The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)

[Visions1]

Very well thought out. The yinrih's lack of libido is something I cheerfully acknowledge is unrealistic and have no intention of changing, although I really like your idea of being broody.

Okay, so I ended up some semi-dark freeform poetry, so I'm posting it below. After it is my point on the Yinrih. I apologize for the unhingedness in advance.
I genuinely believe all this stuff. So here comes my brain.

Spoiler:

Instinct is powerful. A tiger will hunt without being taught. A human will babble or wave its hands and learn to talk. We make mistakes, fall into patterns our conscious minds never sought. And yet they happen.
Why is it, that when I pray, I reach certain parts only within and at a certain time? Every day, neither faster nor slower, even if I try?
And you?
We are ruled by habit; we are ruled by the subconscious; there is very little we can actually say in that we are free.
I do not deny free will. I do not play causality games. I simply say that we are creatures of habit and instinct, and those control our brain, more than we do ourselves. Who is to blame? We do not own ourselves. We are owned by our subconscious.
The key is not to control our lives.
The key is to control our habits.
Pick up the sword.
Cast the snare.
Then we are freed.
Like the man who has caught a tiger.
Like a warrior who victoriously raises his head in the battle.

Basically, it could just be an instinct. We don't need libido to be driven to reproduce. We know Yinrih feel parental affection, communal obligation, the same random handwavium that causes people to accidentally throw out their dish in the trash with the food. That could be enough, especially since they don't need coitus. Libido is worthless, whereas something like instinct could easily drive them to reproduce.
Now add in the social aspect. Not everyone needs to breed - extra paws to help. Not everyone should be bred with - it must be decided. The drive is distanced.
Now add in the brains. The drive gets even more distant.
Some folks will reproduce, some won't. Some will want to but can't. Some won't want to but can. There's an instinct, but like a monk is expected to always be celibate, not to always feel celibate, so too Yinrih clerics. They are only human (or, sophontish).

[lurker]

Very well thought out. The yinrih's lack of libido is something I cheerfully acknowledge is unrealistic and have no intention of changing, although I really like your idea of being broody.

Okay, so I ended up some semi-dark freeform poetry, so I'm posting it below. After it is my point on the Yinrih. I apologize for the unhingedness in advance.
I genuinely believe all this stuff. So here comes my brain.

Spoiler:

Instinct is powerful. A tiger will hunt without being taught. A human will babble or wave its hands and learn to talk. We make mistakes, fall into patterns our conscious minds never sought. And yet they happen.
Why is it, that when I pray, I reach certain parts only within and at a certain time? Every day, neither faster nor slower, even if I try?
And you?
We are ruled by habit; we are ruled by the subconscious; there is very little we can actually say in that we are free.
I do not deny free will. I do not play causality games. I simply say that we are creatures of habit and instinct, and those control our brain, more than we do ourselves. Who is to blame? We do not own ourselves. We are owned by our subconscious.
The key is not to control our lives.
The key is to control our habits.
Pick up the sword.
Cast the snare.
Then we are freed.
Like the man who has caught a tiger.
Like a warrior who victoriously raises his head in the battle.

Basically, it could just be an instinct. We don't need libido to be driven to reproduce. We know Yinrih feel parental affection, communal obligation, the same random handwavium that causes people to accidentally throw out their dish in the trash with the food. That could be enough, especially since they don't need coitus. Libido is worthless, whereas something like instinct could easily drive them to reproduce.
Now add in the social aspect. Not everyone needs to breed - extra paws to help. Not everyone should be bred with - it must be decided. The drive is distanced.
Now add in the brains. The drive gets even more distant.
Some folks will reproduce, some won't. Some will want to but can't. Some won't want to but can. There's an instinct, but like a monk is expected to always be celibate, not to always feel celibate, so too Yinrih clerics. They are only human (or, sophontish).

Very insightful.

Edit: The poem reminds me of how the Bright Way views the soul as a three-layered system. At the bottom are appetites (aka passions or instincts). Above that is the will, and above that is the intellect. Right action consists in allowing the intellect to guide the will, and allowing the will to govern the passions. Sin consists in surrendering oneself to ones appetites. This is why they see intoxication as such a grave sin, since it inhibits one's ability to control their instincts.

[lurker]

Even though Tod is the only native Commonthroat speaker among the missionaries, his Moony accent makes it difficult for others to understand him at times. The other missionaries are L2 speakers who learned by consuming media from the AW as pups and with formal schooling later, giving them a more standardized accent. Tod’s friends joke that they speak Commonthroat better than him, and if you define "better" as being closer to a high prestige standardized dialect, then they're technically right.

[lurker]

Womb ships don't do atmospheric re-entry the same way as human spacecraft. They fully engage their reverse force projector array to bleed off all their kinetic energy until their ground speed is zero, then they drop like a stone into the atmosphere over the intended landing spot, using a parachute to slow their vertical speed.

[lurker]

The hearthkeeper walks down the central aisle, striking the ground with the aspergillum held in her tail as she walks. When the hearthkeeper reaches the sanctuary steps, an acolyte pulls back the sanctuary curtain obscuring the star hearth. The hearthkeeper ascends the steps. Without turning away from the hearth, she recites the opening prayer.


Thou, O Uncaused One, art the cause of all that is.
Thou, O Unmoved One, set the heavens in motion.
Thou, O unchanging One, art the wellspring of life.
Thou, O Unknowable One, art the source of all we know.
Thou whose light fills all of Creation, art the light we cannot see.

O Infinite One, who are we, the most infinitessimal of thy creatures, that thou heedest our cries?


The Hearthkeeper turns to her litter.


Let us howl, o little ones, may our voices rise to the Empyrean.

[lurker]

Languages don't usually have names so on the nose as "Commonthroat". Sure some official dialects have such names, like Putonghua for Mandarin, but those are introduced later.

Commonthroat was originally spoken around the River on Yih, so rDBGHqBdp "River speech" or rJhqBdp "River throat/River language" sound like decent autonyms, keeping in mind that, unqualified, the term qBdp "the River" refers to the equatorial river where the yinrih first emerged. There's also rDBGHsfqp "Yih speech".

"Commonthroat" itself would be qBdqjHcp where qjHc means "pertaining to the whole" or "universal".

[lurker]

So apparently a gecker is a sound made by both monkeys AND foxes... I feel like I need to do something with this information.

[lurker]

[Keenir]

whomever made that list, lied.
(and no, not just about aliens)

[thethief3]

inirimaa namija
yinrih-Pl NEG.COP.3.pl
"yinrih aren't real"

[lurker]

inirimaa namija
yinrih-Pl NEG.COP.3.pl
"yinrih aren't real"

Code: Select all

mp  qMqm-qn rML-0      rnL qgKq-l   qL-b
INT human-2 think-AUTH not yinrih-1 exist-NAUTH
Do you think we don't exist, human? 

How is the first word in your gloss divided?

Code: Select all

iniri-maa
yinrih-PL

[lurker]

On some parts of Hearthside, it's illegal to deliberately shed one's fur as it's considered impersonating a healer. This becomes a problem when a fad for emulating human hairlessness arises after First Contact, and a black market develops for healer's balding drugs.

[Khemehekis]

whomever made that list, lied.
(and no, not just about aliens)

Is that the Ethnologue lexicon questionnaire?

[lurker]

whomever made that list, lied.
(and no, not just about aliens)

Is that the Ethnologue lexicon questionnaire?

It's from semdom.org, which is also by SIL, so maybe.

[Khemehekis]

Is that the Ethnologue lexicon questionnaire?

It's from semdom.org, which is also by SIL, so maybe.

I checked it out, and that's definitely the same list that Ethnologue uses. Right down to having "koala" listed under bears.

[thethief3]

inirimaa namija
yinrih-Pl NEG.COP.3.pl
"yinrih aren't real"

Code: Select all

mp  qMqm-qn rML-0      rnL qgKq-l   qL-b
INT human-2 think-AUTH not yinrih-1 exist-NAUTH
Do you think we don't exist, human? 

How is the first word in your gloss divided?

Code: Select all

iniri-maa
yinrih-PL

You are correct

[lurker]

Every Yih week (12 days), Yinrih spend a full Yih day (a bit over 24 hours) in torpor. At no point are they unconscious, but they are sedate. The sensation is compared to the sedatives used in Human cataract surgery. They have delayed reaction time, dulled sensation, and a feeling of detachment, but can still follow simple commands.

Since pain perception is muted during torpor, some minor surgical procedures are conducted while the patient is torpid.

Yinrih exhibit a phenomenon similar to the unihemispherical slow wave sleep seen in birds and cetaceans, except the pattern involves not just the two hemispheres of the brain, but the caudal ganglion as well. During torpor, when one hemisphere of the main brain is "defragmenting" as it were, its corresponding functions are assumed by the caudal ganglion. Likewise, when parts of the caudal ganglion are unavailable, that part of the main brain has no backup.

Among tree dwellers and in primitive yinrih society, the dams go into torpor with their kits when they are very young. The sires all keep watch over the women and children, staggering their own torpor cycles so the moot is always protected. As the kits grow into pups, the dams start to stagger their own cycles so that there are always as many adults alert as possible.

In modern yinrih society things may work differently depending on culture. In more monochronic cultures such as most parts of the Allied Worlds, all the members of a community have a synchronized torpor cycle, with some exceptions for "night shifts". That makes scheduling events much easier. In more polychronic cultures such as Hearthside, several strategies can be found. Some cultures have a 3-day "weekend" during each 12-day week within which yinrih spend their torpor. An individual moot usually chooses a day within that period to be their torpor period. Other cultures more resemble the primitive strategy of every individual having their own cycle.

Torpor stories are spoken word audio media that can span a range of genres, from what we would call podcasts to fictional narratives to trivia about particular topics. More traditional communities make use of scripture and hagiographies. The goal of torpor stories is to create a mindset conducive to torpor. The stories are usually calming and pleasant, but also interesting enough to help the prospective torpid monkey fox to let go of his daily worries.

There are also specific prayers recited during torpor, which often involve breathing in time with each recitation.

(breathe in) May my soul be a mirror--
(breathe out) reflecting the Uncreated Light.

[Khemehekis]

Yinrih exhibit a phenomenon similar to the unihemispherical slow wave sleep seen in birds and cetaceans, except the pattern involves not just the two hemispheres of the brain, but the caudal ganglion as well. During torpor, when one hemisphere of the main brain is "defragmenting" as it were, its corresponding functions are assumed by the caudal ganglion. Likewise, when parts of the caudal ganglion are unavailable, that part of the main brain has no backup.

Wait . . . so birds don't dream, the same way cetaceans famously don't dream?

[lurker]

Yinrih exhibit a phenomenon similar to the unihemispherical slow wave sleep seen in birds and cetaceans, except the pattern involves not just the two hemispheres of the brain, but the caudal ganglion as well. During torpor, when one hemisphere of the main brain is "defragmenting" as it were, its corresponding functions are assumed by the caudal ganglion. Likewise, when parts of the caudal ganglion are unavailable, that part of the main brain has no backup.

Wait . . . so birds don't dream, the same way cetaceans famously don't dream?

I don’t know about birds, but yinrih certainly don’t. That’s why they use the same word for dream and drug trip.

[lurker]

Posted this in the Commonthroat thread, but this is pretty significant lore so here it is in the worlduilding thread.

qfBqg /huff, early falling weakening whine, huff, short low weak growl/ refers to the fruits of two distinct species of tree. The two species are almost impossible to distinguish visually. One species uses its juicy bright red fruit to attract animals in order to spread its seeds. It's a favorite of tree dwellers, and was likely so for pre-sapient yinrih as well.

The other species evolved to mimic the fruit of the first species, but uses its fruit in a much more sinister way. Instead of using its fruit to attract seed dispersers, this fruit contains an extremely fast acting deadly neurotoxin. Smaller animals die before they can even finish the fruit, and larger animals are dead within a few minutes. Their dead bodies drop to the forest floor at the base of the tree, and the tree feeds off of their decomposing corpses.

The dangerous tree is counting on animals to mistake its fruit for that of the innocuous species in order to lure them into a deadly trap. So it's risky to eat red fruit because it may be tasty or it may be deadly. From there the concept of risk evolved into misfortune, and that's how red came to be associated with bad luck.

These trees also helped yinrih to move from scent marking to written language. Whenever a yinrih would find a good red fruit tree, they would draw a specific ink pattern on the leaves to tell other yinrih that the tree was safe to eat.