Vasilissans

Vasilissans are an arachnoid race featuring many characteristics similar to that of a spider such as their metalimbs, eyes, and ability to produce and weave silk. They were discovered on a jungle-ridden planet comprised of rich ores and gems, following a religion surrounding said gems, and abiding by a matriarchal culture. About on the same technological level as Tajaran, they're masters of architecture and weaving.

Overview

• Take less brute damage but are more susceptible to burns.
• Clothes can by crafted with silk on demand.
• Stepping on glass while barefoot won't deal any damage.
• Dropping below 260 Kelvin will induce a coma rather than deal damage.

Naming

Note: Currently there are no automatic naming conventions in the code.

Names of native Vasilissans are usually a combination of many vowels and hard consonants (e.g. T, Z, C, Ck, K), mainly vocalizations such as clicking or other sounds you may hear from an insect. An example name may be Viiriok Aerinzzur.

Biology

Vasilissan skin is primarily a thick chitin of varying color, iridescence, and texture, though this relies mostly on the race or region of the individual, from bumpy and rigid to thick and smooth.

Their faces are mostly similar in texture and composition as the rest of their skin, though they are mostly flat and lack a nose, one aberrant feature about their head is their four eyes, bubbling out instead of being indented to allow their already sleek face to become flush. Accompanying their lipped mouths are two mandibles that can protrude outward from their face, and within their mouths are many fanged teeth, a long, bulbous tongue, and spinnerettes, allowing them to shoot strands of silk.

Perhaps even more strange are the limbs and feelers on top of their head styled as what could be considered hair, which one likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference between from a glance, and their "hair" color doesn't usually depend on the color of the rest of the individual's chitin.

One rather large feature of Vasilissans is the presence of four metalimbs on their back, which normally opt to face backwards, but are capable of stretching forwards to assist with tasks in front of the individual. Most tasks involve scaling walls, subduing prey, keeping balance, or just general chores if the individual is dexterous with them.

The average height of Vasilissans is six feet (183 cm) and higher, though females tend to be seven feet (213 cm) tall.

Vasilissans, being an arachnoid race, are cold blooded and may suffer greatly due to extreme temperatures. It's been noted that in extreme heat their chitin will begin to boil before the rest of their body hardens and curls up due to an (obvious) lack of hydration in their limbs, similar to arachnids. In circumstances of cold temperatures, however, a Vasilissan will begin to "shut down," starting with memory loss and headaches before escalating to a coma if left in cold conditions for a long period of time. Interestingly enough, taking the individual out of the cold climate will bring them out of the coma. Much like the latter portion of death due to extreme heat, however, their limbs will begin to curl as they suffer systemic organ failure from freezing temperatures.

Reproduction

Pairing occurs between a male and female Vasilissan, though after the mating has concluded the two partners usually part ways. Bonding and marriage, especially after being exposed to other galactic races, isn't unheard of, emulating a tradition similar to humans, though it is slightly modified in that a third (preferably female) partner of a warm blooded species is included for the purpose of essentially becoming an incubator of sorts.

Male genitals are conventionally similar to that of a male human, though their sex is concealed behind a genital slit with their testes hidden further within. Their sperm will naturally plug itself inside orifices to better facilitate the storage of the sperm cells, and this has been observed to occur within any female womb. A female Vasilissan's sex is roughly similar to a human's as well, possessing a vagina, though like the male it is hidden behind chitin plates. Females also possess a spermatheca, which stores sperm for later fertilization. Once a warm blooded creature (or surrogate mother, if the marriage tradition was followed) has been selected, the female Vasilissan will lay eggs inside of the creature with an ovipositor which, too, is concealed in a slit, and the stored sperm fertilizes the eggs during the process. Given a few weeks, the creature will lay the eggs and the hatchlings will remove themselves from their confinement.

Gender Differences

Physically, females tend to be taller than males, averaging between 7 to 8 feet tall while males manage 6 to 7 feet. Females retain softer facial features and wider hips while males have rougher characteristics as well as spindlier limbs. It should be noted, however, that because Vasilissans are non-mammalian the females are devoid of breasts, having a flat chest.

Socially, Vasilissans tend to wander towards matriarchy, with males working for a female's attention and treating them with respect much more so than what females would care to reciprocate.

Lifespan

The typical lifespan of a Vasilissan is normally within the range of 120 to 130 Earth years, though some have lived past the age of 150. 18 is generally considered the beginning of adulthood.

Diet

Vasilissans are almost entirely carnivorous, though their eating habits are what most would consider normal, and some are capable of allowing small supplementary amounts of plant matter into their diet. Some individuals have reportedly eaten large meals whole, however this is rarely seen in public instances.

Behavior

After seemingly evolving from large spiders on their home planet, and therefore becoming arachnoids, Vasilissans are naturally somewhat territorial, seldom fond of gathering with others that they don't know very well for anything social, one might say they're a reclusive race. While many are exhausted from social interaction, females tend to revel in attention, which ultimately becomes the driving force in their culture. Respect for personal space and possessions - whether it be their own or another individual's - appears to be a tenet of their values. Respecting personal space doesn't seem to be too important to a Vasilissan regarding other races, however.

While often finding interaction with other races somewhat frustrating, they find no issue in conversing with Dionae or Prometheans.

Relations

While not having much of a foreign policy at all, their home world population commonly comes into contact with Humans and Skrell and don't usually have any issues interacting with either of them.

• Humans: Humans are probably the race that Vasilissans interact with most often, though this is perhaps more in pursuit of corporate interests than anything else.
• Skrell: Most interaction with Skrell is within the scope of contracts and pacts, more for science and the pursuit of study than anything relating to economics.
• Unathi: Unathi are cold blooded and therefore don't make for very great incubators.
• Promethean: While somewhat of an insensitive topic, some debate has stirred as to whether Prometheans have any sort of meat and has put the fact that Vasilissans are carnivorous into question. All have at least agreed that they taste good.

Language

The native language of Vasilissans is comprised primarily of clicks, buzzing, and some body language. A subset may include vibrations being channeled into the ground through their metalimbs. Most surfaces will work, though taut silk carries through spectacularly.

Job Preference

Given their non-reliance on others and their hardy chitin, they usually wind up in exploration and scout positions. Even on their home world, most jobs are secluded and alone. They also possess an innate sense for architecture, therefore engineering roles aren't out of the question. In a bigger scene, many may be seen proving themselves to be masterful tailors given how adept they are at weaving silk and accomplishing dexterous tasks with efficiency.

Background

From a temperate jungle planet, the Vasilissans were once a solitary, territorial people until great queens began to subjugate them. These 'Star Queens' ruled with an iron fist, and urged their subjects to expand their territory and to attempt to build great towering cities tall enough to literally reach the stars and their sun, which they believed to be gems of great magical power and spiritual significance. They were eventually picked up and 'uplifted' by NT due to their world being rich in precious metals, but their ability to design and create vast, strong, and luxurious structures with their silk which stood out well among their talents.

Home World

Varilak, the Vasilissan homeworld, is similar to Sol's Earth during it's carboniferous period with thick jungles and forests dominating the majority of land, brandishing an oppressive and humid atmosphere against alien species, including a higher oxygen content. With this in mind, almost all fauna are either giant insectoids, reptilian, or amphibious, though some underdeveloped mammalians are present and were often sought after to lay eggs inside of. Roughly 60% of the planet is ocean, shallower areas housing diverse and immense reefs for fish and marine life, though the deeper portions are mostly unexplored.

Towns, if they can be called that, are usually singular structures built off of enormous trees using strong silk to make up the foundation, with rooms of residence generally being made up of woven plant fabric and silk, though gems and metals are often present and woven into many structures. It's not uncommon to see many structures reaching incredibly high, and the tallest structure recorded was around 984 feet (300 meters) tall, but reportedly fell over. While indeed tall, these tubular structures were also quite wide, nowadays more towards the base, and it's quite necessary given how many tenants need to be fit in these structures.

Perhaps what catches the attention of many TSCs is the fact that there is an unnatural amount of gems and other crystaline structures within the planet's crust, and it is theorized that an anomaly is the cause for such a high density. Precious and rare metals such as gold and platinum are also found in copious quantities, much more so than any ordinary celestial body.

Culture

Before exposure to other species, Vasilissans weren't all that centralized, mostly made up of small groups/tribes scattered around with large populations ruled by queens comprising a few settlements. The queen-ruled swaths focus on literally expanding upward and feeding their population as needed. Dedicated individuals take on specialized tasks such as hunting, building, cooking, etc. While they have jobs, currency is an abstract concept and is mostly disregarded when it comes down to the whole village's survival, though trade and orders from queens are what takes place. Being a matriarchal race, the queens are typically in the center of these cities with luxuries surrounding them, such as gems, rare metals, and carefully woven silk, perhaps even dyed in an array of intense colors. Artisans and jewelers are commonly on call for queens.

Religion

Gems are the central focus of Vasilissan religion, and are believed to be conduits for their lives/soul, and is considered a single concept; to travel to and from this world from a plane of energy that runs everything behind the scenes. This plane is believed to contain everyone who has ever died and, as they travel throughout it, they slowly become one with the universe again. The larger and more pristine the gem, the better it can carry life from the mortal plane to the energy plane as all life comes in and out of the mortal plane through them. Most non-sentient life can be considered worthy of most gems, though Vasilissans believe that no gem on their planet can reasonably carry their own life to and from the energy plane, and - at one point - believed that the stars, particularly their sun, were incredible gems with unimaginable value and abilities, hence everyone's apparent desire to expand upwards. Physical shortcomings aside, Vasilissans carrying polished gems will call upon their ancestors for blessings among other things.

Species on Vorestation
Station Crew Akula - Angels - Demi-Humans - Demons - Dionae - Hanner Lleill - Humans - Lleill - Nevreans - Promethean - Rapala - Sergals - Shadekin - Skrell - Synthetics - Tajaran - Teshari - Unathi - Vasilissans - Vox - Vulpkanin - Xenochimera - Xenomorph-Hybrids - Zorren - Alraune - Custom Species