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Paul
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 447
Location: Chicago
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 Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject: Ssyssylwyssna |
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The Ssyssylwyssna are an ancient, elegant bird-like species. The Ssyssylwyssna are content with the status quo. They have no quarrel with their neighbors, but will defend their territory vigorously. They are very advanced in the area of spaceships.
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Gwynoid
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 86
Location: MA
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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I love the name 
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Game Mogul
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Neenerneener Land
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:32 am Post subject: |
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M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
I have another name! Downdfnasdlhgayince! Seriously, it looks like you picked six letters and typed them randomly; don't get me wrong, I like the name, but it looks like you slapped your fingers on the keyboard.  
-Mogul
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Dorth
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 23
Location: Somewhere off the chart :P
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:35 am Post subject: |
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I think it's mostly to give it a reptilian sound ^^
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"Violence is the last resort of the incompetence", Isaac Asimov
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"What is consciousness? Is it apart from the biological or nested within?", Frank Herbert
A+B*C-D/E^F=42 |
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Mike73x
Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Posts: 71
Location: Perth, Australia
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| It's not that random, you can pronounce it fairly coherently.. although it sure has a lot of 's's |
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Paul
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 447
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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Who are we mere humans to question the name of an alien species? There's no reason it should look human
You're half-right, though, I did mostly just pick it randomly, although with some thought
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Game Mogul
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Neenerneener Land
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 2:03 am Post subject: |
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I actually have a real comment (I know, it's new to me too). I think that we should go for very weird creatures instead of the standard, "This race is reptillian, this race is amphibian, this race is mammal-ish, this race is da-da-da-da, etc." The reason being that that's the standard approach. Why would you want something that is related to something on earth? Why not come up with a wholey new race that freakishly weird? That's one of the big problems I had with DoI's races (no offence Dorth), they were too earth-like. They looked like earth creatures (not to mention they didn't have opposable thumbs etc.) and they used earth-like weaponry. They used guns, arrows, cannons, etc. - ALL OF WHICH ARE EARTH-LIKE! The only creature I concede that was really cool and out there were (and Dorth'll have to fill you in on it's name) these creatures that had no real form except a floating blob of liquid encased in a hard shell. That, ladies and gentlemen, is out there.
Okay, I'm done,
-Mogul
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Cap'n Hector
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CA
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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One source for ideas might be "Expedition"…I don't have the book here, but I'll grab the author when I get home.
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Cap'n Hector |
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Game Mogul
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Neenerneener Land
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 4:43 am Post subject: |
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Sounds good. Can't wait to see what it's about. I'll look it up on Amazon (Amazon rocks).
-Mogul
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Game Mogul
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Neenerneener Land
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 5:06 am Post subject: |
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I think that book you're talking about is Expedition: Being and Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV
by Wayne Douglas Barlowe
Okay, one thing I would like to say is that we don't go into origin theory. I'm not saying that someone can believe in whatever he wants for himself because that's his opinion (relativism). Two people who believe different things on a subject cannot both be right; a single person is. I know that there are objective truths (actual facts; e.g. the moon is not made of cheese) and subjective truths (personal opinion; e.g. Butterfingers are the best candy ever made). Someone is right, but I don't want to start a flame-war so I suggest we don't cover it. If we get into origin theory, then we'll be after each other's throats for a long while.
Have fun,
-Mogul
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Paul
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 447
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with you about that, Mogul. But I think the Cap'n's idea was more along the lines of getting ideas for bizarre creatures, than trying to develop an explanation for their origins, so it shouldn't cause any problems that I can see.
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redshift9
Joined: 28 May 2005
Posts: 21
Location: Carrboro, NC, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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Ssysslwyssna starships are marvels of industrial design, both in terms of functionality and beauty. They believe that their ships should be as graceful in flight as they are themselves. Engineers of other races call some of their designs impossible, even though they clearly exist and work well. Engine support pylons are so fragile and slender, it seems they should snap off immediately. Some designs are extremely asymmetrical, and the ship shouldn't be able to fly straight without thrusters constantly providing course correction. Their construction methods and materials remain a closely guarded secret. One apparent anomaly is easily explained - some ships seem far too big to handle as well as they do. The reason is that some designs include large, empty spaces with little mass, which from the inside are completely transparent and give an unrestricted view of the stars. These areas are not for cargo, but a recreational compartment for the Ssysslwyssna to spread their wings and enjoy zero-gravity flight, as if they themselves are flying in space, free from the artificial confines of a ship. The Ssysslwyssna have been building starships for so long that they have progressed far beyond sheer practicality, and can now focus their efforts on beauty and comfort. As a result, crew morale is exceptionally high.
As extraordinary as they are, no Ssysslwyssna ship is usable by another race without significant alterations. In fact, the necessary changes are so extensive that it's more practical to build a modified ship from scratch, rather than tear apart a ship built for use by Ssysslwyssna. For starters, Ssysslwyssna don't bother with artificial gravity. With magnetic poles to orient themselves, and the ability move precisely with a gentle flap of their wings, gravity is an unnecessary encumbrance. Ladders, stairways, and floors need to be added. The recreational compartment, considered by the Ssysslwyssna to be the very heart of the ship, is usually replaced with a much smaller, more conventional cargo hold. The design often needs to be watered down some, as the Ssysslwyssna don't make ships destined for export with the same unknown, cutting-edge materials that they use for their own ships, although the materials the do use are still exotic and unusually strong.
Despite their long experience, unparalleled ship design, and love of spaceflight, the Ssysslwyssna have no apparent interest in expanding their territory. They don't discuss it much, but this seems to be because the reason is "personal", rather than a state secret. Theories abound, ranging from biology (perhaps a kind of "nesting instinct", which makes traveling too far from their homeworld uncomfortable for the Ssysslwyssna) to logic (their territory is large and spread out enough to make extinction highly unlikely, so it's counterproductive to invite war by competing with neighbors and jeopardizing peaceful relations) to simple satisfaction (the extreme age of their civilization has lent them wisdom over time, and they are content with what they have). Whatever their reasons for halting expansion, they defend their borders with a zeal that is truly surprising, especially when compared with the calm and civility of most other aspects of Ssysslwyssna life. Friendly visitors and traders are welcomed with open arms - the Ssysslwyssna are proud of the society they've built, and happy to share their culture with others (most of it, anyway). Pirates and other invaders die. Quickly. No explanations are tolerated, and no surrender is accepted. Escape pods are pursued and gunned down. When encountering a pirate, a Ssysslwyssna ship will unleash a full (most would say "excessive") volley of missiles and torpedoes, and fire lasers relentlessly until the ship is destroyed.
Although their weapons are of high quality, the Ssysslwyssna rely more on their razor-sharp flight instincts than raw firepower. All of their ships have handling characteristics that are above average, but no vessel in known space can match a Ssysslwyssna fighter. Capable of maneuvers that would easily kill the occupant, piloting a Ssysslwyssna fighter requires extraordinary discipline. The latest models are approaching the point where they will simply be able to outrun missiles. Defense is not left to the military, however. Even a Ssysslwyssna shuttle pilot will accelerate towards a Marauder at maximum speed, while sending out a distress signal and firing the paltry weapons at his disposal, hoping only to keep his ship together long enough to ram the enemy. At best, the shuttle can damage the pirate's ship enough to prevent it from jumping out of the system before better-equipped Ssysslwyssna ships arrive to complete the kill. This happens disturbingly often, and none but the bravest (or most desperate) pirates will pass through Ssysslwyssna space even briefly, for fear of an engine breakdown at just the wrong moment.
Some history:
For the Ssysslwyssna, spaceflight was never a dream. It was their birthright; a matter of when, not if.
Like most species, they have traced their genetic origins to the ocean. After quite a bit of controversy, it was eventually proven that their next step had been land, not a direct transition from sea to air, as had been immediately assumed. But it wasn't long before that first flight was taken, and for millions of years, the Ssysslwyssna have been beings who spend their lives in the sky. For visitors from other worlds, sitting outside and simply watching the Ssysslwyssna go about their daily business is one of the most beautiful things they have ever seen.
But their first manned trips into space were pure terror.
Ssysslwyssna have a rock-solid sense of direction. Navigating by the relative positions of the sun, moons, and stars comes as naturally as breathing. Once in space, this ability is useless. The familiar constellations are there, but now meaningless. The sun and moons are gone, or at best radically out of place. No horizon exists. Taken alone, these losses can be handled by those with extensive training. But it got much worse.
Like many creatures on Earth, the Ssysslwyssna depend on their world's magnetic field for navigation and guidance. Magnetism doesn't rise, set, or change position with the seasons. It never changes. It is always there. Even as the Ssysslwyssna sleep, one of the most ancient portions of their avian brain whispers the way north... until the voyage into space. Beyond a certain distance, a planet's magnetic field fades away to nothing. The Ssysslwyssna understood this. They were aware of their magnetic sense, and various probes and satellites had charted the strength and size of their planet's magnetic field. What the Ssysslwyssna did not understand was the relentless disorientation and horror that the abrupt loss of this field would produce.
It's nothing like the loss of gravity for humans. Nausea and disorientation are common for humans, but the sensation can be adjusted to. For the Ssysslwyssna, no amount of training or logic can compensate for the absence of magnetism, so basic and essential. It's loss robs the Ssysslwyssna of the most fundamental way they define the reality of their world, and their location in it. Without it, they feel as if they are nowhere. Although their vision is not affected, nothing they see appears real - even when touching something, it seems strangely phony. The object is apparently there, but "there" doesn't feel like it's anywhere... so does it even exist? Do they?
The first manned missions beyond the orbit of their homeworld were nightmarish, catastrophic failures. None of those early explorers survived. The Ssysslwyssna space program was put on hold until a new, essential piece of technology was perfected. On paper, it's very simple, but in practice, the fine tuning took months. The device is a simple magnetic field generator. It gives the ship an artificial north and south pole. Making it feel identical to the real thing is what took up most of the time. It had to have just the right strength and frequency, and it's own extremely subtle and random fluctuations (random within limits, that is). It also had to be absolutely fail-safe, and even more reliable than the ship's atmosphere system (if the atmosphere failed, they always have spacesuits. But if the mag field breaks down... so do they).
The magnetic field generator was an unqualified success. It eliminated the last barrier between the Ssysslwyssna and the stars. |
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redshift9
Joined: 28 May 2005
Posts: 21
Location: Carrboro, NC, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| (never mind) |
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Game Mogul
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Neenerneener Land
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:39 am Post subject: |
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What?? Why never mind? I thought it was good.
-Mogul
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redshift9
Joined: 28 May 2005
Posts: 21
Location: Carrboro, NC, USA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:17 am Post subject: |
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Oh - I hit the reply button by accident. I didn't have anything to say, so I just typed "never mind".
Glad you liked it, though! |
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