This book records the campaigns against the great dragons. Once, there were dozens of dragons in the world, but today there may be none, or only a few, remaining.
Rashyral
Rashyral's lair was located at a pass between three nearby empires, in the Zegra mountains. At the time, these mountains jutted high, and were even inhospitable to antennaed, and Rashyral's pass was the only easily passable route through them. As the three surrounding empires grew larger, and traded amongst each other, all travel had to go through this pass, and Rashyral demanded tolls, over centuries building up a store of jewels and precious metal.
We don't know when this arrangement started, but after hundreds of years, this was the state of trade amongst the three surrounding empires. But Rasyral's tolls were a drain, and travel through the pass was difficult. Traders and merchants long wished for another route between the mountains.
It was the engineer Chek'yen who first proposed a new route. Exploring the mountains on the borders between the empires, she proposed a large tunnel underneath some of the mountains. The building of this tunnel system is described in the engineering and construction archives. It took many years, but when completed, the caravan trade through Rashyral's pass ended.
Rashyral was incensed at the loss of her source of tolls. She had heard about the tunnel building, but did not expect it to be completed, as many large projects had failed in the past. When she learned what had happened, she flew across the mountains to find these tunnel entrances, and destroyed numerous caravans for fortresses in her anger. Few chitinous of any of the empires traveled above ground near the mountains for fear of attracting the dragon. Though the tunnels mostly traveled under the mountains, some pathways along the surface had been needed, and Rashyral soon found these, shutting down trade once again.
Rashyral's attacks had become so severe that merchants from all empires decided again to use the pass and pay the tolls. but in her anger, Rashyral demanded exorbitant payments, threatening ot bankrupt merchants, and stop all communication between the empires. When trade thinned, and she was not given the tolls she wanted, she raided the empires, destroying as she wished.
None of the three empires, understandably, would allow these attacks for long, and built defenses on the mountain. BGut though Rashyral could be driven off by the large ballistas used at the time for defense, they could not kill her, so 5 campaigns were launched to kill the dragon.
In the first campaign, a group of soldiers from the north followed a diplomatic caravan, and attacked Rashyral as she was returning with her tolls to her lair. Rashyral was not fooled, and attacked the soldiers in the open, scattering and killing most of them.
The second campaign used a similar method. Two groups of soldiers disguised as merchants moved towards the pass, and this time surprised Rashyral immediately after paying their tolls. At first it seemed that Rashyral would loose, that the soldiers would swarm her and defeat her, but dragons are powerful beings, and Rashyral took to the air, twisting and turning, and dropping the soldiers, who could barely hold As Rashyral flipped and swung through the air. Those that survived qere either killed by the dragon, or ran away.
Rashyral, in her arrogance, continued to allow travelers and caravans through her pass, believing that no army could defeat her. In the third attempt to kill the dragon, a diplomat told Rashyral of an army gathering near the eastern border of one of the nearby empires. After collecting the toll, Rashyral flew away from her lair, and sought to destroy the army before it had a chance to find her. On seeing the dragon, the soldiers, as planned, retreated to their defenses, hoping the Rashyral would be either enranged, or desiring a kill, and would allow herself to be killed by the empire's defenses. The dragon did indeed fight a battle with the defenders, but though many defenders were killed, and while several had scored hits on Rashyral, the dragon once again flew away, still uninjured enough to move.
In the fourth attempt, the three empires cooperated to carry about 8 ballistas to Rashyral's pass, in an attempt to assemble them and shoot the dragon where she could not escape. The soldiers of the three empires reached the pass as planned, but the ballistas could not be prepared before the dragon destroyed them and scattered the armies. Only a couple of shots were loosed in the fight
At this point, Rashyral did not attempt to exact revenge on the nearby empires, and some suggested that she would settle back to her old ways, collecting valuables and food as a toll, and that the defenses would not be needed as the dragon settled into the new trade system. Some suggested that trade and diplomatic caravans could slowly move to the more accessible tunnel routes, and Rashyral could simply be given some token payments to keep her happy. The empire's leaders decided to make another attempt to kill the dragon instead, as tribute and tolls would still be expensive, and they would still be risking the dragon's temper in the future.
This time, they took around three months to prepare. Assemblers practiced assembling, loading, and firing ballistas. Scouts mapped the pass, and chose the best firing locations, quietly preparing them as occasional trade groups went through. When the time came to attack, about 15 ballistas, and about a quarter of the swarmers available to each empire, marched as caravans to the dragon's pass.
As in the past attacks, real diplomatic missions and traders preceded the soldiers. Over several days, workers arrived and hollowed out small caves. Later, soldiers arrived. Every night, each trade caravan would leave some soldiers behind at the pass, carrying just enough food for a few days. In the evening before the attack, ballista builders snuck into firing positions with their materials. During the night, they assembled their ballista, assembled ammunition, and covered the machines in preparation for the next day.
On the day of the attack, a smaller group of soldiers entered the pass, announced themselves, drew weapons, and commanded Rashyral to fight. Laughing at the sight of the attackers, Rashyral slowly crawled out of her lair, raised herself up, and opened her mouth to flame the swarmers. As planned, the swarmers were facing towards a ballista, and when Rashyral inhaled, a bolt struck her in the throat. the swarmers dispersed as the dragon walked forward to attack this shooter. as she walked, another 3 ballistas let fly, and these bolts pierced the dragon's wings.
Realizing she was under attack by a whole army, the dragon raised herself into the air, to fly around the pass and spot her attackers. The general had anticipated this, and more bolts pierced her wings. In too much pain to fly, the dragon landed, roared, and charged towards the outer edge of the pass. All ballistas were shooting at this point, and bolts struck the dragon in the rear knees, wings, and all along her body.
At this point, a horn sounded, and the swarmers hidden near the pass attacked the dragon. unable to fly, and unable to flame due to the pain in her throat, the dragon began to roll on the ground, attempting to crush the swarmers as they pried her scales open, and stabbed and sliced their way into her body. Many swarmers were crushed by the rolling, others were shot by ballista bolts, still firing into open areas when possible, but the cutting and stabbing weakened the dragon, and after fighting so hard, the mighty creature's rolling slowed and stopped, and all the dragon could do was lay in the pass as the swarmers continued their work.
When the dragon died, soldiers and workers from the three empires explored her lair. The treasures she had accumulated after hundreds of years were divided as war spoils, and taken to the three empires, to be distributed amongst the population, and used as trade goods. The victory celebrations lasted for weeks, as the dragon's treasure was paraded, the battle reenacted, and her skin worn as an imitation in life.
This had been the first time a dragon was killed. Unfortunately for the future, members of the three empires spread the news freely to neighbors, where it spread even further, including to other dragons. Later fights with dragons were far more challenging, as the dragons respected us as opponents and made preparations, sought allies and subjects, made preparations, and did not arrogantly fall for ploys as Rashyral did. The ballista techniques, supply techniques, and swarming techniques were and are told over and over to generals, to better prepare them for future wars.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Quick guide for Zithir Interactions
This quick reading covers basic interactions with the Repali zithir that inhabit our colonies. It is intended that this guide be used to smooth interactions, or as a source of basic information, and it should not be taken as a full source of information for individual interactions.
Body Language and Communication
All Zithir, unless a victim of accidents or birth defects, are able to sense emotions, but are unable to sense factual thoughts, plans, or similar information as easily. In first encounters, some people find it disconcerting how easily Zithir can sense and react to moods, and sometimes react differently than expected to attempts to conceal emotions (for example, hiding disappointment or annoyance almost always leads to a different reaction than expected.) Thankfully, most Zithir, and Repali in particular, respond to this disconcertment, and adjust their interactions accordingly, so concistent interactions should become smoother over time.
On the flip side, Repali show very little body language compared to most humans of any origin, so can often prove hard to read. Most other types of zithir compensate by exagerrating movements somewhat, but Repali are said, by themselves and other Zithir groups, to be less expressive than most, so even the exaggerations can be difficult to read. It is recommended that people as for advice from the Repali themselves and others with more experience at reading the language. Repali body language among themselves is quite different than what thwey use around us; it seems body language among most Zithir exists instinctively, but is far less important than directly reading emotions, and most who interact with humans or Quental instinctively switch to the body language of the human culture they are interacting with.
Most Zithir who have lived with us a long time have learned a basic version of English or Arabic, however, the grammar and certain meanings of words are often confused. Classes and practice time for the Repali, twineg, and Rtingle language are also available. Most Zithir language, these three included, are much more sloopy than ours in exact grammar and word meanings. In mixed communication, human languages are generally preferred, as they can communicate more exact meanings and details, while Zithir emotion reading works whatever the language used, but adjustments can be made as the situation allows.
Physical Appearence/Physical Interaction
Almost all Zithir are shorter and smaller than most humans, the average Zithir is about 1/3 of a meter shorter, and 2/3 the weight, of an average person. Some sample pictures of Zithir are shown in the top of the above picture, and some Repali are shown in the picture below. Like in humans, Zithir can be told apart through faces and voices, in addition, the patterns and sizes, and sometimes the number, of brain antlers, stalks, and tentacles changes from person to person. Friction has occured at times as people have looked down at and/or acted dismissve of the shorter Zithir, do not be surprised, i this is your first time working with a zithir, if he or she stands on a deck or box to reach a similar height as you. As much as possible, you should get used to the height difference, as it can some times lead to more difficult interactions with Zithir.
Zithir bodies are far more fragile than human bodies. If a Zithir receives and injury that could be ignored or quickly treated in humans, such as a small cut or scrape, they should be given full attention to ensure more serious dam,age hasn't occurred. Injuries such as bruises or sprained ankles should be medically treated immediately, any broken bones, banged heads, or other conditions described below should be treated as a life threatening emergency. Zithir are also more sensitive to chemicals than huamns, although temperature changes are less severe. For this reason, Zithir do not take part in rough sports, and will avoid ack slaps or painful punches, or similar interactions. Avoid these is possible, and ensure that others avoid them as well, the Zithirs usually sense that no harm is intended, but will sense resenment, and be annoyed themselves, at having this problem ignored.
In most large colonies, medical workers specially trained to work with Zithir will treat them. In smaller colonies, some veterinary or human medical workers will be taught techniques for Zithir, and should be contacted instead. Information and emergency systems should be made as available as possible if emergencies occur.
Zithir biochemistry works in a number of different ways to humans, and therefore food for one species is often indigestible to another, and neither humans nor Zithir can survive on a diet of the other's food. Most Zithir food is not poisonous beyond this to humans, although eating large amounts of it can cause gas, bloating, and in extremely cases, problems with bowel movements. However, the foods witreg and Trareer contain toxins that are deadly in large amounts, and in smaller amounts cause various sicknesses, and Phentlu contains disease causing bacteria like organisms, that can cause dangerous infections all over a human body. Most Zithir food tastes quite poor, often with unexpected mistures of tastes, due to the different uses for chemicals in most Zithir organisms, although a couple of foods (Phentyo and Lalyaw) have extremely good tastes, which are not found in most food we have brought with us.
Zithir have a much harder time handling human foods, their own digestion having equivalent problems as the human system, but more severe to the more fragile Zithir, and more humans types of food are poisonous in some way. Sugary foods, such as honey or concentrated fruit, should in particular be avoided, as some types of sugars are used rarely by Zithir, high doses are toxic as a result.
Tasks and Learning
Species wide, Zithir have great difficulty seeing patterns, using skills in new combination or new ways, or understanding how and why certain things occur. However, they are naturally able to sense the future, through a process we don't yet understand, and sense the results of making certain decisions. Though we cannot explain all the different ways Zithir and humans can work together, a few common patterns are:
1. For longer term projects (farming, building, research), Zithir will describe whether an accident will occur, or whether a goal will be reached, while humans will determine how and why a result will occur, and what to change.
2. In situations requiring fast reactions, Zithir instinctively sense the results of fast decisions with little information, and make the fast decisions, while humans are more involved in preparation and learning.
3. In areas where the Zithir have accumulated lots of information in their archives, these archives are a far better source of information than what our own data can provide, allowing a great deal of learning when the information is analyzed. Medical and agricultural knoweldge for nearby Zithir has greatly advanced due to this type of analysis.
In mixed colonies, Zithir are most likely to work in areas with a lot of risk, where their sense of the future is of great assistance, while they work least in low risk, but highly structured, roles. For almost all tasks, some mixture of humans and zithir is best, and Zithir experienced in some sort of work are highly sought after..
Reproduction and Child Care
Zithir have males and females, just as humans do, but instead of being split equally, about 2 males are alive for every 5 females. Zithir tend to live in extended families, with males and females in about this ration, although richer or larger groups usually have a larger fraction of females. Almost no Zithir cultures have an equivalent of marriage, and trouble has occurred with humans groups (In our colonies, mostly religious groups) attempting to enforce a more marriage like arrangement on the Zithir, or encouraging boycotts and other attacks on the aliens for their arrangements. Conversely, several Zithir have tried to get people to agree to a more mixed arrangement after sensing problems in marriages, without knowing the full history and reasons for arranging things the way we do.
Zithir reproduce using eggs. When females are fertilized, a small egg grows for a few weeks inside the female. When the egg is laid, the Zithir mother usually places it in a pouch she has, similar to a pouch on Kangaroos on Earth. The Egg does not need to stay in the pouch all the time, it can spend hours or days outside and still be fine under most conditions, but must spend a certain amount of time at a particular temperature that a mother Zithir provides, and most also prefer to keep their eggs protected.
Zithir who are generating or carrying eggs should, if in doubt, be treated similar to pregnant human women. While generating an egg, they will eat a great deal more than usual, and often be far more tired. Particularly demanding or dangerous situations should be avoided if possible. After the egg is laid, the mother Zithir's life largely goes back to normal, however, carrying a developing egg is tiring, and it is considered polite to help Zithir egg carriers, as carrying an egg can be physically tiring.
When doing something demanding or dangerous, Zithir mothers will typically remove eggs. Repali tend to give eggs to relatives to watch, who will store the egg in their own pouches for a time, however, they will sometimes leave eggs with us to watch, or simply place them in an area. If you are asked ot watch an egg, or keep track of an egg:
1. When carrying or moving an egg, never drop it, or hit it in any way. Unlike bird eggs, Zithir shells are leathery and softer, but the developing Zithir inside is still sensitive to injury. Younger Zithir can be disabled in a a number of ways if their egg is dropped, older developing Zithir easily die if an egg is dropped. If an egg is to be stored somewhere, make sure it is well supported, and will not roll around or fall.
2. For short periods of time, eggs can tolerate most conditions in our colonies with little harm, so can be left in any suitable location, however, potentially dangerous fumes should be avoided. For larger lengths of time (more than about 4 hours is a rule of thumb), they should be stored at the right temperature, in an area with good airflow and some protection. In larger colonies, we have produced incubation rooms to store Zithir eggs, in smaller colonies, living areas equipped with air filters and the right temperature usually do the job, although the Zithir who's eggs will be watched should be checked first before storing an egg somewhere for a long time.
3. In the rare cases where a Zithir mother dies, or is injured in a way where she can't watch the egg, it should be given to a close relative or family group as soon as possible. In Repali family groups, the usual tendency is to contact the family group to report the death or injury, and the family member who wishes to watch the egg will come to take it, other Zithir groups have different tendencies.
Zithir and human children should both be raised by their own species, but early exposure among both humans and Zithir to the other is helpful for learning. Zithir children learn to communicate quickly, but are far more fragile then adults, requiring constant exercise to build up toughness as they grow. For this reason, human and Zithir children should not be left along together until several months of interaction, as our own children can be quite physical when trying to play with Zithir.
Social Activities
Finding way to spend free time together has proven difficult with both types of aliens amongst all colonies, and Repali are no exception.
Sports: Zithir as a rule have great difficulty with most human sports, either due to the physical nature of the sports, or the complex rules which can be difficult to understand and frustrating. In competitive human sports that the Zithir have been able to play, they usually have a huge advantage from their future reading and emotion reading abilities. Zithir physical sports usually are groups doing something, the Repali in particular are known for group lifting, and group throwing. Contests, and Zithir group fun, are areas where we can spend time with Zithir and both enjoy it.
Meals: As mentioned, Zithir and Humans cannot eat each other's foods, however, with food separated meals are a good time for both species to interact.
Games: Zithir in general take poorly to human card or board games, as they often have difficulty understanding the rules. A few can play simple, more cooperative games, but most are too difficult to be enjoyable for the Zithir.
Art: As many of you have heard from other colonies, several Zithir have become famous as comedians, actors, and dancers. Zithir themselves do not enjoy movies or pictures as much, although do perform well when asked to.
Events; Large gatherings are an important part of most Zithir societies, and most enjoy and are enjoyed at events such as weddings, birthdays, parties, or other large gatherings. However, care should be taken in more formal events, Zithir attending should be told rules beforehand, and some acceptance of their difficulty understanding and remembering should be given. Humans at Zithir events have more trouble; in larger groups Zithir will respond to members of their own group more and loose track of humans, while mcuh Zithir communication simply is inaccessible to us.
Religious events may seem a good time to involve Zithir, but this is not recommended. Due to biological differences, some religious rules or expectations cannot be filled, or do not make sense for either alien species. both species also have trouble understanding mentally the rules, and the divisions, amongst most human religions (Zithir, in particular, often confuse Christians, Muslims, and Jews with each other. as well as confusing divisions within the religions). Zithir in particular place a high cultural important on contacting ancestors; this is a main source of information for their archives, and often make failed attempts to contact prophets. We are not sure why the Zithir constantly fail, the most common suggestion is that even the most blessed humans do not have the right biology to communicate across time with Zithir, although scientists and religious authorities disagree on this. Until religious leaders agree on a way for Zithir to join religions, and explain these differences, it is safer to avoid too much deep interaction.
Body Language and Communication
All Zithir, unless a victim of accidents or birth defects, are able to sense emotions, but are unable to sense factual thoughts, plans, or similar information as easily. In first encounters, some people find it disconcerting how easily Zithir can sense and react to moods, and sometimes react differently than expected to attempts to conceal emotions (for example, hiding disappointment or annoyance almost always leads to a different reaction than expected.) Thankfully, most Zithir, and Repali in particular, respond to this disconcertment, and adjust their interactions accordingly, so concistent interactions should become smoother over time.
On the flip side, Repali show very little body language compared to most humans of any origin, so can often prove hard to read. Most other types of zithir compensate by exagerrating movements somewhat, but Repali are said, by themselves and other Zithir groups, to be less expressive than most, so even the exaggerations can be difficult to read. It is recommended that people as for advice from the Repali themselves and others with more experience at reading the language. Repali body language among themselves is quite different than what thwey use around us; it seems body language among most Zithir exists instinctively, but is far less important than directly reading emotions, and most who interact with humans or Quental instinctively switch to the body language of the human culture they are interacting with.
Most Zithir who have lived with us a long time have learned a basic version of English or Arabic, however, the grammar and certain meanings of words are often confused. Classes and practice time for the Repali, twineg, and Rtingle language are also available. Most Zithir language, these three included, are much more sloopy than ours in exact grammar and word meanings. In mixed communication, human languages are generally preferred, as they can communicate more exact meanings and details, while Zithir emotion reading works whatever the language used, but adjustments can be made as the situation allows.
Physical Appearence/Physical Interaction
Almost all Zithir are shorter and smaller than most humans, the average Zithir is about 1/3 of a meter shorter, and 2/3 the weight, of an average person. Some sample pictures of Zithir are shown in the top of the above picture, and some Repali are shown in the picture below. Like in humans, Zithir can be told apart through faces and voices, in addition, the patterns and sizes, and sometimes the number, of brain antlers, stalks, and tentacles changes from person to person. Friction has occured at times as people have looked down at and/or acted dismissve of the shorter Zithir, do not be surprised, i this is your first time working with a zithir, if he or she stands on a deck or box to reach a similar height as you. As much as possible, you should get used to the height difference, as it can some times lead to more difficult interactions with Zithir.
Zithir bodies are far more fragile than human bodies. If a Zithir receives and injury that could be ignored or quickly treated in humans, such as a small cut or scrape, they should be given full attention to ensure more serious dam,age hasn't occurred. Injuries such as bruises or sprained ankles should be medically treated immediately, any broken bones, banged heads, or other conditions described below should be treated as a life threatening emergency. Zithir are also more sensitive to chemicals than huamns, although temperature changes are less severe. For this reason, Zithir do not take part in rough sports, and will avoid ack slaps or painful punches, or similar interactions. Avoid these is possible, and ensure that others avoid them as well, the Zithirs usually sense that no harm is intended, but will sense resenment, and be annoyed themselves, at having this problem ignored.
In most large colonies, medical workers specially trained to work with Zithir will treat them. In smaller colonies, some veterinary or human medical workers will be taught techniques for Zithir, and should be contacted instead. Information and emergency systems should be made as available as possible if emergencies occur.
Zithir biochemistry works in a number of different ways to humans, and therefore food for one species is often indigestible to another, and neither humans nor Zithir can survive on a diet of the other's food. Most Zithir food is not poisonous beyond this to humans, although eating large amounts of it can cause gas, bloating, and in extremely cases, problems with bowel movements. However, the foods witreg and Trareer contain toxins that are deadly in large amounts, and in smaller amounts cause various sicknesses, and Phentlu contains disease causing bacteria like organisms, that can cause dangerous infections all over a human body. Most Zithir food tastes quite poor, often with unexpected mistures of tastes, due to the different uses for chemicals in most Zithir organisms, although a couple of foods (Phentyo and Lalyaw) have extremely good tastes, which are not found in most food we have brought with us.
Zithir have a much harder time handling human foods, their own digestion having equivalent problems as the human system, but more severe to the more fragile Zithir, and more humans types of food are poisonous in some way. Sugary foods, such as honey or concentrated fruit, should in particular be avoided, as some types of sugars are used rarely by Zithir, high doses are toxic as a result.
Tasks and Learning
Species wide, Zithir have great difficulty seeing patterns, using skills in new combination or new ways, or understanding how and why certain things occur. However, they are naturally able to sense the future, through a process we don't yet understand, and sense the results of making certain decisions. Though we cannot explain all the different ways Zithir and humans can work together, a few common patterns are:
1. For longer term projects (farming, building, research), Zithir will describe whether an accident will occur, or whether a goal will be reached, while humans will determine how and why a result will occur, and what to change.
2. In situations requiring fast reactions, Zithir instinctively sense the results of fast decisions with little information, and make the fast decisions, while humans are more involved in preparation and learning.
3. In areas where the Zithir have accumulated lots of information in their archives, these archives are a far better source of information than what our own data can provide, allowing a great deal of learning when the information is analyzed. Medical and agricultural knoweldge for nearby Zithir has greatly advanced due to this type of analysis.
In mixed colonies, Zithir are most likely to work in areas with a lot of risk, where their sense of the future is of great assistance, while they work least in low risk, but highly structured, roles. For almost all tasks, some mixture of humans and zithir is best, and Zithir experienced in some sort of work are highly sought after..
Reproduction and Child Care
Zithir have males and females, just as humans do, but instead of being split equally, about 2 males are alive for every 5 females. Zithir tend to live in extended families, with males and females in about this ration, although richer or larger groups usually have a larger fraction of females. Almost no Zithir cultures have an equivalent of marriage, and trouble has occurred with humans groups (In our colonies, mostly religious groups) attempting to enforce a more marriage like arrangement on the Zithir, or encouraging boycotts and other attacks on the aliens for their arrangements. Conversely, several Zithir have tried to get people to agree to a more mixed arrangement after sensing problems in marriages, without knowing the full history and reasons for arranging things the way we do.
Zithir reproduce using eggs. When females are fertilized, a small egg grows for a few weeks inside the female. When the egg is laid, the Zithir mother usually places it in a pouch she has, similar to a pouch on Kangaroos on Earth. The Egg does not need to stay in the pouch all the time, it can spend hours or days outside and still be fine under most conditions, but must spend a certain amount of time at a particular temperature that a mother Zithir provides, and most also prefer to keep their eggs protected.
Zithir who are generating or carrying eggs should, if in doubt, be treated similar to pregnant human women. While generating an egg, they will eat a great deal more than usual, and often be far more tired. Particularly demanding or dangerous situations should be avoided if possible. After the egg is laid, the mother Zithir's life largely goes back to normal, however, carrying a developing egg is tiring, and it is considered polite to help Zithir egg carriers, as carrying an egg can be physically tiring.
When doing something demanding or dangerous, Zithir mothers will typically remove eggs. Repali tend to give eggs to relatives to watch, who will store the egg in their own pouches for a time, however, they will sometimes leave eggs with us to watch, or simply place them in an area. If you are asked ot watch an egg, or keep track of an egg:
1. When carrying or moving an egg, never drop it, or hit it in any way. Unlike bird eggs, Zithir shells are leathery and softer, but the developing Zithir inside is still sensitive to injury. Younger Zithir can be disabled in a a number of ways if their egg is dropped, older developing Zithir easily die if an egg is dropped. If an egg is to be stored somewhere, make sure it is well supported, and will not roll around or fall.
2. For short periods of time, eggs can tolerate most conditions in our colonies with little harm, so can be left in any suitable location, however, potentially dangerous fumes should be avoided. For larger lengths of time (more than about 4 hours is a rule of thumb), they should be stored at the right temperature, in an area with good airflow and some protection. In larger colonies, we have produced incubation rooms to store Zithir eggs, in smaller colonies, living areas equipped with air filters and the right temperature usually do the job, although the Zithir who's eggs will be watched should be checked first before storing an egg somewhere for a long time.
3. In the rare cases where a Zithir mother dies, or is injured in a way where she can't watch the egg, it should be given to a close relative or family group as soon as possible. In Repali family groups, the usual tendency is to contact the family group to report the death or injury, and the family member who wishes to watch the egg will come to take it, other Zithir groups have different tendencies.
Zithir and human children should both be raised by their own species, but early exposure among both humans and Zithir to the other is helpful for learning. Zithir children learn to communicate quickly, but are far more fragile then adults, requiring constant exercise to build up toughness as they grow. For this reason, human and Zithir children should not be left along together until several months of interaction, as our own children can be quite physical when trying to play with Zithir.
Social Activities
Finding way to spend free time together has proven difficult with both types of aliens amongst all colonies, and Repali are no exception.
Sports: Zithir as a rule have great difficulty with most human sports, either due to the physical nature of the sports, or the complex rules which can be difficult to understand and frustrating. In competitive human sports that the Zithir have been able to play, they usually have a huge advantage from their future reading and emotion reading abilities. Zithir physical sports usually are groups doing something, the Repali in particular are known for group lifting, and group throwing. Contests, and Zithir group fun, are areas where we can spend time with Zithir and both enjoy it.
Meals: As mentioned, Zithir and Humans cannot eat each other's foods, however, with food separated meals are a good time for both species to interact.
Games: Zithir in general take poorly to human card or board games, as they often have difficulty understanding the rules. A few can play simple, more cooperative games, but most are too difficult to be enjoyable for the Zithir.
Art: As many of you have heard from other colonies, several Zithir have become famous as comedians, actors, and dancers. Zithir themselves do not enjoy movies or pictures as much, although do perform well when asked to.
Events; Large gatherings are an important part of most Zithir societies, and most enjoy and are enjoyed at events such as weddings, birthdays, parties, or other large gatherings. However, care should be taken in more formal events, Zithir attending should be told rules beforehand, and some acceptance of their difficulty understanding and remembering should be given. Humans at Zithir events have more trouble; in larger groups Zithir will respond to members of their own group more and loose track of humans, while mcuh Zithir communication simply is inaccessible to us.
Religious events may seem a good time to involve Zithir, but this is not recommended. Due to biological differences, some religious rules or expectations cannot be filled, or do not make sense for either alien species. both species also have trouble understanding mentally the rules, and the divisions, amongst most human religions (Zithir, in particular, often confuse Christians, Muslims, and Jews with each other. as well as confusing divisions within the religions). Zithir in particular place a high cultural important on contacting ancestors; this is a main source of information for their archives, and often make failed attempts to contact prophets. We are not sure why the Zithir constantly fail, the most common suggestion is that even the most blessed humans do not have the right biology to communicate across time with Zithir, although scientists and religious authorities disagree on this. Until religious leaders agree on a way for Zithir to join religions, and explain these differences, it is safer to avoid too much deep interaction.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The First Whalers (tentacled legend)
We do not know when and where the tentacled first started hunting the great beasts of the ocean. Most tentacled tribes tell a fantastic story of a desperate fishing village, but the details are different for each tribe and confederation, and we cannot take it as anything other than an embellished tale. Monster catching appears to be a long tradition of the tentacled, spread to the humans, and one with much pointless danger and peril, best left to those tribes willing to take the risks to obtain the exotic goods.
The Story
The ocean currents had shifted for several years. Like most nearby villages, the summer was a time for bounty, as hordes of fish for catching swam off the shore. But the ocean was moving differently, and the few fish had made themselves available that year, and the thinned stores from previous years had grown thin. With the storm seers predicting more years of barrenness, the desperate villagers decided to risk the deep ocean, where monsters were said to swim.
In their storage boats, the fishers sailed out into deeper waters, and set their lines. For three days they would sail out of sight of their village, over the abyss of the deep ocean. There they would bait the lines, wait for fish to bite, wrestle them into the storage boats, and when the boats were full, sails back to the village. For days, the others in the village would wait patiently for the fishers to return, worried about what might catch them.
The first couple of catches went well, and the deep ocean fish were preserved and stored. but the smell of fish was calling to the great sea beasts, and in the third trip, the monsters appeared.
As the fishers were preparing their first catch, removing fish from the lines and swimming them to the boat, a dark patch appeared below them. As the patch rose, growing larger, the fishers recognized it: a fearsome Kraken. Sensing the fish in the storage boats, the kraken rose to the surface, its tentacles, uch larger than those of the fishers, felt the water and the boats, curling around the hard caught fish and pulling them under. The fearsome beak bit off some boats while, swallong several days worth of catch on a few bites. Frightened, the fishers abandoned many boats, and swam away from the hungry kraken's feast, making it home with little to show.
On the next two trip, the fishers traveled to a different part of the sea, and again set their nets. But the kraken's smell is powerful, and after a day of catch, it would find the fishing spots and once again steal the catch. The fishers were again sent home in despair.
The fishers tried again, covering their boats with hide to mask the smell. And once again, a kraken appeared. But the fishers also attracted another monster: a greater booming whale, (called the sperm whale or cachalot by other beings, for they have never experienced up close the horrible sound the creature makes.). And they have certainly never experienced the greatest of these whales, almost twice as long and far larger around than most of their kind, claiming these are nothing but stories The whale feasted on the caught fish, plucking them off the lines until none were left for the fishers. Once again they went home in despair.
The fishers made one more try, but the kraken and booming whale were hungry, and both appeared again as the fishers set their lines. the two great animals made as if to fight, but soon as if by agreement swam away from each other, the whale to pluck from the deeper lines, the kraken to feast from the boats at the surface. Once again the fishers returned home.
Facing starvation, and giving up all hope of any catch, some villagers suggested begging for food from nearby villages, or even submitting to a warlord nearby and accepting a life as hard laborers. Their stores were running lower by the day, and a hard decision would need ot be made soon.
But two of the fishers argued for one last fishing trip. Phislee and Youlin had been part of the previous fishing trips, had seen the monsters, had heard the legends of these sea beasts, and had a plan to survive them. The plan required using some of the precious fish stores remaining, and the two fishers argued long and hard for their use, but the desperate villagers soon agreed to allow it, either convinced that it would work, or that one more try would do little harm.
The fishers, once again, sailed for several days to the deep ocean, and prepared their gear. But they had also brought a boatload of preserved fish, tightly wrapped to seal the small, and several spears commonly used to fight raiders. When they reached the spot in the ocean, they set lines and prepared to fish.
Once again, the great booming whale sensed the fish, and began plucking the fish from the lines. This time, the fishers agitated the whale, attacking it with spears. The work was dangerous, as the whale tried to eat the tentacled as it would a squid, but the tentacled were fast, and darted away. The booming deafened many fishers for a short time, and some began to doubt the plan. Soon for fishers left, and began to resume feeding.
But in the commotion, once of the fishers had firmly attached a rope to the great whale, unnoticed. The whale was now fastened firmly to the boat containing the preserved fish above. Several of the fishers trailed the whale, observing it as it appeared to move toward the surface. At a signal, the fishers near the boat, uncovered it, exposing the smell of fish to the rest of the ocean.
It didn't take long for the kraken to smell its food. As the booming whale reached the surface, the kraken feasted, pulling the boat towards it to better feed. But the booming whale felt these pulls, as a sudden pain towards its back. Sensing the kraken nearby, it turned to fend off this creature.
The kraken obliged, backing away from the whale, and watched as the whale began to swim away. But as the whale distanced itself from the kraken, the boat with fish was dragged as well, and the kraken lunged forward to keep a hold of its food store.
The rope was taut at this point, and the whale felt a searing pull. Turning around, the whale saw the kraken again feeding on the boat, but its motions were timed with bursts of pain coming from the whale. Believing the kraken was the source of the pain, the whale swam towards it, thinking the kraken was somehow attacking from a great distance away.
The kraken did not recognize this connection between itself and the whale. On seeing the whale moving for an attack, it now saw the whale as trying to steal its food, and turned to face the other giant.
Both monsters now believing they were victims of an attack, both defended themselves vigorously. The whale was first to hit, diving below and ramming the kraken near the surface. The kraken, dazed, grabbed the whale with its tentacles, attempting to restrain the lager beast. But the whale was too powerful, and bit the kraken hard, ramming it again.
The fishers watched the battle from a distance, as both creatures churned the water. The kraken sought the drown the whale, grasping over and over with its tentacles, while the whale sought the ram the kraken, bashing it with its tail, and ramming from all sides. Several times, the kraken grasped the whale, only for the whale to bite the tentacles, and fling itself around and once again rise for air. The kraken was dazed over and over. Blood and ink filled the water..
After hours of fighting, the whale, covered in welts and slashes, tried to swim away from the kraken. But the fight had taken a toll, and the whale was now tired and slow, barely able to swim. The kraken, which had fought so long to protect a meal, now saw the whale as an opportunity, and lunged at it again. Once again, the battle was joined. As the kraken grasped the whale and pulled it under, the beast's tail flew out of the water and splashed hard, forming a giant wave that was said to have hit the village several hours later. The fight continued.
After some time, it was the kraken's turn to try and escape. Barely able to move, it was mossing a tentacle, and others were bitten and bruised. Its body had been stunned and bruised by the whale's ramming. barely able to move, it expelled a small puff of ink, and slowly pushed itself away from the large beast. The whale, tired, covered in welts and punctures from the kraken's tentacles, and bitten many times, swam towards the kraken as if to mount a chase, but only as a final warning to the creature.
But now, the fishers sprung into action. Armed with spears and axes, they swarmed the great beasts like scavengers. Where the two great beast could once have eaten the tentacled as easily as a large squid or fish, they now could do little as the fishermen stabbed and hacked the giant creatures, cutting great slices of meat. As some guarded against sharks and other scavengers, other fishers cut chunks of meat from the giant creatures, and more stabbed until the last wisps of blood finally left.
With the kraken and the sperm whale dead, the fishers now packed their bodies with light reeds. Some meat was sliced off, and stored in boats once used for fish. Other meat would be cut from the creatures and preserved when they reached shore. It was said that sea creatures stayed as far as possible from the carcasses as they were dragged towards shore. After all, the kraken and booming whale are two of the most fearsome creatures in the sea; how much more fearsome must the beasts be that killed them?
The ocean is vast, and the villagers had little idea what was happening out at sea, apart from strange waves rolling in. The storm seers knew that the waves were unlike any other, but did not know of their origin. As the fishers returned over the horizon, 7 days after they had set out, pulling the floating beasts along with them, the villagers spirits filled with triumph, and cheers rose as the fishers drew closer. Villagers swarmed the water, the the carcasses of the beasts were spread on the beach, carved, and stored.
It is said that the village feasted for a several months off the two beasts, and that the carefully stored meat allowed them to last another year, until the ocean currents returned to normal, and the shallow water fish returned. By than, the story had spread, and other tentacled, and later humans and other beings, learned to hunt and catch the great beasts of the sea.
The Story
The ocean currents had shifted for several years. Like most nearby villages, the summer was a time for bounty, as hordes of fish for catching swam off the shore. But the ocean was moving differently, and the few fish had made themselves available that year, and the thinned stores from previous years had grown thin. With the storm seers predicting more years of barrenness, the desperate villagers decided to risk the deep ocean, where monsters were said to swim.
In their storage boats, the fishers sailed out into deeper waters, and set their lines. For three days they would sail out of sight of their village, over the abyss of the deep ocean. There they would bait the lines, wait for fish to bite, wrestle them into the storage boats, and when the boats were full, sails back to the village. For days, the others in the village would wait patiently for the fishers to return, worried about what might catch them.
The first couple of catches went well, and the deep ocean fish were preserved and stored. but the smell of fish was calling to the great sea beasts, and in the third trip, the monsters appeared.
As the fishers were preparing their first catch, removing fish from the lines and swimming them to the boat, a dark patch appeared below them. As the patch rose, growing larger, the fishers recognized it: a fearsome Kraken. Sensing the fish in the storage boats, the kraken rose to the surface, its tentacles, uch larger than those of the fishers, felt the water and the boats, curling around the hard caught fish and pulling them under. The fearsome beak bit off some boats while, swallong several days worth of catch on a few bites. Frightened, the fishers abandoned many boats, and swam away from the hungry kraken's feast, making it home with little to show.
On the next two trip, the fishers traveled to a different part of the sea, and again set their nets. But the kraken's smell is powerful, and after a day of catch, it would find the fishing spots and once again steal the catch. The fishers were again sent home in despair.
The fishers tried again, covering their boats with hide to mask the smell. And once again, a kraken appeared. But the fishers also attracted another monster: a greater booming whale, (called the sperm whale or cachalot by other beings, for they have never experienced up close the horrible sound the creature makes.). And they have certainly never experienced the greatest of these whales, almost twice as long and far larger around than most of their kind, claiming these are nothing but stories The whale feasted on the caught fish, plucking them off the lines until none were left for the fishers. Once again they went home in despair.
The fishers made one more try, but the kraken and booming whale were hungry, and both appeared again as the fishers set their lines. the two great animals made as if to fight, but soon as if by agreement swam away from each other, the whale to pluck from the deeper lines, the kraken to feast from the boats at the surface. Once again the fishers returned home.
Facing starvation, and giving up all hope of any catch, some villagers suggested begging for food from nearby villages, or even submitting to a warlord nearby and accepting a life as hard laborers. Their stores were running lower by the day, and a hard decision would need ot be made soon.
But two of the fishers argued for one last fishing trip. Phislee and Youlin had been part of the previous fishing trips, had seen the monsters, had heard the legends of these sea beasts, and had a plan to survive them. The plan required using some of the precious fish stores remaining, and the two fishers argued long and hard for their use, but the desperate villagers soon agreed to allow it, either convinced that it would work, or that one more try would do little harm.
The fishers, once again, sailed for several days to the deep ocean, and prepared their gear. But they had also brought a boatload of preserved fish, tightly wrapped to seal the small, and several spears commonly used to fight raiders. When they reached the spot in the ocean, they set lines and prepared to fish.
Once again, the great booming whale sensed the fish, and began plucking the fish from the lines. This time, the fishers agitated the whale, attacking it with spears. The work was dangerous, as the whale tried to eat the tentacled as it would a squid, but the tentacled were fast, and darted away. The booming deafened many fishers for a short time, and some began to doubt the plan. Soon for fishers left, and began to resume feeding.
But in the commotion, once of the fishers had firmly attached a rope to the great whale, unnoticed. The whale was now fastened firmly to the boat containing the preserved fish above. Several of the fishers trailed the whale, observing it as it appeared to move toward the surface. At a signal, the fishers near the boat, uncovered it, exposing the smell of fish to the rest of the ocean.
It didn't take long for the kraken to smell its food. As the booming whale reached the surface, the kraken feasted, pulling the boat towards it to better feed. But the booming whale felt these pulls, as a sudden pain towards its back. Sensing the kraken nearby, it turned to fend off this creature.
The kraken obliged, backing away from the whale, and watched as the whale began to swim away. But as the whale distanced itself from the kraken, the boat with fish was dragged as well, and the kraken lunged forward to keep a hold of its food store.
The rope was taut at this point, and the whale felt a searing pull. Turning around, the whale saw the kraken again feeding on the boat, but its motions were timed with bursts of pain coming from the whale. Believing the kraken was the source of the pain, the whale swam towards it, thinking the kraken was somehow attacking from a great distance away.
The kraken did not recognize this connection between itself and the whale. On seeing the whale moving for an attack, it now saw the whale as trying to steal its food, and turned to face the other giant.
Both monsters now believing they were victims of an attack, both defended themselves vigorously. The whale was first to hit, diving below and ramming the kraken near the surface. The kraken, dazed, grabbed the whale with its tentacles, attempting to restrain the lager beast. But the whale was too powerful, and bit the kraken hard, ramming it again.
The fishers watched the battle from a distance, as both creatures churned the water. The kraken sought the drown the whale, grasping over and over with its tentacles, while the whale sought the ram the kraken, bashing it with its tail, and ramming from all sides. Several times, the kraken grasped the whale, only for the whale to bite the tentacles, and fling itself around and once again rise for air. The kraken was dazed over and over. Blood and ink filled the water..
After hours of fighting, the whale, covered in welts and slashes, tried to swim away from the kraken. But the fight had taken a toll, and the whale was now tired and slow, barely able to swim. The kraken, which had fought so long to protect a meal, now saw the whale as an opportunity, and lunged at it again. Once again, the battle was joined. As the kraken grasped the whale and pulled it under, the beast's tail flew out of the water and splashed hard, forming a giant wave that was said to have hit the village several hours later. The fight continued.
After some time, it was the kraken's turn to try and escape. Barely able to move, it was mossing a tentacle, and others were bitten and bruised. Its body had been stunned and bruised by the whale's ramming. barely able to move, it expelled a small puff of ink, and slowly pushed itself away from the large beast. The whale, tired, covered in welts and punctures from the kraken's tentacles, and bitten many times, swam towards the kraken as if to mount a chase, but only as a final warning to the creature.
But now, the fishers sprung into action. Armed with spears and axes, they swarmed the great beasts like scavengers. Where the two great beast could once have eaten the tentacled as easily as a large squid or fish, they now could do little as the fishermen stabbed and hacked the giant creatures, cutting great slices of meat. As some guarded against sharks and other scavengers, other fishers cut chunks of meat from the giant creatures, and more stabbed until the last wisps of blood finally left.
With the kraken and the sperm whale dead, the fishers now packed their bodies with light reeds. Some meat was sliced off, and stored in boats once used for fish. Other meat would be cut from the creatures and preserved when they reached shore. It was said that sea creatures stayed as far as possible from the carcasses as they were dragged towards shore. After all, the kraken and booming whale are two of the most fearsome creatures in the sea; how much more fearsome must the beasts be that killed them?
The ocean is vast, and the villagers had little idea what was happening out at sea, apart from strange waves rolling in. The storm seers knew that the waves were unlike any other, but did not know of their origin. As the fishers returned over the horizon, 7 days after they had set out, pulling the floating beasts along with them, the villagers spirits filled with triumph, and cheers rose as the fishers drew closer. Villagers swarmed the water, the the carcasses of the beasts were spread on the beach, carved, and stored.
It is said that the village feasted for a several months off the two beasts, and that the carefully stored meat allowed them to last another year, until the ocean currents returned to normal, and the shallow water fish returned. By than, the story had spread, and other tentacled, and later humans and other beings, learned to hunt and catch the great beasts of the sea.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Titanians Explore the Solar System
"Titanians" as in, creatures from the moon of Saturn.
Titan is one of several places in the solar system where life seems most likely to be possible. A couple of forms are though of as possibilities: some life in an ocean layer inside the moon, and some exotic type that lives in methane lakes on the surface, uses methane and ethane instead of water as its main components, and reacting hydrogen in the atmosphere with hydrocarbons.
This section of blog posts is me imaging intelligent versions of the second type of life exploring the solar system. The different conditions on Titan compared to earth mean that such creatures would have a very different view of the planets than we humans have.
Titan is one of several places in the solar system where life seems most likely to be possible. A couple of forms are though of as possibilities: some life in an ocean layer inside the moon, and some exotic type that lives in methane lakes on the surface, uses methane and ethane instead of water as its main components, and reacting hydrogen in the atmosphere with hydrocarbons.
This section of blog posts is me imaging intelligent versions of the second type of life exploring the solar system. The different conditions on Titan compared to earth mean that such creatures would have a very different view of the planets than we humans have.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Kiln
(This planet is in the same universe as Cauldron, Cryolith, Phobis Terra,
and Behemoth, but is not something I'd plan to make a main part of the
actual mod, if it ever gets made. This description is more for my own
enjoyment, and hopefully yours.)
Basic Description
This is the second planet out from the main star in this system, orbiting between Griddle and Cauldron. It is about a third the mass of Earth, but with a much greater proportion of radioactive materials. The planet's atmosphere is much like that of Venus, a hot, thick, carbon dioxide dominated atmosphere, although not as dense, with a covering of sulfuric acid aerosol clouds.
The surface is mostly Volcanic, with some erosion, with large sections covered by a series of lava channels and pools.
Interior
The inside of this planet, like most Rocky planets, has a metal core in the center and a rocky mantle surrounding it. The interior contains far more radioactive material than found in equivalent rocks on Earth, and as a result the interior is hotter and more active. Most activity is in the form of plumes, both upwelling and downwelling.
Surface
The atmospheric greenhouse and closer distance to the star keep the surface extremely hot throughout the planet. Some volcanoes on this planet release magma that stays liquid at these temperatures, resulting in large river systems and some floodplains and lakes of lava. Other magma releases form tunnels, which form fields of hump like formations. Most of the lava in these formations forms from highland areas, flowing from the volcanoes that form over the interior plumes, resulting in systems that look similar to Earth river systems, flowing into something similar to salt lakes.\
Most of the planet is relatively flat, with highlands and mountain ranges covering areas over plumes. These mountains are jagged, clifflike structures, with numerous volcanic features and lava flows. Within mountain ranges, lava is more likely to pool and form lakes, while in plains areas, lava flows go for far longer, forming longer river like features until the lava decomposes or reacts with the surrounding air and ground.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Kiln is much like Venus, mostly high pressure carbon dioxide, with sulfur compounds formed in the atmosphere. However, water escapes more easily from the atmosphere than on Venus, and as a result the clouds are filled less with Sulfuric acid and more with other sulfur materials. Pure sulfur forms a large fraction of the clouds, and in some high altitude areas, reaches the surface and coats it occasionally. Carbon dioxide is released in greater amounts by volcanoes, and by the decomposition of low temperature lavas, but also escapes more easily due to lower gravity.
The planet does not have a strong magnetic field, and the atmosphere is constantly escaping into space. The large amount of volcanic activity has maintained the atmosphere over time.
Explanation
This planet is effectively a smaller, more volcanic Venus. This planet is me imagining another planet to follow the pattern of Cauldron, with greater amounts of radioactive materials towards the center of this solar system. The lava lakes are an attempt to make the planet somewhat more interesting, although I've still largely written a copy of Venus.
The lava flows are based on two theories of formation of lava Channels on Venus. Since the "standard" types of lava would freeze too quickly to form the long channels seem (The freezing point is still above Venus's temperature, and the high density of the atmosphere carries heat away very quickly, more than compensating for the increased temperature), some people think the Venusian channels were formed by something called Carbonatites, which freeze at relatively low temperatures for lava, and has the right physical properties, others think that the lava is a more "standard" type, that formed an insulating covering that kept the lava liquid for long distances. Here are some links describing the theories involved:
http://www.sfu.ca/~glynwj/pdfs/JGR%2798-Venus.pdf
http://books.google.com/books?id=b93lEgkPquoC&pg=PA1213&lpg=PA1213&dq=komatiites+venus&source=bl&ots=QROD1nYNA2&sig=awB1TTGnFUC4so1YBvnM81Otmk0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lSkPUYb6DuzAyQH704CQDg&ved=0CGcQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=komatiites%20venus&f=false
Basic Description
This is the second planet out from the main star in this system, orbiting between Griddle and Cauldron. It is about a third the mass of Earth, but with a much greater proportion of radioactive materials. The planet's atmosphere is much like that of Venus, a hot, thick, carbon dioxide dominated atmosphere, although not as dense, with a covering of sulfuric acid aerosol clouds.
The surface is mostly Volcanic, with some erosion, with large sections covered by a series of lava channels and pools.
Interior
The inside of this planet, like most Rocky planets, has a metal core in the center and a rocky mantle surrounding it. The interior contains far more radioactive material than found in equivalent rocks on Earth, and as a result the interior is hotter and more active. Most activity is in the form of plumes, both upwelling and downwelling.
Surface
The atmospheric greenhouse and closer distance to the star keep the surface extremely hot throughout the planet. Some volcanoes on this planet release magma that stays liquid at these temperatures, resulting in large river systems and some floodplains and lakes of lava. Other magma releases form tunnels, which form fields of hump like formations. Most of the lava in these formations forms from highland areas, flowing from the volcanoes that form over the interior plumes, resulting in systems that look similar to Earth river systems, flowing into something similar to salt lakes.\
Most of the planet is relatively flat, with highlands and mountain ranges covering areas over plumes. These mountains are jagged, clifflike structures, with numerous volcanic features and lava flows. Within mountain ranges, lava is more likely to pool and form lakes, while in plains areas, lava flows go for far longer, forming longer river like features until the lava decomposes or reacts with the surrounding air and ground.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Kiln is much like Venus, mostly high pressure carbon dioxide, with sulfur compounds formed in the atmosphere. However, water escapes more easily from the atmosphere than on Venus, and as a result the clouds are filled less with Sulfuric acid and more with other sulfur materials. Pure sulfur forms a large fraction of the clouds, and in some high altitude areas, reaches the surface and coats it occasionally. Carbon dioxide is released in greater amounts by volcanoes, and by the decomposition of low temperature lavas, but also escapes more easily due to lower gravity.
The planet does not have a strong magnetic field, and the atmosphere is constantly escaping into space. The large amount of volcanic activity has maintained the atmosphere over time.
Explanation
This planet is effectively a smaller, more volcanic Venus. This planet is me imagining another planet to follow the pattern of Cauldron, with greater amounts of radioactive materials towards the center of this solar system. The lava lakes are an attempt to make the planet somewhat more interesting, although I've still largely written a copy of Venus.
The lava flows are based on two theories of formation of lava Channels on Venus. Since the "standard" types of lava would freeze too quickly to form the long channels seem (The freezing point is still above Venus's temperature, and the high density of the atmosphere carries heat away very quickly, more than compensating for the increased temperature), some people think the Venusian channels were formed by something called Carbonatites, which freeze at relatively low temperatures for lava, and has the right physical properties, others think that the lava is a more "standard" type, that formed an insulating covering that kept the lava liquid for long distances. Here are some links describing the theories involved:
http://www.sfu.ca/~glynwj/pdfs/JGR%2798-Venus.pdf
http://books.google.com/books?id=b93lEgkPquoC&pg=PA1213&lpg=PA1213&dq=komatiites+venus&source=bl&ots=QROD1nYNA2&sig=awB1TTGnFUC4so1YBvnM81Otmk0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lSkPUYb6DuzAyQH704CQDg&ved=0CGcQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=komatiites%20venus&f=false
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Griddle
(This planet is in the same universe as Cauldron, Cryolith, Phobis Terra,
and Behemoth, but is not something I'd plan to make a main part of the
actual mod, if it ever gets made. This description is more for my own
enjoyment, and hopefully yours.)
Basic Description
This is the innermost planet in the system. It is about the size of Mercury, and mostly rock and metal, but has a much larger fraction of radioactive material, that powers internal activity on the planet. This activity reshapes the surface, and supplies the planet with a thin atmosphere. The planet is tidally locked, with no moons.
Interior
The planet has a structure resembling most rocky planets, with a metallic core in the center, and a rock mantle and crust as the outer layers. The mantle towards the surface is partly melted, due to the large amounts of radioactive materials near the surface. Most activity in the mantle comes from plumes of ascending and descending material.
The Core of griddle generates a weak magnetic field, though much less strong than Earth's.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of griddle mainly contains carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen, and it is about 1/20 the density of Earth's. The atmosphere is replenished by volcanic gases, and lost to heating by auroras and solar wind action, and large amounts of material freeze on the cold side of the planet. Atmospheric winds largely circulate between the warm to cold sides of the planet, with air near the surface on the hot side rising and flowing towards the cold side, where it sinks to the surface and travels back. These winds do not reach all the way around the planet, leaving a dead zone facing away from the star.
On the section of the planet directly facing the star, temperatures reach around 600 Celsius, due both to the constant sunlight from the star, and greenhouse warming from the atmospheric gases, but heat is quickly transferred by winds towards the night side of the planet. Traveling around the planet, the temperature drops towards the day/night boundary, and continues dropping towards the night side dead zone , where temperatures drop to about -150 C, as heat transported from the day side radiates away. On the night side, the air gets cool enough for carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide to freeze and form clouds, changing the composition greatly. Atmospheric dust is also common, mostly released from volcanoes.
The atmosphere is constantly being worn away, both by auroras and stellar winds, and by the high temperatures on the warm side of the planet. As a result, most original gases, including water, and been blown away, and the current atmospheric gases are mostly those released more recently by volcanoes.
Surface
Due to the tidal locking, the surface of griddle of quite different on the day and night hemispheres. On the day side, the surface is mostly hot, volcanic rock, with a few dusty areas formed from volcanic dust and eroded rock. The plumes of griddle's mantle form large volcanic mountains on the surface, although most of it is plains, with a few ridges and folded areas, and craters. Due to the high temperatures on much of the day side, and the difficulty the atmosphere has in transferring heat, lava lakes can be maintained for a long time, and rivers and lakes of lava are common sights near dayside volcanoes, with more concentrated near the point closest to the star.
The fart colder night side is largely covered in frost, both carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The frost starts as thin, patchy sections near the day night boundary, and gets thicker and covers a larger section of the surface as the distance from the day/night boundary increases. Near the dead zone, the frost layer gets about a mile thick. Even on this side, the planet is highly active volcanically, and the same pattern of tall mountains, plains, and ridge zones occur, but covered in frost.
Magnetosphere
The magnetic field of griddle is powerful enough and large enough to cover the planet, producing about an Earth sized magnetosphere. Though the field blocks most stellar wind, some does make it through, and powerful stellar wind events push large amounts of material into the magnetosphere, stripping the atmosphere and leading to more widespread auroras.
Explanation
This planet is mostly me imagining a more volcanic Mercury. It isn't based strongly on any other planets or moons, and is mostly me imagining out a world.
Basic Description
This is the innermost planet in the system. It is about the size of Mercury, and mostly rock and metal, but has a much larger fraction of radioactive material, that powers internal activity on the planet. This activity reshapes the surface, and supplies the planet with a thin atmosphere. The planet is tidally locked, with no moons.
Interior
The planet has a structure resembling most rocky planets, with a metallic core in the center, and a rock mantle and crust as the outer layers. The mantle towards the surface is partly melted, due to the large amounts of radioactive materials near the surface. Most activity in the mantle comes from plumes of ascending and descending material.
The Core of griddle generates a weak magnetic field, though much less strong than Earth's.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of griddle mainly contains carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen, and it is about 1/20 the density of Earth's. The atmosphere is replenished by volcanic gases, and lost to heating by auroras and solar wind action, and large amounts of material freeze on the cold side of the planet. Atmospheric winds largely circulate between the warm to cold sides of the planet, with air near the surface on the hot side rising and flowing towards the cold side, where it sinks to the surface and travels back. These winds do not reach all the way around the planet, leaving a dead zone facing away from the star.
On the section of the planet directly facing the star, temperatures reach around 600 Celsius, due both to the constant sunlight from the star, and greenhouse warming from the atmospheric gases, but heat is quickly transferred by winds towards the night side of the planet. Traveling around the planet, the temperature drops towards the day/night boundary, and continues dropping towards the night side dead zone , where temperatures drop to about -150 C, as heat transported from the day side radiates away. On the night side, the air gets cool enough for carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide to freeze and form clouds, changing the composition greatly. Atmospheric dust is also common, mostly released from volcanoes.
The atmosphere is constantly being worn away, both by auroras and stellar winds, and by the high temperatures on the warm side of the planet. As a result, most original gases, including water, and been blown away, and the current atmospheric gases are mostly those released more recently by volcanoes.
Surface
Due to the tidal locking, the surface of griddle of quite different on the day and night hemispheres. On the day side, the surface is mostly hot, volcanic rock, with a few dusty areas formed from volcanic dust and eroded rock. The plumes of griddle's mantle form large volcanic mountains on the surface, although most of it is plains, with a few ridges and folded areas, and craters. Due to the high temperatures on much of the day side, and the difficulty the atmosphere has in transferring heat, lava lakes can be maintained for a long time, and rivers and lakes of lava are common sights near dayside volcanoes, with more concentrated near the point closest to the star.
The fart colder night side is largely covered in frost, both carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The frost starts as thin, patchy sections near the day night boundary, and gets thicker and covers a larger section of the surface as the distance from the day/night boundary increases. Near the dead zone, the frost layer gets about a mile thick. Even on this side, the planet is highly active volcanically, and the same pattern of tall mountains, plains, and ridge zones occur, but covered in frost.
Magnetosphere
The magnetic field of griddle is powerful enough and large enough to cover the planet, producing about an Earth sized magnetosphere. Though the field blocks most stellar wind, some does make it through, and powerful stellar wind events push large amounts of material into the magnetosphere, stripping the atmosphere and leading to more widespread auroras.
Explanation
This planet is mostly me imagining a more volcanic Mercury. It isn't based strongly on any other planets or moons, and is mostly me imagining out a world.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Zithir History
(The creatures I'm writing about belong in he same world as the planets
Cryolith, Behemoth, Cauldron, etc., hopefully for a future mod. To make
things a bit more interesting, I'll try and describe the three species
involved from each other's point of view, although the "Human"
perspective will be the most basic.)
Early History
Records are sparse for our earliest history. Our visionaries and prophets, but today and from the past, have been able to sense some events from this time, and a few prophets have been able to catch whispers and calls from powerful individuals during this period.
In our earliest history, our species mostly lived as hunting and gathering groups, living off of prey and plant materials that could be found in the area. Groups did not need the large organizations and leadership we have today, most were like large family groups or work groups, small enough that everyone could sense everyone else's emotions and thoughts easily. Most groups kept to territories, and mixed occasionally for exchanges, having choldren, or occasional social connection. When a group sensed resources were rare, it would move, or join another group in a more safe feeling location.
During this time, our ability to sense the future was enough to avoid almost all injuries, and the need to move gave children the necessary exercise and toughness to avoid later injuries. Poisons and disease could be avoided by sensing longer into the future, and groups generally learned quickly which areas and food to avoid, and which were safe.
Our prophets have sensed that, during this time, groups gradually got bigger and bigger, as more techniques for finding food, and organizing such groups, became more commonly known. Eventually, groups became too large to keep together without some more formal organization, and we turned to prophetic leaders to lead such groups. These leaders have been easier to sense from later times, and we know more about this period than he earliest history.
It was during this time that farming began, and has grown since than, as we have seen that it can feed more people than hunting methods when land is not available. Still, resources were often scarce, and we sense leaders at war during this period, and a few stories from later speak of large battles, and tell of annihilated tribes from this time.
Religion Founding
Our first religious records started from the work of a visionary prophet called Pyth, the prophet who envisioned a method to link minds across long periods of time. Though we are now far more capable than Pyth was, future prophets respected Pyth to such an extent that we have kept contact ever since. A contemporary prophet, Vorkum, organized the first archives. These ideas rapidly spread, and within 20 years of Pyth's creation, were both in common use amongst most of the world.
The time of our religious founding was a stable one, but according to our archives, little changed from previous times. We lived in medium sized groups, with a mix of cities, towns, and in the country, with farming gradually replacing hunting as a source of food.Trade and diplomatic networks had started to appear between our tribal and city groups. During this time, government were largely handled by small groups of prophets leading smaller groups within the city areas.
The addition of archives and communication across time changed all that. Our societies became far more organized, as religious priests and archivists filled in many of the roles of leadership. New tools were developed much faster, as archives allowed us to preserve previous knowledge far more easily. Priests began as well to determine the workings of the universe, determining that we were on but one of many worlds within existence, and getting some sense of how existence operated outside our senses. The first communing groups were created during this time, led by priests searching for a way to communicate with large numbers at once.
Big Conglomerates
Soon after the spread of priestly archives, the smaller city states and tribes that had existed until that time began merging together into larger empires. All three leadership structures became far more common, with communings involving thousands, and great leaders emerging to lead vast empires. Inside these empires, we built our first major road networks, taught ourselves more intense physical training methods for laborers, and organized our first education systems.
Towards the end of this period, education and practice greatly improved our mental abilities, and large numbers of visionaries made long term plans, proposing great projects and multigeneration plans for the future. Our most important meeting forum was started as one of these projects.
The Great Wars
We had fought many tribal wars in the past, but as our settlements and religion expanded, wars was almost nonexistent. However, as our empires grew and became more ambitious, We began to fight over longer goals, and visions of the future.
The first few wars involved arguments over the building of an irrigation structure. Some visionaries saw that the irrigation was the only way to organize food, while a neighboring community felt that the irrigation would lead eventually to ruin. The high stakes of the project and disagreements over what results would be, led to strong disagreements. Eventually, the arguments led to an attempt to sabotage the project by some opponents, that led to the injury of some of the project's workers. Feelings of anger built on themselves from there, until the killings started. At that point, thousands came out to fight, and both empires sought allies.
During these first years of war, we were highly disorganized. Most fighting was done by mobs of citizens, armed with sticks, knives, or other such easy to access tools. Cities were emptied out as large numbers of citizens heard of events and, in their anger, rushed off to war. Very quickly, our armies learned to kill far more effectively. More experiened or well led mobs learned to go after leaders. New weapons were created, longer knives, thrown weapons, and spears becoming the most favorite. Mobs learned to organize themselves into specialized groups, with some of us fighting up front, some searching for leaders to kill, some scouting, andsome filling other roles. Most importantly, we learned, even in the midst of \anger, how many should fight and how many should stay home.
As each empire brought in allies, and accidental ambushes and deaths embroiled more of us in the conflict, the war spread throughout the entire world. Over 50 years, empires fought in huge alliances, sending waves of soldiers at each other, and destroying huge areas an land, and much of the cities we had built before. As empires continued to mobilize, the wars only began to draw to an end around 40 years after they started. Over these final 10 years, the citizens of the loosing empires began to loose hope and motivation, allowing themselves to be killed by the winners. Once their morale was lost, the winning empires could finally destroy most of the leaders and important workers in the loosing empires, and over the final 10 years, These empires were eliminated, and the wars finally ended.
Strangely, some citizens of these empires managed to survive, finding members of winning empires who had not been exposed to fighting and would offer pity. Surprisingly, almost 1,000 members of the original loosing empires managed to survive in this way.
The great wars killed off almost 3/4 of us, and destroyed much of our infrastructure. Recovering the archives of the losers took a long time, almost 5 generations after the end of the war were needed until leaders and priests of the loosing side were willing to communicate without feeling or sensing a strong hatred from the winners. After this period, most empires and groups maintained armies, or taught members to use weapons and plan for a fight, to prevent the certain annihilation that would flow from another war.
Rebuilding and Development
After the great wars, life largely settled back into how it had been before they had occurred. We divided ourselves back into large empires, reorganized our religion, and lived as we always had. However, long term visions and prophecies had become far more common, and large projects became routine. We also maintained greater military forces at all times. Two wars broke out during this period, annihilating three empires, and further refining our skills at fighting.
Industry
After centuries of this style of living, we accumulated enough knowledge to turn to mechanization, such as windmills, watermills, machines, and large scale boiling and chemical processing, to serve our needs. We learned slowly at first, but accelerated our accumulation of knowledge, organizing even larger and larger mechanical and chemical projects.
Our industrial development occurred alongside developments in our own powers as well. We learned to consistently sense greater and greater details of the future, able to predict almost exactly the results of a project or course of action, no longer just sensing fear or enjoyment. We learned to communicate thoughts far more effectively than before. Archives from this period became for more detailed and organized, needed to hold records of the rapid changes and new technologies in existence.
Unconnected revolts
However, these industrial changes were also dangerous. Mechanical devices could injure far faster and more easily than any previous devices, often faster than the in danger worker could sense the change. Chemical spill and fumes could injure over time, weakening workers against future injury, and sometimes directly destroying mental function. Our prophets could sense the dangers, and tried to design devices to prevent injuries, but we lacked the skills to consistently build our new devices safely. Even worse, some children were being born unable to
The resulting injuries led to a larger swell of unconnecteds, and large camps of these injured ones emerged in most regions. These unconnecteds were a drain to us, staying out of contact was a great challenge, and in some highly industrial areas the unconnected made up almost 1/6 or so of the population.
It was in the region of Packstor where a prophet called Mikstor envisioned a future where hordes of unconnected, led by a skilled commander, and equipped with unusual weapons, and far tougher than normal for our species, would threaten the uninjured population. Following this vision, he left his home for the unconnected camps, and started to train the unconnected physically and in weapon skills, while also developing new devices. Other prophets followed, teaching the unconnected to live without our mental abilities, showing them how to use other methods of thinking.
After a few years of this, rumors spread quickly, and several of us felt fear that these unconnected might actually organize. Ambassadors were sent to the camp to negotiate and head off any fighting before it started. The ambassadors were at first repulsed by the unconnected, but were surprised to feel far less fear than they had been expecting, and many switched sides as well. The unconnected camps gradually became economically important, producing unique products and materials that our own industry could not commonly produce.
However, as the unconnected became more powerful over a period of several year, we began to sense an arrogance among them, feeling that the unconnected might attempt to injure us and, insensitive to our emotions, would commit great harm without realizing it. A few accidents occurring due to a competing building project confirmed these fears, and several camps were attacked,
Unlike most wars, the attacks on the unconnected camps were not followed by an outpouring of the anger among the unconnected. Instead, the prophets leading the unconnected had to hear of the attacks first, and spend time organizing their armies. The mobilization was far easier for us, as once the unconnected tried to defend themselves, the injuries caused to our soldiers brought an outpouring of anger, and our armies were rapidly mobilized.
The prophets who led the unconnected thought that this was the war they had seen in their visions, and organized most of the unconnected into a large army. Our war with the unconnected lasted about 5 years. The unconnected were physically tougher, equipped with unusual weapons, and used fighting methods that we did not expect. Many of our leaders were killed in ambushes, and soldiers were killed and injured in floods of chemical gasses and projectiles. However, the unconnected could not muster the anger and aggression individually that we could as a group, and our ability to sense the future and sense our follow soldiers far out competed the unconnected's skills. Despite a few victories, the unconnected fell on the defensive for most of the war, and were annihilated along with their leaders.
Great Unification
The victory itself was costly, however. Though we had won the war, the battles had generated a large amount of new unconnected. Almost none joined the main camps, as they still hated the enemy they had just been fighting, but the same feelings of fear and anger at treatment found in all unconnected brought on our own fears of a new rebellion among experienced soldiers.
In addition, industrial technology had changed little in some areas, and unsafe methods were continuing to be used. Fear of more unconnected from these accidents brought some empires to ban industrial technology, but other attempted to retain the benefits and run the equipment more safely.
These fears, around 15 years after toe first rebellion, led to another series of wars. Most empires stayed out of these, fearfully watching as some empires fought over industrial policy, how to handle unconnected, and other sources of disagreement. Fortunately for those living in the fighting regions, only half the population of these empires was killed, before safety developments in other empires allowed them to force a stop to the wars. However, the problems if the unconnected and industrial policy never went away, and within a decade of these wars, new events seemed to suggest that a new set of wars was about to arrive.
It was at this time that two more prophets within empires that had not been involved in fighting suggested a radical solution: merge all separate empires together. It had been suggested by previous prophets that we could easily merge, but only with more recent communication abilities could we do so.
Once our empires combined, the wars of the unconnected largely stopped, and most militaries disappeared as well. Improvements in safety greatly improved our industrial equipment, greatly reducing the amount of unconnected. now far better organized as a worldwide empire, we finally began to take on new projects, including sea and space exploration.
Space Travel and Lost Colony
Our space exploration, when started, was dangerous, as rockets are difficult and tricky to design. However, encouraged by prophets who sensed opportunities in space, we persevered, building and running orbiting spacecraft, after a few years, landing on our moons. Later, we traveled to and from some other planets in our system. Our prophets insisted that we would one day be able to live on those other planets, and we tested these predictions with longer and longer stays.
After around 30 years of such stays, we finally had the confidence to send large groups of colonists. As they travelled to their destination, a cold, icy planet we call Mythfyl, they encountered a strange object floating in space. Most were afraid, and wanted to avoid it, but several prophets looked into the future of the object and saw opportunity. They soon won the argument, and we moved closer to the object, curious what it was, and sending data back to our archives. As we approached the object, we suddenly found ourselves racing along in unknown region of space. At first we were confused, but soon fear gripped the colonists, as we realized that the planets we could see did not resemble our own, and we could not reach our radio signals. Our archives were confused, and we could not communicate with the prophets or archives from the past nearly as easily.
Greatly embarrassed, the prophets who encouraged us to approach the object sat, confused. Others, however, suggested that we settle one of the planets in this system, and survive until we could better decide what to do. Searching out for settlable planets in the system, we saw three: a planet with a climate much like our own, an icy, cold world, and a cauldron like, hot world. Though our prophets sensed dangers on each world, they also sensed opportunities, and saw that all worlds could be settled.
Early History
Records are sparse for our earliest history. Our visionaries and prophets, but today and from the past, have been able to sense some events from this time, and a few prophets have been able to catch whispers and calls from powerful individuals during this period.
In our earliest history, our species mostly lived as hunting and gathering groups, living off of prey and plant materials that could be found in the area. Groups did not need the large organizations and leadership we have today, most were like large family groups or work groups, small enough that everyone could sense everyone else's emotions and thoughts easily. Most groups kept to territories, and mixed occasionally for exchanges, having choldren, or occasional social connection. When a group sensed resources were rare, it would move, or join another group in a more safe feeling location.
During this time, our ability to sense the future was enough to avoid almost all injuries, and the need to move gave children the necessary exercise and toughness to avoid later injuries. Poisons and disease could be avoided by sensing longer into the future, and groups generally learned quickly which areas and food to avoid, and which were safe.
Our prophets have sensed that, during this time, groups gradually got bigger and bigger, as more techniques for finding food, and organizing such groups, became more commonly known. Eventually, groups became too large to keep together without some more formal organization, and we turned to prophetic leaders to lead such groups. These leaders have been easier to sense from later times, and we know more about this period than he earliest history.
It was during this time that farming began, and has grown since than, as we have seen that it can feed more people than hunting methods when land is not available. Still, resources were often scarce, and we sense leaders at war during this period, and a few stories from later speak of large battles, and tell of annihilated tribes from this time.
Religion Founding
Our first religious records started from the work of a visionary prophet called Pyth, the prophet who envisioned a method to link minds across long periods of time. Though we are now far more capable than Pyth was, future prophets respected Pyth to such an extent that we have kept contact ever since. A contemporary prophet, Vorkum, organized the first archives. These ideas rapidly spread, and within 20 years of Pyth's creation, were both in common use amongst most of the world.
The time of our religious founding was a stable one, but according to our archives, little changed from previous times. We lived in medium sized groups, with a mix of cities, towns, and in the country, with farming gradually replacing hunting as a source of food.Trade and diplomatic networks had started to appear between our tribal and city groups. During this time, government were largely handled by small groups of prophets leading smaller groups within the city areas.
The addition of archives and communication across time changed all that. Our societies became far more organized, as religious priests and archivists filled in many of the roles of leadership. New tools were developed much faster, as archives allowed us to preserve previous knowledge far more easily. Priests began as well to determine the workings of the universe, determining that we were on but one of many worlds within existence, and getting some sense of how existence operated outside our senses. The first communing groups were created during this time, led by priests searching for a way to communicate with large numbers at once.
Big Conglomerates
Soon after the spread of priestly archives, the smaller city states and tribes that had existed until that time began merging together into larger empires. All three leadership structures became far more common, with communings involving thousands, and great leaders emerging to lead vast empires. Inside these empires, we built our first major road networks, taught ourselves more intense physical training methods for laborers, and organized our first education systems.
Towards the end of this period, education and practice greatly improved our mental abilities, and large numbers of visionaries made long term plans, proposing great projects and multigeneration plans for the future. Our most important meeting forum was started as one of these projects.
The Great Wars
We had fought many tribal wars in the past, but as our settlements and religion expanded, wars was almost nonexistent. However, as our empires grew and became more ambitious, We began to fight over longer goals, and visions of the future.
The first few wars involved arguments over the building of an irrigation structure. Some visionaries saw that the irrigation was the only way to organize food, while a neighboring community felt that the irrigation would lead eventually to ruin. The high stakes of the project and disagreements over what results would be, led to strong disagreements. Eventually, the arguments led to an attempt to sabotage the project by some opponents, that led to the injury of some of the project's workers. Feelings of anger built on themselves from there, until the killings started. At that point, thousands came out to fight, and both empires sought allies.
During these first years of war, we were highly disorganized. Most fighting was done by mobs of citizens, armed with sticks, knives, or other such easy to access tools. Cities were emptied out as large numbers of citizens heard of events and, in their anger, rushed off to war. Very quickly, our armies learned to kill far more effectively. More experiened or well led mobs learned to go after leaders. New weapons were created, longer knives, thrown weapons, and spears becoming the most favorite. Mobs learned to organize themselves into specialized groups, with some of us fighting up front, some searching for leaders to kill, some scouting, andsome filling other roles. Most importantly, we learned, even in the midst of \anger, how many should fight and how many should stay home.
As each empire brought in allies, and accidental ambushes and deaths embroiled more of us in the conflict, the war spread throughout the entire world. Over 50 years, empires fought in huge alliances, sending waves of soldiers at each other, and destroying huge areas an land, and much of the cities we had built before. As empires continued to mobilize, the wars only began to draw to an end around 40 years after they started. Over these final 10 years, the citizens of the loosing empires began to loose hope and motivation, allowing themselves to be killed by the winners. Once their morale was lost, the winning empires could finally destroy most of the leaders and important workers in the loosing empires, and over the final 10 years, These empires were eliminated, and the wars finally ended.
Strangely, some citizens of these empires managed to survive, finding members of winning empires who had not been exposed to fighting and would offer pity. Surprisingly, almost 1,000 members of the original loosing empires managed to survive in this way.
The great wars killed off almost 3/4 of us, and destroyed much of our infrastructure. Recovering the archives of the losers took a long time, almost 5 generations after the end of the war were needed until leaders and priests of the loosing side were willing to communicate without feeling or sensing a strong hatred from the winners. After this period, most empires and groups maintained armies, or taught members to use weapons and plan for a fight, to prevent the certain annihilation that would flow from another war.
Rebuilding and Development
After the great wars, life largely settled back into how it had been before they had occurred. We divided ourselves back into large empires, reorganized our religion, and lived as we always had. However, long term visions and prophecies had become far more common, and large projects became routine. We also maintained greater military forces at all times. Two wars broke out during this period, annihilating three empires, and further refining our skills at fighting.
Industry
After centuries of this style of living, we accumulated enough knowledge to turn to mechanization, such as windmills, watermills, machines, and large scale boiling and chemical processing, to serve our needs. We learned slowly at first, but accelerated our accumulation of knowledge, organizing even larger and larger mechanical and chemical projects.
Our industrial development occurred alongside developments in our own powers as well. We learned to consistently sense greater and greater details of the future, able to predict almost exactly the results of a project or course of action, no longer just sensing fear or enjoyment. We learned to communicate thoughts far more effectively than before. Archives from this period became for more detailed and organized, needed to hold records of the rapid changes and new technologies in existence.
Unconnected revolts
However, these industrial changes were also dangerous. Mechanical devices could injure far faster and more easily than any previous devices, often faster than the in danger worker could sense the change. Chemical spill and fumes could injure over time, weakening workers against future injury, and sometimes directly destroying mental function. Our prophets could sense the dangers, and tried to design devices to prevent injuries, but we lacked the skills to consistently build our new devices safely. Even worse, some children were being born unable to
The resulting injuries led to a larger swell of unconnecteds, and large camps of these injured ones emerged in most regions. These unconnecteds were a drain to us, staying out of contact was a great challenge, and in some highly industrial areas the unconnected made up almost 1/6 or so of the population.
It was in the region of Packstor where a prophet called Mikstor envisioned a future where hordes of unconnected, led by a skilled commander, and equipped with unusual weapons, and far tougher than normal for our species, would threaten the uninjured population. Following this vision, he left his home for the unconnected camps, and started to train the unconnected physically and in weapon skills, while also developing new devices. Other prophets followed, teaching the unconnected to live without our mental abilities, showing them how to use other methods of thinking.
After a few years of this, rumors spread quickly, and several of us felt fear that these unconnected might actually organize. Ambassadors were sent to the camp to negotiate and head off any fighting before it started. The ambassadors were at first repulsed by the unconnected, but were surprised to feel far less fear than they had been expecting, and many switched sides as well. The unconnected camps gradually became economically important, producing unique products and materials that our own industry could not commonly produce.
However, as the unconnected became more powerful over a period of several year, we began to sense an arrogance among them, feeling that the unconnected might attempt to injure us and, insensitive to our emotions, would commit great harm without realizing it. A few accidents occurring due to a competing building project confirmed these fears, and several camps were attacked,
Unlike most wars, the attacks on the unconnected camps were not followed by an outpouring of the anger among the unconnected. Instead, the prophets leading the unconnected had to hear of the attacks first, and spend time organizing their armies. The mobilization was far easier for us, as once the unconnected tried to defend themselves, the injuries caused to our soldiers brought an outpouring of anger, and our armies were rapidly mobilized.
The prophets who led the unconnected thought that this was the war they had seen in their visions, and organized most of the unconnected into a large army. Our war with the unconnected lasted about 5 years. The unconnected were physically tougher, equipped with unusual weapons, and used fighting methods that we did not expect. Many of our leaders were killed in ambushes, and soldiers were killed and injured in floods of chemical gasses and projectiles. However, the unconnected could not muster the anger and aggression individually that we could as a group, and our ability to sense the future and sense our follow soldiers far out competed the unconnected's skills. Despite a few victories, the unconnected fell on the defensive for most of the war, and were annihilated along with their leaders.
Great Unification
The victory itself was costly, however. Though we had won the war, the battles had generated a large amount of new unconnected. Almost none joined the main camps, as they still hated the enemy they had just been fighting, but the same feelings of fear and anger at treatment found in all unconnected brought on our own fears of a new rebellion among experienced soldiers.
In addition, industrial technology had changed little in some areas, and unsafe methods were continuing to be used. Fear of more unconnected from these accidents brought some empires to ban industrial technology, but other attempted to retain the benefits and run the equipment more safely.
These fears, around 15 years after toe first rebellion, led to another series of wars. Most empires stayed out of these, fearfully watching as some empires fought over industrial policy, how to handle unconnected, and other sources of disagreement. Fortunately for those living in the fighting regions, only half the population of these empires was killed, before safety developments in other empires allowed them to force a stop to the wars. However, the problems if the unconnected and industrial policy never went away, and within a decade of these wars, new events seemed to suggest that a new set of wars was about to arrive.
It was at this time that two more prophets within empires that had not been involved in fighting suggested a radical solution: merge all separate empires together. It had been suggested by previous prophets that we could easily merge, but only with more recent communication abilities could we do so.
Once our empires combined, the wars of the unconnected largely stopped, and most militaries disappeared as well. Improvements in safety greatly improved our industrial equipment, greatly reducing the amount of unconnected. now far better organized as a worldwide empire, we finally began to take on new projects, including sea and space exploration.
Space Travel and Lost Colony
Our space exploration, when started, was dangerous, as rockets are difficult and tricky to design. However, encouraged by prophets who sensed opportunities in space, we persevered, building and running orbiting spacecraft, after a few years, landing on our moons. Later, we traveled to and from some other planets in our system. Our prophets insisted that we would one day be able to live on those other planets, and we tested these predictions with longer and longer stays.
After around 30 years of such stays, we finally had the confidence to send large groups of colonists. As they travelled to their destination, a cold, icy planet we call Mythfyl, they encountered a strange object floating in space. Most were afraid, and wanted to avoid it, but several prophets looked into the future of the object and saw opportunity. They soon won the argument, and we moved closer to the object, curious what it was, and sending data back to our archives. As we approached the object, we suddenly found ourselves racing along in unknown region of space. At first we were confused, but soon fear gripped the colonists, as we realized that the planets we could see did not resemble our own, and we could not reach our radio signals. Our archives were confused, and we could not communicate with the prophets or archives from the past nearly as easily.
Greatly embarrassed, the prophets who encouraged us to approach the object sat, confused. Others, however, suggested that we settle one of the planets in this system, and survive until we could better decide what to do. Searching out for settlable planets in the system, we saw three: a planet with a climate much like our own, an icy, cold world, and a cauldron like, hot world. Though our prophets sensed dangers on each world, they also sensed opportunities, and saw that all worlds could be settled.
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