#kulo sena: intro

[equinoxts2]

Remaking Kulo Sena, Part 2a - The Nests

"Nest" is the replacement term for "household" or "residential lot" in the new incarnation of Juvash. Expect to see a lot (no pun intended) of common TS2 concepts renamed over the course of these behind-the-scenes posts. As for the first of them to come out of CAS...

One of my latest decisions for Kulo Sena is to ditch last names altogether, and to have the name of each nest be reflective of the nestkeeper's (family head's) most notable deeds - often in metaphorical language. The nestkeeper of this household is Yulica, the redhead in the middle of the picture; she earned the name "Strikes Mist" for attempting to steal the essence of KS' founding mother, Sena Yuleng, from her half-sister Etan... only to find that Etan didn't possess it, and she'd siphoned a whole pile of nothing.

Individual sim intros under the cut...

As the only daughter of the line of Avira to be born without a twin (and therefore ineligible to become headwoman under the old law of succession), not to mention the overlooked firstborn of her vampire father, Yulica has always felt as if the world owes her. Highly intelligent and determined, she sees the dissolution of the mi-Avira dynasty as a great opportunity, and hopes to claim a place for herself in the new Kulo Sena - on her own terms.

Kuvato is Yulica's pathmate (spouse) and together they aspire to be something of a power couple. He was educated in one of the universities of the Elephant Sea Alliance before returning to Kulo Sena. It's a little-known fact that he was the one to suggest that Yulica steal Sena's essence from Etan - what else might he be capable of?

Yulica's cousin Kira was born with a twin, who is no longer around. Either way, Kira could have been headwoman under the old rules. She is the only surviving child of her parents, and grew up spoiled and wanting for nothing; to this day, she is Kulo Sena's village diva. She is completely oblivious to the fact that she's nowhere near as popular as she thinks she is. Not quite as much of a schemer as Yulica and Kuvato, she stays with her cousin mostly because she has no one else who'll put up with her.

Thirteen-band-old voidling Tamivadila was, for all of four days, heir to the throne of Kulo Sena. Etan being deposed as leader changed all that, but Tami couldn't care less - so she says. She is very mature and insightful for her age, but inherited her mother Kira's take-no-nonsense attitude, leading many of her fellow Nuidya to view her as something of a brat. She hopes to make a name for herself through her philosophy, not through her mi-Avira blood, and change Kulo Sena for the better.

Rarovokis is Tami's twin, and is every bit as observant and clever as his sister. Somewhat resentful that being male led his kin to underestimate him, he does his best to keep in shape physically and mentally, and dreams of starting a family. Unfortunately, he was given the binding of non-resonance (infertility RCC setting) upon reaching puberty, due to the prophet Viru having once foretold doom if the mi-Avira line... died out? Continued through a male? The translation's tricky to interpret, but Raro was bound to be on the safe side. Between you and me, he suspects that Viru was a quack.

[equinoxts2]

Household 1a: Waybird

Introducing the first played household in Kettlehaven: the Waybirds!

Up here, we have Hawk (wearing glasses) and Raven (grey tunic) - two dragonspark brothers from Morgan Island. Hawk is a researcher whose current project is investigating the mystical properties of Lake Lulla's water; Raven is assisting with his brother's work, mostly because he doesn't know anyone around here that well yet, but he tends to be more interested in sharing companion journeys with various beloveds.

There is also a younger pair of siblings here: Hawk's adoptive children Aria (teen girl with plaits) and Blaise (child boy with brown hair and glasses). They are the biological children of Hawk's former research assistant, who died in a lab accident when they were very young, and the Waybird brothers have been raising them since. Aria is a more outgoing, playful type who resents being uprooted from her friends on Morgan Island, while Blaise is a quieter, more artistic child who tends to keep to himself.

Their adventures begin soon... and let me just say, I am developing a superstition around my early play sessions in a new iteration: "The first lot is the cursed lot." Will the Waybirds be the exception, or will misfortune befall them at the first opportunity?

[equinoxts2]

Return to Kulo Sena: Household 1 - Pollen

Guess who's finally PLAYING after many, many setbacks? Last week I passed the halfway mark with my >40 households to make, but... then I decided that it was too much of a slog to do them all at once. I opted to start over and do them in stages instead... and a challenge was born! (Sort of.)

The basic idea: I'll be starting with just four of those families, with the aim of "unlocking" all of them by guiding the first batch of playables to fulfilment. As time progresses and more sims find success and fulfilment (by completing LTWs, maxing careers, skills or hobbies, anything that they would have as a personal goal really...) I will unlock a new household for each achievement. I'll also add three more at the end of each rotation.

But where are they in the meantime? Well. Remember that Starband of Fate I've mentioned a few times? Here's my idea: a favourite TS3 household of mine, consisting of a simself and two aliens in a polyamorous relationship, has offered to protect the sims of Lake Lulla by sending them into a kind of stasis. In this state, they're effectively frozen in time and don't age, but they are all sharing in a peaceful and uplifting dream of sorts. One side-effect to this process: coming out of it often makes waking life seem more dreary in comparison. So the simself household settled in the region as one of the founding four, and are responsible for aiding the others in overcoming that low and finding happiness.

And, if you read all that rambling... ready to meet them?

From left to right, the top row features: Axane Pollen, an outgoing, bubbly researcher; Qusul Pollen, a nurturing and affectionate healer; and the simself Equinox Pollen, who is... simselfy.

And this little furbaby here is Lanie, the Pollens' beloved family pet.

House tour (though bear in mind, it's a starter house and unfinished) and the beginning of these sims' adventures will be coming soon!

[equinoxts2]

Let's kick off the intro posts with the household of Etan, headwoman of Kulo Sena (though I am planning on future leaders adopting a more gender-neutral title.) Individual sim intros below the cut:

Etan is the one in the middle with the red tunic, holding the toddler. As I said, she's the current leader of the Nuidya; however, she is planning to step down in favour of her cousin's daughter, having lost the favour of her people due to her own consistently bad relationship choices. She is also, according to the late shaman Pel, the fifth and last incarnation of Sena Yuleng, founder of the tribe and a fragment of the Earth Dragon - this has left some Nuidya doubting whether their revered ancestor was that great.

Yulica (red-haired woman at the back, in the blue-grey tunic) is Etan's younger half-sister, the only daughter of the line of Avira to be born without a twin. This, due to Nuidya law, means she was not eligible to become headwoman herself - which has led her to become resentful of her sibling, even (at one point) attempting to steal the essence of the Earth Dragon from Etan, with the help of her pathmate Kuvato.

Hudana (brown-haired man in the green tunic, on the other side of Etan) is Etan and Yulica's brother. Although he's unaware of this, he is a dhampir - his vampire father was out of the picture before he or Yulica could go through the transformation, but Hudana inherited several vampiric traits. One of these is a hunger, not for plasma, but for pure male thoughts; this has got him into quite a bit of trouble for attempting to fight the nicer young men of the tribe.

Luyisula (far left, in the white tunic) is the eldest of Etan's children. They are also one of Shaman Mari's three apprentices, and the one who coined the term namavinta ("carrying a nation within") to describe their own gender identity. They're not sure how well they're suited to the role of shaman, but they're too dang stubborn to admit it, even though their main interests are treeball and hunting.

Tabiltamyuli (far right, brown plaited hair, green and white tunic) is Luyisula's twin sister. She's apprenticed to the village lorekeepers, and she may have a bit of a crush on her mentors, which she's kept to herself. As a child, she wasn't expected to make it to adulthood; her apprenticeship gave her new purpose, and she's pretty sure that's what helped her recover from her poor health. She's not interested in becoming a tribal leader - she's one of the few Nuidya who can read, and that's exactly what she spends most of her time doing.

Kuona (between Yulica and Tabiltamyuli, wavy black hair, brown tunic) is the only surviving child of Etan and her ex-husband Melchol, who died three bands ago, not long after breaking a law he helped Etan write by divorcing her. Around that time, Kuona somehow managed to age ten bands in a few days - she is still getting used to being expected to Adult, though she does prefer to goof off with her friends.

Molsya (kid in front of Etan, with the wavy brown hair) and Ototiade (black-haired toddler in Etan's arms) are the youngest two of the family, children of Etan and her newest pathmate Abraxius. Like Etan herself, Molsya lost her twin brother in infancy, which (according to Nuidya superstition) means she has inherited powerful magic; Ototiade has no twin, and single-born children of the line of Avira have traditionally been considered cursed. Their stories are still being written... what will they end up getting into?

[equinoxts2]

Three households in one to introduce, all linked to Etan: her cousin Kira, her adopted children Lydia and Demetrius, and her two pathmates London and Abraxius. Intros to each sim below the cut.

Kira (black hair, red tunic, in the middle of the back row) is Etan's younger cousin, the only living child of former headwoman Abina - who is now a member of the Court of Belyala, the Nuidya ancestor pantheon. Unlike her mother, Kira has been an entitled diva so far, expecting her mi-Avira blood to let her get away with slacking off; however, now that her daughter has been named as Etan's heir, she's beginning to see the potential in this parenthood thing. Only took her thirteen starbands.

Tamivadila (black hair, wolf ears, blue tunic) is one of Kira's voidling alpha twins. Despite their strong magical heritage, Kira herself showed very little interest in being there for them. Tami responded by becoming loud, assertive and stubborn, but she is also something of a philosopher, and is working with Etan to build a fairer system for all Nuidya, not just mi-Aviras.

Rarovokis (black hair, wolf ears, green tunic) is Tami's twin brother, and shares her high intelligence. Unlike her, he is quiet and tries to stay out of the spotlight; he is very close to Tami, though, and she's always backed him up. As a son of the line of Avira, he knows he'll probably never have children of his own (can you be de-spiritbound?) but he still longs to start a more loving family than he had.

Abraxius (grey hair, brown tunic) is one of Etan's two pathmates, and out of the two, he's the bigger schemer. An archmage of the Pink tradition, he has no qualms about using his magic to get his way. Many Nuidya still don't trust him, since his arrival in Kulo Sena was marked by an attempt at cursing the burial grounds - luckily for him, Etan is a sucker for flattery.

London (blond hair, yellow tunic) is Etan's other pathmate, and has been with her significantly longer. He's a former boxer, unusually strong for a male of Juvash. He did once get kicked out for starting a drunken brawl with Etan herself, but they made up later... another reason why Etan is stepping down.

Lydia (red hair, red tunic) is one of a pair of twins adopted by Etan and London in the coastal city where they once lived. She's the elder of the two, and there's been some debate over whether she counts as "a descendant of the line of Avira" for succession purposes. Lydia herself isn't interested in leading the tribe regardless, preferring to just get on with her art projects.

Demetrius (red hair, brown tunic) is Lydia's brother. At one point, he was named as Etan's heir, but refused to accept the position - which his pathmate Tetali has mixed feelings about. He is also an artistic type, and enjoys crafting things.

Miak (black hair, black tunic) is Lydia's son with her pathmate Keru. He vanished into the Spirit World for a while as a child, returning days later at the age of nineteen starbands. He claims he can't remember what happened while he was away, but he has noticed that he gets a lot more admirers now than he expected - so he's more than willing o play up the spirit mystique to get attention.

[equinoxts2]

OK, household two! If you remember me saying something about "familiar faces" in a previous post from ages ago - here are two of them: Lazlo Curious and Erin Beaker, who are the two elders in the back.

In my game, when I was testing my mod cut and new genetics system in Strangetown not too long ago (and this is why I decided NOT to use Triplets & Quads in the end) Pascal's voidling baby turned out to be quads: the four black-haired sims in the grey gowns. From left to right, they are Kite, Alice, Varris and Tallia. The two blond guys are Vidcund's twins, Aaron and Hastain.

Both Pascal and Vidcund died in childbirth (another mod I then decided I was going to stick to my original plan of not using) and I wanted to take that storyline and run with it, writing it into the family's backstory as a lab accident. Lazlo - along with his pathmate Erin and close family friend Nicodemus Muenda - had to step up to raise the six kids.

Thirty-seven starbands (three full seasonal years) later, they're here in the Lake Lulla region. No, I haven't figured out why yet, and the voidlings haven't developed individual backstories/traits at the moment. I will be letting that develop through play. Either way, the younger generation are working as acquisitions, as indicated by the grey outfits; elders who arrived after the Starband of Fate have been granted honorary citizenship, so Erin and Lazlo get brighter outfits.

They're not the only premades who've found homes in my game, and there will also be a number of sims from other people's games appearing in later posts. For now, though, I'm sick of CAS and it's bedtime, so night night. :)

[equinoxts2]

Kulo Sena Intros: Caleb's Household

Time to meet the first family! Led by Caleb zan-Ace, this all-male (not counting their three cantankerous dogs) household is a close-knit one at the moment, but with the aftermath of Caleb's sister's death still hanging over them, will they manage to pull through?

Caleb zan-Ace (top left pic) is the eldest of the family at 56 starbands or thereabouts. He is kind-hearted and empathetic to young sims going through a rough time, as he himself has overcome family drama and an elixir addiction. He currently acts as a father figure to his three nephews, with plenty of help from his own brother.

Dill zan-Ace (top right) is Caleb's younger brother, in his late thirties and one-third of a former trio of teen shamans. The last one of that group still living, Dill has matured a lot since then, and is looking to settle down soon - as much to give the boys a maternal figure in their lives as to find love for himself.

Akali zan-Ace (bottom left) is 19, the eldest son of Lark zan-Ace, and the only one who actually remembers his mother. Sometimes he wishes he didn't; she was a ruthless matriarch who didn't particularly value sons. He is betrothed to the headwoman's cousin, Kira mi-Avira, but would rather not go through with it - so far, though, he hasn't managed to get up the courage to tell Uncle Caleb he doesn't like her much. He's been going a bit wild lately, though his uncles are still oblivious to his shenanigans.

Ribuvam zan-Ace (bottom centre) is six bands old. So far, he's been quiet but playful, and very close to his older and younger half-brothers. He is aware that the mother he barely remembers was horrible, but he neither longs for maternal love nor fears it - he just isn't sure what it's like yet.

Lutimave zan-Ace (bottom right) is two bands old, and blissfully unaware of how his birth led to his mother's downfall. He is a very shy toddler who is mostly content to play, learn and start every sentence with "why?"

[equinoxts2]

I'm still here! It's just been a bit of a stressful week for my family due to our house being infested with carpet beetles. We're having to deep clean the whole place and it is not how any of us wanted to spend the week.

On a more simmy note, Kulo Sena is coming along and will be playable on its birthday! It's playable now, actually, just working on one of the subhoods - but oh boy have I had drama already! (And this time, I don't mean the carpet beetles.)

I can't wait to share it with my simblr friends - watch this space! (Quin goes to cobble together an intro post)