[Approved] Furrycactus - Vaurca Whitelist Application

[furrycactus]

BYOND Key:
Furrycactus

Character Names:
A whole bunch, but my current mains are Z.I. Flak (Atmospheric Technician, IPC) and Ali Al-Kamali (Resident Surgeon, Human).

Species you are applying to play:
Vaurca

What color do you plan on making your first alien character:
Dark Green (Zkaii Brood)

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?:
Yes.

 

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question.

 

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

As of late, I’ve been interacting with a lot of Vaurcae characters when on the Horizon. While I never had much interest in playing a Vaurca in the distant past, something shifted lately and I’ve found their lore to be a lot more interesting. I find it really appealing how alien they are compared to many of the other playable species, and I really want to experience that in roleplay.

 

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

There’s loads of things, both in roleplay and in mechanical gameplay. You’re given the chance to put yourself in the shoes of a species with a thought process and society that is really far removed from how humans operate. While humans are pretty individualistic, vaurca exist within a biologically enforced caste system, where practically everything is done in the name of the queens for the hives’ collective advancement and survival. Being purpose-bred for a specific type of task and having your life set out before you in such a manner as dictated by the Ta is not entirely dissimilar from the life of an IPC (which I also very much enjoy playing), but it also stands on its own as a unique life experience for an organic to be put through. The fact that Za and Ka also only have a standard biological lifespan of 20 years (not including time in cryo and VR) really serves to emphasise that in the grand scheme, these beings are disposable compared to the Ta and their queens. In that same vein, being a species that has access to VR afterlife, I love how that changes their perception of death and mortality, viewing it as both something to be mourned, but also celebrated as there is still the assurance that one will be reunited with the deceased again.

 

Character Name:
Ka’Akiax’Tal K’lax

 

Please provide a short backstory for this character.

Tal was hatched in 2460, not terribly long after the K’laxian settlement upon Tret. Their purpose was clear before they were even properly born: an Unbound worker whose purpose was to assist in engineering tasks that required more presence of mind than a Bound worker could typically provide. The months following their hatching was relatively standard; a period of maturation, after which they were given time in VR to learn and train to gain a proper understanding of what would be expected of them, and it was also here where they became familiar with the concepts of the Mother Dream.

 

After a few months, Tal was brought out of VR and set to work, with tasks varying from assistance overseeing general structural maintenance, to maintenance of electrical infrastructure such as the planet’s solar arrays and Tyu’kata spires. Tal excelled in their duties and in understanding the complex engineering intricacies involved. In perhaps a stroke of luck, or not, the Ka’s talents were noticed by a Hephaestus Industries representative, and eager to secure an additional source of credits for their hive, their Ta encouraged them into pursuing employment with the corporation.

 

Tal took to work with Hephaestus well, their engineering know-how proving to be advantageous to the corporation on two fronts; their work ethic was effective, and the pittance they were offered in wages was saving them credits. In time, they were relocated to assist with maintaining the operations of the Neutron Forge in Tret’s orbit, and though they had no hand in working with the materials produced by the foundry, they were kept around for maintaining the electrical and structural integrity of the installation. They took a measure of pride in this work, until the Phoron Scarcity Crisis began to result in lay-offs and decreased production. Deemed as being no longer required, Tal was caught up in these moves and it was decided that their services would be put to better use elsewhere. Tal’s time working alongside Unathi in orbit however had instilled a sense of pride for their work, and a distinct enjoyment of working in space facilities. If it was to be permitted, they expressed a desire to be reassigned to another similar facility in the wider Spur. The request was granted by Hephaestus, and with their Ta passing on the request to the Queens for such, Tal was granted consent to travel the greater galaxy outside of Tret and the Izweski Hegemony as a whole. Initially, Tal was first transferred to work on facilities on Valkyrie within Tau Ceti, and ultimately, was assigned by Hephaestus to the SCCV Horizon.

 

What do you like about this character?

I enjoy that while I get to play a character that is quite alien in the way they think and act, they have a small piece of familiarity, being of the K’lax hive and thus additionally intertwined with Unathi and the Hegemony. I also find the prospect of playing a younger Vaurca who is relatively unfamiliar with the wider galaxy to be a fun prospect, as they’ll have to go on something of a journey of discovery and learning about the other peoples of the Spur.

 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

10/10. I’m perfect and infallible in everything that I have ever done in the history of ever. (I think I’m okay, I’ve been doing it since I was barely a teenager.)

 

Notes:

*chitter

Edited October 21, 2023 by Desven

[hazelmouse]

Flak is a joy to play with in atmospherics! +1

[stevIII]

Incredily solid application! Looking through, it had answers to pretty much every question I was thinking of asking you, but I can probably scrounge up a couple little personalising questions.

What is Tal's opinion on the other hive's?
What is Tal's opinion on the other corporations?
What does Tal do in their spare time, for hobbies and recreation?
What kind of living arrangements does Tal have on the Horizon now?
And the final question, what is Tal's general personality like?

[furrycactus]

14 hours ago, stevIII said:

What is Tal's opinion on the other hive's?

Tal's opinions on the Zo'ra is along the lines of feeling somewhat intimidated by their might and their historic reputation as the most powerful hive. Quietly and to themself, they think the K'lax becoming independent would be ideal, but for now, they quietly and respectfully offer Zo'rane hive members the deference that they're due.

Their opinion on the C'thur meanwhile is pretty consistent with the sentiment they've grown up hearing, "C'thur man bad", so Tal does not have a positive view of members of the C'thur hive.

Obviously the Lii'dra are like, the worst.

14 hours ago, stevIII said:

What is Tal's opinion on the other corporations?

Tal's opinion of NanoTrasen is somewhat mixed. They are curious to a degree, since they were the big player when it came to Phoron for a long time, but they did not become particularly familiar with them until they spent some time on Valkyrie. Were it not for the SCC, they'd perhaps even feel envious that NT staff had so much access to work with Phoron. Otherwise, they're viewed in a somewhat negative light, due to the K'lax hive's necessary trade deals being more weighted in NT's favour.

Tal's opinion of Zeng-Hu is mixed. A corporation that dedicates itself to medical progress sounds like an admirable idea, but their affiliation with the C'thur hive taints that opinion.

Tal's opinion of Zavodskoi is a measure of curiosity as well. Working with weapons manufacturing and robotics, it does give him a little more than a passing interest, as they would enjoy the chance to take some of their creations apart and try and put them back together again, just to see how they work. That's more of a personal curiosity than anything to do with their work, though.

Tal's opinion of Idris is relative neutrality. They have not been exposed to them particularly much, but they do admire how their staff are trained to maintain a proper 'face' when representing the corporation. It gives an almost hive-like appearance in how they're all trained to act a certain way.

14 hours ago, stevIII said:

What does Tal do in their spare time, for hobbies and recreation?

In their spare time, they enjoy tinkering with and reverse engineering pieces of machinery and technology, and as of late since being relocated to Valkyrie and the SCCV Horizon, this interest has taken hold in particular with alien technologies. They find great mental stimulation and enjoyment in deconstructing and analyzing pieces of machinery that was made by the races native to the Spur. This is both to become ever more familiar with the technology that's typical and commonplace in the Spur, which they'll likely find themselves working with, and also to compare the level of progress and sophistication in comparison to the technology that the K'lax already possess. In particular, Elyran technology is of extreme interest to Tal, but understandably getting their hands on anything like that is well beyond their means.

Otherwise, Tal enjoys spending what other free time they get in VR, when possible, The Founding being a particularly revered subrealm that they enjoy.

16 hours ago, stevIII said:

What kind of living arrangements does Tal have on the Horizon now?

On the Horizon, Tal shares a small, tightly packed room with a few other Zkaii-born that were similarly recently assigned to the ship. They have not personally known any of them for long, but they're the beginnings of an adopted hive-cell.

16 hours ago, stevIII said:

And the final question, what is Tal's general personality like?

Being of Zkaii's brood, Tal is a very spiritual individual, being deeply devout towards Mother K'lax and the Mother Dream religion, though perhaps due to their young age and exposure to Unathi, they've had hints of their faith influenced by the Sk'akh faith as well, seeing the parallels between Worker, Warrior, and Breeder as the spirits of Mother K'lax. Also because of this proximity to Unathi, Tal has become an individual that takes great pride in their work and accomplishments, and has had a degree of their honour code rubbed off on them. Obviously, not being a Warrior, it's not as though Tal has universally adopted the Unathi Warrior's code at an exact 1:1, but certain virtues such as Righteousness, Integrity, and Loyalty have resonated with them, and so they carry themselves and their interactions with others in a similar way. Lastly, being so young, Tal is still just a simply curious individual. They are often jumping on experiences to learn or understand new things in their field, whether it be learning new methods from colleagues in a work setting, or taking the chance to be exposed to new aliens to learn more about them.

[stevIII]

All these answers seem very good for my purposes ❤️

Good luck on your application, you definitely deserve a +1.

[Desven]

Application approved.