#ixaraum

[massiguhitero]

Species feature: Novari

The avian Novari are native to the wide open prairies and flatlands of their homeworld, First Nest. They are a naturally migratory species, a trait well-adapted to the extreme seasonal variation present on First Nest, which maintains an axial tilt of 30.1 degrees.

Their long, muscular forelimbs act as both their walking limbs and their wings, while their hind limbs lifted up off the ground and used as manipulatory appendages, giving them a distinct "armwalking" rarely seen elsewhere in the galaxy. When walking in this way, their wings fold up and behind them, forming an insulating layer against their shoulders and neck.

To aid in their flight, Novari have a unique circular breathing system that makes excellent use of their four nostrils, wherein each pair alternates between inhaling and exhaling to ensure a constant, steady flow of air through their lungs. This adaptation allows for an incredible amount of stamina for flying, exercise, or other strenuous activities. When not engaged in physical activity, however, they can consciously switch to a bidirectional mode of breathing breathing that allows them to use all four of their nostrils to make the flute-like vocalizations that make up their language.

[massiguhitero]

Species Feature: The Rishin

The Rishin are perhaps the most enigmatic sophont race in the Orion Sector. Nearly all of them reside in a massive, mobile space station known simply as the Void Pilgrim, where they maintain what is perhaps the galaxy's largest library, and act as information brokers for those seeking to deal in secrets.

They are chimeric organisms, with a mollusc-like creature attached to and closely integrated with its ground sloth-like host body. The molluscoid, known as a "sapiosite" is the true sophont in this union, possessing the enlarged brain and complex thinking typical of sophonts in the Orion Sector. Soon after birth, a young sapiosite is introduced to its similarly-aged host, latching onto the infant host's head with its mouth and quickly growing new nerve tendrils to hijack the host's central nervous system. The host's own brain experiences significant changes after this point, where its cerebral cortex degenerates in favor of the mesencephalon and cerebellum. As both organisms grow and develop, their flesh intermingles and merges in a manner similar to that of male anglerfish and their mates, an association presumbly brought about by centuries of symbiosis. Even just a few months after the union between sapiosite and host, any attempt at removal becomes incredibly traumatic, and potentially fatal.

[massiguhitero]

Species Feature: The Vetahr

The wormlike Vetahr, hailing from, or rather, below, the expansive tundras of their homeworld, Vekriir, a chilly planet that orbits in the outer region of its star's habitable zone.

They are a subterranean species, in ancient times burrowing through permafrost and digging communal nests with others of their species to escape the cold, only emerging aboveground to hunt and forage. In modern times, their cities can be found aboveground, resembling giant termite mounds made from concrete and metal. Their primary tool for digging are the spade-like chelae on their primary limbs, though the pair of articulated horns on their heads assist in this process by pushing into and, through their up and down motion, loosening dirt ahead of them for their chelae to shovel away. To aid in this, the internal structure of these horns contain chambers of hydrogen peroxide, whose exothermic decomposition significantly heats up the surrounding material, making burrowing through permafrost much easier.

Their languages consist almost entirely of complex patterns of chirps and percussive elements from both their jaws and chelae, ideal in the reverb-y walls of their underground homes, though some languages make extensive use of their limited vocalizations in the form of grunts and squeaks.

[massiguhitero]

Nothing much to post today. Baby Gox.

Gox babies are known as pups! Fresh newborns are soda can-sized, thin, and have pruny, grey-black skin all over; the cutie in the picture above is around 3-4 months old and has already had the chance to fatten up. Gox have an ovo-viviparous reproductive strategy, where fertilized eggs are not laid but rather witheld inside the mother's body while the embryo inside develops, a strategy similar to vipers and certain species of shark. After around 100 days, once the yolk of the egg is depleted, the pup "hatches" inside the womb and is birthed live shortly after. Every Gox pregnancy results in 1-3 pups being born. Because the pips' spines and tails are already quite robust compared to their limbs at birth, they are surprisingly proficient swimmers. Common cultural practice involved raising pups raised in communal spawning pools, dammed of rivers, or (in the modern day) dedicated aquariums until the pups' limbs were developed enough to support their weight outside the water.

[massiguhitero]

Psionics Pt. 2: Organics

(Continuation of the previous post)

It should be noted, then, that organic nervous systems also operate on electricity, more specifically electrochemistry.

Organic psionics is typically discovered well after a culture's invention of conduit tech, when the rate of passive gib exposure climbs to a point where occasional gib-related infections can happen (they are still a microbe at the end of the day). On the rare chance that an egg, pregnant mother, or very young child is exposed to a large amount of gib, there is a significant likelihood that the child will exhibit telekinetic abilities as they grow up, the result of gib biofilms integrating themselves into the tissue of the child's central nervous system.

Called "psions" by Humans, the host's cerebrospinal fluid acts as the analogue to the nutrient fluid used in conduit tech. The gib films can now respond to thoughts, reflexes, and emotions.

Due to now being a technically colonial organism, psions need more food to sustain themselves than other organics, needing to nourish both themselves and their gib symbionts. The amount of innate control they can exercise over their abilities varies as well, with erratic spikes or dips in power in response to emotional state or intrusive thoughts. Most psions then elect to have an implant grafted to the back of their necks that help regulate and stabilize the gibs' response to neural activity.

Psions exhibit a narrow range of abilities. These are strictly telekinetic: push, pull, lift, block, crush, etc., and psions can be endlessly creative when finding applications for their powers. Particularly skilled psions can even have a form of danger sense, detecting subtle shifts in gravity caused by moving objects. Hypothetically, a large enough group of psions working together on endcan recreate the effects of even the largest, most powerful conduits.

What psions cannot do, however, is read or control minds, as is often fearmongered about them. Nor do they have powers of healing or foresight.

similarities to mass effect and star wars are entirely coincidental ^^

[massiguhitero]

Psionics Pt. 1: Conduit Tech

Gravitokinesis, colloquially referred to as psionics, has formed the foundation of the advanced technology found within the universe of Ixaraum, as well as many of its new societal struggles.

Its basis lies in humble origins: Gravitobacter, or Gib, a species of strange alien microorganism of unknown origin that has the power to manipulate gravitational fields, hypothesized to be used as a method for feeding or for locomotion. When grouped together in colonial biofilms, gib can respond to electric signals. Thus, every culture that has both discovered gib and some kind of electronic computer has developed conduit tech, a way to finely control the gib's abilities through specialized code.

Typical conduits available for commercial civilian use look just like sturdy sealed boxes with a small built-in computer and connection ports. Within, conductive meshes containing gib biofilms are immersed in sealed nutrient-rich fluid that must be periodically renewed to keep the gib healthy and functional.

This tech has of course been invaluable to the various races' interstellar efforts; artificial gravity and thrusterless propulsion in particular are indispensable to modern ship and space station design, but the technology has been adapted for use in everywhere from construction sites and airplanes to space elevators and fusion power plants.

[massiguhitero]

Sketches of wild tashiplav and domesticated tash

The tashiplav (Gv: "sword-runner") are social, pack-hunting carnivores that are Ixara's equivalent of wolves, hyenas, or lions. Though they stand at around human height, they are relatively small as meegafauna on Ixara go; they are only waist-high to the Gox.

They are adapted for a chase and latch style of hunting, thanks to their unique mouths that posses horizontally-oriented pedipalps whose claws are well-adapted to securing a firm grip on prey. They are among the fastest land creatures on Ixara was well, able to sustain speeds upwards of 50 km/h for up to an hour; a trait they use to their advantage when hunting the larger, slower prey that they favor.

The tash are the domesticated subspecies of these creatures, first tamed tens of thousands of years ago by nomadic Gox tribes. Since then, many hundreds of breeds have been created for specific purposes. The breeds shown below are the examples of a livestock herder (i.e. collie, malinois), a game hunter (i.e. akita, retriever) , and a war mount, in that order.

[massiguhitero]

Bonus Gox cultural attire

The traditional clothing of almost all Gox cultures is rooted in the need to provide shade and promote airflow, either through form or through the breathability of the fabric itself. Pictured above is the traditional "peasant garb" of the Aranxil culture, featuring wide-brimmed veiled hats and loose, flowy skirts that are easy to put on and take off.

Gox also rarely wear any footwear beyond open-toed sandals, as the sharp claws on their feet run the risk of quickly tearing through any material used for footwear, expecially with repeated use. Bonus: modern comfywear