lynxqueen

Remade from scratch. No six month break between working on it. Full steam ahead, did better research, and took the feedback to heart. I hope this one is far better. BYOND Ckey: LynxQueen Discord username: LynxQueen Character names: Kerensa Yan, Gwen Levi Species you are applying to play: Vaurca ------------------------------ General Whitelist Requirements What colour do you plan on making your first alien character? (RGB 43, 72, 58), the color of unbound Zkaii brood bulwarks. Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for? Of course. I’ve read the pages, I keep them open, and I reread them often! I often keep relevant pages open when roleplaying a character, to additionally make sure I have referencable information on hand. 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 species? Out of all the races Aurora hosts, Vaurca are my favorite. It’s been shown I’m incredibly enthusiastic about them, and very interested in playing them. I find them genuinely enjoyable beyond just being insectoid (which is also great!). They have rich lore, history, and a bounty of information and differences from brood to brood and hive to hive. While still being effectively a race of hiveminded insects, the unbound still have heavily varying personalities which I find interesting for a species. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human? The mechanics are obvious so I’ll go over solely cultural differences. I’ll start with the big one. Overall, every human is a single mortal entity. By comparison, the Vaurca live forever embraced by one another via the Hivenet and virtual reality. A vaurca is never alone as long as the Hivenet is up. Their VR tech is another massive difference between humanity and vaurca. With it, vaurca are effectively immortal. Their bodies can die, but they can be resleeved via the virtual reality that contains what is effectively their digital soul. Humanity (along with the other races) have gotten access to part of the VR with the Ve’katak Phalanx, but even they cannot truly handle its rigors or a digital existence. Further and finally, and most importantly, is the birth of a vaurca. Each new vaurca is born to a caste, with its purpose and education implanted via imagotis. Before they even breathe life their overall future purpose is decided. This is a massive departure from human culture, where life is decided by the individual (and environmental factors). The Hive/Queens/Ta decides the path for the individual vaurca, not the vaurca. And for a vaurca, there is no better way. ------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: Ra’Akaix’Kraz K’lax Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. Ra’Akaix’Kraz K’lax, or Kraz, was born four years prior to the Zkaii brood upon the planet Tret, located within the Izweski Hegemony as a Bulwark. Its purpose is engineering systems and construction, of which it has shown great skill. In the meatspace, Kraz uses its time for construction projects and working on advanced engineering systems for its brood, expanding their reach across the surface of Tret. In the virtual world, Kraz does much of the same, but uses its time to work on theoretical projects that have yet to be applied in meatspace. Overall, it is a dutiful vaurca, taking its work seriously and to be done in a timely manner before the rest cycle begins. Life on Tret itself has not been easy for Kraz, as it has not been easy for any vaurca upon its surface. While spared the rigors of the Tretian sweatshops, and the more hostile work areas upon the planet, Kraz itself is still worn down moderately. It is a near constant stream of construction and work as Kraz labors to expand Ksyne’kizar. The struggle has not left it, either, and Kraz is always finding something to do. One could refer to Kraz as a workaholic even for a vaurca, but it would simply retort saying it is doing what needs to be done. Upon Tret it has attempted to deal little with aliens despite its curiosity, seeing as they stay only for a short time and often those aliens do not visit the near uninhabitable areas it works. As an individual, Kraz is very kind and polite! It is curious of the world around it, curious over the Spur’s people and constructions in particular. In the little freetime offered it consumes alien media, primarily that which concerns feats of engineering, such as METAL CRUSHERS! or particular episodes of Freedom Fliers dealing with mechanical problems. Its fascination with engineering would be expected from a vaurca that works in engineering, but Kraz takes it to another level by doing little besides engineering, even in its free time. It may seem a bit limited by the fact that it has little interest outside of the area of expertise, but such a fact has not impacted its performance to do its work, so Kraz cares little in the end. How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. Overall, the largest interstellar event would be Hephaestus moving into the Izweski Hegemony. Replacement of their guilds with corporations, and their intimate relationship with the local K’lax populations have led to a shift in the Hegemony. While Unathi may have many reservations, I do not believe the K’lax would. In fact, if anything, Hephaestus moving in has led to a spring in K’lax influence among the stars, moving many of their industrial members to other locations for work, such as Kraz. Another large impact would be the War in Heaven, obviously. As a member of the Zkaii brood, Kraz would be much more directly impacted. Tupii is an upstart trying to take control of the K’lax hive, which obviously needs to be corrected and the K’lax to be under Zkaii alone. It is all part of the simulation for the ascension of the Hive to Mother K’lax’s side, so the victor must be the obvious one. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Kraz views the Hephaestus Corporation in a relatively positive light. They rely greatly on Vaurca labor, and being the industrious individual Kraz is, Kraz likes the work. Heph is also responsible for assistance in a lot of the development of Tret, Kraz’s previous workline. The assignment abroad has not been entirely unwelcome to it, as it is a chance to prove its dedication and skills abroad. It’s an invaluable resource and opportunity for Kraz, and not one it will squander.

Chamberlain has been an amazing HoS so far. I've gotten a round with him as sec and one as an antag so far and I liked them both. +1!

Sorry if this seems to ramble on, I write these how my thoughts go. I hope these sufficiently answer your questions! If not, ask more! I will keep answering to the best of my ability. I'm very interested in playing the vaurca so I'd like to get it right! And please do correct my information if you view it as incorrect. 1. How does Kraz view the various alien species of the Spur, as well as the SCC? I would say that Kraz does not hate the various aliens or the SCC, taking a much more liberal approach to their existence. They may even enjoy their presence eventually. While the Vetju Brood is as distrustful of others as their queen, I would say Kraz is distrustful simply due to having never met any aliens until recently. All it has to go off of is word of mouth, not experience. This could obviously change over time, and as Kraz experiences life beyond Tret its opinions would likely soften more, or become more conservative, depending on its experiences abroad. 2. Furthermore specifically, what does it think of the Unathi and the Karszekani Moghes (formerly known as the Izweski Hegemony)? I imagine well enough, but at the same time poorly for the Izweski/Karszekani refusal to recognize the Iron Queen as the High Queen over the Sleepwalker. This would obviously cause some friction, but it is also true that those of the Vetju hive are the most valuable to the Izweski historically, such as Admiral Za’Akaix’Xitac K’lax. It would have a nuanced opinion, but ultimately wouldn’t care much as long as the Vetju brood were allowed to continue their existence uninterrupted, as they do not seem to care much about politics or expansion. Kraz itself is more concerned with its work rather than forming political thought. Political thought is for the Queens, not the common Vaurca. 3. What are Kraz's views on the C'thur and Zo'ra Hives, in addition to the reinstated Court of Queens? I say its views are… fine. They are different hives, assuredly, and therefore they are run differently. I think Kraz would get along well enough with drastically different Hives, because that is simply their existence and this is its existence. Again, Kraz would not concern itself overly with politics, merely doing its work in representing its own hive and brood well. As for the Court of Queens, I imagine some joy there as the bulwarks were unveiled at the first meeting. Further, seeing as the bulwark caste comes from the Zo’ra, there may be some appreciation there as well. After all, the Vetju brood have taken full advantage of the bulwarks, and being such a fundamental part of the modern Vetju industry is a point of pride of Kraz. 4. Could you elaborate on how Kraz has been personally impacted by the Phoron Scarcity? Having trouble with this one, particularly since the wiki isn’t updated to go over the impact on Vaurca, so I only have my own guesswork and estimations to go off of. After ruminating some time, I’ve come to the conclusion that it… wouldn’t really impact Kraz personally. It gets its k’ois, it works. It lives. The days go on. It is true that more phoron accessibility in its purer forms would boost productive capabilities across the hive, but that’s not the question. 5. Could you further elaborate on what differentiates roleplaying the mentality of a vaurca in comparison to a human? I think I meant to write more here but forgot to when I returned to my application after some time. My bad. There is much more rigid individuality among humans compared to the vaurca, even the unbound, as ultimately humans are beholden to no one but themselves. At the same time, there is some level of variety to vaurca mentality compared to humans, such as the Bound, which are more comparable to robots who exist to do a job and really nothing else. That said humans and vaurca are not incompatible. Unbound have wants and desires as any human does. They have personalities. But at their core, all vaurca have some basis on ‘what’ they are, dictated before their birth. Humans learn as they grow from a child, vaurca are born as fully functional adults. They do not have a childhood of learning from error or success. There would naturally be a disconnect there. Such would go into roleplay, I think. It’s hard for me to put into words when character acting/roleplaying, I’ll be honest. It’s a vibe or feeling that only gets easier to do as time goes on. I’ve done this for well into a decade and a half and I’ve been asked this question before and it’s never any easier to answer!

Edited: Not sure why I vague posted that. Maybe because "oooo secret Vetju workings oooo" but that doesn't really work in an application lol

A great question! My idea is that they *were* stationed as such. I sort of vagueposted that but I shouldn't have in retrospect. I believe I will modify it to blatantly say that.

BYOND Ckey: LynxQueen Discord username: LynxQueen Character names: Kerensa Yan Species you are applying to play: Vaurca ------------------------------ General Whitelist Requirements What colour do you plan on making your first alien character? (RGB 13, 66, 27), the color of unbound bulwarks, which will be detailed further below, of course. Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for? That I have. I’d keep them open even while roleplaying as I do with Kerensa Yan so I can quickly reference things in conversation. 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 species? I find the Vaurca the most fascinating of the Aurora races, likely due to my bias and interest in insectoid alien lifeforms. I think Aurora has done an excellent job in making the Vaurca both aesthetically and lore interesting. Their lore is varied, and about what I’d expect for a species who’s civilization is nearly a million years old. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human? Well, for starters, they aren’t oxygen bound primate-based organisms. They’re Phoron based insectoids, with many varying different job-specific forms. Human bodies aren’t quite so focused. Humans are born to find their own purpose. Vaurca are born with a purpose. Biology aside, their civilizations are massively different, as Vaurca (outside of the Queenless) are beholden to a queen of their brood. ------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: Ra’Akaix’Kraz K’lax Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. Kraz is a Vetju Hive Bulwark, with the purpose solely of engineering. Construction and deconstruction, along with entering hazardous locations within Kloz’xera to do such work. It is a diligent worker of even temperament, often going out of its way to do good work. One could say it is an exemplary member of it’s workgroup. It exhibits relatively decent curiosity, though not any more than what would be above average for a Vetju Vaurca. Kraz is an ‘older’ Bulwark, currently at four standard years, though all those years have been spent working exclusively at Kloz’xera. When not dutifully attending to it’s duties, Kroz is often found working on personal engineering projects in meatspace, and in the Klo’vtak realmspace, working on theoretical designs it can use in meatspace. Kraz was recently sent to undergo employment with Hephaestus as an engineer by the hive, who eagerly accepted what would be defined as a ‘veteran bulwark worker’. This has ultimately led them aboard the SCCV Horizon as an engineer, where they do much of the same work. Repair, construct, deconstruct, repair. It is hoping that it will learn new, possibly more efficient methods to these techniques from the aliens aboard. How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. The Phoron Scarcity is the biggest one for Vaurca specifically, I feel, as they breathe phoron. Obviously this would be of utmost importance to all Vaurca, as to not waste it and the insistence on finding more. K’ois, I imagine, can only bring the Vaurca so far on it’s own. So the scarcity would affect Kraz as much as it has any other Vaurca, especially on the Horizon where it is all the less readily available. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Well enough, I imagine, with some level of distrust and suspicion that comes naturally with the Vetju Hive. Kraz would know well that it’s time with Hephaestus is temporary at best, and that it will inevitably return to Tret to work in the Forges once again. For now, it serves a means to an end - one that comes with pay and invaluable off-world experience.