Ath - Tumblr Posts

a little update plus a map of my worlds galaxy, im okay and should be finished the fungal steppe by july and i'll start posting it as soon as i can

image context, each dot is one of the planets i am doing the speculative biology for, dumuno is the red dot and ngiu◗ is the green dot, the other dots are planets we have yet to cover, also the outlines are the borders of the galactic empires, the ◗ta empire is the green outline and the kirn are the orange outline, the kirns home planet is long gone meaning doing their planet is impossible, and the two dots in the ◗ta empire has 2 other sapient species in it, though they were only spared due to the purple dot [ath] being during the beginning of their empire and the blue dot [lotred] being due to the empress finding them cute and sparing them, though being on the lowest part of the class structure of the ◗ta empire

You mentioned there are 2 other planets you're going to be covering awhile ago, what are the planets like, or what are the flora and fauna on them like? Also, you mentioned there will be sophonts on them. I doubt you have this all planned out exactly yet, but what biomes did they evolve from? And also, if you wouldn't mind answering which biomes the urn and )ta evolved in?

this question is very broad and asks a lot more than im honestly willing to give since half of it is still in “beta”, so im just gonna give very basic information about the planets and their life

Ath- a rogue planet formerly bustling with terrestrial life with a sea under a thick sheet of ice, flora are yellow chemotrophs and fauna are grouped into two groups, one of which has a skeleton derived of muscles which allows them to adapt to the various pressure levels within their environment and shelled mollusk like organisms

Lotred- a small humid planet orbiting an A-type star, its flora is hard and red, and its fauna is divided into two groups as well, one which has a mutualistic relationship with a subgroup of flora, and another which are highly convergent on arthropods and lack the relationship with flora

as for the sophonts on each of these planets origins

Urn [Dumuno]-the temperate steppe

◗ta [Ngiu◗]-the forests of maschora

Ap [Ath]-a reef like biome around a hydrothermal vent

Drekol [Lotred]-the mountains of their southern continent

sorry if this isnt what you were looking for, but i hope it helps

fun fact about the ◗ta, if they smell something they like their klariech will twitch a lot, like a telluric mammals ears twitching to help hear the world, they can't control it and it is very funny for cross species couples like ◖kru and ma-ch, [which most art i will attempt for them will be entirely noncanonical since they can't physically interact at all and if they are in the same place one of them will have to wear a suit to protect them] which consists of the two of them being completely oblivious to the others uncontrollable signs of infatuation with the other

axial tilt facts about the planets [subject to change since idrk what i'm doing but i feel semi confident enough to show people]

dumuno: 25°

ngiu◗: 1°

ath: doesn't orbit anything

lotred: 40°

an young ap named shud, they have just finished the last stage of their pupation after 4 telluric years, they are very curious about the world around them, studying the common sitting snail in front of them, they have yet to interact with another ap of their morph [frequently just called ap], though its only a matter of time

an updated map of the galaxy of which my projects take place, with a top on view to help make it easier to comprehend as well as the ranges of the empires being changed as well, similar to the first each dot is the [general range of the] star system of the planets the of the projects, the ◗ta empire is the green outline and the kirn empire is the orange outline, and the dots go

red: dumuno

green: ngiu◗

purple: ath

blue: lotred

and as established in the old galatic maps post the kirns homeplanet is long gone

[old post https://speculative-world.tumblr.com/post/687083547534802944/a-little-update-plus-a-map-of-my-worlds-galaxy-im]

i mentioned that ◖kru lives on a middle ring planet but i never really specified what that meant

the ◗ta empire can be divided into 4 parts

1: the central circle, its essentially the culture of the homeworld expanded outwards being the oldest colonized planets in the empire, being almost entirely designed for ◗tas and every planet is boron based meaning each non◗ta sophont within needs to be heavily suited up

2: the inner ring, very similar to the central circle, though more heavily policed and better for other sophonts containing a small amount of carbon compatible planets for them to live on as well as more inclusive architecture

3: the middle ring, a very relaxed part of the empire, containing an almost 50:50 ratio of boron based and carbon based planets, being very inclusive architecture wise and houses 80% of the galaxies drekol and 90% of the non-homeplanet ap

4: the outer ring, is the most heavily policed part of the empire, containing the newest planets in the empire and also includes in progress colonies, though it contains more carbon compatible planets than the inner ring and inclusive architecture and technology since when the empire grows the rings will grow

if you have any questions at all please dont be afraid to ask im more than happy to try and answer

an ap named ma-ch, a struggling botonist who makes a living as a night guard in a store on the middle ring colony of which they make their residence, they spend most of their down time video calling their partner ◖kru

a map of ath, a rogue planet which has a subsurface ocean which has a shocking amount of life, this life is usually centralized around hydrothermal vents [biodiversity similar to a reef or rainforest], but also in smaller populations the plate boundaries [biodiversity similar to an intertidal zone or steppe], and life litters the ocean around it [biodiversity similar to the ocean floor or a desert] though the vast majority of the planet is populated by life of some variety there is one spot filled with hypersaline water which no life whatsoever can survive in

height charts of all my characters in the ◗ta empire

red: kireiwke orange: ◖kru forest green: the empress yellow: pedal cyan: dopel blue: the matriarch green: shud purple: ma-ch violet: the regent

Which colors do the plants in your worlds have? Green like on earth or something else?

Also I have a world in which the plants are purple red :)

the plant colours on my planets vary a lot from planet to planet

dumuno: black, green, purple, and the various colours of coraloid

ngiu◗: blue and a few marine orange plants

lotred: red and turquoise

ath: yellow thermophytes and a variety of colours for chemotrophs

and the planet that pedal and ma-ch live on having greenish plants

the regent, the current diplomatic spokesperson of ap and ath in the ◗ta empire, they travel off planet very frequently for a regent, leaving it 5 times, theyve been the regent for about 17 telluric years, and generally stay out of decision making unless it directly hurts ath or ap as a whole, they are focused currently on a project to merge all of ath under one planetary identity as opposed to the 7 different ap countries, though widely considered the sole ruler of ath this is very untrue, they just happen to be the only ruler on ath that most of the ◗ta empire gets to see

some generic trees of the planets im making

ngiui◗te tree: very similar to a telluric tree, though the leaves are more similar to long flat moss stalks

lotredish tree: has a large shelled heart like organ which pumps a form of vascular fluid throughout the entire body, has large photosynthetic parts made out of cells with silicate glass in their cell walls

athian tree: has an exoskeleton like structure which they use to keep their main body stable, they can move each of the joints in this structure to find a suitable shape and then they will only move slightly throughout their lifespan, grows "leaves" towards sources of immense heat, grows a thermoregulatory organ towards the coolest location near them, and continously grows clutches of spores in a glowing purple sac filled with access nutrients

when i get my data back, about a year from then i will be starting one of the other planets, that being said

heres some description of ath and lotred as per the poll

Lotred: A superficially earth-like planet, from a view of the planet and not the life on it that is, Lotred is home to a bouquet of organisms which blur the lines between flora and fauna, having organisms which are highly mobile but photosynthetic, or highly sessile and heterotrophic, and a full range of organisms inbetween, Lotred has a higher amount of silicate than earth does and this effects almost everything in Lotreder biology, the main flora of Lotred is composed of high amounts of organic silicate glass, and certain organisms have skeletons composed of calcium silicate, the terrestrial fauna of Lotred is a mix of tripodal primarily megafaunal organisms with exoskeletons, and bipedal primarily smaller endoskeletal organisms, Lotred is home to the Drekol, Lotred orbits around an A-type star and has a ring system as well as two moons of similar composition and size Ath: A rogue planet with a subsurface ocean, Athian organisms are divided into many groups, two primary faunal groups are a group with a skeleton derived from muscles which can adjust depending on the pressure around them in order to keep their body relatively intact even in low pressure environments, four tentacles, five eyes, and ray-fin like fins, and a clade of snail like organisms with 8 eyes, 3 mantle skirt like structures they use for locomotion, two mouths, and usually a shell which they can retract into which can close on them, the snail like organisms function as a multiple major "floral" clade of chemotrophs, Athian "plants" are jointed yellow thermotrophs which riddle hydrothermal vents alongside other "floral" clades of snails, Ath is home to the Ap, Ath has 4 moons of varying size and 2 of them have a handful of moonmoons

anyone want knowledge on ◗ta, drekol, and ap during this hiatus? feel free to ask one or more of these questions with the specified sophont[s]

Alien Questionnaire - A Biological Perspective

A while ago, somebody linked me a very comprehensive worldbuilding questionnaire. For most aspects of a fictional society, it was great, but I noticed it assumed that anyone using it was making up a fictional human society, or at least a society of beings very similar to humans. As such, there was almost nothing in the biology department, which to me is one of the best parts! Thus, this questionnaire was born.

These questions are designed to help people worldbuild from a biological foundation. As such, the questionnaire only touches lightly on other aspects of a fictional society, and is more of a jumping off point. I wrote it with the aim of using it to develop aliens, but it should be suitable for any project with non-humanoid species, such as sapient terrestrial animals.

Have fun! I'd love to see your answers :)

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General Anatomy How many limbs do they have? Do they have limbs at all?

What are their primary manipulators? Where are they located? How does this affect their tool use, building ability, etc?

What kind of body covering do they have, e.g. hair, scales, feathers? How do they clean it? Do they shed this covering constantly, or all at once at certain times? 

Can they maintain a constant body temperature? If not, how do they deal with changing environmental temperatures? 

What kind of habitat do they live in? Both specific habitat, and broader such as on land vs in water.

What adaptations do they have for living in this habitat?

What kind of creature did they evolve from?

What are the similarities and differences to their closest living relatives? 

What resource(s) is the most necessary and urgent for them? E.g. for many animals, but not all, it’s water.

What are some common mutations? E.g. eye colours, ability to digest lactose in humans.

What injuries or illnesses are considered disabling? 

How is their healing ability? Can they regenerate? If they can, is that limited to certain body parts or a certain number of times?

Senses What senses do they have? E.g. sight, smell, electroreception, etc.

How good are those senses?

Which of their sense/s do they use the most in everyday life?

How might this choice of sense impact the way they interact with the world? 

Can they detect things that Earth creatures cannot? If yes, how and why?

Movement  How do they move? Do they walk, crawl, fly, etc? 

If they have multiple modes of movement, which is preferred, and why?

Which part/s of their body do they use to move?

What is their speed and endurance like? 

How agile are they? 

Do they rely mainly on their own bodies for travel, or do they use pack animals and machines? 

How often do they move around? Are they mainly sedentary, do they move a lot within a set area, do they migrate, etc?

Do they have different levels of mobility depending on age, sex, or other biological group? E.g. young barnacles are able to swim, while adults are anchored permanently to a surface. 

Reproduction and Lifecycle  How many sexes are there? 

Are there differences between the sexes (ignoring the reproductive system)? 

Are there different castes, such as in honeybees or naked mole rats? If so, what is the function of each caste? 

Are differences in sex or caste used to justify discrimination or hierarchy? How might these ideas differ in different populations? 

Do they have a concept of gender? If so, is gender affected by sex, caste, or some other factor?

How do they attract a mate? Do they release a chemical into the air, do an elaborate display, etc?

Does one individual try to actively woo another, or is courtship more mutual?

What do they find attractive in members of the same species?

What is the usual reproductive partnership? E.g. two individuals, one main reproducing individual with a harem, no set partner, etc. 

How long do they live?

How are young brought into the world? Live birth, eggs, spores, etc?

Is producing young a painful, dangerous process, or is it easy?

How much parental investment is there? Are there many young with little investment, or few young with a lot of investment (r vs K strategy)? Or is it somewhere in the middle? 

How many offspring are produced at a time? Think about how attitudes towards children may differ between a species that produces one or two, and a species that produces dozens or even hundreds at a time.

How do they grow? Are they born looking like miniature adults, gradually growing bigger? Do they have specific phases of high growth, like puberty? Do they have a larval phase, metamorphosis? 

How self-sufficient are they as young? Can they move around and feed themselves as soon as they are born? Do they require parental care? 

What is the usual structure of childcare? Single or multiple parents/related individuals? Communally raised? 

Is sex purely for reproduction, or does it serve other purposes?

What kind of sexuality is considered the norm? This doesn’t just refer to same/other sex pairings, but the culture around sex in general.

Diet and Foodchain What is their diet? Are they carnivores, omnivores, frugivores, insectivores, etc?

Do they feed off an unusual source, for example rocks, metals, or (in appropriate settings) something like magic or souls?

What physical adaptations do they have for this diet? 

Is their diet very restricted, or can they have a wide range of foods?

How often do they eat? What is the culture around mealtimes, if any?

Are they prey for other organisms? For each other?

If they are, how do they deal with it? Do they fight back, have barriers, or do they accept it as a part of life?

If they are hunters themselves, what is their attitude to killing other organisms? Are they respectful? Prideful of their kill? Is it completely trivial? 

If they are hunters, how do they hunt? Are they solitary or packhunters? Are certain members of the group designated to hunt? 

Are the results of foraging or hunting shared, or is it everyone for themself?

Are they parasitic, parasitised, or in a symbiotic relationship with any other organisms? 

Body Rhythms How often do they sleep?

What time of the day are they most active? Are they nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular? 

Do they generally sleep for one long period a day, multiple shorter periods throughout, or something in between? 

Do they sleep to cope with extreme temperatures or bad conditions, i.e. hibernate or aestivate?

Do they have any biological processes that disrupt their life e.g. moulting, reproductive cycles, etc?

If yes, how does their society accommodate for these processes? Does it accommodate them at all? 

Communication What is their main method of communication? Sound, visuals, scent, etc? Think about their main sense and how this would affect communication.

What is their body language like? What small moving parts might aid their body language?

If they have multiple methods of communication, are they all given equal weight, or is one considered higher than others? 

Society How sociable are they? 

If social, what is the usual social structure? 

Are there hierarchies? How strict or relaxed are the roles?

How are disputes usually settled? Is it more common to be violent or appease the other party? 

If not social, what is the reaction to being with other individuals? Do they become aggressive or stressed? Do they tolerate each other? 

What is the usual size of a community? Do they have communities at all? 

Do they have an in-group vs out-group mentality? If so, how strong is it? This generally relates to how scarce or plentiful resources were during their evolution, and how territorial their ancestors were.

What kind of bonds do they form? 

On the spectrum of individualistic to community-oriented, where do they fall?

Do they have a strong sense of personal identity? Think about how this might tie in with the previous question. 

What are the main things they derive identity from? Occupation, gender, family ties, etc?

Do they have names? If yes, how are these names formed? Are they given by another party or chosen by the individual?

Have they domesticated any creatures? If so, what do they use these creatures for?

Do they have any unusual relationships with other creatures on their planet (beyond predation, parasitism or mutualism)?

Do they produce art? What are their main forms of artistic expression? Think about how this will be linked to their main sense(s), communication method, and/or primary manipulators.

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GLOSSARY Primary manipulator: Main body part used to manipulate objects, e.g. hands in humans, trunks in elephants, feet in parrots.

Sedentary: Inactive, staying in the same place.

Caste (reproductive): A group within a species with differences in body type and reproductive ability.

Symbiosis/Mutualism: Interactions where both parties benefit, e.g. cleaner fish getting a meal in exchange for picking irritating parasites off larger fish.

Aestivate: To become inactive during hot or dry periods, usually involving being sealed in mucus or soil e.g. lungfish, snails. 

Reproductive cycle: Regular hormone fluctuations that affect an animal’s fertility or attitude towards breeding. The cycles can range from months to years and can include things such as antler growth in male deer, heat cycles, and menstruation in humans.

an ap named fil'p, they live on the spaceport city on ath that has been dubbed prothes, they sell shells and bones from athian organisms to tourists from all over the rings, at least until they can purchase a ship and get to a colony, this is the first newly designed ap, i plan to update the rest of them and post them, perhaps with a bit more information

a young ap named shud, they are the captain of the voidray, a freelance multipurpose transportation vessel, moments after their pupation they discovered a green ring and have worn it ever since, they rarely return to ath unless its for a job and unlike the rest of their crewmates dont have a legal home beyond their ship

BONUS POST FOR TODAY!! im feeding yall GOOD rn with this stupid green bitch, so eat up 🫶