[ACCEPTED] GrazalThruka wants to LARP Barotrauma - Skrell Application

[GrazalThruka]

BYOND Key: Grazal Thruka

Character Names: Delan Girard, Za’Akaix’Uirk K’lax

Species you are applying to play: Skrell

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: 798897 (Very pale blue-grey). 

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

 

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

Mostly because I find psionics really interesting and haven’t got to interact with them much. I also just like alien species in general and enjoy exploring non-human cultures and viewpoints.

Also, heehee funny submarine frog.

 

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

 

Skrell live a very long time, biologically maturing at around 50 and socially maturing at around 70, when they get their second college degree. Those outside the federation reach around 350, where federation skrell can reach upwards of 500. Due to this long lifespan, they tend to be very patient and forward-thinking instead of impulsive. They tend to view short-term consequences as irrelevant due to this.

Skrell don’t have complex facial expressions, leading them to often appear emotionless. They are, however, deeply emotional, instead expressing emotion through body language and vocal tone. They often use tones inaudible to human ears to express, however, leading them to struggle with emotional displays to non-skrell. With a combination of their native language and telepathy, however, they can communicate almost effortlessly.

 

Skrell strongly value intellectual development and cooperation. Most skrell possess at least one degree (equivalent to a human PhD.), but many will get at least 2 or 3, with few getting none at all. Due to the depth of knowledge as well as psionic methods, human-skrell cross-education is very difficult for anything beyond basic ideas. Competition is viewed positively so long as it is not hostile, since hostility is seen as low-brow and for those of low intellect.

All skrell are psionic to some degree, with a range of natural aptitudes and skills. In general, Skrell are divided into receivers and the more rare listeners. All are influenced by the Nlom, a psychic field that all skrell emanate. Receivers are more strongly pushed to accept societal norms, while listeners do not feel so strongly forced.

 

Societally, Skrell have “recently” (300-ish years ago) escaped the rule of a tyrannical AI known as Glorsh-Omega. Since Glorsh controlled basically every aspect of skrell society, its mysterious disappearance glorious defeat left the skrell in shambles. They eventually reformed the Nralakk Federation under Skrell rule, becoming a meritocracy focused on the betterment of the skrell as a species. All skrell are given a Social Credit Score between 0 and 10, with loyalty to the federation and intellectual improvement encouraged and disloyalty discouraged. Skrell with higher scores receive more benefits and privileges, with lower scores being associated with criminal behavior, unskilled labour that would previously have been done by synthetics, and occasionally being sent to rehabilitation facilities.

 

Character Name: Xoio’Tuiri Xiquil [5.13] 

Please provide a short backstory for this character

Xoio was born into the submarining business. They are the child of one of the earlier Psionic Navigators (F’ex’Qa) and a deep-sea xenobiologist (F’ex’Tra), hatched on Europa. Their F’ex’Qa was chosen as their Qrri’Myaq, and their education was a mess of traditional skrellian schooling (As traditional as you can get away from the federation) and practical apprenticeships aboard submarines. Throughout their growth, Xoio developed a fascination with the depths of the Europan ocean, listening to a mix of both lectures from fellow skrell and old submariner’s tales from humans. By this, Xoio developed an interest not only in exploration, but in the origins and derivations of mythology. Upon achieving a reefgarden-level education in psionic navigation and oceanic xenobiology, they chose to continue studying as a navigator, working closely with their Qrri’Myaq aboard various research vessels.

 

It was during this time that Europan Sea-Blindness was formalized. Aware of the dangers, both Xoio and their Qrri’Myaq decided to press on with their occupation. It was another decade until their Qrri’Myaq was officially diagnosed after several incidents where they put their vessel on full alert for what turned out to be false alarms. They were sent to the Federation for treatment, leaving Xoio behind. They only tempted fate for another few years, before they decided to leave their post and follow their Qrri’Myaq to Aweiji, despite them no longer being in a state to mentor Xoio. The next 15 years were spent formalizing their education in Tresja (achieving an official degree in marine xenobiology as well as a certification in sub-surface vessel piloting), followed by nearly three decades of working as a sub-aquatic tour guide. Xoio did their best to hide their distaste for this job, but kept at is as it was the closest they could get to their old love of exploring the oceans of Europa. When an opportunity arose to work as a bridge crewman for the SCC, Xoio seized it, and was thus transferred to the Horizon after a (relatively) brief training period.

Xoio is an Axioi and a follower of Weishii, blended with a great deal of Europan superstition. They enjoy discussing mythology and the like, believing there to be some grain of truth behind every belief. They are a self-styled “cryptid hunter,” and their greatest regret about leaving Europa is that they cannot continue to investigate the many stories from the depths.
 

What do you like about this character?

 

I like the idea of playing a character who hasn’t had a lot of interaction with the Federation as my first skrell, as this would give me the opportunity to learn both ICly and OOCly, since there is a LOT of skrell content on the wiki and my brain prefers to learn on the go. I also like the submarine skrell aesthetic.

 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?
Decent?

Notes:
I’m not super sure about the social credit score, but I figured mid-low secondary was appropriate

Edited December 4, 2023 by WhatsUpBrotendo
Timeline

[WhatsUpBrotendo]

Hi, thanks for applying.

We ask that players make a Federation-born Skrell for their whitelist application to avoid being unable to tie in large swathes of Skrell lore into their backstory and to prove that large sections of the lore we deem required reading are actually read. We have never come across a situation where someone applies with a character that moved to the Federation later in life so I'll have to discuss this with my deputies first.

 

[GrazalThruka]

Oh, I can just come up with a Federation skrell real quick if that simplifies things. I'll do that later today.

[GrazalThruka]

Xushi-Ruee Juiqii [5.82] (Man, skrell names are hell come come up with)

 

Xushi was born with the silver spoon in their mouth in Qerr’wesi, their Qrri’Myaq being a mid-level psychological researcher within Ziip’Ta. Raised Qeblak, Xushi was never incredibly devout, nor was most of their Quya. Their Quya was quite large, consisting mostly of medical researchers and archaeologists.

 

Xushi took on a very early fascination with psychology, which quickly became a near-obsession with studying the newly-discovered humans and how their short lives affected their minds. As they continued through Reef Garden, they took every opportunity to study, psychoanalyze, or even just speak with the humans they could find. Despite their new distance from Xushi, their Qrri’Myaq did their best to ensure that they remained focused enough on Skrellian psychology to still remain useful within the Federation, an effort that Xushi cooperated with. Infectiously enthusiastic in their studies, Xushi breezed through their Reef Garden and moved onto their Uyi’vesi.

 

As they worked towards their degree in abnormal psychology, Xushi formed a Quya of their own with a fellow student who shared their fascination with humanity. They tried to have a child, but Xushi did not respond to any of the fertility treatments, remaining sterile. Xushi was not particularly heartbroken by this; it afforded them more time to focus on their studies. Xushi achieved a total of two degrees: Abnormal Psychology and Neuroscience/surgery.

It was around this time that humanity first started creating posibrains, and Xushi developed a strange fascination with them as well. While still sharing the standard disgust and fear of synthetics, Xushi wanted to see how the artificial mind processed things in an effort to understand the why of Glorsh-Omega. Their reasoning for such was to hopefully publish a paper in which they could show what went wrong with AI the first time around, and the Federation could either convince or force the other species of the Spur to not do those things. Given the lack of synthetics in Skrell space, and their unwillingness to break the laws of the Federation, Xushi’s studies into this were extremely limited.

 

Despite these unconventional beliefs, Xushi otherwise remained almost fanatically loyal to the federation. Their studies of human psychology bordered on infantilizing, viewing most younger species as curiosities rather than people. They secured a job at Ziip’Ta Medicinal, where they worked in neurological research. They found this job interesting, if a little dull at times, as they mostly only interacted with other skrell in their research into treatments for Insanity of the Tide.

 

With the recent creation of the Work Initiative Programme, Xushi lept at the chance to work abroad. Contracted out to Zeng-hu, Xushi began working as a psychologist and neurotherapist throughout Sol space. Moving around a great deal, Xushi loved studying edge cases and medical marvels, compiling their findings into a composite paper that they frequently update and send back to their supervisors in Ziip’ta. They have yet to publish anything on their synthetic theory - that’s waiting until they find a way to speak with more synthetics without getting killed by them. Or worse, they might get a credit score reduction!

 

 

[WhatsUpBrotendo]

Thank you for changing the app pre-emptively.

I have a few things in your app I'd like to point out:

Quote

Xushi was born with the silver spoon in their mouth in Qerr’wesi

With a score of 5.85 that puts them solidly in Secondary territory, making them an average Skrell citizen. This phrase implies they were born into high society.

Quote

As they continued through Reef Garden, they took every opportunity to study, psychoanalyze, or even just speak with the humans they could find.

Reef Garden is the equivalent to high school for Skrell, with 50 years old (the end of Reef Garden schooling) being the equivalent of 18. Xushi "psychoanalyzing" humans, who would be a rare sight on Qerrbalak, at high school age seems over the top to me.

There are some details missing in this app in general as well. Please answer the following questions to expand on your character's backstory:

1. When was Xushi born, and what generation would that put them in?
2. How does Xushi feel about the Federation? You've touched on this in the backstory slightly, but is their loyalty/adherence to the Federation out of obligation or true belief in the Federation and its ideals?
3. You said Xushi is not particularly devout. Is there a reason for this? If it's not a general theological issue and more an issue with Qeblak, what's prevented them from converting to Weishii?
4. How does Xushi feel about non-Skrell in the Federation and in general?
5. How does Xushi feel about current events surrounding Skrell and the Federation?

[GrazalThruka]

Ah, okay. I was worried about giving them too high a credit score, but based on your comment they'd likely sit more around the 6.5-.75 mark. They also probably then wouldn't have interacted with humans until mid-late depth college, and would have been making special trips/meetings to do so.

1. Assuming I got my timelines right, Xushi would have been born in the 2290s, putting them in the Radiant Era. As distant from hardship as a skrell can get, this explains their rather loose view on synthetics and more academic view of Glorsh-Omega.

2. Xushi is very supportive of the Federation, mostly because they feel it's helped them a lot. They believe that Skrell should be the top priority, since they're clearly the smartest and best. They're not a huge fan of the Federation cooperating on an equal level with other nations (Yes, they ARE racist), but they do think the Federation should have relations with them. After all, how else will they study all these cool humans?

3. Xushi is not very religious more just out of a sense of apathy than anything else. They don't find astronomy particularly interesting, and find the idea that the sky can be mathematically solved to predict the future almost laughable. They attend lectures and services more out of a sense of "this is what the Federation/other skrell expect of me" than actual belief. They find Weishii even less scientific and thus not even an option worth considering.

4. Xushi views non-federation skrell with a mix of confusion, pity, and jealousy. Confusion because why would they choose to permanently live (or stay, if they were born there) anywhere but the Federation? It's perfect here and you're already welcome. Pity because they haven't had access to all the wonderful things the Federation provides, like a proper education and a strong community of intelligent skrell. Jealousy because those lucky bastards get to watch the funny little humans do their thing all day long.

5. I assume this refers mostly to the Traverser stuff

Xushi agrees with the attempts to pacify the region by military force. While perhaps a little aggressive for their tastes, they think that the quashing of the movement was an unfortunate necessity. They strongly disagree with the fact that *any* reforms were made, and worry that doing so will only encourage further violent rebellions when skrell seek change. They worriedly see this tendency for rebellion as a possible sign of human influence. Perhaps being so short-lived encourages them to cause rapid and violent change? An interesting topic for their next paper, at any rate. Xushi intends to be very careful to not allow human culture to influence their behavior in this new posting to the Horizon.

Edited December 1, 2023 by GrazalThruka

[WhatsUpBrotendo]

Sorry, had a busy weekend.

I forgot to ask if Xushi is a listener or a receiver, as that would also have an impact on their SCS and views on the Federation. I'm not going to hold up this app longer than I have so it's fine.

I'm going to accept the application, but I'll leave you with some notes regarding your answers:

• Religion is an important part of the lore, and I do not allow characters that are irreligious. The explanation behind Xushi's thoughts on the Skrell faiths makes them out to be almost atheist which is not allowed. Keep in mind that they would have been brought up with both faiths widely followed in Federation society, combined with the Nlom they would not have negative feelings towards Skrell faith (that said they could favour one and dislike the other, but disliking both is not something I want to see in characters).
• Skrell who are Primary numericals (7+) are allowed, but we ask players to be sensible regarding the score. With the benefits you gain from being a primary there needs to be a strong justification for that character to be outside of the Federation. Skrell who are in command positions have a bit more leeway in their score, but around 8 (not a hard value and depends on different factors) is the cutoff point with the current Skrell team, and only diplomats or representatives could be higher.