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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 16, 2004 19:34:37 GMT -5
They have always had a migratory nature; moving onto better ground but eventually they stopped this the conditions around them reached their best ever. With an abundance of food and shelter they no longer had to travel about. Once they became more rooted to an area things like agriculture and permanent settlements became more important to them. Around this their first cities formed, a base from which gave them time to begin to use their intelligence.
When the conditions got better they had already started to produce civilization, and the millions of years of working as a group had meant that it was echoed in their evolutionary patterns. It also meant their further psychology development was always based around this fact and that of their culture.
The Kirs’k Home world
All the indigenous creatures of the Kirs’k Homeworld Tyel’m (Ti-lamb) inhabit a world that is supremely exotic. Although there are some similarities compared to other worlds, in this extreme environment nothing is complexly the same.
Despite being eerily similar in appearance to other biospheres the strange mixture of chemicals on the surface and in the air make it a very different place for life.
The three main atmospheric components are Nitrogen, Sulphur and oxygen. The Sulphur levels are by far the highest of these, which is predominate as a thick blanket of yellowy brown ground fog that tends to glow as the light from the sun pass through the atmosphere.
Water is very much the same as it is on most other worlds, however it is tainted by the sulphur of the atmosphere. When it rains because of the low gravity and airpressure the drops fall very slowly; in snowflake fashion.
The distribution of the major families of the animal kingdom produce an eccentric mixture that make it an even more strange, if beautiful place.
For instance while there are fish like creatures that inhabit the seas they tend to be of the Bryozoan/Colenerates families. Thus jellyfish are one of the major sea creatures on the planet.
On the land Mollusks and Echinderms are the main families with relatively few mammals around, and most of those are monotremes types. The reason for this strange mixture is almost completely down to the environmental conditions of the planet. The more complex an organism the more in terms of mass it needs to survive. With the harsher conditions that they have to live in, it is much tougher for any organisms to operate under such extremes. That is why so many of the more conventional creatures as such a rarity on the planet. Such animals would need so much more protections against the elements around them. If they were them work they have to have so much more protection which of course means that they have many more biological problems. So much of their body becomes protection for the harsh conditions that only 20 present of its body is given over to the actual internal ‘workings’. However the more complex they become the more problems that they could possibly shrumb to. More radical creatures have filled the gaps in the food chain, whose slightly more simplistic nature allows them to adapt better to planet. The smaller, quicker and more flexible invertebrates have been a much more successful line. With the advantage of a lower gravity it is much easier for them to move about so they have become predominant surface creatures.
This also explains why so many of the mammal like creatures are not only tall given the lighter gravity condition but massive in form as well. These titans of the planet are so huge they could crush cities, it is only by sheer fact that their mass makes them so slow moving and vulnerable that they have not just done that.
The Kirs’k are quite a complex organism on the planet, more so then often seen there. It is only because of the systemic way their body has been wired that allows them to overcome the problems that mammals have. Although such systemic biology is a hallmark of the world, there are few specie around that are quite as complex as them. Most of their predersesers where wiped out as an evolutionary dead end, suffering from problems of highly complex body functions, however the Kirs’k system is so much robust then theirs. It was only through their few unique qualities that gave them the edge over the other competing organisms that helped them survive through their early environment devastation.
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Post by Dazo on Nov 17, 2004 3:23:37 GMT -5
Just one small comment, you say the sulphur forms a dense fog like layer, then the water won't just be tainted, it won't even be water, it will be a highly corrosive sulphuric acid, the rain will be acid rain, the seas will be seas of acid, every body of water on the planet will be acidic. Thought i'd better give you a heads up on that
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 17, 2004 15:01:09 GMT -5
Thanks once Again Dazo; I'll change it later.
I had the sneaking supition something like this would happen. For the moment you'll have to suspend disbelieif. Just pretend for the moment that the plant and animals have all acidic PH levels and they are resistant to it.
However would you suggest changing the Sulphur to another less reactive element, or are their ways of working around it? Perhaps another element in the soil or something neutralises its acidic nature.
Any suggestion on this point or any others are appreciated, or If you have any questions please post.
The next section - Psychology- will be comming on sunday at the latest.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 21, 2004 19:53:10 GMT -5
I know; I am a day late. Sorry.
Psychology
[shadow=red,left,300]Section A - Group Mentality[/shadow]
Like all other species almost all their Psychological traits come directly from their biological nature. The singular thing that really reflects who they are as a race is their unique method of procreation. Being ‘duplicates’ of each other has made all the individuals of their race group very similar to each other and have less divergence,
Their genetic similarity is as much a boon as it is a curse to them. They consider themselves all equal since, few excel physically over the others. It is only in intelligence that they make the distinction; and the only difference in that comes from age. The oldest are always the ‘leaders’ since they have been around long enough to know what they are talking about. Although defining them as the leaders of society would be quite misleading in this case since none actually control anything, but because they are considered more experienced they are listened to more often then not.
These similarity has produced a society that is very group orientated. They don’t believe individuals are important to the ‘whole’ since only when they work together do they actually achieve anything. This marks the way the go about their everyday lives. They live in cramped communities since they feel the need to be around others, to be part of the whole. It is more then just a psychological comfort to them, its important to keep them working together as a people. Since individually they are not very intelligent and are prone to stupid mistakes it is again only as groups that they are effective. Alone they are confused and muddled, scared and weak. They find it hard to do anything; they will become more lethargic and stagnant. That is why whatever they do they never do it alone.
This has made them a very democratic natured people. They love bouncing ideas off of each other, knowing as a group they are much easier to come up with a complete solution.
Stagnation
This aspect of themselves can also be viewed as a curse, they have the tendency to groupthink a situation. They have suffered periods of their history where they have been quite inflexible in the way they think because the majority rules and they have suppress any highly individual thoughts. This had led to them to stagnate for long periods of time where no progress has been made ether socially or technologically. In fact their advance from iron age mechanics to the most basic industrialisation took many hundreds of thousands of years to accomplish because of this. While this situation could be seen as largely counterproductive it did have the advantage of forcing their society to mature so that when technological advancement did happen they were more ready for it and had less of a culture shock for the older members of their race.
Personal space
They have no concept of personal space and are not bother at all by living in close proximity to others. Their lack of emotional baggage make them suited to this which allows them to do this without feeling they are being imposed on. They have little sense of personal property and anything they have is always shared with anyone else. Thus they cannot make each other feel uncomfortable or even annoy them.
This has made them a very trusting people, and they don’t even consider that deceit is even possible. No Kirs’k lies; ever. They have no qualms about telling things as how they are. Being able to think on multiple levels at once has prevented them from being upset by anything. It is like they are able to step back and detach themselves from a sitation and make a clear judgment from the different perspectives their mind takes. Even in their modern age such things have not yet perminated their socity even after hundreds of years spying on humans. As yet they have not ever needed to use any form of subterfuge.
Society Matters; not the individual
They can seem heartless to the individuals, they don’t really care when one person dies because there are thousands more waiting to replace them. Since it is the group that is important the individuals will each bare their part of the burden. It has been known for overeager people to get killed in the attempt to do something for the greater whole rather then care about their own safety. Its not that they are stupid or self-destructive people, but it perversely the only real way to make their mark on the world.
Social Groupings
Although they strive to be similar to each other in the past few millennia their have been some divergent in their society. These are based on the jobs they have. There has always been a clear distinction between the different ‘kiths’ in their society, since each job they perform has different functions. However these changes have become even more accelerated now since they are implanted with upgrades to help them in their particular field. So now instead of a group society of completely average people they are now a group society made up of sub groups. In the end it comes down to the same thing; they still conform to the norm for their particular function and still strive to fit in. In the bigger picture even the different castes conform to society in the whole and no group wishes to be more powerful then the other because they need to be in sync with the rest of their people.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 21, 2004 20:39:46 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Section B – None Evolutionary Traits [/shadow]
Kirs’k have now become migratory beings that shun most mechanical technology. This is perhaps the only aspect of their physiological make-up that is not completely born of their biology, it stems from their history
A long time ago when they were isolated to just their home system, their world became overcrowded and highly mechanised. Although they lived like this for thousands of year they did not really worry about until they suddenly realised what was happening to the environment around them. They almost completely destroyed their own ecosystem in their ignorance, and had not even considered it as a possibility up until that point. When they realised what was going on they acted hastily to stop it but failed. It was a point in which their civilisation almost died out, and to a civilisation that holds nothing dearer it was a real wake up call. They had to survive under even worse conditions until they left the planet and they vowed to never again let such a thing happen.
Migration
From this point onwards they began to look after the worlds they were on. Now that they are a fully fledged starfairing race they see it as they duty to protect their environment. This has forced them into the position of migrating between the planets they inhabit, staying only a thousand years at most. Even on worlds that are basically dead anyway they prefer to make as minimal impact as possible.
They now consider themselves tenants rather then owners of the worlds. They would rather dump any waste they have into space rather then spoil a world by dumping it. They also only perform limiting mining operations and most of those are on worlds completely uninhabitable to any form of life.
Everything in their lives has a temporary feel to it. Their buildings can be taken down in days and shipped off to another world if needs be. Most of the time it does not need to be this way but they feel as if that even if they are only going to move from the planet in a few hundred years they might as well be ready and prepared to move. They also proud of the fact that they could leave a world and there would be nothing left to say that they had been there.
Its an almost irrational fear they have taken hold of their society. They see it simply; in order to survive the environment they live in must remain intact. It takes them to almost detrimental lengths in order to do what they think is best. If that means they will never have a permanent home to call their own, they will gladly do it. This fear is so far embedded into their minds that they can do nothing but capitulate to it. Society is the most important thing to them; extinction is not an option. That is what they will think will happen if they get careless again
It is perhaps a irony that this fear came in useful. After contact with the Imperium they have learned that the need to migrate between worlds is their best chance for survival in this harsh times.
Technology
They also somewhat blamed mechanical technology for its part it their earlier suffering; they had become so reliant on it that it blinded them to the destruction they were causing simply because they knew no other way.
However instead of shunning technology altogether they phased out mechanics and replaced with biological. It was a much more attractive method; you could grow your own technology, it would heal itself and it did not have such a detrimental effect on their environment.
They still use mechanical devices but in a much but prefer to use biologics wherever they can. If they must use something mechanical they then always mix it in with their bio-technology in order to get rid of the ‘taint’. That is the way they view it, as almost an evil omen It causes somewhat of a distress to any Kirs’k to look at something too mechanical, because it is like a open wound to them. They can not survive without it but they feel disillusioned by its memory.
However their have been some technology that has not been tarred by this brush. Their transgate network which is so important to their mass migration is ‘overlooked’ when it comes to this distain they have. In fact they almost come to cherish it, but only because it is the root of their continuing existence.
Similarly any technology that slips into this category can almost be forgiven; but they are still very wary of it.
That is the way they have been ever since those events, and the terrors of ages bygone had taken root in their collective psyche; they now so fear that destroying the worlds they exist on because they see it had destroying themselves. They have gladly accepted these changes to their lifestyle and now see it as part of the norm.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 21, 2004 20:42:20 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300] Section C - Motivation[/shadow]
The Primary motivation of the Kirs’k race is that of their continuing existence. It is intrinsically connected to the way they think and in part help to form their group oriented life. Before they became sentient the conditions of their environment forced them to co-operate with each other. It massively changed what they were into what they are now. This co-operation meant their very survival and even thought they are now sapient beings and are able to challenge any catastrophe that could possibly wipe them out, it is still very much a focus at the back of their collective thoughts. The near miss they had with extinction only a hundred thousand years ago, and the more resent trouble with the Imperium, has enforced this sense. Nothing would emotionally cripple one of them more then to think they had failed in someway to meet the needs of society. However this fear is hugely magnified with the idea that their race could fail.
Failure to them mean death, success life. Although such things on an individual basis is easy to tell (i.e. how good they are at their job) telling this on the specie level is much harder to judge. However what is certain is that when they set their mind to a task they must not fail at it. They will simply not except that sort of thing and will keep attempting their goal until they succeed.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 21, 2004 20:44:54 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Section D - Emotional Framework[/shadow]
The Kirs’k have a higher emotional threshold then most, meaning that they do not have such intense ‘feelings’. Having their brain spread about all their other tissues causes this, since their ability to think along several angles at ones means that they are a lot less distracted by this kind of thing.
This however does not mean they are devoid of emotion, far from it. They suffer from many of the normal spectrum of emotions; love, happiness, depression. Most however are a lot more alien, thus harder to classify.
They do not have ‘anger’ in them, the best they could do is a form of disapproval and discussed combined. This also has hallmarks that could be traced back to their main psychological need of belonging. They do not have concepts of personal space or ‘property’ and thus they have little reason to ever get angry. It is an emotion that never evolved into their brain. Even when the Imperium bombed one of their worlds they were unable to truly hate them for what they did. All they could do was find themselves repelled by such actions. Not having anger has made them tolerant of other’s actions so they are never snap to rash decisions. It has kept their mind clear of jealousy, revenge and other negative aspects of society. It has prevented them from ever going on destructive impulses, which while they feel them they can much more easily ignore them.
Unfortunately it has rather handicapped them when they try to understand other races. Particular the humans, who are themselves driven by hatred, are almost a complete mystery to the Kirs’k. From all they can learn about their culture and social order, this, the key component is missing. However it is unlikely they will ever understand; and they will be forever blind to it.
‘Love’ on the other hand is an emotion they understand all to well. Although in this case it is not a by product of the need to reproduce it is still an important concept in their lives. Another offshoot of their need to co-operate, love to them is the unconditional bond of kinship they feel for others of their race. It does not matter who they are, or if they have never met them before; their brain has become physiologically conditioned to love any Kirs’k they come across. Unlike love in humans this can’t distract them in any meaningful way, but the feeling is their hanging in the recesses of their mind. It makes them so much willing to co-operate with one another and bond with their peers.
To be loved is also an important part of their lives. They have esteem needs like everyone else and if they are rejected by others this can really make them suffer. That is rare but does occasionally happen, perhaps from unintentionally upsetting another. The effects of such are bouts of depression that could scar that person for life. Love is the one emotion that is demanding of them, which can effect them through their multi-layered minds. There are some evolutionary force to this have hardwired them this way, a psycho-physiological dependency in their races earlier need to survive.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 21, 2004 20:46:51 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Section E - Needs [/shadow]
The Kirs’k hierarchy of needs Based on Maslow ‘hierarchy of needs’, 1954
1 - Belonging (Receiving and giving love, affection, trust and acceptance. Affiliation; being part of a group)
2 - Safety Needs (Protection from potentially dangerous objects or situations. This threat is bother physical and psychological. Importance of routine and familiarity)
3- Self-Actualisation (Realising ones full potential ‘becoming everything one is capable of becoming’)
4 -Cognitive needs (Knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability)
5 - Physiological needs (Food, Drink, Nitrogen, temperature regulation, rest, activity)
6 - Esteem needs (The Esteem and respect of others and self-esteem and self-respect. A Sense of Competence)
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Post by Dazo on Nov 24, 2004 3:44:03 GMT -5
Hey Rascal, I was wondering if you would consider another name change, its just well, Kirs’k, wasn't that the name of the russian sub that sank not that long ago, anyway thats what I think every time I see the name. Its not a bad name, its just it has a weightier conotation thn the name of an alien race (I have suggestions should you be interested)
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 24, 2004 16:01:15 GMT -5
Its pronounced differently (buts thats besides the point really isn't it?) . My Kirs’k are phonetically pronounced ‘Kersick’, however I admit that perhaps it is rather too close to The Kirsk (Is that the correct spelling?). I could try changing it slightly, so they are the Kersik, Khersik, Klersh or something along that line. Go ahead; I am always open to suggestions btw; does anything else look wrong in what I have put so far?
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Post by Dazo on Nov 24, 2004 16:24:06 GMT -5
Its not that it was wrong, it wasn't it was just more suggestive of something else, clearly you had not intended it to be like that, phonetics are a funny thing. and everything else looks fine to me Here's a few of my own, if you see anything you like take it or modify it if you see somthing in it I didn't The; Xon Junoon Kedge D'naren Xel-naga Kelmon Nidus Kinroan Tantua Khalian Zurvan Stet-medes Braka Lurkechyvar Ngarthu Kargan Fomorii Vorjinn Koreki Khomon-maki
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 24, 2004 16:51:43 GMT -5
Ceir'ck? You know this naming busness is quite hard I have this sort of clicking sound in my mind whenever I think of them that scream a name begining and ending in a C or a K. Those letters as a bonus are not ones usally associated with names of alien speices, their all usally Ss or Xs. Kar'gac Char'nakk Chir'saau chy'var (Phon: Chiv var) Any favorates?
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Post by Dazo on Nov 24, 2004 16:56:00 GMT -5
Yes, actually I quite like chy'var, is it pronounced shi-var, or shiver, if it is thats quite cool.
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Post by RascalLeader on Nov 24, 2004 17:05:34 GMT -5
Good Choice. Considering its one I just really tagged on at the end its quite appealing. As long as I can put it down as Chy'var I can live with them as being shivers.
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Post by TheGlyphstone on Nov 26, 2004 10:55:59 GMT -5
*cough cough* ;D * Starcraft* ;D *cough cough* ;D
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