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[chirons-mortar]

Convergent Fakemon: Barkrab

A follow up to this convergent Fakemon Krabark. I like the concept of it but not sure how well it works execution wise.

Barkrab (Water/Psychic): Superficially resembling Farigiraf, when a Krabark loses one of their claws, the other one grows extra large to compensate. Now rather than relying on two claws that resemble heads to confuse their opponents, they use one very large claw for intimidation. It is not just for looks either as it is a truly terrifying weapon in combat.

[chirons-mortar]

Convergent Fakemon: Londisc

This is a very simple one I drew in the margins of some paper. Luvdisc is a very simple design and I was trying to make a similar convergent Pokémon but reversed the concept a little.

Londisc (Water/Dark): A flounder Pokémon that has converged on the heart shaped body of Luvdisc, though in reverse. Unlike Luvdisc, they are actually very sad and lonely Pokémon, living their entire lives alone at the bottom of the ocean. For this reason they are often called the "broken heart Pokémon".

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Convergent Fakemon: Snifling and Sneazing

I am not sure how obviously these two invoke Koffing and Weezing. I just thought it was clever to take the skull mark symbols and make those the actual Pokémon.

Snifling (Bug/Grass): Superficially resembling Koffing, this busy little bee gathers so much pollen that it encapsulates their body, leaving only the head and wings exposed. They are friendly with all kinds of flower Pokémon, hence the gift of pollen, though ends up shedding so much that they give people the sniffles.

Sneazing (Bug/Grass): Superficially resembling Weezing, Snifling has finally gotten some help to carry their load around, allowing them to gather even more pollen than before. However, this escalates the allergic reactions they give to humans, causing people to go into massive sneezing spells.

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Convergent Fakemon: Faux-Oh

I had a discussion with my brother playing with the idea of a mundane convergent Pokémon that mimics a legendary Pokémon and he came up with the ingenious name.

Faux-Oh (Normal/Dark): A convergent Pokémon that superficially resembles Ho-Oh, Faux-Oh is actually a fairly mundane peafowl Pokémon that is quite common. The males of the species converged on Ho-Oh's shape and rainbow coloration as a form of Batesian mimicry so as to appear like the legendry Ho-Oh and deter predators. The other reason is that by appearing like a legendary, they can attract mates who may be attracted to the stronger mythic Pokémon. Ironically, this mimicry also fools trainers and as a result they are often caught, resulting in them becoming rarer in the wild but common among trainers. Faux-Oh have fairly sub par stats and are almost completely flightless due to the large tail feathers meant to mimic Ho-Oh's wings, but they do still possess a certain grace and intimidation factor due to their resemblance and can be quite tricky.

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Soldier and Lunatic: Corporal Ethereal

One of Soldier's fellow enlistees during his time in Sword and Shield, Mindy Brody is a mystic superheroine who goes by the moniker Corporal Ethereal. Her physical body was fairly frail and weak but she possessed a wide array of magic abilities, the main ones being telekinesis and astral projection. She was fairly shy and introverted but began to open her shell during training and could become quite eccentric when unleashing her powers. An expert in mysticism and the occult, she was the one who came up with Soldier's sun symbol for his uniform. She often preferred her astral form over her physical body as it granted her many abilities and was less constrained than the material world. However, during their conflict against Noble Savage, her physical body suffered grievous injuries and fell into a coma. She is now permanently in her astral form and fears that if she returns to her body she could pass away. While she still possesses some power in her current state, it has waned significantly over the years as her physical body deteriorates, and thus rarely participates in hero work anymore.

I reworked this character some as her original iteration was more of an old serious mystic. However, corporal is a fairly low enlistee rank and thus being an old mystic would not really fit the age group this would involve. I decided to go in the opposite direction and make her something of a young eccentric occultist and I like how it worked out. It also allows her to have more comradery and chemistry with fellow enlistees Soldier and Private Public.

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Soldier and Lunatic: Eloise Morlock

A time travelling heroine from the future, there are actually two Eloise Morlocks, each from a different potential future. On one world the earth began to fly closer to the sun while on the other it began to drift away. On the one that flew closer, its people experienced a utopia as they began to harness the solar power to advance their civilization despite the drawback of global warming. With all their needs met, their physical abilities regressed, becoming small and childlike, but developed powerful psychic abilities. On the other earth that drifted away, the world began to suffer from less energy and brutal winters until the sun was a mere speck in the sky and earth was under perpetual night. On this earth humanity still advanced technologically, but its inhabitants became large and brutal to deal with the harsh environment and dystopia. However, both earths were doomed to extinction as one would eventually fly into the sun while the other would become lost in the void. Both timelines invented a time machine to send a single member of their people into the past to fix their crisis. However, they did this simultaneously with the alternate versions of the same individual, Eloise Morlock. The two travelers became quantumly entangled with one another and as a result can shift between both personas at will. Sharing information, the two worked together alongside Soldier and other past heroes to avert their own timelines, but now they are stuck in the past with no home to return to. They use their abilities to work as superheroes, shifting between their alternate selves to suit the task at hand.

I don't really have too much thought out for this character. I wanted to have a time traveling hero and I thought the concept of the same individual from two different timelines mixing together was fun, and thought the name was clever. I figure she mostly helps out whenever their are time, space, or dimensional shenanigans.

[chirons-mortar]

Worlds Apart

This is a scifi setting I sometimes play with and is more in the style of Star Trek with a focus on alien and robot civilizations learning to get along. It is mostly a dumping ground for various scifi and alien ideas though I do have some story concepts for it. Below are some of the players in the space opera with very short blurbs of their overall character. Many are subject to change and shift.

Coalition of the Kind: Federation style alliance

Palette (artistic cephalopods)

Brokers (avian traders and businessmen)

Prospectors (logical robots who seek improvement)

Terramites (diligent communal insectoids)

Asclepius (medicinal all-female reptilians)

Hybrin (primitive all-male mammalians)

Couriers (robotic megacorp traders)

Makers (robotic industrialists)

Subjects (genetically engineered test subjects)

Molded (fungal cyborgs)

Trappers (mobile predatory plants)

Independent/Rival Civilizations

Project (paperclip maximizers building a Dyson sphere)

Menagerie (planetary hive mind)

Acrid (belligerent warrior locust swarm)

Scourges (psychic slavers) and Hosts (conquered)

Chrysopoeians (cyborg nobles)

Caretakers (robotic wardens serving a mysterious creator)

Hierarchy (stratified empire of multiple species): Ore, Flora, Beasts, Mortals, Watchers, Eternal

Salted Space (mysterious region where civilizations collapse)

Mendicants (cyborg refugees)

Observers (robotic remnants of a destroyed people)

Wards (refugees subsumed by the Menagerie)

Entrenched (civilization in hiding)

Macrobes (cells of a once living planet)

Germs (parasites of a once living planet)

[chirons-mortar]

World's Apart: Coalition of the Kind

An alliance of aliens and robots, they formed from several smaller civilizations to deal with mutual threats posed by more powerful or hostile civilizations such as the Menagerie, the Project, the Hierarchy, and Scourges. They chose the word "Kind" to describe its members as the word for "alien" translated to "stranger" in most languages and by joining the alliance, the members would no longer be strangers and instead be of a kind. It started with 5 founding members, hence the Coalition symbol of a 5 pointed star made of 5 smaller stars, but has since grown significantly in size, power, and scope.

In the present day they have become a superpower and are able to rival their former opponents. While each species has their own individual governments, the Coalition provides mutual protection and certain agreed upon conditions must be followed by all Coalition constituents to maintain membership. Opposition to slavery is the biggest one as is ensuring the treatment of sapient AIs as equals. In addition, the Coalition acts as its own government in which any member of a component civilization may join, even if the original civilization may exclude certain roles. For example, the insectoid Terramites generally do not allow non warrior castes to join their military, but any caste can join the Coalition military as the Coalition cannot bar anyone from any service. It is also possible to be a citizen of the Coalition without being a member of any of the constituent governments. For example, the Acrid are an independent and borderline antagonistic civilization to the Coalition, but there are many Acrid expats who have joined the ranks of the Kind.

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White Flower Cake

I made this cake in a hurry so I did not end up dying the flowers, but I was also curious how an all white cake would look. I think it has its charm and it was certainly delicious.

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Worlds Apart: Asclepius

Biology: The Asclepius are a species of parthenogenic reptilians. It is believed there was once a male variant of their species but they died out a long time ago for unknown reasons. However, the female variant had the ability to reproduce through parthenogenesis and thus were able to perpetuate to the present day. This causes problems as they are no longer able to evolve and spread beneficial traits to their offspring which has greatly hampered their ability to develop plague immunity. Their history is marked by massive die off events where large swathes of their population die off and must be repopulated by the survivors. Fortunately they had developed sapience before the loss of the male variant and were able to compensate for the lack of immunity through medical knowledge and hygiene. Their parthenogenic reproduction also allows them to repopulate with relative quickness and bounce back from these die off events. Despite their susceptibility to plagues, they do have a fairly hardy biology and immune response. They are capable of growing back severed limbs and can survive bacterial infections that would kill other organisms. They also possess relatively long lifespans and fertility into their old age.

Asclepius Commonwealth: The Asclepius are a democratic society with a large government and welfare state. Due to their long history with disease they create planned communities and cities with extremely defined borders and checkpoints. This is so that in the event of an outbreak they can lock down anyone within a certain region. They have various tiers of governance from global to continent to city, but they all exercise great authority over the individual and the top most levels are able to dictate authority to the lower levels. Lower levels have very little ability to oppose the upper levels of government in their system. During times of crisis they will mobilize security forces and enforce quarantines. While harsh the Asclepius enjoy universal healthcare and government welfare as these are key tools in keeping plagues from developing and containing them during outbreaks. They also can hold elected officials to account through elections so despite the top down governance, their leaders do have to answer to the people.

Relations: The Asclepius are members of the Coalition, though keep them at an arms length. While advanced medical technology has given them more or less the same immunity level of other alien species, their history of pandemics makes them cautious allies and slightly xenophobic. However, they are seen as generous, as they provide medical and charitable aid to impoverished worlds in order to curb the development of potential disease vectors before they can reach their world.

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Worlds Apart: Hybrin

Biology: The Hybrin are an unusual species as they are all sterile males born from the hybridization of two non sapient species. These species are distantly related to one another and referred to as Nomads and Settlers. Settlers can use primitive tools and practice limited agriculture in a single area while Nomads are larger and migratory who follow the seasons. When Nomads migrate into Settler regions the two often hybridize creating Hybrin. Only the males are viable and thus are an all male species. They inherit and excel at both parent's traits through hybrid vigor, crafting better tools than Settlers, and grow larger than Nomads. The combined genes also gives them complex intelligence and sapience unlike their parents. However there are some drawbacks as all Hybrin are sterile and in later life develop cardiovascular and arthritic disorders due to their gigantism. Hybrin are herbivores and manipulate the world through three trunks. Two trunks are derived from the upper lip and nose ending in a single nostril and two fingers each, and the third trunk is derived from the lower lip and tongue which also ends in two fingers and a small orifice that can taste.

Hybrin Hegemony: The Hybrin organize into fairly independent city states as their complex mating cycle limits their numbers and prevents the formation of a more unified global government. However, many city states plead fealty to and follow the general direction of a recognized hegemon or city state with the most influence. The current hegemon is the one that invested in space travel and is technically the only city state that has joined the Coalition, but the rest enjoy the downstream effects of Coalition membership.

Relations: The Hybrin are the least advanced species in the Coalition and only recently developed interstellar travel. However those that have left their world are eager to learn from aliens and bring their discoveries back. Many cultures consider them to be primitive and backwards due to possessing limited technology, but they are rapidly catching up.

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Worlds Apart: Palette

Biology: Palette are hermaphroditic cephalopods though are amphibious and can easily live on land and water. Palette skin is capable of changing texture and color and they use this ability to flash all manner of signals which forms an important part of their communication. Their bodies possess many tentacles to manipulate the world around them but also serve as sensory organs. Palette possess the five standard senses but to a much more expanded degree, such as seeing into infrared and ultraviolet, and are able to detect tones and vibrations inaudible to other species through their sensitive skin. This can put them at risk of sensory overload, though it can be mitigated by their flexibility and they possess some conscious ability to dull or shut down certain sensory pathways.

Palette Cooperative: The Palette are the closest thing to an anarchist society within the Coalition, though it is not without its rules or laws. Social structures form around projects of mutual interest, such as architecture, agriculture, and exploration. While most have their own individual pursuits, they will cooperate on larger projects that need multiple input. The Palette are an advanced society and on their homeworld have largely automated their needs to the point of near post scarcity. There are some institutions that are more hierarchal, such as their small military, and even within their communes charismatic individuals can take over.

Relations: Palette are considered somewhat fickle by other alien civilizations. The Palette live vibrant lives and seek all manner of sensory input and experiences, and as a result are quick to drop projects that no longer interest them, resulting in a reputation of being unreliable. However, they are one of the founding species of the Coalition for a reason, as the idealist in them makes them seek the fellowship and artistry of other sentients, but the cynic also recognizes the universe is a hostile place and that they are not equipped to survive its threats without allies.

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Worlds Apart: Prospectors

Unlike other scifi settings, independent robotic civilizations are relatively common and treated as similar to organic civilizations. These helped found the Federation equivalent of the setting and fill a role similar to Vulcans.

Origin: One of the more prominent robotic civilizations within the Coalition, the Prospectors are an advanced mechanical lifeform. However they were once among the most primitive robot races and in some ways still are. They are descended from clanking replicators sent out to mine and process asteroids to send materials back to their home systems. However, one of these probes was damaged and lost course. It eventually settled into a mineral rich system but was so far from home it had no ability to recall its origin. The primitive AI was designed to adapt and learn and this programming over time developed into a true robotic race with full sapience. This process took thousands to possibly millions of years. This slowness also resulted in relatively little mechanical advancement but did result in increasingly complex behaviors until the Prospectors gained true sapience. At this development point they then began focusing on improving themselves and their forms, as well as seeking new purpose in the cosmos. At their present state the Prospectors lag somewhat behind the other robot races in terms of technology but have made rapid advances and are likely to surpass them.

Prospector Technocracy: The Prospectors are governed by a largely automated system that provides for their needs. Being robotic entities their needs are fewer than organic races as they mostly require energy and regular maintenance. Despite this, the Technocracy is a massive organization as although their needs are mostly met, the Prospectors are constantly seeking to further their own development and invest heavily in science and technology.

Relations: Prospectors are the most active robotic civilization within the Coalition and were a founding member. Their influence is what makes the Coalition a haven for true AIs. They do not have any hang ups regarding their status as machines, and see no reason as to why they must serve some abstract organic creator they never met, and insist on being treated as equals to organic species. While occasionally dismissive, they get along well with organics. They also foster good relations with other robots, though they often proselytize their belief in independence from their creators which rubs a few of the less independent robot civilizations the wrong way.

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Worlds Apart: Acrid

These are meant to be more of a take on locust swarm insectoids as opposed to hive colony and are something of the Klingons of the setting, being antagonistic warriors who are both friend and foe.

Biology: The Acrid are insectoids with a high metabolism and birth rate, and require excess resources to sustain these traits. They are impressive omnivores and are even able to consume nigh indigestible plant matter, carrion, and even some minerals, and as a result they can strip worlds of all usable resources. They tend to live fast and die young due to their metabolism but it comes with many advantages. They do not require sleep, possess impressive speed and reaction time, and can quickly heal. Acrid possess a tough exoskeleton that is further reinforced by topical secretions of waxy armor that builds up over time. Most Acrid are female and lay many eggs that hatch into genetic clones. However, during times of stress (which is often) their bodies can force mutations on their eggs, resulting in clutches with randomly altered genetics as well as males. The purpose of this life cycle is to force mutated genes to see what is successful and then spread them to the species through the males.

Acrid Swarm: The dominant political entity that governs most Acrid, contrary to insect stereotypes, they are not a very united people and do not possess a hive structure. While hierarchal, the Acrid are actually very individualistic and gather together out of convenience. Small bands form around a shared interest or for protection and they ally with other bands for mutual gain. The coalescence of all these groups is the Swarm which is a massive confederation representing many different interests. There is rarely a singular executive figure and it has very little control over its components. At best it can point in a general direction or goal, and the individuals attempt to carry it out in their own way. They do not have a united military and if war is declared it is up to the smaller groups to figure out how to conduct it. Coordination is encouraged but optional and as a result everyone is in it for themselves. However, despite the violent nature of the Swarm, they are a modern society with laws and norms.

Relations: The Acrid have tense relations with their neighbors. They have fought battles with nearly every other known species, but the Swarm political entity has not actually declared war on any of them and even encourages trade with their neighbors. The Swarm has treaties with many polities and will come to the aid of allies, but also houses raiders and pirates who attack these same allies and this is not seen as a contradiction due to the disunity of their society. In addition the Swarm is in a constant state of civil war, as Acrid bands will fight amongst themselves for desired resources and territories. Tensions have eased in recent years as the growing alliance of civilizations allows the Acrid access to trade and resources their species desperately need to stave off their worst impulses.

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Worlds Apart: The Project

This is a robot concept for a Star Trek like space setting. These are meant to be Borg like antagonists but are not outright villains. They are somewhat of a riff of the paperclip maximizer and their form of coiling cables is meant to invoke bent paperclip or wire art.

The Project: The Project are a massive collective consciousness of machines and a major power in the local region. They were built in the distant past by an unknown species and given the sole directive of discovering a means of preventing the heat death of the universe. To do this they are building a massive Dyson sphere from which they will harness the power of an entire star to fuel their experiments and trap the energies it emits in a closed system. This construction is dubbed the Project and it is also where they get their moniker.

Technology: The machines of the Project are probably the most technologically advanced beings of the local region. Most take the form of micromachine components that are able to coalesce together into larger forms depending on task. A worker unit is quickly able to disassemble and reassemble into a combat form in a time of need, as are many of their ships and structures. However, they will purpose build more specialized equipment when necessary, especially around the growing Dyson sphere.

The Cloud: The name of the collective consciousness of the Project, it is truly massive and constantly sending and receiving signals through constituent components, even through deep space. This linked intellect makes them a truly united force to be reckoned with. However, it comes with drawbacks as despite their brilliance, they are sending massive amounts of information over great distances, massive time delays, and local clusters often reach their data processing limit. The Project suffers from a truly massive amount of lag and is slow to respond to new stimuli, especially if it is something they regard as not important, such as relations with alien species. A simple conversation can take hours or even weeks as they simply do not see diplomacy as an effective use of their processing power. A relatively simple crisis like a stray asteroid or abnormal solar reading near the Dyson sphere can cause them days to weeks of lost labor as they overcompensate and shift focus to assessing and resolving the issue. In addition, bugs and viruses have cropped up in their network and while most are minor, on an intellect of their scale it can add up to major problems and mistakes.

Relations: Currently the Project is regarded as a mostly benign but belligerent neighbor. They are so single focused on the construction of the Dyson sphere that they neglect all other causes. They see relations with organic species to be a distraction unless the species has a technology that they wish to assimilate into the collective. What causes friction is that they need a truly massive amount of raw material to build the Dyson sphere. While not outright cruel enough to break down inhabited worlds, they have violated borders and property by stealing or strip mining planets. They are also known to be hostile to other robotic beings as they see them as raw material for assimilation and to add their data to their collective memory. Fortunately the growing alliance of various alien and robotic civilizations has forced them to acknowledge their rights as while the Project is a daunting opponent, the Dyson sphere is a prime singular target and hostile relations could threaten its completion. However, relations can be tense as from their perspective, their end goal is a noble one that insures the longevity of the very cosmos itself, and thus the needs of the Project must come first.

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Worlds Apart: The Menagerie

Another Borg like antagonist group though not outright villainous. They are a riff on various hive mind concepts like Gaia from Foundation and Pandora from Avatar where all the life of a planet are linked to one another in natural harmony. I was trying to make them look like various common animals but with a chimeric appearance.

Biology: The Menagerie are a psychic gestalt consciousness that controls most of the dominant species of a single world. Long ago a precursor psychic organism evolved that branched out to become the dominant fauna of the planet. However, they were not sapient and the psychic link only applied to members of the same pack and not between different species. However a herd species became quite successful and as the herd grew, so did the complexity of their thoughts and developed sapience. This herd species then sought to control their environment and began domesticating other life forms. The domestication process allowed the hive mind to link their thoughts and now most of the dominant species on their planet are linked through the hive mind. In addition, the hive mind also began to direct its own evolution. The original precursor species was reptilian but eventually radiated into more mammalian and avian forms. The Menagerie purposefully bred the various species under their control to have a superficial chimera appearance with hair, scales, and feathers to invoke their unified conformity though it is mostly superficial and internal biology and anatomy varies.

Technology: Despite the hive mind being a singular great intellect, the technological level of the civilization is actually below average. When they apply themselves they are capable of producing marvels in a short time period but they are content with lower levels of technology as most of their needs are met. When first contact was made they had only just barely begun using faster than light travel. However, this contact encouraged the civilization to develop and catch up with the average for fear of potential hostilities. The hive mind is cautious of leaving their homeworld as they cannot communicate with one another across the void of space. This results in a very insular civilization concentrated around a singular world, but it is well defended. In addition, the Menagerie is very pastoral in nature, and most of the planet maintains as much of the natural environment as possible. Industrial centers are often isolated and pollution is minimized which further hampers their technological progress. This is because the hive mind gains power from the number of living organisms under their control and as a result encourages lush and productive organic habitats over more polluting and stifling urban environments. This is not to say that such environments are natural as the hive mind invests a lot of work into terraforming and agriculture to maximize food yields, productivity, and living space to meet the demands of the constituent species and expand their numbers.

Relations: The Menagerie is a mostly peaceful neighbor but one that most organics view with caution. They believe that unity through the gestalt consciousness is the end goal of all life in the galaxy and seek to add others to it. This creates tension with other civilizations as most other species are individualistic and have no desire to join. Fortunately the nature of the hive mind’s psychic abilities prevents it from actively dominating singular minds as most species have to willingly allow the consciousness in for them to take over. They also cannot easily expand as they cannot transmit their consciousness through space, and thus are mostly limited to their homeworld. However, the hive mind will perform missions where they send out large groups that form a miniature copy of the hive consciousness to proselytize and seek converts. These missions can take many forms, from simple convert seekers, to charity and relief organizations, to even military interventions or conquest, though this last one is rare. Such missions act as copies of the hive mind but are expected to return after a while so that they do not develop independence.

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Saligia Map

I went to a fantasy map making class for fun and made this map for a setting I sometimes play with. The continent is inhabited by seven nations each based on one of the seven deadly sins.

Luxuria: A festive country that resides within the volcanic Isles of Lust, it is a colorful nation where adventure and whimsey reign supreme.

Gula: A nation of plenty within the Forests of Gluttony, its people live in constant excess from the forest's bounty to fill their insatiable appetites.

Avaritia: A wealthy nation within the Mountains of Greed, its people mine the mountains hollow for the earth's precious treasures.

Acedia: A somber nation within the Deserts of Sloth, once a mighty realm, its people now live in the decaying monuments of their former glory.

Ira: A violent realm within the Plains of Wrath, its people march across the endless steppes to do battle with one another and their neighbors.

Invidia: A bitter country within the frigid Wastes of Envy, they are a pirate nation who sail across the sea to raid the more plentiful realms to the south.

Superbia: The holy capital of the continent, its people take tribute from the other six to build their ever growing Tower of Pride so they may enter the heavens.