@somewhere-in-the-dungeon replied to your post

Well, they might have flown there. I feel like a race that could naturally fly might well figure out hot air balloons or even powered aircraft before they figured out boats. Also, aren’t there things like water spiders or pond skimmers? I don’t know how they would feel about the ocean, but they might think about trying to cross. If course, maybe they’re the equivalent of backwoods folks who swear they see Bigfoot/crabs..

Water Spiders and Pond Skimmers on our own planet rely on things like surface tension vs size and a whole bunch of other nonsense. I have a difficult time believing that the Faloran can perform similar function given their size; they’re too big to hold the surface tension of the water; so that’s out.

However, Dragonflies are a thing and they live out that-a-ways (and they are considered to be rather odd) so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the backwoods folk seeing all those strange creatures.

Air travel makes a lot of sense. They would have a knack for that even early on.

The more I think about Ve’s planet the more questions I have to answer. Example:

Thought: All Faloran are Arthropods. While not all species found on Earth are represented, there are a wide variety of Arthropods on Gardenia.

This means: Either Gardenia has sentient Crustaceans or we are weirdly excluding Crustaceans when things like centipedes and arachnids have been mentioned to exist.

Conclusion: Crustaceans are the mermaids of Gardenia. Most Falorans don’t think they’re real (the closer you get to the ocean, the more Podunk things get, as the vast majority of Falorans don’t do well with large bodies of water).

Secondary Conclusion: The Falorans haven’t spent much if any time exploring their own ocean.

Follow up question: Does crustacean society differ greatly from surface Faloran society?

Secondary Follow up Question: is Gardenia a pangea style setup? If no, the other continents have clearly been discovered; how?

Second Breath

The Ana had negotiated a year prior with a still young Birch tree that grew the loveliest pink blossoms (an appealing mutation to the small clan). They were informed the tree would be honored to host their surviving brood as they moved into adulthood. The Ana were overjoyed and preparations for the metamorphosis began not long after the approval. Gifts were lain upon the roots of the bearer. The larva were coaxed to the branches where they fed and slept. Finally, the time came, and the larva spun their silk cocoons. Now all clan Ana could do was wait.

Watcher Tal had been the first to note the soft telltale glow from one of the pods. He opened his wings wide and signaled. Each Faloran who noticed sent the signal forward, and in no time, the great feast was lain out around the tree; tables full of plates full of preserved delicacies kept for just such an occasion. Lights were strung up about the area. Music rang through the valley. The celebration was at hand. The cocoons shifted and glowed; not yet words but recognition of thought. Wea’Ana set up the betting pools. Po put their best sunflower seeds on the quietest pod. A visiting sweet placed a jar of honey on one of the others.

By the time she emerged from her pod, the party had been in swing for some time. The moon was high and bright and the stars drew warm and welcoming images on the endless sprawling void. She held tight to the branch and blinked. She stretched her wings, the warm evening air taking its time in drying the slimy fluids from her long sleep. She breathed. Her lights faded in and out, ever so slowly. She moved her mandibles and let out a few soft clicks. The sound of the party faded, ever so slightly. When it faded back in, she looked around. There were still some who had yet to break out, but eager Flits were already collecting the remains of dried silks still clinging to the tree. She looked at her host, who had finally managed a soft purple greeting glow. She understood it well enough. She’d seen it before, she was sure. She looked at the tree for a long time, her vision wrapped up in its marvel. Through another’s eyes she saw a mother, young and afraid but still with a glow on her face, cradling a child. The child was soft and content. Its heart burned like a star. The world was warm in every way. With a conscious thought she closed one of her eyes. She was brought back to herself and the tree. The first words she flashed were of thanks, and she touched her forehead to the branch before dropping, gently, down to the ground.

She looked out upon the crowds that were celebrating. A smaller flit, gentle black chitin, red and gold wings approached her with wings and arms outstretched. She took a shy step back and folded her wings small against her. The other flit wiggled their antennae and responded with a soft chitter and some quiet flashes. They held out a limb, a request. She took it and tentatively stepped forward. They ran gentle fingers over her fresh chitin, all four eyes scanning every detail. Four eyes. She moved her own and counted as each one responded. Why was she counting five? They made it up to her face, eyes focused on her own eyes; no, on perhaps something else. They did not have to touch the one that was closed for her to open it. A surprised click was followed by a jump back from the investigative flit. She shrunk down again. Had she done something wrong? She allowed her newly opened eye to focus on the other. She did not understand what she saw, but she was aware of how it all felt. Joy, care, and curiosity reflected in that soul; the spark of the star filled her own once more. She managed to close her eye again and the images and the feelings faded. The flit was clapping. They pointed to her eye. The others clapped too. Wings fluttered and shone in celebration. She relaxed, letting her antennae uncurl and her wings come back out a bit.

The flit gestured to themself and chittered. Their name was Fen’Ana. Fen gestured at her with one limb, another held out once more as a request. They chittered and flashed and fluttered their wings. Ve; that was her name. Ve took Fen’s hand and chittered happily. Fen led Ve to one of the tables still filled with food. The feast wouldn’t end until dawn after the last of the cocoons opened.

The beginning of a new adventure, rooted in the celebration of life.

Weird Things I’ve Done for Tabletop Games

I’ve researched “parasites”, “brain parasites”, and “brain parasite treatments” so I can plan how my character is going to try and handle her current problems.

Apparently you need, at minimum an anti-parasitic (of which it appears there are a few to choose from) and a corticosteroid. Judging the situation, she’ll also need surgery.
She’s the medic. I might be doomed.

In the Absence of Time

If it hadn’t been for Scr’th and the gracious pot of tea from the Vit-riders Ve wasn’t sure if she would have had enough concentration to fight against the mounting fever and chills. She’d been sick before, but even now she could tell this was unlike what her people were used to.

The moment to breathe let her check her vitals. Other than the moisture condensing on her chitin there was no sign of waxy residue or dry flaking. She thanked the stars she wasn’t in molting season. She took another sip of tea; it was bitter and dark. She knew they wouldn’t let her poison herself, but it was the best approach she had to killing whatever had gotten into her system. She at least knew she could survive poison.

Something, like invisible strands, pulled her thoughts to the foggy planet floor.

She shook her head and trilled, trying to regain focus. She spread her wings. She felt cold, but she knew she had to be overheating. The Vit-riders had given her a table with familiar tools, apparently unused for years. They would have to do. The Vit-riders had mentioned the pulls to the fog. She would need to buy herself time. Her friends had left to try and help. She couldn’t foil their efforts by falling to one who takes but does not give.

Sedatives had been her specialty.

When she had been studying back on Nuni she had researched sedatives that would be safe for extended spaceflight. She would need it, at best, to last. She would need it, at worst, to keep her unconscious if they needed to crack into her head to remove the parasite. She was glad she kept her medical tools on her. She only hoped she could keep her wits to use the needle on herself. While she was sure that the apparati of the Vit-riders could do something as simple as stabbing her soft bits with a needle, she didn’t want to subject them to that.

They had suffered so much already. She had to help them.

They had records of the previous Falora. They were hard to watch. When one suffers, the whole suffers. Her heart ached and she wondered briefly if that was the parasite or simply the pain of watching her people fall victim to this wretched disease. She let herself believe the latter. The videos themselves were very informative, particularly if one had spent much of their life studying dangerous diseases and pandemics. Even so, Ve found her mind wandering.

If all of this was true she could never go home.

She’d never pass inspection at Moon Base and she could bring in a disease that would destroy her people. The Vitroxians would be left utterly alone and they would wither and rot. Even if she were to die in space, a possibility she had been prepared for upon leaving, her body could not be returned home. She couldn’t return to the cycle. She would be an end to the circle. Her antennae curled close. Her wings faltered. And then…

Something in the vid caught her eye.

She perked up and replayed it. Perhaps…

Excuse me, she turned to the Vit-riders who had been watching her from varied distances. I don’t suppose you have any remains of the ended?

The Vit-riders spoke among themselves before giving their answer.

We don’t want to lose another.

Falora can’t cry but she understood the sentiment. Perhaps there was a chance. There had to be something.

The Answer

Nuni’s tallest building was the Filla Observatory on Violet Hill. It towered over even the oldest trees, the massive telescope reaching up into the heavens. Faloran of all shapes and sizes flew and crawled in and out of the layers as they went about their business; traffic always increased during the soft twilight of the evening. Ve looked out over the railing of the highest tier at the horizon. She liked watching the suns set, first Tal then Fey. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A Singer began their song a few floors down. Another answered their call somewhere in the distance. A breeze blew by the hill, shaking the leaves of working Vitroxians. It was the same story as so many nights before.

A soft clicking pulled Ve from her thoughts. Opening her eyes she turned. Su waved and swayed a gentle greeting, her antennae twitching softly. Ve fluttered her wings and twitched her antennae in response; she clicked, pulsing the light on her wings and curling her antenna close. Su gestured to the stack of papers on the desk Ve was working at and clicked back. Sue’s translucent wings hummed as she moved them. Ve sighed; Sweets were difficult to understand when they were excited, the light of their wings blurred too much. Su didn’t seem to notice and by now Ve had lost the conversation. She let out a sharp click and spread her wings wide. Su jumped, her own wings going silent and her antennae at attention.

Ve let her wings down slowly, blinking a soft pattern across them as they fell. Su let out a long breath and swayed a bit more. She spread her wings as best as any Sweet could, and started again; gesturing at the papers. Ve looked down at the desk and dimmed her wings. She hadn’t gotten any work done; not really. Now it was Su’s turn to get upset. She clicked, loud, and started blinking. Ultimately it devolved into heavy Sweet speak with buzzing wings and movement patterns that Ve still didn’t quite understand. Su was a wonderful companion, but with Ve’s workload she couldn’t take the time to engross in her language. Su stopped, suddenly in front of Ve and curled her antenna. She splayed her arms, tapped a foot, and paused her wings long enough to flash the pressing question of what could have distracted Ve from such an important assignment.

Ve turned to the sky, one wing extended with a slow flash as she scanned the darkening void. She was sure she had seen it; where did it go? She took a deep breath, the warm air letting her head clear, and opened her third eye. The soft pink/violet of the sky glossed over with a pale filter and she kept scanning.

There.

Something was out there, far out in the distance. It was small and gentle and warm. It called out to her, like the sun calls to a Vitroxian; like the Singers call out to all of Draemsil. Ve pointed and closed her eye, the film fading and a star fading into sight. Su let out a few curious clicks. Ve fluttered her wings. She didn’t notice Su rifling through her papers. She nearly jumped out of her chitin when Su tapped her on the shoulder. Ve turned, and found Su holding one of the papers in Ve’s face. Ve took it and analyzed her own work. Her mandibles shifted slightly as she reviewed her studies. Then: an epiphany.

Ve clicked happily and hopped out of her seat. She skipped forward at Su and bumped her head against the smaller Faloran’s yellow fluff. Su chirped in surprise before breaking out into small, but happy, wiggles.

They had found the answer. Now all they had to do was get it past the Graces.