Welcome to Gaia! ::

-- ...I'm looking at you through the glass... --

---Through the Glass---

Name: Shadiyah
Gender: Female
Age: Compared to a human, early to mid 20s. By Raalian terms, she's 12 tri-sets since birth, and given that tri-sets occur approximately every 26 months... about 26 by human standards. Young, by Raalian.
Height: 6'1". Her people are, by nature, tall and somewhat lanky. They are not overly thin, however, due to the layer of cooling, fat-like material under the layers of skin. Her build is muscular for a female of her species, but just lean and hardened to an outsider.
Skin: Dark bronze. Leathery in texture. Her vent-scales are a lighter, sandy gold color (See below for explanation of the vent scales, crappy pic by me here )
Eyes: Gold, with pupils like a cat's. The pupils dilate very little, leaving her with extremely poor nightvision. She also has a third eyelid which helps guard the eyes during a sandstorm. Vision is slightly impaired with it closed. They are wide set ovals slanted upward at their outer edges (similar to Asian eyes). Size wise, they're the same as a human's.
Hair: She's mostly bald like the rest of her race. Her ponytail is a wheat-gold and kept bound (see badly drawn pic. Please note that this is a conceptual drawing and differs from her actual appearance, facially speaking). The hair itself is very coarse.
Heritage: Raalian (World Type B/C, see the World Description).

Appearance: As with the rest of her race, Shadiyah has large ears (much like that of Gizmo - pic1 pic2 pic3 - except that they lay flat against her head) that aid in the releasing of heat from the body. They're also pierced through, once, with glass loops. Her cheekbones are high and create a gentle ridge in her face. Due to the insulating layer, she has no hollow in her cheeks, so the line of the cheek bone to jaw is very smooth. Overall, the lines of her face share this same angualrity softened by the under layer in the skin. Her nose is flatter than a human's, with wide slits for nostrils that can be closed against a sandstorm. The flatness of the nose leaves her with a rounded profile, lacking the nose dip and protusion seen in humans (note the bad hair image is not accurate in this).

Another adaptation are the vent-scales, or large, scale-like areas that actually lift slightly to allow cooling and release of heat. They're located at the tops of the arms, tops of the thighs, one behind each ear, and one at the midback. There are also smaller scales that do not lift - they might have been once used in a similar fashion to the vent-scales. They lead down on the outside of the arms and legs, and down the back from each of the vent-scales behind the ears (see pic). Fingernails are slightly thicker than a human's, knuckles are covered with the same small scales.

Build-wise she is strong but not hefty. While the skin layer that keeps her cool gives her a softened appearance, it also hides the definition of her muscles. There's a thicker build up of this layer around the scales, giving them a ridge-like appearance.

Sexual Preference: ... there's preferences involved in that?

Usual Attire: Draped loose and layered robes. She doesn't like being scantily clad, as in the desert that would leave her vulnerable to the harsh sunlight and predators. The only exception occurs while she's practicing her art - then she will remove the top layers of robes to reveal a layered, loose top and hanging pants (Leftmost in pic). This stands to reason, as while she crafts she is not placing herself in a dangerous situation. Though she does not face the same predators and heat outside of her homeworld, the instinct still remains.

Personality: Hard headed, proud, overly curious and stubborn. She's also not afraid to admit when she doesn't know something and has no problem asking stupid questions. Her driving sense of curiousity often leads her to precarious situations, rather like a child that knows it shouldn't touch the stove because it's hot... but.. but.. it might not be hot *rightnow*. One might say her self control is lacking, but that observation only applies when new and exciting objects/people/situations arise.

Despite that, Shadiyah does have manners and attempts to be polite, even when she's just *dying* to know something. If someone ignores her, she'll likely keep bugging them - if they tell her to buzz off, she'll obligingly scram. She's been well-trained; her Ps and Qs are all in order, and she automatically responds when someone makes a request (see Honor Section in the world's history). It doesn't mean she won't be twirked that they blew her off.

She likes hard work, stemming from the individual trials she forced herself through by venturing into the desert with her father and brothers. Thigns that are easy hold little interest to her, and she learns by getting her hands dirty. Females on her planet avoid danger at all costs, preserving the breeding line. Shadi prefers to live and learn and grow from the situations she finds herself in.

Around her peers, she's outgoing and warm. Her opinion of men and women is much influenced by her culture -- she's surprised when women don't want to have children (here she thought she was a rebel!), and girly or effeminate men will totally blow her mind. Also, other tough style women will cause her to pause. There will be a lot of inconsistencies with her own culture and the outside world she'll need to internally resolve. I imagine her acceptance will be on a per character basis.

In sexual situations dealing directly with her, expect great confusion and possibly some serious revulsion. Shadi will have such a reaction to being hit on or given a suggestion of sex. The confusion stems mainly from the idea of sex for pleasure, as that concept is particularly foreign to her. Revulsion would be a knee jerk reaction to someone wanting to Breed with her (as Breeding is a life pairing, see the culture section for more details on the particulars).

Love is not a well known or understood concept to Shadi. While other young girls of various cultures may dream of love, that concept is rarely found among Raalians. Sure, she's heard stories and legends of great loves, but they are often portrayed in a slightly negative tone. Her responsibility lies first in producing children with a suitable match, not trailing after someone who intrigues her. She will completely and utterly miss signs of love in her fellow Cirque performers (if it occurs), and possibly mistake it for illness. Once someone mentions love to her, she might have the inclination to pick their brain about the concept -- especially if THEY are in love, as there's no better information than from a direct source.

At this point, it's very probably she will not fall in love with someone (and if she should happen upon that emotion, she won't have any idea what it is, even with information regarding love). Strictly speaking sex, even romantic encounters, Shadi will have no use for it. The concept itself speaks to her of being held down and beign forced into a lifestyle that she doesn't want, even if the partner isn't intending for that feeling and wants to express his/her/its emotional attachment to her. For Shadi, Sex != bonding. Expanding that a little further and remaining in TOS, that is NOT to say she won't allow her partner to touch her romantically. There's just not going to be copulation. EVER.

Same sex pairings will confound her completely (note that this does not represent MY personal feelings at all, nor does it mean she will necessarily be homophobic. Much of her opinions on that will be determined by her IC play). If anyone of the same sex approaches her with a flirtacious or sexual intent, Shadi will be utterly clueless. Even if they spell out in detail what they want to do to/with her, it's very likely to not quite click.

Those that ignore or dislike her won't be enemies -- Shadi will feel the need to prove herself to them. In fact, Shadi will have severe difficulty considering anyone an "enemy". Disliking them... that's a definate possibility. Mortal enemy, not so much. Grudges are a foreign concept to her culture.

Culturally speaking, Raalians place a lot of importance on the group dynamics. Shadi will shift her viewpoint from concern for her family to her concern for her Cirque family. Here concern does not bean emotional attachment so much as assuring their wellbeing; she does not offer up her food or a blanket to ensure their happiness so much as it is an automatic effort to ensure their survival. Her actions may be miscontrued as such.

Shadi isn't easily offended, but she can be riled without a lot of effort. With a "flash in the pan" temper, she's likely to step in during a confrontation and possibly even get into a screaming match. Her wrath, however, is all in words - rarely, if ever, leading to a physical strike. Things such as gratuitous viloence, disrespect (for property or another being) and wastefulness get her feathers ruffled. Chauvanism will also receive a negative response and a very evil eye. That reaction may mellow over time, given her exposure to outside worlds. Anyone who can appreciate smaller details will receive high marks from her, and the opposite will be labeled dumb brutes. Excessive living (such as buying things not needed, wasting resources others need, living well while others do not) are likely to anger her a great deal.

When alone, Shadi is likely to be humming, mumbling to herself, and exploring the new worlds through literature (which she won't be able to read, but hey! Pictures!) or by interacting with the people living in it. If she's not practicing her glassblowing or entertaining, she'll snoop around to watch the other performers practice or their actual performance. There may be times she will miss her family, but she isn't the type to get depressed. The only real downer on her personality will be cold worlds or excessively rainy ones, and that will be a biochemical reaction more than an emotional one.


Flaws:
Physical: She has very little to no night vision, due to her planet being light 95% of the time. In worlds where there is little sun or heat, she will enter a semi-hibernating state due to the lack of nutrients from the sunlight (see the information in History about the tri-set slumber). If full slumber does not set in, she'll be at the very least dopey, foggy in the head, and super grouchy. Apply heat rock for best recovery options smile . Similarly, she cannot cope with cold. Shadi would need to bundle up like a baluga whale in order to function -- or at least stoke her furnace up to an unusually high level. She's also not very flexible due to the layer under her skin that keeps her cool.

Personality: Her stubbornness can be a problem. Anytime someone tells her she can't do something, she's going to go out and try it. This also ties in with her quick (but shortlived) temper sparks. Her curiousity is always in overdrive, which might land her in trouble for nosing around where she shouldn't be. She often reminds herself to act more feminine, be more graceful (which is something she isn't very successful at), and to be demure (which she completely fails at) -- she seems to be doomed to be rough around the edges.


History: Shadi's young years were much like those of her peers: taught to clean, move and act in a quiet manner, and take care of things inside the domiciles while learning to be content and grateful for her role as a breeder in society. Much of this was learned in large clusters of fellow females and taught by the older women in Shadi's tribe. However, her life diverged from the others outside of these learning groups.

Shadi, being the only female child in her family, found herself with a mother that had no inclination or desire to bring up a child. Whether it was simply because she did not wish to shackle Shadiyah into the lifestyle or because her sons were raised by their father, it is unclear. For the most part, her mother attempted to ignore her. To keep her quiet during morning chores, her mother used to preoccupy the child by handing her some object in the room. Shadiyah would study it for a few minutes, until she started asking how the item was made, what its purpose was, how did it work... eventually, when her mother didn't answer, she'd just try to figure it out on her own (and in this manner she often got herself into trouble, as when she tried to figure out why there were teenie bubbles in bread loaves).

No youngster in their right mind enjoys spending hours alone, so Shadi took to sneaking out and following her brothers and father on their hunts. Being inexperienced in the outside world, her "ninja" skills were far from decent and led to her ultimate discovery about 5 minutes after she snuck out. Even after taking her back home, she followed them once more - her mother attempted to watch her, but grew disinterested a few moments after her husband left, leaving Shadi to escape once more.

Ultimately, if they wanted to eat, they had to bring her along. They dressed her in the leather armors of the desert wanderers and kept her hidden as much as possible. Her father, seeing his late mate in his daughter, loved her dearly and hated her coming with them into dangerous territory. As she grew older, he ordered her to stay at home. With experience in the desert now under her belt, Shadi ignored his orders and followed them anyway, learning to parallel their movements so they wouldn't see her. In a similar fashion, she was able to find her way home before they arrived, so as to look like she never left.

In a similar manner, she learned the family trade of glass blowing. Her father allowed her to learn, thinking that it would keep her busy. It wasn't a particularly dangerous art, and the youngster crafted decently enough that her items could be traded under the family name. His foot came down, however, when she expressed a desire to learn the metal forging as her brothers did. That was heavy man's work, and he'd not have his fragile daughter partaking in it. She'd have to settle for glassware.

Shadi's father treasured his daughter, for all she drove him mad with refusing to sit at home adn be the jewel society demanded of her. His attitude with her was gruff at best in an attempt to push her towards the more feminine trades. It didn't work. She'd just smile at him and slide in alongside her brothers. Shadi loved the feeling of being close to her family, physically and emotionally. Being able to join in the glasswork was being a part of the family. Being groomed to produce offspring at the whim of someone else... not so much. While she knew that her activities drove her father to tear out his hair, the sense of adventure continued to push her to follow along.

Now comes the time when her age of mating is near, and she will be forced to chose a male as her mate. Having experienced the freedom of the desert winds, Shadiyah has no desire - and no intention - of settling for being a breeder.

Likes: Being warm, shiny metals, learning _anything_, exploration, music
Hobbies: Glasswork, exploring, talking to people, sketching out ideas for glass projects, people watching, poking the animals (how else is she going to figure them out?)
Talent: Glass crafting

-- ...Transmission SY4227.06.17: Seeding commencing ... --

---The Child of Three Suns---

World Type: B/C
Theme: Science Fiction
Note: Unless otherwise mentioned, all measurements are in comparison to Earth


General Description
The Raal solar system is a triple star system. Triple stars cause strange gravitational fluxes that affect orbits and planetary motion. Because they are clustered together, their gravitational fluxes act as a single, large star, with fluxuations in their interior. In this case, a pair of bainary stars orbit each other, then as a pair obit a larger primary star.

Raal Solar Prime:
A single, white-yellow dwarf star (noteworthy Earth's Sun is considered a yellow dwarf, or main sequence star), a Class F on the Morgan-Keenan spectral classification scale (With Earth's Sun being a Class G), with a significant heat output (6,000 – 7,500 K compared to 5,000 – 6,000 K for a class G). It is considered the primary star.

Raal Binary Pair:
A pair of orange dwarf stars (Class K) that together nearly equal the mass of Raal's Solar Prime. Their burn energy is lower (3,500 – 5,000 K), and they produce less heat than the primary star. While their composition suggests they are older than the primary star, it is more likely that the primary star's larger mass attracted more hydrogen. Formation is considered to be approximately the same time, with the binary pair reaching completion a few millenia before the primary. These orbit each other, and the pair orbits with Raal Solar Prime.

Raal Prime (Planet):

Mass: 75% of Earth
Size:: 50% of Earth, significantly more dense
Rotation: 8 hours. It has no tilt and thus no seasons.
Revolution: 26 Earth months. "Triset" will occurs when the planet is farthest from the Primary star, causing the suns to set. Gravitational pull when it is directly between the binary and primary stars causes a slow down in the orbit. Viewed in 2 dimension, the orbit appears egg-shaped, pointing towards the primary star.
Composition: Hard mineral and metal deposits
Atmosphere: Similar to Gaian composition
Pressure: 1.4 atmospheres.
Gravity: 1.5G.

It is unknown why Raal Prime is the only body to orbit between the stars. All other objects in the solar system orbit all three stars as Earth orbits the Sun.

Notations: Raal Prime is significantly vulnerable to solar flares while its orbit carries it between the two stars. Several discolored areas have been noted on the surface - mostly around the equator - where it is likely that flares have penetrated the atmosphere. It lacks oceans and visible freestanding water, but appears to have regular storms. Further information to follow probe landing.

-Satelites-
Raal Prime Satellite 1:
Raal Prime Satellite 2:
Raal Prime Satellite 3:
Raal Prime Satellite 4:
Raal Prime Satellite 5:


Raal Asteroid Belt:
A field of debris and broken planetoid material which orbits on a larger plane which encircles both stars. Similar to already known belts, this is the cusp of solid planetary formation.

Raal II:
Gas giant with double debris rings

Composition: Hydrogen, helium, trace elements that give it a swirled red appearance
Mass: 95 X Earth
Satellites: 23. Double rings, one on each 'equator'
Rotation: 18 hours. Axis is horizontal, wobbles vertically creating two crossing equatorial lines around which the rings have formed
Revolution: 16.8 Earth years
Ring composition: Oddly segregated into a 'dark' ring and a 'light' ring. Primary study indicates one is formed from ice fragments, the other from dust particles. Segregation cause unknown.


Raal III:
Gas giant with 1 moon roughly the size of Raal Prime

Composition: Hydrogen and methane, appears green-blue
Mass: 63 X Earth's
Satellites: 12 smaller moons, one large.
Rotation: 31 Earth hours
Revolution: 28.3 Earth years




Note to cover my tushie: I'm not a physics graduate, I'm not really even much of an astronomy bluff. Most of this I'm making up with just a tiny bit based in fact. I hope to make it as believable as I can due to preferrign a Science Fiction slant in lieu of a fantasy one. If there's a significant flaw that is driving you nuts, please take it up with me.

misc :O

Interesting link - Planet in Tri-Star system found
Interesting link2: How a triple star system works

I really enjoyed reading your quest because there's not really anything missing. As far as I can tell, you have a well-constructed carefully thought out character who I can't really do anything about.

Just one observation - your character is about half the age you've given for sexual maturity among females of her race, and that strikes me as odd since you've basically presented her as an adult. Unless the body matures faster that the parts in it, which I don't believe you've mentioned anywhere. So, either make her older or emphasize that she is about the equivalent of however many years old she would be. Not how old she is in earth years, but what the equivalent age in humans would be. Or, you could make her older.

Or you could just explain the difference between physical and mental maturity.

(You've said she's 12, but later you list females as sexually mature at 27, but then you say she ran away from home to escape breeding. It doesn't compute. Make it work.)

Wow, you've a very well-thought out concept here, and I'm so glad that you didn't make her love th cold, as I've seen done with other character bios with "sun-worlds". x3
I agree with Silverah, it was a fun read! =DD

Yay! Now, let's see what I can do, here!

I really, really love how this concept has been coming along. Oh my God, seriously. The work you've been putting into it shows so much, and the character is as solid one as I've ever seen. xD It's more than possible that all I'm going to be able to give you is nit-picks at this point, but I'll throw all I can at you.

The first thing I want to bring up is her face shape and the like. Consider that, however thin, she does have a layer of insulation underneath her skin. Is that being taken into account in the way she's built face-wise? I saw that you mentioned it specifically in the body build, it's just looking at the sketch of her in the hair illustration that makes me wonder. It's entirely possible that without that layer she would be even more lean in her appearence, but I also wanted to point out that having a few softer angles wouldn't be out of line for her, all things considered. At the same time, though, maintaining that layer would require the right nutrients- so it wouldn't be surprising at all if it were diminished. (Though if that were the case, that could lead to some interesting weight gains once she got in a position where she could eat regular, healthy meals! XD)

You've got a good deal of typos and grammar slips here and there that you might fix up, too. Nothing big, it's more a presentation thing than anything. Just as a quick list:

"Comparing to a human, early to mid 20s" ought to be "Compared to a human".

"Vision is only slighlty impaired" ought to be "slightly impaired".

"that aid in the releasing of heat form the body" ought to be "releasing of heat from the body".

"She doesn't lilke being scantily clad" ought to be "doesn't like being".

On that note, you say " She doesn't lilke being scantily clad, as in the desert that would leave her vulnerable", but you never say to what. To sunlight? To attackers? To sandstorms? All of the above? I think that this could go just a little bit further to give us a clearer idea of what you mean.

"Her P's and Q's are all in order, well trained, and automatic responses when making a request." This makes for a bit of confusion the way you've written it. Her P's and Q's are well-trained? What's with the automatic responses? Try it like this: "She's been well-trained; her Ps and Qs are all in order, and she automatically responds when someone makes a request". That reads a little more smoothly, and isn't quite as confusing.

"(here she thought she was a rebel)". Just for emphasis and to exentuate the point, why not put an exclaimation point after this? She didn't think she was a (flat-toned) rebel. She thought she was a rebel, man! All the women back home thought she was crazy to go out into the desert! She was the glass-blower, when others scraped lichen off walls! She was really far out there, and when she was a rebel, she was a REBEL!

""girly" or effeminate men". Why do you put "girly" in quotes, but not "effeminate"? It seems like it would read easier if both were either in quotes or not in quotes. Otherwise, the emphasis is unbalanced; we see girly, but effeminate doesn't seem to be as important. Since there's no reason not to give both the same importance, rewriting it a little might be wise.

"Also, other 'tough' style women will cause her to pause". What I want to call attention to here is how you emphasized tough. Before, when you wanted to call attention to girly as a concept, you used quotation marks. Here, you used apostrophes. Try to be consistant in how you write a piece; if you're roleplaying and want to use italics for thoughts, you use it throughout so that you don't risk sending mixed signals or imply two different meanings for the same communication, and if you're writing and want to emphasize with quotation marks, you also need to use the same method throughout.

"In sexual situations, expect great confusion and possibly some serious revulsion." Could we get some elaboration? Does this revulsion only pertain to same-sex couples, or is there more to be said about it? If she found her ONE TWOO WUV out there while traveling with Cirque, what would she expect from them? Don't go into any detail on the actual sexual parts, of course, but I guess what I want to know is, is there something that would actually prevent her from going into a sexual situation, or is she uncomfortable with the concept, or what is it that you wanted to let us know by telling us she would be repulsed?

When it comes to flaws, does she have any mental ones? Try and consider things like how she learns, here. Does she learn by doing? If so, how easy is it for her to follow complicated verbal instructions? How's her memory; if someone tells her to remind them of something a week from now, would she remember? We know that she can be stubborn- is she self-righteous about it when she is, and refuses to think that someone else could be right? Figuring out little things like this can be a big help in understanding how your character's mind actually works, because how a character approaches one problem can tell so much about how they'd approach another one, so it's always worthwhile to try and spout out a few general rules for these kinds of things.



That's about all I can process at just this moment. Seriously; it's amazing what you've been doing with Shadi. Keep it up!