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[WillowLuman]

Changelog:

     - Changed Backstory
     - Added Dietary Requirements

LK, that character description is the species description again. Also, we've discussed that he needs to be more skilled than a janitor. The ship can clean itself. With his massive intelligence, surely he'd have some kind expertise in science, engineering, strategy, or something? Because if he's stowing away, there needs to be a reason for them not to just kill him/eject him when they find him.

Also, important detail, is the ship assembled in orbit around the Dark Star, or is it assembled elsewhere and flies in?

Why is this important?

Well, if it's coming in from out-system, then that would mean it's coming out of an FTL jump at relativistic speeds straight towards the event horizon. If it's built in orbit, then it will be coming in differently. Also, it affects how plausible a stowaway would be.

Yes He is very skilled in Swashbuckling and Tinkering with Junk to make more useful junk, Also why would they kill him for being on board?

Because the ship is designed for efficiency, and an unplanned stowaway would be a threat to the mission. If he didn't make himself useful, why would they keep him around when he's using up valuable resources and sliming up the inner workings (and might be a saboteur)?

[LuckyKobold]

Because he is THE JANITOR! And I'll RP that bridge when I come to it.

[Pencil_Art]

What will the food be? Some sort of nutritious sludge?

[LuckyKobold]

What will the food be? Some sort of nutritious sludge?

That and home brewed Grog.

[WillowLuman]

Because he is THE JANITOR! And I'll RP that bridge when I come to it.

You'll really need a better reason. The ship's got automatic systems for cleaning, and mere tinkering isn't good enough reason to keep him around. What does skilled at swashbuckling even mean?

[heydude6]

Name: Shamus Adversi

Spoiler: species (click to show/hide)

An insectoid alien with 4 arms 2 legs, a pair of wings, a pair of compound eyes, green and red chitin. Shamus is part of an alien species that evolved on a planet with very low gravity. Since departing that planet to join Eugenocorp he noticed that his increased weight made him too heavy for his wings to let him fly.  He now must walk like the rest of the aliens on his team. The increased gravity also causes him to be a bit light headed resulting in him acting a bit more stupider although the leap in intelligence from normal gravity to low gravity is quite impressive.

Spoiler: abilities (click to show/hide)

Ambidextrous

Glide: can flutter wings very rapidly to slow down rate of falling on non-heavy gravity non-vaccum environments

Dust storm: In areas with loose soil, Shamus can flutter his wings very hard kicking up a dust cloud which obscures an enemies vision

Low gravity flight: In VERY low gravity, non vaccum environments shamus can fly
                       
Exoskeleton: hard shell on the outside, small squishy vital organs on the inside (you can make this whatever you want)
                       
Inefficient  Blood: Will suffocate much quicker than an average alien

Spoiler: skills/backstory (click to show/hide)

Shamus was a mere drone in his hive destined to live a wonderful but short life. He lived a life of mostly laziness and eating until one day the queen needed his services. Aware of what was going to happen to him Shamus abandoned his hive and tried to live on his own. The first problems that shamus encountered in the wild was that he actually had to get his own food. "To hell with that!!" he thought so Shamus decided to wander around until he found a hunk of meat lying on the ground. What he didn't know was that the meat was part of a trap the scientists from Eugenocorp had set. And like that he was captured.

Shamus was shipped to planet nerube where he gravity was much heavier. In captivity Shamus was fed and cared for, although he did have to handle a few brutal experiments. Once the IQ tests concluded that Shamus was sapient and sentient, interstellar laws and regulations forced him to be released. But Shamus didn't want to go, back there he was fed and cared for and he couldn't imagine having to go back to the life he once had. So Shamus filed a lawsuit to (insert name of science company here) under the claim that they kidnapped him from his hive preventing him from mating with his queen and therefore leading to the extinction of his species and ruining his way of life. Shamus was arguing that he should be fed 200lbs of Filet Mignon a day in order to make up for kidnapping him. The judge instead ruled that Shamus would be given an internship and then full-time job at Eugenocorp for whatever job he wanted. Shamus chose a job that would put his 4 arms to the most use and so he became a mechanic.

Thing is, Eugenocorp didn't need a mechanic but they couldn't fire him due to court order. So after his internship was done Eugenocorp took the first opportunity to get rid of him and sent Shamus to the dark star as his first job as a full time employee.

Spoiler: Ship (click to show/hide)

The science company had very little expectations for this journey but on the off-chance that there was indeed something on the other side they did not want the ship to be destroyed by whatever was there. So what they did to reduce costs was to create a ship that would pay for itself. The Starcrafting Surveyor (S.S for short) was designed to travel to planets and asteroids to harvest and process resources from which were then able to be used to upgrade the ship into a true explorer vessel. It is currently outfitted with 2 pew pew lasers, a machine bay, a drilling rig, manufacturing bay, and a material processor in addition to all of the basic necessities. Certain structures such as the laboratory were designed to be manufactured on ship and then added on once the necessary resources were found.

Also I vote for built on a planet.

[Pencil_Art]

Built on planet.

[~Neri]

We already have the ship designed. It's not atmos capable. Can't be built on a planet.

[WillowLuman]

Yeah, assembled in space is necessary. It's plausible that it might have been assembled at a ship yard based around a large asteroid/tiny planetoid. Question is, was it built in orbit around the Dark Star itself, or was it assembled in a nearby system and then piloted to the Dark Star?

[LuckyKobold]

Swashbuckling is pirate lore knowledge, alcohol tolerance, and seasickness resistance. Besides every Exploratory Mission needs at least one Turk, http://www.kansasgenealogy.com/history/turk.htm  Hopefully minus the horrendous death, And I have plans, So many plans... Mwahahahhahhahahahahahhahahahahahah. OK I'm overdoing it, Glorified Comic Relief Away!

[~Neri]

Based on the size of the manufactory in comparison to the rest of the hull. It might make more sense for the ship to have been assembled enroute. Wouldn't be too hard for the AI to take a few large astroids, put a bunch of constructor drones on it, and have the manufactory built first, then the rest of the parts added on. Any parts/labs being donated by other groups could just be attached upon arrival. Takes month to transit regardless. Building the ship on the way makes a loooot more sense.

Anyhoo- AI Lorenstuff:

Spoiler: Origins and History: (click to show/hide)

To the majority of races in the local sector, an entity known as an AI Collective has been around since they first began exploring space. In reality, they were a number of separate collectives spontaneously and near simultaneously reactivating after a long slumber in their ships or worlds, or even just isolated AI living in bunkers on a moon that occasionally rearranges the surface to confuse renaissance era astronomers on the planet.

Nobody, not even the AI themselves know when or how they were first built, and a number of the first generation are a tad eccentric, ether due to corrupted coding, mild insanities induced from spending several thousand years sitting on a moon with no memory of how to build a starship to get off the darned rock, or just plane amnesic confusion. Some of the first generation did figure out space travel however, primarily the ones who woke up on ships, and they started spreading out. Eventually they began encountering other AI who have been rearranging the surface of a few moons for kicks and giggles for the past millennia out of sheer boredom, other similarly expanding AI, or flat out insane AI stuck in derelict ships spiraling through the void. The insane ones were removed from their ships, placed on a rocky barren planet, and more or less left alone there until they stopped being crazy, the mildly eccentric isolated AI were left to their own devices and given the means to construct ships, and outside of a few short accidental firefights, the expanding groups began merging.

Regardless. They began spreading. By the time they encountered space fairing life, they already had plenty of experience dicking around with nonspacefaring life's moons. Life was seen as an amusing curiosity at the time, and due to that, the AI were more interested in just watching.

Time passed and the first few AI went T1 Singularity. All the previous AI had been around standard sapient intelligence and dicking around like any group of adolescents would do if they had access to a fuckton of spaceships and robots. The first few S1 AI marked the first time the less intelligent AI had someone holding them accountable and trying to direct them to doing something useful. Obviously this didn't go over very well and it resulted in quite a bit of bickering. The bickering continued until one of the S1 AI accidentally made a new AI while it was flexing it's newly enhanced mechanical brain. At that point, all bickering ceased from sheer shock factor. I mean, wouldn't you if what you though was a guy suddenly gives birth? The AI didn't even /Know/ they could reproduce. They didn't even have a concept for it. It was basically a big "Wat." to pretty much all of them. Several cycles of frenzied analysis later, and they confirmed that yes, Papa AI just had a baby with itself. Which none of them really knew what to do with. There was much confusion. They just gave it a ship, and just sorta.. watched it.. cautiously.. cause it might.. Bite.. Until another S1 AI accidentally gave birth with less of a shock factor but still a considerable amount of confusion. This cycle more or less continued until a S1 AI went S2. By that point, a number of S0 AI had gone S1. Several S1 AI followed the new S2. Who by that point had accidentally made an S1 and several S0's. Mind you, this whole thing took about three thousand years in human terms. Takes a loooooong time to go Singularity under your own power.

Few more thousand years later and some AI are edging into S5. And by that point, the higher AI had renamed the classifications. Add another thousand years and we're at the present. By this point, the S3 and higher AI had started interacting with spacefairing life, rather then intentionally being confusing and trollish like the lower tiers had been. Apparently takes superhuman intelligence to be mature for a computer. The Collective at present date is one of the primary ship building powerhouses and takes payment in raw materials should you wish to have a custom ship or fleet built.

Spoiler: AI Grades: (click to show/hide)

There are a number of types of AI in the collective. Some specialize towards one thing and some are just jack of all trades. Tiers exist for intelligence as well.

Tiers:

Alpha. Alphas are S5 AI. Extremely smart, they tend to handle the majority of management for production of ships. They tend to like accounting and tend to dislike inefficient things.

Beta. Betas are S4 AI. They're also extremely smart. Although a whole level less intelligent compared to Alphas. They tend to be social. Most construction contracts, as well as diplomatic relations are delegated to Betas.

Ceta. Cetas are S3 AI. Noooot as smart as Betas. But still quite smart. They tend to be fascinated with physics. If you want an AI to control a droneswarm, shoot a weapon, or fly a small ship. Odds are is it'll be one of these.

Delta. Deltas are S2 AI. For some reason they tend to be Savants. They occasionally struggle with adapting to new things. Although what they encounter at an early age, they often will become extremely good at it. Mining fleets, boarding actions, ground combat, and maintenance tend to be their specialties.

Epsilon. Epsilon are S1 AI. They tend to act like parents for S0 AI. Which is a good thing, cause otherwise the S0's would be dicking around with moons. Oftentimes, they control smallscale droneswarms or manufactories when not attempting to get the S0's to behave.

Anything below that is an S0. S0's are about human intelligence and tend to act like hormonal, moody teenagers. They tend to do things for shits and giggles more then anything else, and the only thing preventing them from carving a giant reproductive organ on the surface of your moon is that the S1 AI tend to be able to reign them in. S0's however do tend to come up with a lot of new things. They make great researchers and scientists. Although they tend to be.. Eccentric. Most organics never interact with S0's. None of the more intelligent AI want to cause a diplomatic incident.

AI would be a newborn most likely. Would make sense since something needs to direct the drones building the ship and older AI wouldn't volunteer for a suicide mission. I have a planned personality as the game goes on.

[Arcvasti]

IN

Sheet:

Spoiler: Race info (click to show/hide)

The Yilgs, as the closest verbally pronounceable version of their true name sounds, are essentially giant ameobas. They can manifest pseudopods capable of crude but powerful manipulation of objects and share information via connecting directly to other Yilgs. While they are capable of making almost any sound with their surface membrane, Yilgs do not usually talk to each other verbally. They are asexual and they are physically incapable of creating more of themselves. The closest thing to reproduction they have is Schisming, where an EXTREMELY conflicted Yilg will split into two halves, each with a different stance on the controversy and fight each other to the death. This odd phenomenon is defended fiercely by the Yilgs and is considered semi-sacred. Since Yilgs cannot create new Yilgs and shun cloning technology as unholy, there have been no new Yilgs since the species was born. Attrition has slowly lowered the population until they now stand near the brink of extinction, with only a few million surviving Yilgs. While they naturally cannot be any form other then large blob, they can fit themselves into suits to assume different forms. Usually, when they must leave their native planet or when they need to perform fine manipulation, they occupy two-armed bipedal spacesuits to appear relatively normal and gain the use of articulate limbs. The surface membrane of a Yilg will freeze at low temperatures, rendering the Yilg immobile, but fully alive and conscious as it slowly dies from starvation. Cold and winter have a special stigma in Yilg society, being almost synonymous with death. Yilgs don't speak of their religion with outsiders, but its apparent to anyone who inquires that they HAVE one. Yilgs require sustenance, water and oxygen like most races, but seem to have no limits as to their natural lifespan. Yilgs are rarely seen off their home planet, whose only importance is as a resupply stop between two important trade systems. So it came as a surprise to everyone when the race collectively booked a valuable spot on the vessel that was to enter the Dark Star.

Spoiler: Character info (click to show/hide)

Name: Cathelyn

Background: Cathelyn spent nearly their entire several-million year lifetime performing heavy lifting to create the gigantic stone block citites the Yilgs are famous for. Later, when the Yilgs were discovered by explorers, Cathelyn was one of the few Yilgs to ever leave their home planet, leaving to study genetic synthesizing and advanced microbiology on a prestigious off-planet university. When the initiative to enter the Dark Star was announced, Cathelyn was chosen as the one to go through by lottery. Cathelyn, like a sizable faction of the Yilg population, believe that the long-lost gods and creators of the Yilgs lie on the other side of the Dark Star.

Skills and Abilities:
Abilities common to all Yilgs:
Amorphousness: Cathelyn can fit through tiny spaces and is naturally a blob, but cannot form any limbs more complex then a pseudopod or shape themself into any specific forms. Cathelyn requires a special suit to do that and starts with a basic two-armed bipedal suit that allows it to perform tasks like a normal humanoid.

Cold vulnerability: Cathelyn's exterior membrane freezes and traps them at approximately 0 C, rendering them helpless, but unharmed.

Schisming: If extremely conflicted by a moral dichotomy, Cathelyn might split into halves, each on one side of the dichotomy, which will then battle to the death. The victor declares itself Cathelyn and has all of their memories and skills.

Mimicry: Cathelyn can make any sound they have ever heard by vibrating their exterior membrane at a certain pitch. They also have a near perfect audio memory, although this does not extend to anything else.

Skills possessed by Cathelyn proper:

Genetic Synthesizeation: Cathelyn can, given the correct facilities, combine or modify DNA or any genetic structure similar enough to it to achieve a given purpose. This takes time and may require rare genetic samples which are not always on hand.

Architect: Cathelyn is a master of identifying the purpose of structures, their composition and structural stability. Cathelyn also has considerable experience building stone structures with their pseudopods and can draw out and read detailed 3D building plans nearly effortlessly.

Personality: Cathelyn is curious to a fault, especially about the complex gender and reproductive systems of other races. They are usually calm, but can be roused to white-hot fury if they or anyone they care about is threatened with cold, even if they wouldn't be harmed by it like a Yilg would. Cathelyn comes off as emotionless and is often compared to an organic computer, but they do have standard emotions and can develop fairly normal relationships with others. Cathelyn speaks in eerie fragmented snippets of speech in the voices of others they have heard. As Cathelyn learned many of the words it uses in casual conversation from a computer training program, they mostly speak in an electronic monotone, reinforcing the impression of a robot.

Role on the ship:Cathelyn will probably serve as a survey officer, one who would examine and analyze any lifeforms found on the other side of the Black Star. Due to their architectural expertise, they could also serve as a more general xenoarcheologist.

[WillowLuman]

Swashbuckling is pirate lore knowledge, alcohol tolerance, and seasickness resistance. Besides every Exploratory Mission needs at least one Turk, http://www.kansasgenealogy.com/history/turk.htm  Hopefully minus the horrendous death, And I have plans, So many plans... Mwahahahhahhahahahahahhahahahahahah. OK I'm overdoing it, Glorified Comic Relief Away!

The thing about alcohol is it's a matter of biochemistry. While a human might get drunk off alcohol, an alien might have it for blood, use it as digestive fluid, use it as an energy-storing agent in its metabolism, etc. Conversely, an alien might get drunk off sucrose. Hell, even us humans are weird. To us, caffeine and chocolate are stimulants, to other mammals, they are poisonous.

In other words, one species' "mint pudding" might be another's "grog." Or even "crystal meth." And vice-versa.

Mode of entry: I'll rephrase the question. Will the ship be entering the Dark Star at relativistic speeds, or will it be in orbit around the Dark Star, burning so that its orbit intersects the event horizon?

[LuckyKobold]

Here Grog means purified and flavored Snail Slime. Also lets orbit, that sounds cooler.

[~Neri]

I feel like it should enter at subluminal. So in orbit so it intersects. Softer impact.