zo'ra, I feel it would drive them further away from Hive Zo'ra. As in doing so they would essentially be further pledging themself to the Hegemony, thus abandoning their prior fealty to the Zo'ra. The C'thur are in a position where disagreeing with the Federation could put their High Queen in further jeopardy. High Queen C'thur is already in dubious health, and is, ostensibly being kept alive only due to the joint effort of the greatest doctors the C'thur can muster, and the greatest scientific minds the Federation is willing to give. Due to this, the public opinion of Hive C'thur would likely be near or exactly the same as the Nralakk Federation. As for the queens themself, they would likely have their own opinions they would not voice, for fear the Federation may let their Queen die. To start, High Queen C'thur herself would likely mimic the Nralakk Federation to continue her treatments. And she would likely have a fair opinion of the Nralakk Federation, as they have been keeping her alive. Queen Mouv likely sides with the Nralakk Federation, as they have provided her and her brood with both a setting and the means to further her research. Though, should the rebels in the Traverse become the larger power, she would likely claim that she has always preferred them, in order to keep herself, her brood, and the High Queen safe. Queen Vytel would likely remain neutral. As a queen who has only ever sought to be an impartial peacekeeper. Queen Vytel likely recognizes the faults of both the Nralakk Federation, and the Traverse Rebels. And, assuming the Rebels were ever to gain considerable power, would likely urge both sides to make peace, and allow the Rebels of the Traverse to establish their own nation upon the northern end of the Federation, with Tattuqig and Xrim as their core planets. Allowing the Rebels to expand northwards, and the Federation to expand southwards. Queen Xetl. Well, It's Xetl. She would likely side with whoever lets her continue doing what she's doing. As of right now the Federation allows her to continue perfecting her hives augments, and, y'know, being her. But were the Traverse to offer a suitable opportunity to expand the work she takes pride in, she may lean towards them. Half of me wants to cause problems. The other half wants the hives to recognize they are an extreme minority in the spur, and work together to form a new empire. The Zo'ra are already de-centralized, and if any hive were to establish a sovereign nation it would be one of them. Out of all the Zo'rane queens I'd think it would likely a joint effort between Zoleth and Scay to form an independent Vaurcesian nation. Zoleth attempting to construct an independent nation to strengthen the Zo'rane Hive, such that they do not need to depend on anyone but themselves, and with Scay, I'd presume it as a further attempt to seperate herself from the rabble of humans and unafilliated Vaurcae, such that she could pursue her research further and to greater heights. Un-tethered by human perceptions of morality. As for Inter-hive relationships. I definitely think that some strife may arise between the Zo'ra and the K'lax should the K'lax further lean into vassalization by the Hegemony, and, should the K'laxan hive fully mark themselves as independent from the Zo'rane hive, it would likely cause the C'thur to try and entirely disregard their roots as a minor diplomatic hive, and attempt to diminish the power of the Zo'ra over the other hives. So to say:

Keep them evil, but humanize them (Except for Lii'dra. They literally made themself into monsters) I think something that is often lost in narratives is that no matter how evil the villain is, they are still human. This shouldn't be taken to say that you should sympathize with the villain, but rather to instill the notion that anyone can become a monster. The Idea that Truely horrific people aren't human, but rather a monster, an entity, or some boogeyman loses a great deal of the complexity of their situation. I think something that should be toyed with more, both in Aurora-Lore and in other settings is what causes a person to become a monster? Why would a Human being decide to commit atrocities? The Lii'dra for example, before becoming a hivemind, were a greatly technologically advanced hive. The Lii'dra are the inventors of VR. A technology which the K'lax stole from them, presumably alongside many other inventions. Due to this, alongside the pressure due to the N'knu hive attacking the Hy'looh hive, caused the Lii'dra to try and develop an end to war and other problems caused by individuality. In doing this, they made the Hivemind, which then put further pressure on the Lii'dra hive due to the negative reception from literally every other hive The modern Lii'dra should not be empathized with. They should not be given sympathy, and they should not be given mercy. However, this piece of "humanization". This notion that they once were Normal, can allow them to be used not only as an external antagonist, but an internal one as well. Imagine the K'laxan Queen Vedhra creates a new augment which allows her warriors to "sync" to one another in combat, in order to make them infinitely more effective in combat. It could instantly cause a "Beware the Pipeline" moment from every other queen, trying to ensure that Queen Vedhra does not lose herself in an attempt to ensure that she can fight the Lii'dra. Monsters are born from necessity. Whether that necessity is truely there, or simply percieved is irrelevant. The SRF formed out of what they saw as a necessity for order. The Lii'dra formed out of what they saw as a necessity for self defense, and peace. The way that they try to reach these goals is what turns them into a Monster. The SRF should not be sympathized with. You should not try to justify the actions of an SRF soldier. You Should think about the things that led them down the path they chose, and allow it to reverberate within your mind when you find yourself taking similar steps. Another fun part of this is the age-old trope of "Becoming a Monster to fight Monsters." The SRF Became monsters in an attempt to purge the alien threat. To them, the aliens were the monster, so they became a monster to "protect" other humans. The Lii'dra likely did not percieve the other hives as monsters, but, they were faced with the monstrous power of the court of queens. ATLAS does not exist anymore. And frankly I do not want to talk about it. Looking at the old ATLAS wiki page, it seems like they were similar in stance to how the DPRA is. And then people got carried away with space racism and made them Nazis. Gotta love it. Over time ATLAS in lore leaned heavily into the extremism of its parties, rather than just remaining as Human DPRA.

Strength/Weakness: I like to give depth where it absolutely isn't needed. I enjoy little details, and because of this I'll spend time that probably should be spent elsewhere on fleshing out small details Strength: Worldbuilding. I enjoy building locations and cultures, where stories can be built from Weakness: Storywriting. As a DM I'm used to creating locations and allowing players to build the story from them, because of that I'm a bit underpracticed on writing the actual story. I can still write stories and narratives, I just feel like I'm a bit out of practice I like to think I'm good at communicating with other people, and resolving conflict when it does arise, but there are times when I have difficulty expressing my thoughts or feelings on a topic. Because of this I sometimes overcompensate by overdescribing or overexplaining something that could probably be done in like 2 words. Pain. It's an unfortunate part of writing and worldbuilding that as a setting grows and progresses certain things will no longer fit. It sucks. But nonetheless it must happen in order to keep a well made setting. Whenever it happens I try to think of it similar to pruning a rosebush. It's unpleasant. You don't want to do it. But in the end it's better for the rosebush itself, and for the appearance of the rosebush. Edit: And, when you're done pruning, you have some roses to use elsewhere. (ie; in another story/setting.)

I have a softspot for the K'lax, as my first Vaurca was a Mi'kuetz queenless.(Yes, queenless, but Mi'kuetz is still pretty polite with the main hive.) I greatly enjoy most all of the lore regarding K'lax and the Hegemony, the only thing I would change isn't even truely related to the Hegemony, I'd just like more lore about how the K'lax hive interacts with the other groups on Moghes. The Queendom for example. One other thing is a really fun quote from the "Queens and the Government" section; "Most of Vedhra’s offers to “perfect” the Unathi’s biology has been rejected by the Hegemony." This quote is fun to me because of the word "Most". And that can be heavily toyed with. This might seem like a cop-out answer but I wouldn't want to retcon anything, and that's simply because I don't like retconning at all. I quite like the Court of Queens Arc. The only thing I personally don't 100% like is how human some of the Vaurca involved are, for example, Ra'Akaix'Zol Zo'ra. Then again, a Ra created to display their caste to the public likely would be good at communicating.

Ckey/BYOND Username: whitewolftamer Position Being Applied For: (Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer, Deputy Lore developer): Deputy Lore Developer (Bottom of the food chain baybee) Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yes Past Experiences/Knowledge: I DM for my friends in DnD. Examples of Past Work: No accepted works, but I've made a few different Lore Canonization Applications. One for Zaurghis (God bless its soul), and the two most recent ones for a bit of Tajaran folklore and an expansion on Skye'mok Additional Comments: Hzzzz, yez... very nize... Vaurca Deputy Perspective on Lore: The short Version: I like the bugs. They're cool The long Version: Vaurcae are incredibly enjoyable to me because there is such a broad array of possibilities with them depending on both hive and brood. Xetl's brood can be truely alien individuals who hardly see the other races around them, or Athvurs brood who can easily relate and converse with humans and other species. Although, I must confess, the thing that interests me most are the Lii'dra. Just because of how truely alien they are, and the potential for truely aberrant war or workerforms with them. As the makers of VR, and creators of their own Hivemind, the Lii'dra have such a capacity for cold-calculating alien hate. And I love it. How I'd like to expand the Lore: I enjoy expanding pieces of lore that have been given a relatively minimal amount of love. With the Vaurca the least loved chunks of lore are probably Luthien and Pid (I would include Caprice but with the Phalanx that will probably change). Of course, there's always an argument for leaving things intentionally obfuscated. And in the case of the Interstice in VR for example, I'd agree. Eldritch horrors are no-longer Eldritch once they're explainable. It's also important to leave some room for players and the other people in the community to create their own narratives in these locations. I'd uh. Also have the power to update the Vaurca Biology page. Vaurca Biology has plenty of lore it just. Hasn't been updated on the wiki. There's no section on Ra' or Cephalons.

Lore Impact (Small/Medium/Large): Small. Species: Vaurca Short Description: Expands on Skye'mok and brewing of it How will this be reflected on-station?: Skye'mok mead and recipes (Maybe) Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: Gives Vaurca more paths to being alcoholic, instead of "Hrrrrng. Toothpazte." Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team? Yes. Long Description: While largely abandoned in favor of toothpaste based drinks, there still resides a small, but comfortable industry of Skye'mok brewing since Vaurcae have arrived to the spur. Skye'mok itself is a bioluminescent fungus which produces flourine. Unlike K'ois, a colonial basidiomycete, Skye'mok is a megafungal rhizopal zygomycete. Growing large bulbs at the end of branching stalks. While very little research has been done on the long term effects of consuming Skye'mok within non-vaurca, it is non-toxic within the short-term. The spores of a Skye'mok fungal growth are stored within the bioluminescent bulbs which grow at the end of each stalk. On Sedantis Skye'mok formed a symbiotic relationship with V'krexi. V'krexi would actively seek out Skye'mok, both for nourishment, and for the intoxicating effects. After digestion, the spores would "pass through" the V'krexi and end up on the cave floor, allowing them to take root within the droppings of the V'krexi and grow again. In an agricultural setting, Skye'mok bulbs are harvested from the plant, and ground into a paste, which is then spread onto rock walls, or in hydroponics, placed at the bottom of the basin to allow the fungus to secure itself to the bottom of the tank. Skye'mok, when used for brewing, is prepared similarly to how it would be for agricultural purposes. The bulbs are ground into a fine paste, however, rather then spreading the paste to be grown, the paste is mixed with water. Once there, it is left to grow more colonies within the water container, once a thin mycorrhizal network has grown on the insides of the container, it is scraped off of the sides, and the mixture is heavily mixed. Depending on how many times this cycle is repeated the Skye'mok mead will be stronger or weaker. On average, one cycle of growth takes six days. This mixture is then emulsified and then filtered to provide a clear drink, without any "pulp". Some breweries carefully boil away water in their Skye'mok mead so that the flourine and other flavors further concentrate within the remaining mead. Skye'mok Mead is typically stored within clear bottles to show off the bioluminescent nature of Skye'mok. When Skye'mok mead is agitated or shaken, it glows a bright pale teal. When left to rest, it settles into a blueish, off-white color. In game it could probably be grown in hydroponics without fear of intense contamination, similarly to chanterelles. Spritewise it would probably just use the "Alien" plant sprites. For drinks. Plain "Skye'mok Mead" might be all that reaches the horizon, given that Getmore and other Idris subsidiaries likely focus on toothpaste based drinks for vaurcae. skyemok_mead.dmi

To clarify my stance. I don't dislike the parallels in other tajaran myths. I genuinely enjoy the tajaran folklore and my pointing out the parallels isn't meant to belittle them. I just figure I should get the defense of my potential addition having parallels out of the way.

Lore Impact (Small/Medium/Large): Small/Medium? Technically cultural change, but it's a single myth Species: Tajara Short Description: A piece of folklore similar to Sisyphus, but Tajaran. Why do I think it's okay to have a close (but still distinct) parallel? Tajani/Ratajani draw parallels to Gnomes. Saba Yarra draws parallels to Baba Yaga. Raskaren draw parallels to vampires. >Aghar'mhark How will this be reflected on-station?: Just more folklore for Tajaran players to reference Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: Yes and no. It's more folklore, which has been done, but it's a piece of folklore that references the Ma'ta'ke holy village which I haven't seen any others do Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team? Yeah Long Description: Cresh'jun Baqthaa or in Tau Ceti Basic, Radoslav Božidar, is a mythical figure in tajaran folklore. Originally an Ascended One of Mata'ke, he was blessed with immense strength. However, in his life within the Holy Village, Cresh'jun colluded with evil spirits in an attempt to avoid death, and live forever. For his treachery, Mata'ke cursed Cresh'jun with the task of forever attempting to herd a flock of large lard-laden birds (Modern retellings depict the birds as massive schlorrgo) from a ravine back up to the Holy Village. In order to ensure Cresh'jun suffered according to his treachery, Mata'ke acquired the aid of Rreduoane to ensure that Cresh'jun never attained victory in his trial. The moral of the story is often construed to be that life is meant to have an end, and that one should not seek to unnaturally prolong their life. However, due to the decentralized nature of the Ma'ta'ke faith, there are some groups who believe the story should be taken such that one can be happy despite difficulty in life, often citing the meaning behind the name Cresh'jun Baqthaa (Radoslav Božidar) as evidence. The name Cresh'jun (Radoslav) means "Happy" The name Baqthaa (Božidar) means "Divine gift" Thus, the full name of Cresh'jun Baqthaa (Radoslav Božidar) means "Divine gift of Happiness" Due to this myth, some Tajara facetiously refer to those with a Sisyphean punishment as "Baqths", or in TCB, "Božos" Eg; Siik'maas/Delvahhi/Ya'ssa: "She works everyday making clothes and barely survives. Poor Baqth." TCB: "They have to work overtime just to feed their family. He feels bad for the Božo"

Zaurghis already exists in lore as a part of the Coalition of Colonies Currently, it's a paragraph planet. Which means there's two things that could be done with it A. It gets retconned out of existence B. Someone gives it love and rehauls it Personally. I find retconning to be cringe, so I'm rehauling it. I've spoken with some people, and what I've gathered is that no-one else was doing it, so I'm doing it.