Sketches for Catamaran Naron + SS14 spec bio HCA literature post to compile sketches that came with the text under them Nanotransen Catamaran Naron Pilot concept pilotmechCN2026 - Catamaran Naron WIPS, first image has NT spelling error and I don't care. Mech design is to be desired, will be redrawn to make more sense mechanically later. But the idea is here. Nanotransen has the most budget in terms of idependent vehicles, mostly amphibian ones for research in assimilation zones of Catamaran Naron.<hr> Arachnid Speculative biology spidercrouch Arachnids are one of the default playable species of SS14. Honestly, one of, if not sometimes my favorite species of the roaster. But it took me over a year until I figured out how I'd like to draw them. And tube animal it is. I've thought about how a few times, I'd see a male tegenaria run across my room in summer, what if arachnids were small sprinting animals? arachnidrungifi'm not animation professional, i haven't animated in perhaps two years now, but here is an example of their run cycle. Though, looking back at it, there should be less wobbling, i guess this is more of a trot than an actual sprint?arachnidrun sketch silouhette They're small on average, and can only sprint for a few seconds in bursts of acceleration. They have blue blood and are stated to metabolise copper, which isn't great for oxygenation of the blood regarding activities like running. But they (somewhat) counter it with two hearts, and a breathing system that lets them constantly inhale air into their air chambers when skittering. Arachnids hold the championship in speed acceleration, but humans are still the winners of endurance, despite how some other sophonts are much faster.The length of race tracks for arachnids in Olympic Games would be really short distances compared to humans, it would look quite silly to us. I imagine how the replay would feature a lot of camera slow down to comment on an athlete's acceleration pattern. People pointing out who started accelerating first, but who won the race, and strategies around where you should speed up. Arachnids would think human marathons are a form of sadomasochistic torture. Getting silk out of their body requires external help, it's a social interaction because their body plan does not let them harvest it themselves. They physically cannot bend around to use their manipulating arm, or first pair of legs (which kind of acts as a second arm) to reach their silk glands. They need a friend for it!The silk gets spin around a wooden handle, it gets processed later. Arachnids do not use silk to catch their prey like earth's spiders, it is used for various crafting, mainly turned into fabrics. Evolutionarily, an arachnid that could produce more silk, thus make more elaborate weaving craft/writing, would find more success in finding a partner. How this affects modern day arachnid? It makes them prone to infection because their gland "clogs". To avoid such issues they get it harvested every couple of months.arachnid clothes naronOn Catamaran Naron, Arachnids were the first to set foot there, their ships arriving at the north pole, although they were not the first to discover Catamaran Naron, the discovery was made by humans in the 21th century. The exoplanet was discovered in the HSSCY ████ by the James Webb Space Telescope , many years before arachnids arrived, but many years before humans arrived. This caused lots of issues regarding who "owned" the place, especially with the different standard and operating systems.<hr> Vox spec bio idea voxheadFancy Vox. They have a lump of skin/lip with fat attached from the upper beak's mouth. Serves no purpose but to look fancy socially. The fatter the better and more healthy they look to other members of their species. Can be pierced for extra fancy points too. If you pinch it it's just squishy.voxpinkA sketch of him in pink. I imagine that decorating the peak with a nail polish-like equivalent would be quite common. Here he is with a painted beak tip, the top having a heart shaped pattern. As much as beak polish decoration are cute, they wouldn't last long and would start chipping pretty fast, i imagine most Vox do not paint the entire tip ofthe beak to avoid fast chipping, more like the side of it, or the very top, but not around the mouth. But this vox is the exception because he's extravagant, and also borrowing from human fashion standards. The body plan ins't perfect to me here, i'm still figuring out how i want to proportion voxes. They're bipedal running animals like humans, they hold their run for longer than arachnid but they do not outspeed them, voxes would outspeed humans but humans are still better at endurance and body temperature regulation when running. I imagine their head to be quite large and the hands small compared to how human proportiosn are sized. Arm mobility isn't great, they wouldn't be able to throw and would've mostly used short range weapons during their history. They need to have that "large bird" look to me, the specific kind that animals like emu radiate. I'll figure eventually thoAsk: Would mannuls have pouches at their rear to prevent water getting in it like thylacines?Annonymous asked over on Tumblr You mentioned that your sophonts have pouches. Would mannuls have pouches facing their tail to prevent water getting in it like thylacines? 2026 -Their upright locomotion and height, and how maanuls are from open areas with low vegetation, do not require their pouch to be at the rear to prevent debris from getting in like thylacines do. To prevent water from entering their pouch, maanuls have a strong ring of muscle, a sphincter , to make it water-tight. Like a water possums !It is at their lower stomach because they also need easy access to it, for grabbing their young in and out, and other basic social interaction between the parent and the fledgling for bonding. But most importantly, they need easy access for egg transfer. The biological family the sophonts of altuyur are a part of, lies a soft, basically a meat egg / amniotic sac, onto their hands before rapidly transferring it into their pouches. If the egg is not transferred, it dries up, or other damage happen because of the sun's UVs, causing death for the embryos.The transfer triggers "gestation," where the pouch itself seals, not through muscle sealing as it would cause strain during extended periods of time, but through the growth of tissues at the entrance, and all around the egg sac. The membrane is pierced by the hatclings or cut by the parent if the baby is unable to do it themselves once gestation is over. The pouch is basically an external womb first, then later becomes a transport pouch for the striped fledglings.(Though I say they lay into their hands, this isn't possible for mierthri's anatomy. They require external help from entourage/direct family to do so. Out of the 3, theirs is pretty difficult, while maanul probably has it the "easiest".) Maanuls pouch is still positioned much lower than what the other two sophonts have; Mierthri has it at the highest because interactions are mainly with their jaws and not their hands, which are not very good at being manipulators. Maanuls and kyhuines will sit on their rear in order to access their pouches easily, though they are capable of bending their bodies around to do so (more flexible than you think!), it is not the most comfortable and safe way to do so. Now, why does the biological family have this complicated cycle that involves extra steps instead of just having a full gestation internally? Millions of years ago, before any of the sophont's recent ancestors were even a possibility yet, they used to be specialised in brood parasitising a now extinct family of distantly related species. As the species they preyed upon became rarer, individuals developed temporary pouches of folded skin, similar to what echidnas do, to carry the egg before they eventually found their target. This turned into a permanent, all-year-round pouch that they rely on as they had to abandon the parasiting as the targets went extinct.There was a split in the family where some just kept the egg inside the body until it hatched, while others became pouch reliant. The sophonts of Altuyur, are a part of the pouched group.Kier - altuyur faunaI've posted the art 8 months ago here. However, back then, I didn't write the text that was supposed to come with it. Today, I remembered to and finished it (hurra). You can view extra art and text + images over on Tumblr .<hr> kierheadKier is a domesticated working animal by kyhuines. Most of their domesticated animals are either herding cattle or flying critters. Kier is part of the flying one. Their olfactory receptors, tahofahs, are densely compacted and strictly used for sensing smell, and like most terrestrial animals, they use them to detect nefarious gases in the air. Used for hunting small animal, ranging around rat sized prey to fox sized, it can also be deployed to reduce pest infestation in crop fields, its tactic being to stand immobile and just catch passing critters with its jaws, or fly above and hover around for any moving pest in the field.Kiers have been used in armed conflicts for millennia in order to kill messengers nikars (messenger pigeon, basically), and in some cases even messenger Mierthris. Some breeds are slightly bigger, if not larger than their wild counterpart. Said wild counterpart is distinguished by being named Kier'kh and usually range in the south of the cresent, the native range of mierthri, and where most of their population still reside in mordern day. It is to say that the southern khawir kyhuines domesticated a species that preys on various small animals, which includes mierthri people, although they weren't aware of the latter. Trading animals between the two species isn't very common, nor is it something mierthris are usually interested in; this goes for maanul's cattle too. Since every animal the other species have is usually massive next to them, it's most of the time not practical. But kier is one of the few who can be useful to them, as a guard for the youth who would repel predators. However, most groups are quite apprehensive about having a domesticated version of a predator they are familiar with being so close to them. Them being small, and moving around in front of the kier, may make a kier show aggressive behavior if the hunting breed wasn't properly trained and desensitized to mierthris. And while incidents are rare, they spread around fast and are thought to be happening all the time.kiercolorbonus sketches,including their default natural coloration, red. The white is a mutation that is commonly bred because people like the way it looks. As well as it being viewed as a bonevolent messenger of dieties in several mythologies. Although funnily enough, kiers are mediocre in terms of transmitting messages to another party, as they function more like a hawk, and are a pain to train in general. While Nikars are much more suited for this task as they are natural homing flyers, no training is needed.Ask: How does height affect the sophonts socially and culturally, and home wise?anonymous asked over on Tumblr : do you have a comparison chart for the size differences between the species? im curious about the average size differences between them, and maybe some of how that might effect them socially or culturally? since you said somewhere that many modern buildings are usually made to accommodate for all sizes Text posted in jully 2025 I do have one! The height conversion in feet may be off since it isn't a metric I use.sophont height chartWhen I say buildings accommodate both, it's not a worldwide thing yet. Species cohabitation between mierthri and kyhuines have a longer history as they share connected biomes where contact was established earlier on. So kyhuine and mierthri settelment and homes having spaces for both is an older concept, thus more spread out.Kyhuine homes, in the inland south near the biome mierthri originate from, have more perching porches, landing platforms for mierthri to land on and glide to another. The home often has what would be translated as "Harpy/angel's window", a platorm over the main entrance of the house with a little circular window that can be opened. Miethri lands there and opens it to enter the house, the little visitor.Homes are very often a generational thing across cultures, especially in kyhuines, considering how their family structure and social groups are formed with around 20-100 members. They're homes where you live and die in, and they find it more convenient as it keeps the younger generation in the same place as the elders.These homes will often not be rebuild because a new family member is a maanul and cannot fit in the, for example, mierthri home. But homes can be expanded, and things can be built for the newcomer in the family if they're able to do so. If not, they will live separately but nearby. In the case of the smaller sophonts living in maanul's home, they fit in obviously, but will need special furniture to make their lives easier in those environments.In cultures where people are expected to leave their homes once in their adulthood, or when married in, then homes can be built to accommodate the three more easily. Although sometimes they will just be built like the older homes with few changes, it depends on the population. A colony that only has kyhuines and barely has a maanul pass by will not have its homes revolve around accommodation. if you wish to invite them over as a kyhuine for tea, or mierthri in this image specifically, you'll have to take out the table and seat outside.tea outsideMost commonly, what people have is furniture to accommodate others. Like a seat, but it mostly revolves around dishes, as it is more convenient to acquire. In maanul's, people will re-use furniture destined to younger family members if they have someone of the other species coming in. Tho when the furniture has childish patterns, it can feel insulting for the other party. But forgiven for places where they're isn't a high population of kyhuine/ mierthri to begin with.In high mixed areas, furniture for the other would be seen as a universal thing to have, so it can be intentional to give the bowl destined to a toddler to the invited if you wish to disrespect them. Food is used as a welcoming gift there, and can be reduced in size as an insult too. A wealthy kyhuine inviting a maanul in, who can give them a plate and portion adequate to their size because they have the resources, but chooses against it, is a sign of disrespect. Kaar'kchir love having many ways to tell someone they are not welcome without using spoken or written words. Preparing meals for an invited guest requires knowing their diet. There is widely known safe food around, but getting more specific with whatyou wish to cook would require deeper knowledge on what the other can eat and digest well.Again, for kaar'kchir it is seen as rude to ask what the person cannot have, as people deem you are to know it all in advance. Each eats differently sized portion, for the sister cities people get portions that correspond to their species' requirement. But in the northeastern coasts, Puy'ul, a maanul is to give an invited of the opposite species, something as large as what they would have even if the person is incapable of eating it all. The gesture itself is wishing prosperity for the invited. For the opposite, a maanul invited to a kyhuine home will have as much food as they require, but the kyhuines will also have the same portion as the maanul. Again same significance. Keep in mind that this isn't something the average person is usually able to present. This is a more common gesture in regions where there isn't social insecurity and food scarcity going on too.For somewhere like in Juan region, western coasts, that is currently undergoing wars where civilians may go through famines and have their overall food be cut in half, they cannot afford to give someone a large meal. Thus, a maanul getting a small portion when invited in will not be seen as insulting in these situations. Regions where the culture used to be to give as much as possible, that are now going through food scarcity, have their culture changes to just give the minimum, without anyone making an announcement about it, the rules shift quietly in the common people.When food was scares but became abundant, the rules changed to serving plenty for celebrating the current prosperity. Ect. in Kaar'kchir, in districts that were built once maanuls were in the picture, the buildings are large enough to fit in all three species. they may still be a bit cramped for maanuls sometimes, especially older ones. As kyhuine constructors who didn't have maanuls supervising the plans, they underestimated how large the spaces should be. But they can still enter them at least somewhat easily, at worse they may need to squeeze in some turns. Traditional maanul homes are very large, someone used to living in one and visiting their cousins in kaar'kchir may not enjoy the smaller given spaces. Maanuls who are used to it find it normal, and for kyhuines they enjoy cramped areas, mierthris usually resides in homes built on top of maanul and kyhuines for their needs and access to open spaces whenever. But Kaar'kchir is old, and other old inland metropolises sometimes do not have pathways for mierthris or maanuls in the old districts of it, as kaar'kchir itself was a kyhuine settlement that expanded until centuries later it became what it now is.For mierthris in those districts, they instead climb onto people and jump from a person's back to another if they desire to travel around. As walking in the common street would get them pushed around if not accidentally hurt by being stepped on. Maanuls simply cannot go in the tight old streets, there may be recent tunnels made for them to pass by though.Kaar'kchir wishes not to change the older district much for historical preservations, even if it means making parts of it non-accesible to 2 species. Civils will modify places completely in response, losing some historical parts that could be preserved, but still fit for every sophont. This is a topic people love to discuss, sometimes argue about in a literal public discussion, a bunch of people debating at the fountain, where anyone can join in or watch the topic of the day. Metropolis will require a permit for people to start building, but the paperwork is sometimes intentionally confusing if you're not familiar with how it is there. It takes so long that many will just do it without one, because if they apply, they might not even be guaranteed a yes. Civils will turn a blind eye and pretend nothing is happening when seeing someone build something for their own specie's comfort. Snitching would make you an asshole to the neighborhood. Usually, its mierthri will expand homes onto other sophonts' walls and roofs. People live on top of each other in cities.Pathways exclusive to mierthris are built by mierthris wanting a faster, safer way to a destination. Again, built on peoples rooftop, sometimes its with their accord or not. They use scrap materials for it.Some routes get "owned" by certain families or group of people as they were the one to build it. Tho sometimes people will fight over ownership, or have several owners. The so-called "path owners" may charge people a small fee before they can pass through. Usually a coin, or three. Most scandalous prices range from 5 Kamas to asking for a sugar cube. Sugar is a type of currency among civilians because of its production cost. Children and teenagers claiming they own a path may ask for silly prices, usually, a snack from the nearby granny appeases them to stop. The size difference does impact some people's view on one another, like how infantilization is common towards mierthris. Inconsiderate people are getting the idea that you can just pick and grab them because of how small they are, without asking to do so first. This behavior is more common than one might think. People don't usually recognise themselves in "grabbing a mierhtir" type of guy, but it's because it is the extreme form of it. They will subconsciously walk over mierthri's boundaries in subtle ways, it isn't done maliciously, but it is still an issue to correct people about.hold mThere is the idea that their small size doesn't have to be accommodated to as much because they can just figure it out themselves, "if they can fit in every space, then they can manage the rest fine," sort of deal.Yes, they will find a way to, because they're pushed to build things intended for their comfort in places that didn't think of them being included in the picture. They get the image of stoic people who work through it all, that they're not that bothered by something not made for them, because you always see them make it through without asking people anyway. I think this post is long as it is, i yapped about things here and there and went off rails. much of the focus was on mierthris for today but i will sprinkle out how the others are impacted by their height socially in other posts.