[Accepted]Somethingiguess Injects Black K'ois Paste Into Their Right Heart (Vaurca App)

[VVipEdout]

BYOND Key: Somethingiguess

Character Names: Moira O’Malley, Nicola Penna, Zalqash Qu’ux, Alexandra Nikiforova, Khrazkv Han’San, Oumou Sissoko, Qu Ulu’Nunuz, EOF-EOL, IRU-Emir

Species you are applying to play: Vaurca

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Mint-ish Green (0, 80, 60)

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes, including the History/Society/Religion/Broods/Hive Fundamentals/Biology sections.

 

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:

When I had first started playing on the server, I had expected to apply for a Vaurca whitelist before any others for a reason I still hold today; they are easily the most alien playable race out there, but on understanding the internal logic of Vaurcese society, biology and themes, it all comes to feel consistent and even intuitive. The parallels to ants, beyond their appearance, are present from their development cycle to their loads of specialised bodyforms for specific tasks to a firmly caste-based, yet completely logical to a Vaurca, social organisation. The concept of a servant class perfectly obedient from birth or endless deaths in virtual reality solely for learning can and almost always does come across as horrifying for a character of another species, while for a Vaurca it is no more and no less than an efficient groundwork for a culture.

 

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Starting from the most obvious differences, Vaurca biology requires augmentations to a degree that would give a dreg pause; communicating with other species beyond the most basic degree demands that nearly every Vaurca has a voice modulator ranging from worn-out models requiring a sincere effort to understand at times (Ckoizz izz vhine, zzir!) to crystal-clear tones fitting for a singer; and even if their modulator was of the highest quality, the degree to which they understand other species’ social cues varies wildly. Some broods like Athvur’s or High C’thur’s generally make more of a conscious effort to ‘fit in’, which lends to its own problems, such as the image of a 7’5 insectoid wearing a hyperrealistic expression mask to attempt and convey emotion.

 

Beyond the social aspects of Vaurcese adaptation, there’s more strictly practical differences. Vaurcae, having a phoron and sulphur based biochemistry, require a constant intake of the former usually in the form of k’ois based foods. Albeit consumption of unfiltered k’ois is perfectly safe for them, the slightest inhalation of its spores to any other species will result in a quickly deadly case of mycosis, which will then later spread to the surroundings and cause an outbreak just because the scientist decided not to wear internals. In fact, wild k’ois is so deadly to other species that it has been weaponised by the Lii’dra, with their own variant possessing a light-draining property and creating a mycosis in the brain instead of the lungs which will quickly turn the subject into a Viax-like state should they survive. Conversely, cardox is intensely deadly and painful to take; sane Vaurcae will refuse to even hold a closed container of the substance, let alone enter contact with it. Nitrogen is also a dangerous agent for them, for which they require a filtration bit. In theory this also means one requires a nitrogen free room for surgery on a Vaurcese lifeform but nobody’s coded that yet, ree.  Attending to all these differences on a human station, even without mentioning the biologically ingrained loyalty to their queen or the problems they have subjecting themselves to a corporate form of work rather than working for their designated task in a hivecell, produces a contrast far greater to any other playable race save for arguably Dionaea.

 

 

Character Name: Ka’Akaix’Vek K’lax

 

Please provide a short backstory for this character

 

Vek, ever since the moment their socket was implanted, has found themselves constantly scouring lengths upon lengths of archaeological digs both in Aether and the Tret deserts. The length of a pick, the makeup of ancient layers of rock, the rare and coveted trace of a Vox design; not a second of time was not devoted to unearthing any sign of old Sedantis or even further back. If the other broods lacked interest or knowledge of dearest Queen Leto'yahkt'zor, it was their own mistake; adaptation was more than synthesising an Unathi voice or building shuttleports, it was finding what had already worked in the past and was lost in the long travel of the Kloxa’xia.

 

Sadly, the demands of a new and lacking world meant somehow collecting credits for the hive, and at least NanoTrasen would have a passing interest in archaeology over the Hegemony. Vek found themselves sent away from Uuoea-Esa and most of his hivecell, positioned as a lab assistant and xenoarchaeologist-hopeful aboard the NSS Aurora. Since the aliens would force them to prove what he already was, they would surely find a way to prove their brood’s unmatched skill and wisdom by finding the signs of Voxian mastery in a ripe system. Perhaps, they would be right beneath their claws.

 

What do you like about this character?

 

Mainly I wanted to play what I considered to be an underused brood; most of my experiences with Vaurca characters have been with Zoleth’s, Athvur’s, Mouv’s or Xetl’s brood. K’lax as a whole is a hive I see little of (I’m reasonably sure all but one of which I’ve seen are played by bygone), and the idea of a searcher of the past having to adapt themselves not once but twice to a new environment, falling first under the Hegemony and later to Tau Ceti, feels to me as a rich avenue for RP together with how they will go across receiving a waiver to move beyond an apprentice role.

 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

 

There’s nothing to add since the last time I’ve answered this question; average, with certain weak points and certain narratives I try to include people in. With every whitelist this question feels like more of a formality than anything else.

 

Notes: Add two more toothpaste tubes to the surface bathroom, 40 units of toothpaste are hard to ration across every bug on the station.

[Bygonehero]

Familiar characters, and an excellent Character. Leto is one of the queens I intend to beef up some more, and you nailed their themes in your writing. I would love to see how you develop this character further, and the new characters you make! Application Accepted!