Sslik Roleplaying discussion, all welcome

[imported_Ssilmath]

Lately I've been doing little but roleplay in two chat channels while mining ore...And it has come to my attention that there are several disparities in how people RP Sslik...Of course, that is cool, having different attitudes and such, but some say that they have red blood, others green...Nobody really knows the history for sure, nor attitudes that Sslik would have...AE hasn't really given us much to work with...

So I am proposing that everybody who RP's a Sslik or has some input on the matter, please myself, Ahkashar and Claniss on Friday the 29th, at 9 PM Eastern time, or PM/email me if you can't make it and have some ideas...

We would like to discuss at least physiology, psychology, history and some basic mannerisms and attitudes


P.S.

Could Ssrydian or Zideon or another dev/WM please attend? This way, we have somebody that knows a lot more than we do there to point out mistakes or give us some info that we didn't have

[Ahkaskar]

I will post a log of the discussion after it completes. We do not know how many discussions this will take before we have "everything" determined, so when you come, have some times in mind for another meeting.

[Gilresk]

OOC: I'd be more than happy to attend. I've still have many questions myself that I would like answered by a Dev. They must have a pretty good idea since I know Ssrydian plays one sometimes (when he's not a chicken) and I recall at least one other Dev also playing one.

[Ikfel]

None of the races has been told what color their blood is, or much else in the way of simple physical facts. Personally I would vote dryads as most likely to have green blood.

Of course most the other races have a lot more external lore to go by to form a background for their roleplaying. The Sslik don't have much more to go on than the Sleestak from "Land of the Lost". Have you considered walking stiffly and just hissing?

[Ahkaskar]

Can you think of a reason for Dryads to have copper-based blood?

[Ikfel]

Well in common lore drayds are closely related to trees. If you speculate that they are actually mobile plants rather than animals, you could say they have chlorophyll or a related compound in their blood. Chlorophyll contains magnesium, so copper isn't actually necessary to get green blood (or sap).

[Walter]

I think we should cut Sslimath open and find out.

[Korsh]

Elves have green blood too. Everyone knows thatthe outward manifestation of green blood is pointy ears. [:P]

[Ahkaskar]

I wouldn't really call clorophyll an equivalent to blood.

[imported_Ssilmath]

I reccomend that all of the RPers of the various races get together and try to figure out some constants...All it can do is enrich the game and encourage the Devs

[Daanai]

I am very interested in finding out more about Sslik roleplay storylines, in particular the relationship between Saris and Sslik.

My own personal backstory has me living among the Sslik and being named by them. I look forward to hearing what you come up with.


Ssarl Pern

Ranger/Smith

[Dranar]

Oh, I love this, and I will do my best to attend the discussion...

With Dranar I have delved quite deeply into the physiology of the Sslik and also resarched as much as I could in game about the Sslik and Saris, here is a little bit about them that I know (Either from finding at some point in game, in manual, or read it somewhere).

The Sslik are one of the "Younger races" meaning they have not been around nearly as long as other races. They originally were distrusted and disliked by the other races until their arrival with the Saris and they made their home on Lesser Aradoth. The Sslik have generally been a more nomadic race (until now) and more warlike, but some of them are trying to learn Saris ways and peace and calmer things (I believe one of the Sslik in the Saris guard house with the liutenent or other saris talks about such).

The reason for the Lesser Aradoth bridge being destroyed and part of the reason of the distrust of the Saris and Sslik by the other races is the Withered Aegis destroyed the bridge so that they could not assist in the battle of Tazoon or in defeating the Aegis at all. This had the side effect of their land not being nearly as blighted, and making them a little more prosperous and have less communication with the other races as well.

As for the exact union between Saris and Sslik I cannot say much for sure other than the Saris accepted them despite their oddities.

Sslik physiology, well what is known and apparent is that they bear their own eggs. This could mean they are hermaphrodites, or completely asexual and reproduce in such a fashion (Though I would imagine their is some way to spread their DNA between each other in order to allow for varience amidsts the species, else they would just be laying clones... Even Single Cell Ameboe have a way of sharing genetic material).

Blood Color really comes down to contents of the body and blood. I would assume they have red blood, of course it might be possible to have green blood as they are a regenerative creature, which could mean and make for a drastically differrent blood composistion to normal humans, of course it could be related to cells and such too... I fear I do not know how a lizard can completely regenerate it's tail when lost, for example, though I would think the basis for that would be similar unto the Sslik's natural regnerative abilities, something that a lot of reptiles in general have (And, I think reptiles have red blood too, yes?).

~Dranar

[Ikfel]

A quick web search indicates that all vertebrates have red blood containing hemoglobin. So that includes mammals, reptiles, amphibians and even fish. However invertebrates don't generally use hemoglobin or have red blood. Crustaceans, mollusks, and cephalopods use hemocyanin, containing copper, which is blue or cyan in color.

Since I suspect Sslik are more closely related to reptiles and mammals than to clams, lobsters, or squid, I would say they have red blood. Dryads are still up in the air though. They sure look kind of like bugs to me.

[Gilresk]

Sslik physiology, well what is known and apparent is that they bear their own eggs. This could mean they are hermaphrodites, or completely asexual and reproduce in such a fashion (Though I would imagine their is some way to spread their DNA between each other in order to allow for varience amidsts the species, else they would just be laying clones... Even Single Cell Ameboe have a way of sharing genetic material).

It is possible though that rather than relying on sharing genetic material that they instead have a very high rate of mutation when they reproduce. This would allow for variance as well as evolution. It might also be that just a short strand of the DNA is highly susceptible to mutation which is why they don't look like outright mutants or have many stillbirths as it were.

[Hal`cyon Sskyler]

I'll definatly be there for this, my only character is a sslik, and I like to roleplay with Hal every day. I too have pondered different things about the race, it's certainly the most original and interesting in my opinion (one of the reasons I chose it).

For some quick sharing of ideas though, I believe it'd be wholly possible for their blood to be red or green. I've been told green before, and there isn't any reason some sort of compound in this races blood could cause a greenish tint just as much as hemoglobin causes the tint in "real" mammal blood. It's up to the developers to decided how they fell about this.

One thing about regeneration though, I'll pass out this link for everyone:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mnewlimb.html

To give you the jist of it, the reason most animals can't regenerate body parts is because their cells have just lost that "plasticity".

However, there isn't really much stopping an organism from losing it's ability to grow a body. Look at an embryo, a single cell has all the information needed inside itself to make nerve, muscle, bone, heart, etc. cells. I couldn't see why a species could just hang onto that ability for its entire lifetime.



As for reproduction though... hehe that's dirty. Err, again it's up in the air here. Everything I've ever read said "asexual", which to me means they are capable of reproducing entirely on their own, without any external "intrusions". Whether there is some form of mutation in that process that would produce changes would seem to be a necessary requirement.

I'd like to see a Dev at this if possible, it'd bring a lot to the whole experience for me.

[Ahkaskar]

I was actually told that apparently, there were Sslik around for that "city in the desert" that surfaced before the merge. I never managed to get out there and figure out, though. Heck, I don't even know where it is.

[Pandra]

*smiggles Ahkaskar*

Saris took in the Sslik 'cause Sslik are fun to snuggle [;)]

[imported_Ssilmath]

Bumping this, and posting an announcement on the general boards...

[Ellah]

Personally, I like my Idea, although I'm a bit biased.

When a Sslik obtains no severe injury for an extended pried of time, it lays an Egg. that egg is highly susceptible to changes in the Environment, such as temperature, humidity, etc. This would explain why not all Sslik come from one mold and look the same.

Furthermore, the Presence of others is required for the Egg to hatch, because if you can reproduce, defend and generally do everything by yourselves, why would you form a Society ?

From the evolitionary standpoint that would make sense, because as long as you are too weak to hunt without getting hurt, you will not reproduce, thus Darwinism is followed. Maybe in a Society like that, having an Egg and offspring could be a "Holy Gift" and therefore also a Status Symbol ?

[Vesuvius]

Dranar wrote:

Blood Color really comes down to contents of the body and blood. I would assume they have red blood, of course it might be possible to have green blood as they are a regenerative creature, which could mean and make for a drastically differrent blood composistion to normal humans, of course it could be related to cells and such too... I fear I do not know how a lizard can completely regenerate it's tail when lost, for example, though I would think the basis for that would be similar unto the Sslik's natural regnerative abilities, something that a lot of reptiles in general have (And, I think reptiles have red blood too, yes?).

If you want to use RL biology concepts, the reason blood appears red is due to the iron based hemoglobin (hemoglobin is the active protien in redblood cells that binds to oxygen and carries it through the bloodstream to be stored in myoglobin, another protien present in muscle cells). Hemoglobin takes on a red appearance in the presence of oxygen because of the iron.

So, unless Ssliks did not use hemoglobin to transfer and carry oxygen through the bloodstream, they would have red blood just as everyone else if you wanted to base it off of RL biology.

Regardless, this IS a fantasy world, and personal things such as one's blood color is completely up to the player. Even a human player could come up with some kind of RP background to explain why they had neon purple blood if they really wanted ;)