I'm sorry if you've already answered something like this or don't have much information, but what's The Captain up to? Any specific or memorable events from his past that he likes to recall?
Ah! Xisuma! Unless you mean some other Captain but if you do- well! I get to ramble about two people so it’s a win win!
Anyways Xisuma is up to.. well. A lot. He’s the captain of a whole space station after all! Also if you see me switching between referring to the station and a ship, they’re both the same thing. The HSS doubles as both! Also has a ship fleet of its own to boot. Anyways- Keeping that big of a ship and that big of a crew running (it’s not just the hermits on this thing! We have background characters!!) takes a lot of his time. When he’s not doing that he’s working on Hermitterra, fiddling with hobbies, or spending time with his friends.
Speaking of Hermitterra, there’s also the armor collection. It seems that every time he starts a new Hermitterra project with the others, he finds some way to get a new set of armor. Usually a themed one. He has a good few and a lot of the suits actually have special perks! The axolotl suit allows him to breath underwater, the Apisite themed suit allows him to hover, and the bone suit- Well. It’s bones!
Many of the fond memories he keeps in journals! He has a whole shelf in his quarters dedicated to them all. He has eight completed journals at the moment and is starting on his ninth! I’d like to think they’re all well loved leatherbacks. Nothing too fancy. But he has a bunch of photographs and clippings as well as mementos, keepsakes, and sometimes pressed flowers taped onto the pages. All of his journals are super in depth and he takes great pride in them!
I thought of another world-building question! I've seen the logs on the alien species, but not one on humans. Are humans common? Rare? Is Earth a thing or have humans spread enough throughout the universe that they don't have a single home-planet?
Earth is a thing! Humans aren't quite in space yet, not truly anyhow. The galaxy does know about them and has made contact! Though trade agreements and all that nonsense is still getting sorted out. That and humanity is still trying to get their own space travel up and running. Sadly their big space missiles aren't gonna cut it. But they're getting help from the- ok bear with me, I don't have a proper name for whatever space government or governing body that oversees this side of the galaxy yet. So, humans are still getting help from the "galactic federation", name subject to change, in order to get their ships up and running!
As for humans in space, its quite rare! As said before spacetravel isnt quite there yet leading many still waiting for the opportunity. The humans that have gone into space are mostly the top of their field in astronomy, engineering, and other NASA-y things. So basically the people who know what they're doing. Also a lot of ambassadors! Butttt aside from that, there's less... legal ways of entering space ;)
World building ask! What's the economy like? Is it set up with a standard currency or does each planet/system have a currency exchange? What is the most/least valuable item?
This question has actually stumped me quite a bit! In a good way though! It’s made me think about an important detail of my setting that I never considered! Though to be honest I am not well versed in economy things and even after having my friends explain it to me it’s just not clicking. Though I do have some thoughts!
To make it easy on myself from a writing standpoint I’d probably have a common currency to work with. But I’m trying to make it more unique than saying credits and calling it a day. I’ve considered chords, twined/braided materials of different values as a currency (I know the appropriate word would be cord but chord is just nicer looking.) That or an oblong currency that looks like two coins with hollow centers joined at the sides. But as for economy, I’m not sure. I may take a leaf from No Man’s Sky’s book and try to construct a similar system.
As for least and most valuable item, I’m not sure! I’d say valuable materials would be starmetal, rare elements, or crystals from Geomine. Those crystals are known to have odd yet sought after properties and are used in armor, weapons, and if you’re rich enough, jewelry.
Of course!!!! Also the read more is because this post got pretty long- Enjoy!!
So Keralis and Chrys are both Apisites. While Keralis was born one, Chrys took the form of one as he’s from the same species of shapeshifter as Hex. Coincidentally Chrys is also a relative of Hex (Brother or cousin, I haven’t decided) but that’s a story for another day.
Apisites reside on a planet I currently call “Lush” since I don’t have an actual name for it yet. It’s fitting cause it houses an incredibly diverse amount of flora and megaflora. By megaflora I mean that there are giant flowers, and frankly it looks like something out of a children’s book. Apisites also reside here along with two other species, Mantodia (Stress’s species!) and the Mazliota/Maliophyta (Bdubs’ species! Torn on their name tho) It’s a hive, pun half intended, of activity! Unfortunately it may be on the Watcher’s radar for this exact reason but it’s safe. For now.
Ok, back to the bees! Apisites come in all shapes and sizes! You have ones resembling bees, hornets, wasps, etc etc. There’s also more “alien” appearing ones as patterns can variate. Also I’d like to think they mimic bee/similar pollinator species that exist in the galaxy. I don’t have a reason for this lore-wise, I just think it’s neat! Elytrian patternings work the same way, but this post is about the bees not the birds! (Haha get it, the birds and the bees-)
Apisites are known as fabulous craftsmen and architects. Instead of towns or cities they live in hives of varying sizes! Some are small and house about a villages worth of folk while others dwarf the flora with their grandeur! They also aren’t too picky about where they build either. In the trunks of massive trees, hanging from their branches, built from the ground up or even the ground down! What they are particular about is presentation. Competition between new colonies to see who can build the most extravagant or innovative hive are common. Usually these are in good faith.
Another noteable thing about Apisites is that their hives run on a form of Monarchy. But it’s a little odd. The queens of the hive switch freely, meaning they only stay in power for about some few weeks at a time. An example and inspiration of this idea would be the Rainwings from Wings of Fire. Technically it would be more of an oligarchy but the title of “Queen” just sounds neat. The responsibility of the hive is also shared and fosters a closer community as everything is more of a team effort.
Just like earth bees, a lot of communication revolves around body language. While yes, dancing is important to them and serves a lot of purposes, they don’t communicate by it. Mainly a lot of factors like tone, intention, etc can be picked out from their body language. Antennae position, wing buzzing, how they hold their arms, and more is all apart of how they communicate! This often results in a lot of miscommunication with other species, though, especially among the Apisites newer to space.
Speaking of a lot of Apisites don’t partake in space travel! Their food source is a honey made on Lush, specifically from the flora that grows around them. It’s harder to produce in space, annoying to ship long distances, but at least it stores well. Plus many Apisites consider themselves homebodies and prefer to stick close to the hive.
Ok since this post has been sitting in my drafts for like a week plus its just. Really long, I’ll cut it here. Though feel free to ask more about them!! I love my bees :]
