NationStates Jolt Archive

Hi ho, folks.

I'm putting out feelers for a thread idea. It's something like a romance thread. Yeah, I know. "But aren't those done to death already?" Of course they have. But what would make it different? In the Sakkran Empire, marrying, dating and even fooling around with someone not of the species is considered, at best, shameful and at worst, punishable by complete exile.

What I propose is that, say, a tourist to the Empire meets and strikes up conversation with a Sakkran male/female. I'm not sure what social standing they'll have yet, or what sub-genus of Sakkran they are (I.E. mainline Sakkran, Deep One or Grass-Walker. TG for more info on those if you wish). They may be an Artisan, Hunter, Trooper etc. I thought that, since there's a market for Elf-Licking (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=305590), that it could be an Elven person might get a bit to attached to one of his/her regular customers, but that seems pretty exclusionary. So i'm opening the possibilities to all races and nationalities known and otherwise.

The thread would go through their meeting, talking, forming bonds and the consequences that follow, wether it be a full scale international incident or not. It's an idea brewing in my head since other threads i'm in are moving quite slowly now. BTW, the Herpetological Empire is FT, just to clear up that bit of confusion. Any ideas or insights to the possibilities?

Consider me interested, seeing as that in Imitora, the majority of the population is borderline xenophobic with an intense dislike and trust of anyone not Homo sapien. Cross species relationships (i.e. Human/Elf, Human/Cat Person, Human/Pet Iguana) are similarly looked down upon, although we don't quite exile for it. Although that is a novel idea, one that I should look into...

Sounds interesting. I wonder how a xenophobic society would have a tourist visiting foreign lands, or vice versa? Also, should it be a male or female reptilian? There are pronounced physical and psychological differences, after all. If you need anything cleared up about that, lemme know. Not only this, but is there a possibility of other people being involved somehow, and how? So many questions.

Agreed, many options. I'm good with playing either male or female, and tourism is good in Imitora, but, well, to quote an old buddy of mine, "Diplomatic Imunity in Imitora is the level of protection of the Kevlar vest you get from the government." That and "never bet against an Imitoran with a gun." Lets see if we can get some more people in on this.

I'm interested as well.

Reads the linked thread on Elf Licking and falls over laughing - of course I am entirely stone on pain meds at the moment - but that is just about the funniest thing I've come across in a long time...


And I know Imitorans...my gads the diplomatic incident that would ensue is not the least bit funny...

How ever the Tanaran Empire is on the other end of the scale from Imitora - not quite xenophile but damn close- we have many races with in the Empire and they tend to get along quite well.

And Imitora, while you may have Kevlar vests, take a gander at this!

Dragon Skin (http://www.pinnaclearmor.com/body-armor/sov.php) I'm drooling and imagining a post modern tech version ( much less a future tech one!)

Hmmm... hearing of these things, how about we have this take place in a 'neutral' location, such as in Tanara or Theao. Too make it spicy, perhaps a minor beauracrat that's recently been making a few headlines on the national scene for either spearheading dramatic reforms in government or for being particularly ascerbic in some way?

If it helps any, i'll put up some of the notable physical/psychological differences.
Firstly, the females here tend to be a bit bigger on the whole than males, as well as more aggressive.
Sakkran blood runs blue being copper based, as opposed to red iron-based blood.
Being cold-blooded, temperature differences can affect their level of activity and temperment.
Each hand has two fingers and two thumbs. Each foothas two pronounced fore-toes and two toes on the rear of the foot to provide balance.
The tail is 1/3 the size of the body, and the base of the tail is where the reproductive organs are. For running, the tail is raised for balance and swifter turning while the chest and abdomen areas lower.
They have 72 teeth on two rows for both the upper and lower jaws. These never stop growing, but do fall out with relative frequency, only to regrow after a couple of weeks.
Scale coloring can vary wildly, from light sand color to obsidian black and everything inbetween.
Male Sakkran Headshot. (http://www.5amfunnies.com/sakkra/images/S-head.jpg) Females (http://www.5amfunnies.com/sakkra/Character/Shaar.JPG) have no neck-crest, but a dewlap protruding from their chin to their neck.

Anything else anyone wants to ask about?

Since there aren't any questions at the moment, i'll ask some clarifying things.

Where and how should they meet?

Are there any Imitoran cultural points I should be apprised of in an OOC or IC manner?

It would also seem to me that some of the posts involved would take place in IRC, or we'd have a ton of one-line posts, which annoy me to no end.

For the purposes of this idea, i'm thinking of going with a Sakkran female. They're larger and sturdier than the males, and more aggressive. Males tend to be smaller, faster, more nimble and more cerebral. It just felt like going with someone hot-blooded (in a descriptive sense) would be much more interesting.

If it initiates on neutral ground, what info on that territory would be helpful and/or insightful?

I'll have some cultural stuff tossed up about Imitora here shortly, I have to go take one of my CPR/First Aid tests, shouldn't take to long, and once I get back, I'll post something up. I'm not on IRC, I can set it up if you need be, and I also have, and use quite regularly AIM and MSNM.

Understood. I don't use AIM anymore since I got sick of smut-bots constantly interrupting me when i'm in a conversation, and too many bugs and ad-bots snuck in through my old MSN account that I just got rid of it to save my sanity. Send me a TG when you get the IRC set up. No rush, though. It's probably gonna take a few moments to set the stage right.

Actually, before I post anything, what would you like to know about Imitora, what culture points would be most needed? Also, how do I get on IRC?

Cultural points:

Things like views on non-humans, mating rituals (haha, I know it sounds funny), masculinity vs femininity, political archetype, religious majority. Things that make the people who they are in the larger sense, I suppose.

And if you google mIRC, it points you to the download page. EVerything after that is a guided tutorial I think.

If you want to use Theao as a meeting point, I'm open to the idea.

Sounds fine. I will, of course, need geographical info and such suited to a tourist-level being. No national secrets and such. Let's go with info that's readily available, even if it's government propaganda. And if you have characters on the ready for this kind of scenario, that'll be sweet.

To begin with Theao is composed of two worldships(each larger than the Moon, smaller than Mars). The population is divided between the two. There are layers that are designed to essentially mimic jungles, savannah, mountains, tropical islands and most other types of terrain found on Earth.

As these layers are all built in the same section of each worldship, it has become a vacation spot with all the usual trappings of a tourist destination(theme/water parks, malls, museums(and one that may be rather interesting to visit) ect).

There's a high prevelence(between 8-10%) of AS(variant of AIs) which are full citizens and generally it's a high-tech enviroment, thought since some people prefere a low-tech life there are areas that are NFT, PMT, MT and PT.

Hope this is coherent and easily understandable, and feel free to ask any questions.

Gotcha. I just didn't wanna do some long write up, have you read through it, and answer absolutely none of your questions.

Veiws on non humans very from area to area. For the most part, more human than not non humans (i.e. elves or cat people in a sense) are generaly tollerated and in someways accepted easily into society. In the more 'liberal' (as far as liberal goes in Imitora) cities, meaning the larger, more international cities, it is rarely even taken of note if someone is non human. In the smaller and more rural areas, treatment and attitudes get worse as you progress down the line from human->human looking->looks kinda llike a human in general ideas->obviously not human. However, even in some of the more cultural cities, from the images I've seen, a Sakkran (is that the proper term?) would be generaly watched and regarded with suspiscion...sus...I hate that word.

Mating rituals, well...standard human rituals I guess you would say. Two people meet, they chat it up and connect, maybe start dating, and who knows from there. How our star crossed couple would meet would need to be worked out. Masculinity vs. femininity is somewhat, not quite but somewhat, older in ideals. Women are seen as the 'tender gender' and often given a little breathing room as such. However, there isn't a real big split between male and female, and females are allowed to serve in the military except for the IMSPECWAR, but there are trial programs for such an idea. Males are required to do at least four years of public service (police/firefighter/military/paramedics) before being allowed to vote, while female the time served is shorter, and the options for women are a bit less dangerous. Sports teams are also seperated by sex.

Politically, Imitora is fairly conservative, but I wouldn't say republican in the American sense. Low taxes, small government intervention, very much based around the idea of free will vs. responsibility. You can do what you want, but if you do it, you have to take responisbility for your actions. There is no welfare program, the majority of health care and schooling is privately funded. The majority of Imitorans are very nationalistic, but not violently so. About 75% of the population adhere to a religion, but there is no state mandated religion. Break down of the 75% is 80% Christian (Mostly Catholic), 10% Jewish, 5% Muslim, and 5% mixed otherwise.

Most of the action taking place in Imitora would probably be done in Northampton, the capital city. Northampton is the cultural center of Imitora, as well. To get an idea, take Las Vegas, Miami, Tokyo, and a little bit of New York, mix in Newport from Need For Speed Underground 2, and you pretty much have Northampton. It is the home to two of the largest universities in Imitora, Northampton University (the largest in Imitora) and University of Imitora, Northampton (third largest). Every major buisness in Imitora has an office or headquarters in Northampton, but there are no industrial areas.

While the countless bars, nightclubs, theatres, and other venues are often reason enough to most to visit Northampton, the real attraction is the automotive culture, which flurishes throughout Imitora as a whole. The nightlife itself revolves around street racing, car clubs, and auto shows. Last year's Northampton International Auto Show, which caters more to the tuning and aftermarket crowd than manufacturers, turned into a two week long party that swamped the entire southern sector of Northampton, and at one point, riot police were called in.

Anything else, just ask, I'm sure I left something out that would be usefull.

That sounds fairly easy to understand. My character would probably loiter about in the PM district to make it easy for all tech levels. My people tend towards bio-engineered symbiotes, so they'll be present but nothing wanky. Simply translator symbiotes, bio-monitoring ones and stuff that's basically equal to civilian grade stuff.

And what's so interesting about the one thing that you mentioned?

Ah, what you do with bio, I do with tech as a large number of citizenry utilize either implants or enhancements on a daily basis.

A museum/art gallery known as the Museum of Erotic Art, a sprawling building composed of numerous wings, galleries and annels. Carries the pleasures of over a thousand worlds grouped thematically and in ever-increasing intensities. Every human and a fairly large number of non-human and alien tastes are explored, some like the Hall of Death that the average person finds quite distrubing. A number of exhibits also include auditory or olfactory stimulation beyond that of the visual.

Just thought I might also want to add, as part of either their upbringing, lifestyle, or something in the water, men in Imitora are ALL fiercely protective of their girlfriends/wives. To the point of inducing great amounts of pain or violence.

With the information you've both given me, seeds of interesting ideas have germinated.

In the view of the NS World, we here in the Herpetological Empire aren't entirely the most cultured lot. In as such, the Dean of Academics at Hreer University will introduce a new program called Extra-Species Cultural Studies. Before the program could be formally recognized it would need to be researched if it's worthwhile to pursue this. My character could be a young grad student (which translates into 50-65 years old for us) set with the task of performing this research.

It could begin at Theao's Museum of Erotic Art since numerous cultures, human and otherwise, would have their works displayed. Afterwards, Northampton's imprompt auto-shows could be visited under the guise of studying foreign underground youth culture. This is a germ of an idea, but it might warrant some consideration.

Wiki sites seems to be down, or i'd give you a link to it for more detailed information.

Sounds interesting. Do you want any additional information about anything(non-classified of course)?

Let's seeee......

Well, my character's going there with minimal info, as we're really not the tourist-type. But things one might get in a travel brochure or something. Places to eat and drink, nightlife, appropo lodgings, sights to see and means of transport to all these things. Other than that, i'll feel it out as I go along.

sights to see
For lodgings:
Hotel/Motel 4* would be most expensive, but also able to provide any exotic requirements a customer needed(Hotels would also have things like room service and other luxuries).
Hotel/Motel 1* would be the basics, double bed style, able to provide common exotic requirements.
Backpacker would be cheapest and most basic.
Hotel/Motel 2/3* would be between 4/1 in quality and service

Eateries:
These would range from top of the line, masterchefs able to whip up foods from half a dozen different biospheres to a road-side burger/hotdog stand type. The lower level foods will have an asian feel to them, the upper levels will be more european/western. There would be a few resturants for exotic generic foods, sort of the equivilant to a sushi stand in a city with few japanese people.

Transportation:
Car-types: Impossible to crash, but not exactly designed for large variantions on the basic human template
Elevators: Designed for transportation between levels
Bus-types: Likely the best method
Also bullet-train types for long distances/interlevel travel
If she knows how to surf and is willing to take/pass a test, there are surfboard/skateboard crosses that have a built in AG engine

Nightlife:
Basically the basics. Nightclubs, movies, floorshows(magicians/comedians), concerts ect.

Sights:
Amusement parks: Think Disney world, waterworld, 6 flags, local carnivals/country fairs supersized type places
A couple memorials
Museums of various types(living history, science, the Erotic Art museum)
Zoos with creatures from hundred of worlds(Jurassic park type layout)
Skateparks for ATs(heavily moterized inline-skates) and hoverboards(smaller version of the transport type)
Walking/Riding trails thought mountains, badlands ect.

Ah, that information's gonna be good to have. As for the surfing/skating thing, i don't really see that happening. The structure of her legs don't allow for it. Plus the claws on her feet might just tear up the thing bad.

And just so you guys know, she has a good sense of smell as half of understanding her native language is deducing what scents her pheromones give off. For instance, if you sniff out a faint trace of cinnamon, it's a good idea to step back. It's a combat scent.

In the view of the NS World, we here in the Herpetological Empire aren't entirely the most cultured lot. In as such, the Dean of Academics at Hreer University will introduce a new program called Extra-Species Cultural Studies. Before the program could be formally recognized it would need to be researched if it's worthwhile to pursue this. My character could be a young grad student (which translates into 50-65 years old for us) set with the task of performing this research.

Well, my character could be an Imitoran Marine enjoy much earned R&R off planet (I vary my tech from RP to RP to fit the situation, but militarily I am FT with a PMT society)

Afterwards, Northampton's imprompt auto-shows could be visited under the guise of studying foreign underground youth culture. This is a germ of an idea, but it might warrant some consideration.
This could work well too, the presence of cops showing up would give a reason for the two to be put together, and a relationship developing from there. Since Imitora is planet side, and it looks that Theao is off planet, they could retreat back to Theao once shit got hot in Imitora. Just a warning though, being a car guy, my posts that are car heavy tend to get detailed to the point of boredom, but if you want to have them meet in Imitora for the first time, I will tone it back. I'm good like that.

Like I said, society wise, Imitora is PMT by choice, not force. They prefer gassoline powered cars and trucks and what not, though mass transit uses hybrid synergy tech, and some hydrogen. Computers are fairly advanced, and so are materials used in construction, but nothing really uber. The one main FT facet of society is the lack of Nuclear/Coal/Water/etc. power plants, its all done by plasma now. And AntiMatter is used in our military weapon systems (Nukes and bio warefare ar soooooo passé), but a small amount of research into feasible energy production from AntiMatter has begun.

If ya'll have any more questions, go ahead and toss them up, but as of 8pm CST tonight, I won't be on till Monday, its my one year aniversary this weekend, so we got some good romantic one on one stuff planned.

I don't think I have any other questions, really. Right now i'm just working on a touch of character development while I try to meet my deadlines and keep the family from setting the house on fire. If you want to do the initial post to start it up before I do, that'd work out. I'm up to my eyeballs in work here.

And good fortune with your anniversary planning. A weekend out is a nice thing.