Cirukcaller Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 (edited) BYOND Key: Ciruk Character Names: Robert Draper (Human-Baseline) Dro'von Omeruk (Sinta'unathi) And a bunch of other years-ago concepts that no one knows/remembers anymore. Species you are applying to play: Skrell What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Dark, flaky moss-green Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Just about all of them! Why do you wish to play this specific race: Practically speaking, they're the second most appealing race in my mind for what I've seen, second only to Unathi. But even then, since backwhen and about four years ago, I've had the Skrell in the back of my head as the third race I hoped to make a character with. Why, because they are the long-lived; the ones with plenty of time to accumulate most wisdom, the ones I feel with an easier chance at acquiring perspective. With the most patience, as a general rule, and a higher ethical potential. My two current main characters are a study of contrasts in this regard — Robert is a naive, young human who frightens easily at both the unknown and the known. Dro'von, instead, is a foolhardy and Nanotrasen-elevated wastelander whose grasp of technology is basic enough in its recency that he can barely work a security outfit. Both of them score low in the wisdom chart, and I had hoped to fill a gap in my third character slot by rolling a more insightful character concept bore from a Skrell, to later make a concept to try my luck at Command roles once more. (This'll also be my pre-amble before applying in a hopeful future into Command roles again, as those were revoked from me due to inactivity from years ago. So here's hoping!) Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: There is something fey, something 'elvish'-like about the Skrell that spoke to me since the first time, and as of recent, that I read their descriptions. To them is a pervading aloofness to the recent happenings of their lives, and the concurrency of their everyday routines, and their mind instead focuses on the future; on what could happen in the string of actions, of knots, they see untying before them. They are always imagining the long-term, which can at times blind them of the present in many ways. But even the wisest can't see all ends, and this is how, I feel, how Glorsh slipped their grasp and passed into the unfathomable even for their logically-minded selves. A strong lesson that sits with varying levels of tonnage in every Skrell's mind. I also love how they possess a less-lenient form of British method to approach humor. And then went on to see it as a weakness, and pursuit means of self-deliverance from perceiving humor because theirs is so black and associated with fear-instinct that it's like suppressing fear itself. Can you imagine being so pessimistic like them? I can. We all would be if we lived to an average of 300 years, I feel. Character Name: Naa'hir (Pronounced: Na-seer) Please provide a short backstory for this character: For Naa'hir, life was strange, sad and nonconforming ever since young. Amidst his brethren, as a toddler, he could scarcely connect with the psionic wake his peers experienced--he couldn't fathom their shared, bountiful psychic bonds; their receivings. In their society he did not fit. His least kindly contemporaries called him barren, or a mute, but most simply referred to him as a Listener. Ironic, as he could barely hear anything at all. Born to an Axiori mother, and Xiiori father, he grew his earliest years in a privileged, residential zone in Qerrbalak, where many psionically and intellectually-gifted resided. It was only a matter of time before adulthood and growing maturity-with it its inevitable awareness-begun to creep into his understanding of how ill-fitting he truly was to even his homeland. How he didn't belong. But he possessed loving parents — ones willing to sacrifice their careers, their living comforts, to see the long-term health of their son realized. Together, in a romantic spur of familial bonding, they decided to move into the more 'traditional' and 'quaint' parts of Qerrbalak; into one of the many insular communes that sees Federation intervention only as a suggestion, rather than the norm. Where the lacking aspects of their son wouldn't be so terribly highlighted. There, his mother came to study the indigenous life nearby to further herself in her field. His father, too, worked in tandem with her, but always as a subordinate — she was the smartest of the two. She always said so, anyway. In there, Naa'hir became a pantologist of sorts: he took on any job that would come to him, from physical labour to more complex, machinery work. And at times, helped his parents where he could. He couldn't interface as deeply as most of his brethren with the more advanced components their kind possessed, or the psychic, mental commune created by the pervasive feel of psionic power compounding upon their world, but just by scratching its surface he could get by. He could study, if a bit; he could be half the Skrell his parents hoped him to be. With this disconnection, however, came blessed advantages that he didn't realize until much later: it made him much more aware of the present. In the loneliness of his mental state, he imparted more attention to the now, and through it, grew a certain familiarity to the lifestyle of the more short-lived races. To the point of fascination. When his first chance arrived, and with it the required aged to mean adulthood, he took the very first opportunity to assist a departing shuttle in the scientific field, and through it, begin his very first advent towards the stars. What do you like about this character: Well, from the get-go he's a bit of an undesirable. He's different, and his peculiarity is just about enough for me to totally see his quirky butt landing on the Horizon. I've given him enough leeway to not be so stranged by being around the shorter-lived races, and I've built him to hopefully share perspective with fellow crewmates so that it is easy to participate in a positive manner in roleplay. He is very open-minded, and is used to being in the lowest rungs of his society, so he'll fit just fine with even the lowliest of crew-members. But he's also not petty or bitter about his fate, as he possessed enough quality parentage to see past his unlucky fate as nothing more than a bad hand of cards. His heart is just as Skrell as any other. How would you rate your role-playing ability: If from one to ten, I'd say five. I think I'm about decent, but writing quality is kind of in the eyes of the beholder or whatever, right? Some people like one kind of writing, some people like other kinds, so it's hard to assess in a sense. At least that's how I feel. So yeah, five. A happy medium. Notes: I have only just begun reading profusely about Skrell as of six hours ago, and I'd be hard-pressed to say my brain has had the chance to kind of process all the information. I hope to, with my continued admiration for the race and lore written for them, that as time passes I'll become more familiar with everything and be able to write a story that better resonates with the lore-writers themselves if this isn't sufficient. So, I apologize in advance if I've given off any vibe of not understanding their concept and I'll do my best to better connect with it if so. That being said, thank you for reading! Edit-1: On the pronoun convention of 'He/Him", it is only to facilitate the crude understanding that Naa'hir is a F'ex'Tra definingly. And when speaking Basic, he uses such to refer to himself as to abridge cultural understanding. In the context of his parents, this also applies to the crudeness of mother/father dynamic; it is how he would, in essence, explain his own background word-wise. I couldn't think of any other way to characterize their gender-role adaptability, but I'm open to suggestions! Edited September 4, 2022 by WhatsUpBrotendo Link to comment
WhatsUpBrotendo Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 Hi, thanks for applying. A few things before I ask some questions. Firstly, you need both a first and last name for characters as per the server rules. The only exceptions to this are IPC and Diona characters. If you haven't thought of one or just didn't write it down on the app that's fine, I just wanted to clarify before you set up the character in game. Secondly, I'm not seeing much in the way of Skrell terminology throughout the app. While you've shown you know what listeners/receivers are, you haven't really shown knowledge in other places (quya terminology, relationship terms, etc). This isn't a major issue by itself, but since you've said yourself that you've only recently started reading about Skrell lore it does raise concerns regarding your knowledge of the species. The questions: Which community on Qerrbalak did they move to? Why did Naa'hir's family choose to move into one of these insular communities rather than somewhere with a large listener community or even moving off-planet, considering that they are likely still going to face prejudice by the locals? What was it like adjusting to living in a place like where they moved to? What is their social credit score? What is the score of their quya? Did Naa'hir being a listener heavily impact their social credit score? How old is this character? Does Naa'hir have any formal education? Which religion does Naa'hir follow? Do they also follow Suur'ka or Kir'gul? How does Naa'hir feel about Dionae and Vaurcae in the Federation? How do they feel about Skrell born outside of the Federation, or those that fled the Federation to live abroad? How/when did Naa'hir leave the Federation? Recent events in the setting would make interstellar travel difficult, especially for a lower class Skrell. How do they feel about recent events in the Spur, both Skrell-related and more generally speaking? Link to comment
Cirukcaller Posted September 3, 2022 Author Share Posted September 3, 2022 6 minutes ago, WhatsUpBrotendo said: Hi, thanks for applying. A few things before I ask some questions. Firstly, you need both a first and last name for characters as per the server rules. The only exceptions to this are IPC and Diona characters. If you haven't thought of one or just didn't write it down on the app that's fine, I just wanted to clarify before you set up the character in game. Secondly, I'm not seeing much in the way of Skrell terminology throughout the app. While you've shown you know what listeners/receivers are, you haven't really shown knowledge in other places (quya terminology, relationship terms, etc). This isn't a major issue by itself, but since you've said yourself that you've only recently started reading about Skrell lore it does raise concerns regarding your knowledge of the species. The questions: Which community on Qerrbalak did they move to? Why did Naa'hir's family choose to move into one of these insular communities rather than somewhere with a large listener community or even moving off-planet, considering that they are likely still going to face prejudice by the locals? What was it like adjusting to living in a place like where they moved to? What is their social credit score? What is the score of their quya? Did Naa'hir being a listener heavily impact their social credit score? How old is this character? Does Naa'hir have any formal education? Which religion does Naa'hir follow? Do they also follow Suur'ka or Kir'gul? How does Naa'hir feel about Dionae and Vaurcae in the Federation? How do they feel about Skrell born outside of the Federation, or those that fled the Federation to live abroad? How/when did Naa'hir leave the Federation? Recent events in the setting would make interstellar travel difficult, especially for a lower class Skrell. How do they feel about recent events in the Spur, both Skrell-related and more generally speaking? Thank you for reading my post! To answer your question, I wish it was the case, but it isn't that I hadn't thought of a surname; it was that I was wrong, and wrongfully assumed that adding to the name an apostrophe'd end made the last name. I was wrong, and dumb. I'll be thinking of a surname now, to make sure the character's properly made. Now, relationship terms, I see what you mean by that and I'll be utilizing them in the answers to the questions here as best I can to reference retroactively. Now, terminology! I tried to, taking from the example I got through reading and sampling the applications of other accepted whitelists, condense my background so that it fits within a certain set of paragraphs. That's why I glanced past many events of his life and things so that the story felt more like a generalization. I tend to write far too much otherwise, and I didn't want to come across as pedantic in some way. Now that being said, if you'd like me to rewrite his background and remake it in such a way to very specifically add reference to Skrell locations, places, and things of the sort I will happily do so. I want you guys to feel like I'm ready, after all. Anyway, to the questions: Which community on Qerrbalak did they move to? Why did Naa'hir's family choose to move into one of these insular communities rather than somewhere with a large listener community or even moving off-planet, considering that they are likely still going to face prejudice by the locals? What was it like adjusting to living in a place like where they moved to? The region I had in mind would be the Ucra Region, and the community in question would be my own creation — a township of sorts, one of the many insular locations of the crater. I had hoped that Naa'hir's parents, one of them, would have ties to the place and, more specifically, family there to which fallback to. And while they'd still face prejudice, it wouldn't be the kind of censoring and life-ruining levels of labelling they would experience from the Federation. Sticking to the topic-name of the thread, Naa'hir in this case is incredibly non-comformist, and I believe that their parents would've known that they needed a change of location before doing something so egregious they couldn't come back from. They had to go live with his uncle in Bel-Air, so to speak. What is their social credit score? What is the score of their quya? Did Naa'hir being a listener heavily impact their social credit score? I would say that their social score would've remained high due to the sort of people they are associated with. Their friends, at first and growing up from his original place of burgeoning, would be from good families and Naa'hir would've been homogenized in their social structures almost naturally, if being somewhat shifty due to their Listener status. It'd be only after reaching adulthood at seventy-two that Naahir'd begin chafing more openly with what they'd perceive as the obviously stifling nature of the Federation. I'm not sure what you mean by "score of their Quya," I was under the impression that Quya signified essentially a polyamorous group of Skrell forming from a set of Qu'Poxii deciding to all-together reproduce and then create a kind of familial structure in which to raise children, and Naa'hir wouldn't have yet found the chance or opportunity to dedicate themselves to a partner. It doesn't help that, as a Listener, it is much harder for him to connect with Receivers. It is his curse. In terms of their parents and their family as a whole 'Quya', I'm not sure. I haven't really put much thought on how many offsprings they've had or the familial structure behind them. I hope all of this makes sense. How old is this character? Does Naa'hir have any formal education? At the culmination of this story, and the beginning of their intended tenure on Horizon, Naa'hir would be a hundred and four. Their education ended at the Reefgardens, however, and they achieved his 'Depth-level' education through their Qrri'Myaq; one of their original, birthing 'parents'. It'd be on some field of Science, of course, to fit the backstory. I haven't decided on anything specific, though! Any formal education behind that, too, would be at best glancing into the field of research and development. It is simply what their family would coerce them to do, and they'd happily oblige. Which religion does Naa'hir follow? Do they also follow Suur'ka or Kir'gul? Naa'hir would say, imagine themselves almost, to be a follower and believer of Sqai'Tzi. But the truth is, that for most of their life, in their lonesomeness and segregation due to their lacking ability to become part of the Psionic cycle, their life developed more as a Kir'gul follower rather than anything else. Before they even bothered to understand, to learn and study the belief itself. It fits the character perfectly after all, and it was a great part of what drove me to make them and the concept entirely as a whole. Individuality. How does Naa'hir feel about Dionae and Vaurcae in the Federation? They are very much fond of both, really. They share the fascination across the small Qu'Poxii that bore him for the Vaurcae, feeling that from them there's much that they can wean. They are also fascinated by the idea of drones and the like that have stepped beyond the reach or control of their gestalt conciousness. Naa'hir, too, is fond of Dionae. They appreciate their ability to take things slow, and how in a sense they share the speed and perspective of Skrell to a level. Naa'hir doesn't possess any kind of prejudice towards either of them. How do they feel about Skrell born outside of the Federation, or those that fled the Federation to live abroad? They would've probably, potentially, grown to idolize them in a sense. Creating these idealized versions of them in their head of freedom-fighters, trend-setters, and truly 'free' individuals that aren't controlled by the all-encompassing expectations of their heavily structurized society. Naa'hir would also feel a particular pang of guilt for feeling this way, as it stands as a stark opposite to the many core values of his people, so they would keep such things strictly to himself. Beliefs they wouldn't share or openly express until they were able to finally leave Federation space. In a sense, being closeted about it until much recently. How/when did Naa'hir leave the Federation? Recent events in the setting would make interstellar travel difficult, especially for a lower class Skrell. I've been toying with the idea of them leaving with a series of like-minded Listeners to join the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. Through it, achieve a kind of dual-citizenship with the Republic of Biesel and if not, abandon altogether their Federation credentials to remain in Mendell City and later the Horizon where they'd feel much more included and given a chance to explore the feelings of individuality burgeoning in them. How do they feel about recent events in the Spur, both Skrell-related and more generally speaking? I'd say that they're entirely glad with the fracturing of the Solarian Alliance. The sparcity of control and fostering of independence created by the colonies is something they are very fond of, but the growing control of the corporations and their now rising influence with the continuous demand forged by the multiplied racturing of space isn't something they'd be fond of either. A necessary evil, sure, but it's like a cake to them they don't get to eat. Still, they aren't against the conglomerate because they appreciate the union and the "we keep an eye on each other" attitude that makes it all seem fair and judicial in their eyes. More perspectives means more of a chance to reach the right conclusion, and all. Notes-2: I hope these answers are somewhat satisfying, and I'll gladly pad-and-fill any gaps you may find in all of it. Thanks for reading! Link to comment
WhatsUpBrotendo Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 49 minutes ago, Cirukcaller said: Now that being said, if you'd like me to rewrite his background... I'm going to tentatively say no to rewriting the background for your character and discuss it with my deputy. As it stands I'm fine with you leaving it as it is as long as you're able to answer questions regarding your character's backstory like you are now. Quote I'm not sure what you mean by "score of their Quya," I'm asking if Naa'hir's family (as in, those who raised them) are primaries/secondaries, as this would impact Naa'hir's social credit score and early life. I was also asking for an actual social credit score for Naa'hir. Based on what you've mentioned throughout your application, it seems that they are meant to be a tertiary numerical. Quote Naa'hir would say, imagine themselves almost, to be a follower and believer of Sqai'Tzi. Sqai'Tzi is a martial art that's linked to Qeblak and Weishii, which are the two main Skrell faiths. From the wiki: "While not a belief in and of itself, Skrellian martial arts holds signifigance to most Skrell, being used as a tool to practice their beliefs." Quote I've been toying with the idea of them leaving with a series of like-minded Listeners to join the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. Through it, achieve a kind of dual-citizenship with the Republic of Biesel and if not, abandon altogether their Federation credentials to remain in Mendell City and later the Horizon where they'd feel much more included and given a chance to explore the feelings of individuality burgeoning in them. Would this group have left as part of the Exodus led by Weibii a few years ago, or would this be before/after that event? Also, the Nralakk Federation does not allow dual citizenships except for the Sol Alliance, CT-EUM, or Eridani Corporate Federation. Link to comment
Cirukcaller Posted September 3, 2022 Author Share Posted September 3, 2022 49 minutes ago, WhatsUpBrotendo said: I'm going to tentatively say no to rewriting the background for your character and discuss it with my deputy. As it stands I'm fine with you leaving it as it is as long as you're able to answer questions regarding your character's backstory like you are now. I'm asking if Naa'hir's family (as in, those who raised them) are primaries/secondaries, as this would impact Naa'hir's social credit score and early life. I was also asking for an actual social credit score for Naa'hir. Based on what you've mentioned throughout your application, it seems that they are meant to be a tertiary numerical. Sqai'Tzi is a martial art that's linked to Qeblak and Weishii, which are the two main Skrell faiths. From the wiki: "While not a belief in and of itself, Skrellian martial arts holds signifigance to most Skrell, being used as a tool to practice their beliefs." Would this group have left as part of the Exodus led by Weibii a few years ago, or would this be before/after that event? Also, the Nralakk Federation does not allow dual citizenships except for the Sol Alliance, CT-EUM, or Eridani Corporate Federation. I'm asking if Naa'hir's family (as in, those who raised them) are primaries/secondaries, as this would impact Naa'hir's social credit score and early life. I was also asking for an actual social credit score for Naa'hir. Based on what you've mentioned throughout your application, it seems that they are meant to be a tertiary numerical. As per the backstory that I wrote, and trying to think of how it'd be structured in Skrell society, I'd say that they were born and raised with a high-secondary digit around 6 to 7. Then, as they developed, and grew more into themselves and beyond the growth structure set by their progenitors, as well as the influence of those around them with a lower score, it was slowly trickled down to the negative degrees. Mid-secondary ish, 4 to 5. More specifically, 4.31 as of 'now'. Or before their travels with the Horizon. Sqai'Tzi is a martial art that's linked to Qeblak and Weishii, which are the two main Skrell faiths. From the wiki: Yes, I originally meant Qeblak, but in my hurried citating and quotating my eyes went like this >>> <<< and I confused the two, and the brain went kapoot and poop, and eugh, and dumb me did a whoopsie-doopsie. I apologize. Would this group have left as part of the Exodus led by Weibii a few years ago, or would this be before/after that event? Also, the Nralakk Federation does not allow dual citizenships except for the Sol Alliance, CT-EUM, or Eridani Corporate Federation. I think it'd be very fitting for them to have left with Weibii. It's good news to hear that was just a few years ago, as I hadn't considered the possibility prior because I couldn't find the exact date of his movement happening and I didn't want to bring about a confusion of periods into the app that I couldn't overlay with proper establishing because I just didn't find the info I needed. I'm trying to keep things vague and loosely-fitting in that regard for my own sanity, but at the same time I'm trying really hard not to seem lackluster because of it. I'll try to do better. Link to comment
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