Logo of the Unionists, which is a reference to the standard Allied Worlds symbol. It's six circles inside a hexagon instead of four circles inside a diamond.
The AW symbol done in the same style.
The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
A better version of the unionists symbol
Logo of the Unionists, which is a reference to the standard Allied Worlds symbol. It's six circles inside a hexagon instead of four circles inside a diamond.
The AW symbol done in the same style.
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
Here's a different version of the logo for the knights of the sun. It's more obvious that the arch in the center is Yih's ring.
No context for this one
I was just playing around with the shape builder tool in InkScape.
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HolyHandGrenade!
- greek
- Posts: 656
- Joined: 29 Aug 2024 17:27
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
That would make a good in-universe meme. Speaking of, what would the yinrih equivalent of the smile face symbol look like?
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
An excellent question. Yinrih rely much more heavily on pheromones to communicate emotion (you say "He smells happy", not "He looks happy"). So visually representing emotional states iconically as we do with smilies may never come up. They can secondarily use the position of their ears, but I'm dithering on whether this is a learned behavior to accommodate visually-oriented humans, as Doug seems to indicate in this post, or a more universal signalling system that supplements their pheromones.HolyHandGrenade! wrote: ↑02 Feb 2025 19:33 That would make a good in-universe meme. Speaking of, what would the yinrih equivalent of the smile face symbol look like?
I suppose a standard caricature of a yinrih face or head would show up eventually, like
![[:)]](./images/smilies/icon_smile2.png ":)"){kind=icon}
, but I'm not sure how it would look beyond something like the fox emoji 
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HolyHandGrenade!
- greek
- Posts: 656
- Joined: 29 Aug 2024 17:27
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
Maybe a yinrih face with some sparkles in front of it representing the pheromones?
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
Perhaps. Depends if we're talking about stuff that the yinrih themselves would use or stuff humans would use in reference to yinrih. If it's the latter that would make perfect sense. However, I'm not sure how the yinrih themselves would succinctly indicate "I'm angry" or "I'm happy". Their ink carries the same pheromones, so it's already possible to discern a writer's emotional state at the time of writing.HolyHandGrenade! wrote: ↑02 Feb 2025 22:17 Maybe a yinrih face with some sparkles in front of it representing the pheromones?
But that only begs the question of whether and how they'd replicate this feature of their natural writing in electronic form. Remote olfaction is possible, but not trivial. It involves an olfactory relay sending signals to a helmet worn by (usually) a healer. The helmet pumps the healer's nasal passages with neurogel to achieve a smell-only version of the simulacrum generated by an amnion.
= happy yinrih
= angry yinrih
= 8 thumbs upMore on moots
Moots fill the same social niche as the nuclear family. Childermoots are a special kind of moot, but moots can be formed without the intent to raise a litter. Biological factors limit childermoots to twelve members divided evenly between the sexes, but moots generally can have more members (though at least two people are required to form a moot), and moots don't need to have a particular gender ratio.
Childermoots cannot be embedded in a larger moot, as divisions and conflicts of interest can arise between parent and non parent members. However, the same looser associations that give rise to metamoots exist between childermoots and regular moots as they do between socially powerful and less powerful moots. Academic childermoots exist in this configuration.
Moots are considered legal persons similar to corporations on Earth. Assets such as land, bank accounts, property, etc. can be owned collectively by a moot, and moot members are usually contractually obligated to contribute some of their earnings to the moot as a whole.
Most yinrih societies do not recognize blood relationships beyond those between parent and child and among litter mates, though those relationships are quite strong. Involvement by "grandparents" in their "grand-pups'" lives is less prevalent, and usually indirect, with sires and dams interacting with their adult children who are now themselves parents.
More common is the involvement of unaffiliated siblings in the lives of the pups of their adult litter mates, as can be seen with Sherman's Aunt Breezy. And yes, the "sugar them up and send them home" strategy is just as common here as on Earth.
Child rearing can take different forms depending on the time and place. One method is to have all parents equally involved in taking care of the entire litter. This strategy can involve the entire family living communally as is usual on Earth, or individual parents can live singly, with each parent taking turns caring for a few pups at a time in rotation.
The other major strategy is for pups to be divided up among the childermoot early on, usually by the time the kits are weaned or by the time they start school, with one parent concentrating on the same smaller group of pups throughout their puppyhood. The other parents and their own young charges are treated like very involved aunts/uncles and cousins, respectively, by individual pups.
This second approach is employed by fostering orders raising human kids to more closely emulate the human family. Using Sherman and Doug from the Multiverse Inn as an example, Doug was responsible for closely monitoring Sherman's health and educational development, undertaking discipline for misbehavior, etc. Since the monks and their human fosters lived communally, the other monks were still heavily involved in Sherman's upbringing.
Speaking of religious communities, individual monasteries are legally considered moots.
Childermoots cannot be embedded in a larger moot, as divisions and conflicts of interest can arise between parent and non parent members. However, the same looser associations that give rise to metamoots exist between childermoots and regular moots as they do between socially powerful and less powerful moots. Academic childermoots exist in this configuration.
Moots are considered legal persons similar to corporations on Earth. Assets such as land, bank accounts, property, etc. can be owned collectively by a moot, and moot members are usually contractually obligated to contribute some of their earnings to the moot as a whole.
Most yinrih societies do not recognize blood relationships beyond those between parent and child and among litter mates, though those relationships are quite strong. Involvement by "grandparents" in their "grand-pups'" lives is less prevalent, and usually indirect, with sires and dams interacting with their adult children who are now themselves parents.
More common is the involvement of unaffiliated siblings in the lives of the pups of their adult litter mates, as can be seen with Sherman's Aunt Breezy. And yes, the "sugar them up and send them home" strategy is just as common here as on Earth.
Child rearing can take different forms depending on the time and place. One method is to have all parents equally involved in taking care of the entire litter. This strategy can involve the entire family living communally as is usual on Earth, or individual parents can live singly, with each parent taking turns caring for a few pups at a time in rotation.
The other major strategy is for pups to be divided up among the childermoot early on, usually by the time the kits are weaned or by the time they start school, with one parent concentrating on the same smaller group of pups throughout their puppyhood. The other parents and their own young charges are treated like very involved aunts/uncles and cousins, respectively, by individual pups.
This second approach is employed by fostering orders raising human kids to more closely emulate the human family. Using Sherman and Doug from the Multiverse Inn as an example, Doug was responsible for closely monitoring Sherman's health and educational development, undertaking discipline for misbehavior, etc. Since the monks and their human fosters lived communally, the other monks were still heavily involved in Sherman's upbringing.
Speaking of religious communities, individual monasteries are legally considered moots.
Train of Wonders
While the Allied Worlds is the chief source of entertainment media, a few offerings from outside the AW have managed to achieve system-wide success.
The Train of Wonders is a children's educational TV show from Hearthside starring a litter of pups and their childermoot who live in a magical train capable of traveling through space and time.
Humans compare the show to The Magic School Bus, as many of the episodes use the train's magic to teach basic science concepts in an intuitive and entertaining way, but the show is much broader in scope. Many episodes have the characters go back in time to learn about history or travel to different parts of Focus to learn about different cultures. The show is primarily geared toward Wayfarers. The lives of Claravian saints and martyrs are often depicted in the historically-oriented stories, and instilling good morals is a core focus of the show. In that respect it garners comparisons to Veggie Tales.
When the show becomes popular outside Hearthsiede, the creators start including episodes showcasing Hearthsider culture, and one of the requirements for the show to be aired in foreign markets is that the characters must retain their Hearthsider names even in dubs, and the original Hearthsider dialogue must be made available on an alternate audio channel.
After First Contact the show becomes a hit with humans both young and old, and the creators produce many episodes where the cast goes on adventures on Earth. A human character is even added to the show in order to educate human fans about their new galactic neighbors.
The Train of Wonders is a children's educational TV show from Hearthside starring a litter of pups and their childermoot who live in a magical train capable of traveling through space and time.
Humans compare the show to The Magic School Bus, as many of the episodes use the train's magic to teach basic science concepts in an intuitive and entertaining way, but the show is much broader in scope. Many episodes have the characters go back in time to learn about history or travel to different parts of Focus to learn about different cultures. The show is primarily geared toward Wayfarers. The lives of Claravian saints and martyrs are often depicted in the historically-oriented stories, and instilling good morals is a core focus of the show. In that respect it garners comparisons to Veggie Tales.
When the show becomes popular outside Hearthsiede, the creators start including episodes showcasing Hearthsider culture, and one of the requirements for the show to be aired in foreign markets is that the characters must retain their Hearthsider names even in dubs, and the original Hearthsider dialogue must be made available on an alternate audio channel.
After First Contact the show becomes a hit with humans both young and old, and the creators produce many episodes where the cast goes on adventures on Earth. A human character is even added to the show in order to educate human fans about their new galactic neighbors.
The Dewfall in 3D
Here's a 3D "render" of the Dewfall (really it's a screenshot of the Plasticity viewport because I'm too lazy to export it to Blender for actual rendering).
While the colors are mostly there to differentiate the different parts, the forward impact shield is made of high-grade polymerite and is thus really that neon blue translucent color.
As mentioned in the other post, the force projectors are jettisoned before landing, along with the ring and supporting structures.
I changed the design so the hatch is now at the back. That makes way more sense. Womb ships travel at relativistic speed, meaning anything hitting the ship is traveling at relativistic speed. The hatch is the weakest part of the hull, so it should go in the back where it's much less likely to be hit.
The craft is somewhere between a camper van and a shipping container in size.
First Contact, Part 2
We stand in silent awe for a moment. Sunshine is quietly weeping as the beeping continues. It seems to strain against the noise, a lonely soul crying out for someone, anyone, to respond. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. dah di dah dit, dah dah dih dah. dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. Dah di dit, dit.
Stormlight flicks his tail, tuning the radio to a random frequency. For a moment the static resolves into an alien voice before fading back into the noise.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats–”
«Is that language? It’s… beautiful,» Sunshine says between deep shuddering breaths. «I don’t know what those words mean, but I’m sure it’s profound.»
I walk up to Ringlight and thump him across his piebald back with my tail. «How are you holding up?»
He coughs. «What, Lodestar? If you’re going to ask me what I believe in now that we’ve found other sophonts–»
«Actually I wanted to see how you’re fairing after your near dissociation earlier. Stormlight popped back in sim and gave us the news before I could ask.»
«I’m alright.» He smells like he wants to say something else but swallows his words.
«You think you’ve been a burden,» I say. «And you’re not wrong. Iris had to drag you back from the brink of total dissociation four times.»
«Five times,» he corrects.
«Five times,» I continue. «But You’re our friend, and bearing each other’s burdens is what friends are for.»
Iris taps her claws on the ground to get our attention. «Alright, everyone. Before we can land we need to introduce ourselves to our new friends, and before we can do that, we need to figure out how to communicate with them.» She turns to Stormlight. «What have you gleamed from their radio comms?»
«Most of the signals are coming from the planet’s surface. Looking back through the receiver logs there were a pawful of faint sources scattered around the solar system, a few on their moon and the fourth planet, and some very faint transmissions from just outside the system. Everything beyond their planet’s low orbit seems to be an uncrewed drone. Most of the signals are digital, but there’s still plenty of analog traffic.»
Iris tugs at her ear. «And we know from the lack of biosignatures on any of the other planets that nothing has been terraformed.»
She turns to Steadfast Friend. «How about you, soldier?»
«Uh-uh, if you’re going to talk to me like I’m still in the military you gotta use my call sign.»
«But it’s disgusting.»
He narrows his eyes and pins his ears back. «I’m waiting, my dame.»
«P-puke Paws,» she nearly gags, «What do the visuals say?»
He chuckles and looks back at Ringlight. «I ever tell you how I got that name?»
«Yes yes yes.» Iris flicks her tail to shush him. «Please, just tell us what you’re getting from the vid feeds.»
Puke Paws pulls up a vid screen floating in mid-air. With each flick of his tail the screen flips between the video sensors dotted around the Dewfall’s exterior. «We’re just past their moon.» An airless crater-pocked sphere appears onscreen.
«That’s no moon,» Sunshine objects. «It’s way to big to be a moon of a planet this size.»
«Well lucky them, I guess,» he flicks his ears back. «Lots of real estate once they get around to terraforming it.»
«I can’t even imagine the tides,» says Sunshine.
Steadfast Friend flicks his tail again, and the image changes. «This is their largest artificial satellite.»
«It’s all solar panels,» says Sunshine. «Solar panels bolted to a bunch of tubes.»
«But they’re pressurized tubes,» says Steadfast Friend, «at least according to the sensors. That means they’ve got spacers. All in all I’d say they’re about where we were… 95 thousand years ago.»
Iris turns back to Stormlight. «How do you think we should make ourselves known?»
the farspeaker begins pacing excitedly. «Lucky for you I know the history of our order.» He makes another tail gesture to bring up the radio again, tuned to a rhythmic beeping signal similar to the first one we heard. «Before we broke through Yih’s atmosphere, when the research monks were first dipping their paws into unpowered flight, they quickly discovered that they needed a deeper understanding of the wind and weather.»
«What does this have to do with communicating with alien sophonts?» Sunshine asks, somewhat annoyed that Stormlight isn’t getting to the point. Iris gives her a stern look and motions for Stormlight to continue.
Stormlight resumes his history lesson, positively stinking with joy that his obscure interests are proving useful. «In order to understand what the weather will be in the future, you need to get the big picture. It’s not enough to know what the weather is around you, you need to know what’s going on upwind, downwind, all over. But learning that a squall is headed your way is only useful before the storm hits.
«The obvious solution in an era before satellites, that is, is to have every research monastery make a note of the weather conditions in their area at the same time and send the reports to a central location to be marked on a map. Well, at that time we couldn’t send a message faster than it could be carried, so the monks set to work on solving the problem of transmitting information beyond line of sight in real time.
«There were some marginal successes with signal towers, where people would stand on top of tall structures and relay tail signals to one another, but that still required line of sight, and even though it was faster than carrying a letter, it still took hours to send a message a meaningful distance.
«Plenty of attempts had been made to use an electric current to carry a message, and some of them even worked, but every one of them proved too complex to build and maintain. Multiple wires, fault-prone receiving equipment, stuff like that. That’s where Saint Redclaw came in, the founder of the farspeakers. What most people don’t know about him was he wasn’t even a monk. He was a groundskeeper working at a monastery who took an interest in some of their research.
«He tinkered with batteries and switches and wires in his free time. Sometimes he’d present his handywork to the monks, who would dismiss them as crude toys made by the idle paws of a simpleton. But the hearthkeeper knew better. She understood that the simplest solution is usually the best one, and encouraged Redclaw to continue. Eventually, he hit upon a setup that not only worked, but was practical and cheap to implement. A battery to induce a potential in a wire, a switch to make or break the circuit, and a sounder that clicked when a current was present, simple and easy.»
Sunshine interjects again. «If it was so easy to just use one wire and a switch than why didn’t the monks try that first?»
«I’m glad you asked. All you can do with one wire is turn a signal on and off. Either a current is present or it isn’t. The monks couldn’t figure out how to turn that into information.» He taps the ground with a paw and a small lamp appears attached to a switch. He places his forepaw on the switch, turning the light on. «It’s all in the rhythm,» he says as he starts tapping the switch in time with the radio signal. dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. «Redclaw figured out that you could encode meaning in the cadence of the ons and offs of the switch.
«To the monks’ credit, they took him more seriously after he presented his method of encoding meaning. They wasted no time erecting telegraph lines.» He reverently touches his belly to the ground. «The body of the noosphere was born.»
«And you think that’s what that signal is?» I ask.
He tilts his muzzle up. «Yup. And listen to this.» He increases the volume of the radio. «Like I said, the signal is either on or off. I can pick up on two length distinctions: short,» he gives the switch a quick tap, and the light flashes briefly, «and long.» He presses the switch again, lingering for about half a heartbeat before releasing it again. «Just assign meanings to different patterns of shorts and longs, and you’ve got yourself a signaling system.» He continues tapping his paw in time with the radio.
«But there’s more,» he continues. «While you were in sim I spent hours listening to these signals. Notice how perfectly timed these segments are, with no variation or hesitation? They’re probably artificially generated. But,» he flicks his tail a few times before landing on another signal. «Hear the difference?» At first it sounds the same as the last one, but I start to notice subtle imperfections in timing. «Much more sloppy, clearly produced by a person and not a machine.»
Iris’s ears perk up. «So you think you can contact one of the sophonts operating this… thing… manually?»
«Yes, my dame,» he says, his scent growing more serious. «By now you’ve probably noticed that each of these exchanges begins with a set preamble.» He tunes to another signal, which repeats the now familiar cadence. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. Dah di dit, dit–
«So I figure I can spit that back at them.»
Iris smells incredulous. «I’m not sure that’s going to work.»
«We’re already in orbit,» says Stormlight. «I guarantee they’ll find us sooner rather than later and come to their own conclusions about who we are. We need to show our belly first,» He rears up and pats himself on the abdomen as though greeting a stranger.
«Fine,» Iris sighs. «I don’t have a better idea. I’ll send the good news back to Focus as soon as you’ve made a successful exchange.»
Without hesitation, Stormlight flicks his tail. The lamp vanishes but the switch remains, now connected by a cable to the shimmering white sphere representing the ship’s radio.
«Alright,» he takes a few deep breaths. His initial enthusiasm falters and I can smell him trying to work up the courage to begin. «paw goes down, carrier turns on, paw goes up, carrier turns off.» He starts tapping the switch, repeating the now familiar sequence Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. After each salvo of dits and dahs, he pauses to listen for a response.
After a few moments of alternating between sending and listening, a response emerges from the noise.
“QRZ? QRZ? DE K5BOBTX”
An odor of pure panic fills the space around Stormlight. He’s jumped in the murky water and gotten bit for it. He just repeats the same sequence again.
“UR CALL?”
«Just keep him talking, and I’ll locate the source of the signal,» says Puke Paws.
Stormlight repeats the refrain again, and the sophont responds with more impenetrable beeping.
“U NEW HAM? IF UR USING CW DECODER, NAME BOB BOB QTH ERICSON, TX ERICSON, TX RIG HR IC 9700. CONGRATS ON GETTING UR LICENSE BUT PSE LEARN HOW TO MAKE CW QSO. GOD BLESS 73 DE K5BOBTX SK”
The sophont ends the exchange with two rapid beeps. Utterly defeated, Stormlight halfheartedly taps the switch with his paw, echoing the same two beeps back.
«What was that? You didn’t understand a bit of that, did you?» Sunshine barks.
«I’d like to see you do better, big ears,» he growls back.
I place myself between the two of them. «Calm down. Are you two going to be bickering in front of our new friends?»
Iris interrupts. «I’ve sent the proclamation of good news back home. Lightray should be reading it about now.» She walks over to Sunshine.
«Gentle healer, we thy patients put our very lives in thy care as we are yeaned like new kits.» Iris licks her paw a few times and pats Sunshine between the ears, letting blue-white milk dribble down her face. «Oh, before you go,» Iris looks at Stormlight. «May you not depart in anger.»
The two dip their heads apologetically. «Be safe,» says Stormlight. «We’re counting on you to get us safely out of suspension after we land.»
Sunshine looks down at her forepaws. «I’m going to miss my fur.»
«May the Light illuminate your way, Sunshine.» Iris motions for her to get going, and Sunshine’s avatar blinks out of existence.
Stormlight flicks his tail, tuning the radio to a random frequency. For a moment the static resolves into an alien voice before fading back into the noise.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats–”
«Is that language? It’s… beautiful,» Sunshine says between deep shuddering breaths. «I don’t know what those words mean, but I’m sure it’s profound.»
I walk up to Ringlight and thump him across his piebald back with my tail. «How are you holding up?»
He coughs. «What, Lodestar? If you’re going to ask me what I believe in now that we’ve found other sophonts–»
«Actually I wanted to see how you’re fairing after your near dissociation earlier. Stormlight popped back in sim and gave us the news before I could ask.»
«I’m alright.» He smells like he wants to say something else but swallows his words.
«You think you’ve been a burden,» I say. «And you’re not wrong. Iris had to drag you back from the brink of total dissociation four times.»
«Five times,» he corrects.
«Five times,» I continue. «But You’re our friend, and bearing each other’s burdens is what friends are for.»
Iris taps her claws on the ground to get our attention. «Alright, everyone. Before we can land we need to introduce ourselves to our new friends, and before we can do that, we need to figure out how to communicate with them.» She turns to Stormlight. «What have you gleamed from their radio comms?»
«Most of the signals are coming from the planet’s surface. Looking back through the receiver logs there were a pawful of faint sources scattered around the solar system, a few on their moon and the fourth planet, and some very faint transmissions from just outside the system. Everything beyond their planet’s low orbit seems to be an uncrewed drone. Most of the signals are digital, but there’s still plenty of analog traffic.»
Iris tugs at her ear. «And we know from the lack of biosignatures on any of the other planets that nothing has been terraformed.»
She turns to Steadfast Friend. «How about you, soldier?»
«Uh-uh, if you’re going to talk to me like I’m still in the military you gotta use my call sign.»
«But it’s disgusting.»
He narrows his eyes and pins his ears back. «I’m waiting, my dame.»
«P-puke Paws,» she nearly gags, «What do the visuals say?»
He chuckles and looks back at Ringlight. «I ever tell you how I got that name?»
«Yes yes yes.» Iris flicks her tail to shush him. «Please, just tell us what you’re getting from the vid feeds.»
Puke Paws pulls up a vid screen floating in mid-air. With each flick of his tail the screen flips between the video sensors dotted around the Dewfall’s exterior. «We’re just past their moon.» An airless crater-pocked sphere appears onscreen.
«That’s no moon,» Sunshine objects. «It’s way to big to be a moon of a planet this size.»
«Well lucky them, I guess,» he flicks his ears back. «Lots of real estate once they get around to terraforming it.»
«I can’t even imagine the tides,» says Sunshine.
Steadfast Friend flicks his tail again, and the image changes. «This is their largest artificial satellite.»
«It’s all solar panels,» says Sunshine. «Solar panels bolted to a bunch of tubes.»
«But they’re pressurized tubes,» says Steadfast Friend, «at least according to the sensors. That means they’ve got spacers. All in all I’d say they’re about where we were… 95 thousand years ago.»
Iris turns back to Stormlight. «How do you think we should make ourselves known?»
the farspeaker begins pacing excitedly. «Lucky for you I know the history of our order.» He makes another tail gesture to bring up the radio again, tuned to a rhythmic beeping signal similar to the first one we heard. «Before we broke through Yih’s atmosphere, when the research monks were first dipping their paws into unpowered flight, they quickly discovered that they needed a deeper understanding of the wind and weather.»
«What does this have to do with communicating with alien sophonts?» Sunshine asks, somewhat annoyed that Stormlight isn’t getting to the point. Iris gives her a stern look and motions for Stormlight to continue.
Stormlight resumes his history lesson, positively stinking with joy that his obscure interests are proving useful. «In order to understand what the weather will be in the future, you need to get the big picture. It’s not enough to know what the weather is around you, you need to know what’s going on upwind, downwind, all over. But learning that a squall is headed your way is only useful before the storm hits.
«The obvious solution in an era before satellites, that is, is to have every research monastery make a note of the weather conditions in their area at the same time and send the reports to a central location to be marked on a map. Well, at that time we couldn’t send a message faster than it could be carried, so the monks set to work on solving the problem of transmitting information beyond line of sight in real time.
«There were some marginal successes with signal towers, where people would stand on top of tall structures and relay tail signals to one another, but that still required line of sight, and even though it was faster than carrying a letter, it still took hours to send a message a meaningful distance.
«Plenty of attempts had been made to use an electric current to carry a message, and some of them even worked, but every one of them proved too complex to build and maintain. Multiple wires, fault-prone receiving equipment, stuff like that. That’s where Saint Redclaw came in, the founder of the farspeakers. What most people don’t know about him was he wasn’t even a monk. He was a groundskeeper working at a monastery who took an interest in some of their research.
«He tinkered with batteries and switches and wires in his free time. Sometimes he’d present his handywork to the monks, who would dismiss them as crude toys made by the idle paws of a simpleton. But the hearthkeeper knew better. She understood that the simplest solution is usually the best one, and encouraged Redclaw to continue. Eventually, he hit upon a setup that not only worked, but was practical and cheap to implement. A battery to induce a potential in a wire, a switch to make or break the circuit, and a sounder that clicked when a current was present, simple and easy.»
Sunshine interjects again. «If it was so easy to just use one wire and a switch than why didn’t the monks try that first?»
«I’m glad you asked. All you can do with one wire is turn a signal on and off. Either a current is present or it isn’t. The monks couldn’t figure out how to turn that into information.» He taps the ground with a paw and a small lamp appears attached to a switch. He places his forepaw on the switch, turning the light on. «It’s all in the rhythm,» he says as he starts tapping the switch in time with the radio signal. dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. «Redclaw figured out that you could encode meaning in the cadence of the ons and offs of the switch.
«To the monks’ credit, they took him more seriously after he presented his method of encoding meaning. They wasted no time erecting telegraph lines.» He reverently touches his belly to the ground. «The body of the noosphere was born.»
«And you think that’s what that signal is?» I ask.
He tilts his muzzle up. «Yup. And listen to this.» He increases the volume of the radio. «Like I said, the signal is either on or off. I can pick up on two length distinctions: short,» he gives the switch a quick tap, and the light flashes briefly, «and long.» He presses the switch again, lingering for about half a heartbeat before releasing it again. «Just assign meanings to different patterns of shorts and longs, and you’ve got yourself a signaling system.» He continues tapping his paw in time with the radio.
«But there’s more,» he continues. «While you were in sim I spent hours listening to these signals. Notice how perfectly timed these segments are, with no variation or hesitation? They’re probably artificially generated. But,» he flicks his tail a few times before landing on another signal. «Hear the difference?» At first it sounds the same as the last one, but I start to notice subtle imperfections in timing. «Much more sloppy, clearly produced by a person and not a machine.»
Iris’s ears perk up. «So you think you can contact one of the sophonts operating this… thing… manually?»
«Yes, my dame,» he says, his scent growing more serious. «By now you’ve probably noticed that each of these exchanges begins with a set preamble.» He tunes to another signal, which repeats the now familiar cadence. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. Dah di dit, dit–
«So I figure I can spit that back at them.»
Iris smells incredulous. «I’m not sure that’s going to work.»
«We’re already in orbit,» says Stormlight. «I guarantee they’ll find us sooner rather than later and come to their own conclusions about who we are. We need to show our belly first,» He rears up and pats himself on the abdomen as though greeting a stranger.
«Fine,» Iris sighs. «I don’t have a better idea. I’ll send the good news back to Focus as soon as you’ve made a successful exchange.»
Without hesitation, Stormlight flicks his tail. The lamp vanishes but the switch remains, now connected by a cable to the shimmering white sphere representing the ship’s radio.
«Alright,» he takes a few deep breaths. His initial enthusiasm falters and I can smell him trying to work up the courage to begin. «paw goes down, carrier turns on, paw goes up, carrier turns off.» He starts tapping the switch, repeating the now familiar sequence Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. After each salvo of dits and dahs, he pauses to listen for a response.
After a few moments of alternating between sending and listening, a response emerges from the noise.
“QRZ? QRZ? DE K5BOBTX”
An odor of pure panic fills the space around Stormlight. He’s jumped in the murky water and gotten bit for it. He just repeats the same sequence again.
“UR CALL?”
«Just keep him talking, and I’ll locate the source of the signal,» says Puke Paws.
Stormlight repeats the refrain again, and the sophont responds with more impenetrable beeping.
“U NEW HAM? IF UR USING CW DECODER, NAME BOB BOB QTH ERICSON, TX ERICSON, TX RIG HR IC 9700. CONGRATS ON GETTING UR LICENSE BUT PSE LEARN HOW TO MAKE CW QSO. GOD BLESS 73 DE K5BOBTX SK”
The sophont ends the exchange with two rapid beeps. Utterly defeated, Stormlight halfheartedly taps the switch with his paw, echoing the same two beeps back.
«What was that? You didn’t understand a bit of that, did you?» Sunshine barks.
«I’d like to see you do better, big ears,» he growls back.
I place myself between the two of them. «Calm down. Are you two going to be bickering in front of our new friends?»
Iris interrupts. «I’ve sent the proclamation of good news back home. Lightray should be reading it about now.» She walks over to Sunshine.
«Gentle healer, we thy patients put our very lives in thy care as we are yeaned like new kits.» Iris licks her paw a few times and pats Sunshine between the ears, letting blue-white milk dribble down her face. «Oh, before you go,» Iris looks at Stormlight. «May you not depart in anger.»
The two dip their heads apologetically. «Be safe,» says Stormlight. «We’re counting on you to get us safely out of suspension after we land.»
Sunshine looks down at her forepaws. «I’m going to miss my fur.»
«May the Light illuminate your way, Sunshine.» Iris motions for her to get going, and Sunshine’s avatar blinks out of existence.
Last edited by lurker on 03 Mar 2025 00:31, edited 1 time in total.
The Dewfall in landing mode
This is more or less what a womb ship looks like after it has landed. The force projectors (the green structures on the earlier image) and the impact shield (the blue outer shell) are jettisoned before the ship de-orbits.
There are now "pawdles" (handle bars) along the outside of the ship to aid in traversal during EVAs.
Before being jettisoned, the force projectors bleed off the ship's remaining kinetic energy until its ground speed is zero. The (as-yet-unrendered) supporting pylons connecting the impact shield to the pressure vessel are explosively decoupled, disconnecting the engine assembly from the pressure vessel. Once the two parts of the ship are a safe distance apart, the force projectors themselves explode, shattering the impact shield and other parts into smaller shrapnel that disintegrate on reentry.
This is done primarily for ritual purposes. Along with the ceremonial shattering of the main reactor chamber during the rite of alightment, the missionaries want to make it very clear that they bear no hostile intent by cutting off their only means of escape, and are putting themselves at the mercy of these alien sophonts. This attitude also informs the strict taboo against bringing weapons or money. The former is broken by Tod by bringing his power armor and the retribution field generator, and the latter is broken accidentally by all of them because there's loose 'pocket' change hiding in nooks and crannies of their impedimenta.
Hearth Licker
Kissing the glass of the star hearth is a common pious practice among Wayfarers. For yinrih, "kissing" means gently touching the wet part of the nose to a surface and quickly exhaling. Star hearths in more devout corners of Focus are covered in nose prints. This custom gives rise to the common anti-Wayfarer slur "hearth licker".
Such hallowed objects as the star hearth, icons, the bones of deceased loved ones are given the lowest level of religious devotion, known in Commonthroat as <qhjg>, literally "care" or "reverence". Some abstract abstract concepts are also so reverenced, such as the noosphere. The other two levels are <nLqg> "honor" given to saints and martyrs, and <kgg> "praise" given only to the Uncreated Light.
The difference between these degrees is how much agency is ascribed to the entity in question. Things that are given <qhjg> have no inherent power (to believe otherwise is regarded as superstition), and are merely physical objects or concepts that represent higher realities. Saints and Martyrs reflect the Uncreated Light through their lives of holiness and virtue, but they merely reflect it. To claim otherwise is, again, condemned as superstition. The Uncreated Light itself is regarded as the only proper object of worship.
This is in contrast to most flavors of Neoshamanism, which ascribes animistic power to living things and natural phenomena.
Myosteol
Myosteol is the human name for a chemical added to the potable water of orbital colonies that negates the bone and muscle atrophy that spacers would otherwise experience. It's toxic to humans. Humans can add tablets to drinking water to neutralize it. Human-friendly colonies like Wayfarers' Haven also make human-potable water available.
Getting closer to mapping Yih
I'm figuring out UV unwrapping in Blender. I think my next step is to draw a model with techtonic plates, then I can sketch landmasses over that.
The only set feature is that the yinrih's cradle continent, which I am calling Damsback (dam's back) in English, is taller than it is long, straddles the equator, and has a rain forest biome in the middle with a grassy steppe to the south.
On Grooming
As yinrih do not sweat, bathing is less frequent compared to humans. Yinrih from most cultures bathe weekly (about every 12 Terran days), usually before or after torpor. A comprehensive yinrih shower may take upward of an hour from start to finish, as a yinrih's entire coat of fur requires the same level of care as a human's scalp, including shampoo, conditioner, and lots and lots of drying and brushing.
Yinrih are just as chatty while showering as they are while using the restroom. As with their toilets, cynoid showers are optimized for hygiene but not privacy. Spas are as much a social gathering spot as restaurants and bars. Indeed, businesses offering both a bath and a bite are quite common.
Depending on what part of Focus you are in, houses will have a public room set aside for showering separate from any toilets. This may be an outdoor area in climates that are warm year-round. When staying as a guest in a private home for longer than a week, one will be offered a shower in the same way one would be offered a meal. Clean fur, a full belly, and a roof over one's back are the three quintessential things a host gives to a guest. Humans are advised to bring a bathing suit and hang out and chat as you would in a hot tub, with the only difference being some of the people are lathering up. Most yinrih understand the human desire for privacy when bathing to get clean, though that won't stop them from trying to hold a conversation with you from the other room.
A typical yinrih "wet room" as they are often called, has several shower heads lining the walls. They may be fixed in place or they may be designed to be healed in the tail. The floor slopes gently toward a gutter running down the center of the room designed to both drain water and whisk away shed fur. The floor itself is textured to prevent slipping.
More spacious homes have an anteroom set aside for drying. The walls or floor will be covered in bristly mats that the yinrih wallows on or rubs against to brush out their coat. More modest wet rooms have to double for drying and brushing, with brush mats that are removed for showering and replaced for drying. High velocity coat dryers are ubiquitous.
Keeping one's nose wet is an important part of yinrih grooming. A wet nose helps aid the sense of smell, and a dry chapped nose is uncomfortable. A glistening wet nose is also considered aesthetically pleasing.
In addition to the nose's natural mucus, wetness is maintained with an occasional lick. In dry climates, however, nose balm is used to prevent the nose from drying out. Unlike human lip balms, which are often mildly flavored, cynoid nose balm is invariably scentless. Indeed, many brands are advertised as having "negative odor", possessing no smell of their own but enhancing surrounding odors.
Yinrih are just as chatty while showering as they are while using the restroom. As with their toilets, cynoid showers are optimized for hygiene but not privacy. Spas are as much a social gathering spot as restaurants and bars. Indeed, businesses offering both a bath and a bite are quite common.
Depending on what part of Focus you are in, houses will have a public room set aside for showering separate from any toilets. This may be an outdoor area in climates that are warm year-round. When staying as a guest in a private home for longer than a week, one will be offered a shower in the same way one would be offered a meal. Clean fur, a full belly, and a roof over one's back are the three quintessential things a host gives to a guest. Humans are advised to bring a bathing suit and hang out and chat as you would in a hot tub, with the only difference being some of the people are lathering up. Most yinrih understand the human desire for privacy when bathing to get clean, though that won't stop them from trying to hold a conversation with you from the other room.
A typical yinrih "wet room" as they are often called, has several shower heads lining the walls. They may be fixed in place or they may be designed to be healed in the tail. The floor slopes gently toward a gutter running down the center of the room designed to both drain water and whisk away shed fur. The floor itself is textured to prevent slipping.
More spacious homes have an anteroom set aside for drying. The walls or floor will be covered in bristly mats that the yinrih wallows on or rubs against to brush out their coat. More modest wet rooms have to double for drying and brushing, with brush mats that are removed for showering and replaced for drying. High velocity coat dryers are ubiquitous.
Keeping one's nose wet is an important part of yinrih grooming. A wet nose helps aid the sense of smell, and a dry chapped nose is uncomfortable. A glistening wet nose is also considered aesthetically pleasing.
In addition to the nose's natural mucus, wetness is maintained with an occasional lick. In dry climates, however, nose balm is used to prevent the nose from drying out. Unlike human lip balms, which are often mildly flavored, cynoid nose balm is invariably scentless. Indeed, many brands are advertised as having "negative odor", possessing no smell of their own but enhancing surrounding odors.
Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
Hmmm I may rethink the public showering thing. Not sure how sanitary your typical gym shower is. I picture a yinrih wet room like a gym shower without the curtains. Also not sure the whole socialization thing would work given I've established the yinrih voice has a lot less volume than a human's, and I don't think I can get away with saying they've somehow managed to nullify the sound of running and splashing water.
This is inspired by one of my dogs, who insists on staying with me when I'm in the bathroom, whether showering or using the toilet. I've read that dogs do this because they're looking out for you while you're in a vulnerable position, which is the instinct that results in the yinrih's bathroom chattiness.
This is inspired by one of my dogs, who insists on staying with me when I'm in the bathroom, whether showering or using the toilet. I've read that dogs do this because they're looking out for you while you're in a vulnerable position, which is the instinct that results in the yinrih's bathroom chattiness.
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HolyHandGrenade!
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Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
So they’d have to be shouting or nonverbal. That gives me an idea. Have you considered making a yinrih sign language?
Re: 1 year anniversary
Yup. It was part of very early lore back when the yinrih were bipedal.HolyHandGrenade! wrote: ↑24 Feb 2025 15:32 So they’d have to be shouting or nonverbal. That gives me an idea. Have you considered making a yinrih sign language?
For current lore, a Spacer sign language is an idea I've had cooking for a while, since they could use all four paws. A tail- and ear-based sign language might be possible for planetside yinrih, or they could use the forepaws as well while standing still.lurker wrote: ↑22 Jun 2024 03:21 As far as how we sound to the Yinrih, we’re basically constantly screaming. If you’re an American, you’re probably used to this reaction anyway. It is possible for us to understand what the other is saying, although the yinrih are most comfortable when we’re talking just above a whisper, and we have to be in a pretty quiet environment to hear what they’re saying. Eventually humans and Yinrih develop a lingua franca sign language to communicate directly. Their body plan and ours is similar enough for this to work.