>>26604934
A, it is the best option for life to evolve near.

C) the K class star

you know shit about world building

E.

Red dwarf. Violent outbursts, and planets locked by tidal forces, so one side always basks in the scorching light of the sun, the other being eternally dark.

>>26605025
But that doesn't matter, we already know that there will be life either way.

F) A class blue star plus brown dwarf binary system.

>>26605097
That sounds neat, i give my vote to this fellow and rescind >>26605025

>>26605205
6 planets, the life supporting one which will likely be extremely close to that weak of a sun, a couple gas giants, and a frigid ice waste planet far away from the star and another planet close to the sun which may or may not have life.

>>26605233
That post seems to have dissapeared. Hrrrm.

>>26605249
Because I derped when I saw >>26605210
One moment.

>>26605097
>>26605210
Gets it.

We have a blue-white star ~1.5x the size and ~6.0x the energy output of Sol which serves as the sun of our World and a brown dwarf binary star pair visible at night as the brightest star in the sky.

Now for how many planets in our system:

A) 9
B) Just our World
C) 2
D) Write-in

>>26605323
D) 16

>>26605323
D) 7.3
the 0.3 can be some planetoid with an irregular orbit or some shit.

>>26605343
Whythefucknot.jpg

>>26605400
Is this a vote for >>26605343 then?

>>26605492
Yessir.

Rolled 15, 15, 1 = 31

>>26605343

We have 16 planets then. Rolling highest of 3d16 to determine which, ordered outward from the blue sun, is Home. (weighted to counter the extreme energetic level of the sun)

>>26605534
Why not just do the one that's closest? We could have super rad energy people. Actually, fuck that, have them swim in the roaring blue plasma of the sun.

Rolled 5, 1, 3 = 9

>>26605534
Rolls

>>26605587
>super rad energy people
I chuckled.

>>26605534
Ha. Sweet. This is gonna have some neat little effects on our world.

Next: What type(ie. general material composition) and size of planet is home?

A) Earth-like
>A variety of metals, rotating metal core generating a magnetosphere, aiding it further in defense from the sun.
B) Dead Earth-like
>Materials similar to Earth but without a molten core and thereby no magnetosphere.
C) Gas Giant
D) Write-in

>>26605636
Gas giant.

>>26605636
Gas giant.

>>26605636
Gas Giant.

>>26605649
>>26605675
>>26605702
You know, I was liking the idea of it myself. So we have a gas giant with a small, gently rotating planetoid core. It has no magnetosphere but instead is defended from solar bombardment, not only by distance, but also by its extremely dense atmosphere.

So then, high gravity, I take it?

>>26605770
No, low gravity. Itty bitty little coer, big as fuck atmosphere

>>26605795
You kinda need gravity to keep that atmosphere from just wandering off.

>>26605770
Like a giant ball of spongecake.

>>26605770
Gas giants with hydrogen tend to have big as fuck magnetospheres, thanks to rotating and hydrogen having metal like properties under high pressure. So we should have a big magnetosphere, as our sun is big, bad and blue.

>>26605770
Both High gravity and an enormous atmosphere made out of lighter than air gasses, we need to have the deep high gravity planet for possible mineral use but the atmosphere gives us space to work with.

>>26605820
Yep.

Though the gravity is notably higher than Earth's and would be considered crushing by comparison, it is not so strong as to inhibit life from emerging on the surface of Home's complex and notably dense core. Coupled with its slow orbit, this allows Home to retain its immense atmosphere.

As for that core:

A) Earth's radius
B) 2/5 Earth's radius
C) 4x Earth's radius
D) Write-in

>>26605922
20x Earth's radius

>>26605922
D)

1.5X Earth's core

>>26605922
Life could take root in the atmosphere too. you don't need a core for that.

>>26605891
>Ahh didn't think of that. Okay then Home -does- have a significant magnetosphere.

>>26605962
>Absolutely true, which is why we haven't yet gotten to the formation of life. I subconsciously jumped the gun on that mention of life emerging on the core. Retcon that for now.

>>26605922
We're not getting any kind of consensus here but for what it's worth my vote is for B) 2/5 Earth's radius

>>26605954
Is that earth's -core- a typo? Did you mean earth's radius?

>>26605954
Second.

>>26606116
Yes

>>26606096
Ok, I'll change my vote to >>26605954 in light of >>26606130

>>26605922
How does the core impact anything? I'm just asking.

>>26606197
Gravity and mineral access is my guess

>>26606130
>>26606127
Okay.

Home's core has a radius of 9556.5km and a surface area of 1,147,645,062km^2 (2.25x the surface area of Earth)

As for its topology:

>Brainstorm time. (Remember there's no plate tectonics without a molten mantle) What is the core's surface like? Do we have shallow fluid oceans? Was there a rotating core at one point which provided seismic activity to shape the face of Home's core into what it has become permanently at the time life emerges?

>>26606264
The surface is a perfectly smooth sphere, polished to a mirror shine by particulates in the atmosphere and howling winds and super-storms.

>>26606264
If you want to go with life on the surface of the core, then consider the huge pressure and temperature on it's surface. The liquids might be somekind of hydrocarbonic seas or even metallic oceans.
The topology might tend to be flat, because of the high gravity and atmospheric effects.

>>26606197
>Why the core matters
Depending on the nature of the atmosphere and astronomical conditions surrounding the planet, the topography of the core could be one of a sentient species' only viable navigational references. The size of the core also impacts available surface area for mining or possibly living.

>>26606312
Was thinking about that. It would have some neat implications later on.

>>26606342
Hmm if there once was seismic activity which shaped the face, only for erosion to have long since worn it smooth, would deposits of heavier elements resisted the erosion to condense as the remaining low-lying land-masses and the lighter particulate have been deposited at the bottom of the shallow seas?

>>26606363
Thanks!

Now, could we have some kind of geysers? I like geysers. Also, I don't know anything about topology, so be patient or tell me to STFU.

Going with a combination of >>26606312 and >>26606342

One moment.

>>26606421
Well to put it simple, the only higher points would made of erosion resistant material, and even than they would not be that high. If this is a gas giant the atmosphere near the core would be liquefied hydrocarbons or semi crystalic/semi liquid hydrogen thanks to the high atmospheric pressure.

>>26606606
The surface of Home's core is a dully glittering mosaic of shallow liquid methane seas and low land-masses covered in a thick sheet of heavy, metal-rich soil.

On to life:
>Where does it begin?

A) In the methane seas
B) On/in the land
C) In the atmosphere
D) Write-in?
>I can't imagine a fourth option but please, do try.

>>26606780
D) All of the above

>>26606780
On the land: crystaline lifeforms.
In the methane seas: carbon based life forms.
In the air: in pockets of liquid water, carbon based.

So basically everywhere!

>>26606780
B) In the land. Looking forward to them dwarfs. I have plenty of time.

>>26606780
Seas

Rolled 1

>>26606812
>>26606826
>>26606827
>>26606919

Hmm I can't deny it would be cool as fuck to have all 3.

Okay rolling weighted (since atmospheric got one vote) 1d5 to see which emerges first.

1,2 = Land;
3,4 = Seas;
5 = Skies;

Rolled 1

>>26607040

>>26607040
Hmm so crystalline lifeforms? I regret I don't know a great deal about how they would work. Silicon-based? Would >>26606826 be willing to field this one? Do you have a good idea of how to envision them?

>>26607158
They can be brittle insect like crystal life forms that bud out crystals, which grow into their children.

Crystalline turtles!

>>26607205
Ahhh cool. So then they'd have evolved from some equivalent of basic prokaryotic organisms, nay? And there'd be a DNA equivalent allowing for random mutation in the crystalline replication process. Let's say they metabolize silicon compounds.

As for shape, insect-like is a good place to start. A little lump of organs, extremely simplistic locomotion and appendages sufficient only to consume food...

>>26607335
Now as for senses:

A) Near-human with slight variations
B) Utterly alien

And feel free to suggest specific variations. I was considering their vision actually covering a much higher spectrum than ours with a slight overlap, due to this being more advantageous as a result of the spectrum of their sun. They'd see as low as most blue and all violet light, well into the ultraviolet range.

I can see moth-like antennae once used for collecting additional particulate out of the wind as food, evolved into very sensitive feelers.

>>26607485
i'd think a silicon based insect would be sensitive to all EM radiation as well as just light.

I'm pretty sure that writing the entire planet first is top-down creation rather than bottom-up. Planets are important things after all.

>>26607485
Since they are crystalline and all, I was thinking they'd need some sort of deep air and chemical receptor that detects cracks in the crystal indirectly and triggers crystal proliferation.

>>26607562
It's more of a "let's start with this and see where we end up" vs. "here's what we want, how do we make it happen?".

>>26607485
I don't think they need to taste, smell or touch.

>>26607521
It would depend on what wavelengths of light dominated the environment in which it evolved. Considering Home's blue sun, most of its light would be around the very top of human-visible light range and well into the UV range.

>>26607599
Hmm that is a good point. So mayhap they have, effectively, a "skin" and their crystalline exoskeleton. The "skin" would be a fine underlayer which is structure such that it constantly (so long as its simplistic nerve-equivalents continue to receive stimulus from the wind hammering the crystalline plates) grows more crystalline armor at a rate roughly equivalent to that at which the environment erodes it.

To accomodate the brutal winds, I'd imagine they'd be a generally low-lying creature.

Now, let's nail down a form they'd have at the point of developing primate-level intellect and tool usage.

They'd need fine manipulators:

A) Hands or aught similar
B) Some form of flexible, cilia-covered appendage
C) Write-in

Rolled 2

>>26607831
>B) Some form of flexible, cilia-covered appendage
Squiggly beasts!

>>26607846
I take it the pseudopod they grab stuff with is normally hidden under the exoskeleton. It's squishy after all.

>>26607831
B). Cilia.
Not enough aliens with Cilia.
It makes the most sense considering they are a low-lying creature.

>>26607954
>Crystalline
>Insectoid
>Low-lying
>Two appendages adapt to be fine manipulators, yet they remain locomotive with their remaining four legs (Low-lying so they'd need four for balance, especially in wind)

The first sentient species to emerge on Home is a glittering creature with a body of crystal, somewhat resembling an armored mantis with long, deceptively elegant antennae upon its head and two long, thin four-pronged manipulators issuing forth from beneath two plates on its thorax. These two delicate limbs are covered in fine, non-motile cilia, making them extremely sensitive to touch. Two tough mandibles protruding from the head around the mouth allow the creature to feed and, with its quickly emerging advanced intellect, perform rugged tasks to which its fine manipulators are not suited.

>>26608300
As for communication

A) Auditory
>They emit sound through grinding their mandibles together to create shrill vibrations which are distinguishable from the winds and sensed with their antennae
B) Visual
>Physical gestures
C) Write-in

>>26608427
Pheromones. They are insects after all.

>>26608584
Hmm... How would that have worked with the winds, I wonder.

>>26608688
Means its impossible to keep a secret

>>26608688
Ha. True. But can you really form complex symbols out of pheromones? They'd need to be able to create at least a dozen or more unique symbols to form a language from, I'd imagine.

>>26608754
You can try a combination of quantity of a specific pheromone and using pheromones in combos. Hell, if DNA can code that much information with only 4 bases, complex pheromone communication doesn't seem that hard.

>>26608809
Hmm... true. Oh! Differing proportions of a few bases emitted simultaneously could form unique symbols in a pheremone alphabet.

Now how do they reproduce? >>26607205 suggested budding so asexual reproduction gets 1 vote by default.

A) Asexually
B) Sexually

>>26608427
A

>>26608910
Both. Asexual through budding when conditions are suitable. Occasional sexual reproduction to spice up the gene pool.

>>26608910
Both.

>>26608943
These creatures are hermaphroditic, allowing them to form the crystalline seed which grows shortly into a new creature both as a genetic clone of one parent, or as a hybrid of two parents. A successful individual, when allowed a surplus of food, will locate a small burrow once inhabited by one of numerous other species and plug up the hole approximately one body-length away from the surface, store a large quantity of edible material within, and seat a seed upon the stockpile before covering over the entrance.

Only a few thousand years prior to the first significant usage of tools by the creatures, a behavior began to crop up in the species wherein the seed burrow is dug significantly larger by the rearing parent and, after placing the seed, the parent seals the burrow from within and enters a largely dormant state in order to guide the burrow from predators or reseal it if the elements prematurely destroy the barrier.

>>26609218

As they grew more intelligent, one would imagine they would come to dwell beneath the surface, as it provides shelter from the elements, as well as a wealth of life ripe for predation.

Now we should hold off on exploring the growth of their culture until we flesh out a few other types of lifeforms and a subterranean ecosystem.

For the lesser creatures we can be less in-depth (ie. lazy) and basically include any ideas which are believable. I'll start:

Sulphur-metabolizing semi-animate plant-parallels which form labyrinthine natural caverns around their roots by leeching sulphur out of the soil and passing soil up to the surface then out of a waste organ, into the atmosphere.

>>26609441
Entire caves created by rock eating bacterial mats.

>>26609441
How about vermiform creatures that slither along the labyrinth created by the plant, hunting what they could find. Their larvae live in the juices excreted by the sulphur plant roots.

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>>26609518
Something like this? Because bioluminescence would be invaluable within the subterra as a trait a sentient species would try to cultivate.

>>26609590
Sapworms? I like it.

>>26609676
Yeah like that. I didn't really think of bioluminescence, but that is a good idea.

>>26609441
Add in a species of tiny, roach-like insects which feed on the bacterial mats and a species of slightly larger, crystalline beetles (a near genetic relative of our crystal mantises) which feeds upon the small roaches.

And I think that should be enough to envision the subterranean world.

So let's go back to our crystal mantises. They are sentient now, and can communicate. What do they call themselves as a species? What do they call their world? Do they have a name for their world?

>>26609969
>What do they call themselves as a species? What do they call their world? Do they have a name for their world?
How would we tell?
They communicate with pheromones, which are likely far more subtle than our noses can detect (if they weren't dissolved/torn apart by the horrible storms and winds)

>>26610107
Summerbreeze

Fresh Scent

Winders

>>26610107
Well here's the part where we have to bullshit a little. Let's assume that their pheromone-based communication has a literal English translation because otherwise we have no viable window into their culture.

>>26610193
Told you it should've been auditory.

>>26610171
I was thinking the pheromones indicating themselves as species, create this sensation of familiarity that one can only get from one's community.

>>26610227
Fraternity

Good Friends

Home

For English approximations of course

I'll be monitoring this thread, but I'm almost turned off by the idea of mobile crystal creatures. If anything they should be like mold or fungus life if they are made of rock. They can move, but it's like starfish, urchin, and other slow squat animals.
The density of the air, even on "land" would be insane. No cheetahs here.

>>26610193
Why don't the pheromones translate into specific images and ideas, so rather than having names for their world or species they just have concepts.

>>26610225
Ha. Nah it would've been just as alien.

>>26610171
I kinda like the idea of them calling themselves "Winders" because of its simplicity. Dedicated words in a language are divvied out on a first come, first serve basis, so I think the term for what they are would become necessary pretty early in the evolution of their communcations. They's definitely end up with something very brief and reflective of where they come from.

Maybe we can actually use "Home" as the name for the surface and something like "Newhome" or "Stalehome" for the subterra. Which makes me realize that their culture may well view silence as a thing and the winds above as a -lack- of silence.

>>26610324
Starfish aren't that slow though. some species can travel at 8 miles per hour.

>>26610324
They're not so much made of rock as having their carapace largely consisting of biologically secreted crystal as well as all of their bodily supports.

>>26610324
I'm not sure if you have the same vision of this creature as everyone else here.
I'm picturing something like an elongated Horseshoe crab, but crystalline, four legs, two "tentacles" ending in fine cilia, and a distinct head with well-developed antennae. Oh, and a highly specialized pheromone gland.

Why is it crystalline?
Why not?

>>26610422
Silence is deeply rooted into their culture. Silence envokes calmeness, order, safety. While sounds are chaotic and dangerous. Because of this the species looks at any sort of soundmaking with disdain. Their entire culture was created and shaped in a way to create as little noise as possible.

>>26610523
That actually fits very well with their non-verbal communication and their laboriously slow movement, as well as their delicate forelimbs.

As the surface can still hold a significant wealth of edible material deposits, would they have a form of civil duty wherein every individual serves a term during their prime years in which they regularly go up to the surface to gather rich stores of food as well as valuable materials for tool-making?

>>26610678
I imagine them having complicated as fuck charts that display everyone's contribution to their society. In a way they're honorbound to do this. On a side note, what sort of writing would they have? Alphabet, syllabic, logographic? Or should we go for something exotic like quippu?

>>26610678

Any machine or tool they would make would be carefully crafted, and perfectly precise, as to eliminate grinding or clicking or scraping.

>>26610678
Probably, yes - unless the subterra has sufficient materials.

However, consider that if they don't return to the surface routinely they're likely to become weaker over time as those who spend less energy on their shell - and thus more on other things, such as foraging or crafting if they're at that point - will have a better chance in their new niche.


>>26610778
Perhaps they spray pheremones onto some sort of pH indicator?

>>26610778
Hmm... Well with the way their pheromones work, I'd say logographic would be the most direct and convenient leap for them. But with so many possible distinct combinations of pheromone, I'd think they'd need a huge library of symbols. It would probably look something like halfway between Ogham and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

>>26610823
The whole act of inventing is an art of silence to them. It's not just about doing the job. This also means they would have no music and would probably go for other forms of art like visual, dance, emotional (envoking certain feelings through pheromone communication. Kinda like poetry but more emotional).

>>26610842

For a writing system, each pheremone could have it's own symbol in a row, and each word would be a row of symbols like that spans a whole page. Writing would take up a ton of space, so only very important things would be written down!

>>26610921

How about a form of storytelling where one of them flashes colored lamps in sequence, and each in attendance gives their pheremone "word" that corresponds?

>>26611004

the word that the performance evokes the emotion of, i mean

>>26610921
They would likely try to alter the subterra as little as possible, then, lest they be plagued by the sound of change. Or they would do so in very natural, indirect ways, like planning new tunnels centuries ahead of time and directing the roots of the Roadfathers (the sulphur-eating roots) to dig for them.

>>26611004
I don't quite get where you're getting with this. Don't get me wrong, the idea is cool, but to me it seems like they're just reacting Simon says style.

>>26611004
I don't quite see what you mean, but as for whatever form of storytelling they have, In a room full of pheromones, the science of their crowd mentality would be something else.

>>26611049

Maybe if there was something that had to be done soon, and would cause a lot of noise, one would close off themselves from the rest as to not cause them exposure to noise?

>>26611133

Each could respond with their emotional reaction to the performance, and the group could "hear" the sum of their emotions. It could be cooperative, where each participant trying to find a word that adds to the whole.

>>26610921
A form of poetry they practice is one evocative of haiku in it minimalism. It contains 3 parts: Base, Decline and End. Each part is a specific pheromonal message that evokes a certain feeling or emotion and together they form a combined feeling. The Base is the beginning one which sets the mood. Decline is an often time unplesant or neutral feeling that changes the mood in different direction. End finishes the performance by returning the mood ''back on track'' kinda like a bittersweet ending.

>>26611133
That just made me realize. Important ceremonies attended by everyone would have such a wealth of sympathetic pheromone signals in the air that traces would likely cling to the chamber in which the event occurred. In fact, any strong emotional response could leave lingering traces of the associated pheromone in the area and so the Winders would actually feel that the stone was alive, or that it had memory. Before they develop more advanced science and learn what their own pheromones are, there would be this pervasive spiritualism regarding the memory of places and the idea that ceremony can actually immortalize a moment in the stone.

>>26611271
Imagine. A relative dies of illness in terrible agony and their loved ones actually -feel- the departed's pain whenever they go near that room.

File: 1376449450919.jpg-(21 KB, 247x312, 1372398022008.jpg)

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>>26611339
>>26611271

>>26611339
>>26611271
Due to the lingering pheromones, I'd assume they would be ancestor worshipers or shamanists in their religious practices.

>>26611143
I'd imagine they might actually take their work near or on the surface, to keep the evil of sound where it belongs as well as to immerse oneself in the ordeal of the howling winds as a sort of penance for contributing to the destruction of blessed silence.

Additionally, there is a belief that sound is so pervasive an evil that one can sense it spreading, dispersing into every corner of the world, into every facet of one's body. This spread of sound is the far-reaching echo they hear in the tranquility of the subterra.

>>26611339

"Promise me."

"May the stone remember my words."

So now how would the Winders' dual forms of reproduction effect their culture? There's many ways it could go. The utopian would see them with a clear scientific understanding of it and a lack of general sentiment that there is any difference between an inheritor and a bond-born (single parent and 2-parent)

Of course, in highly religious, primitive cultures, evident difference is proof of significant difference. So for many centuries, I believe there could be some form of perceived difference between the two types of offspring.

>>26611454
oh god yes

>>26611599
One-Parent types are seen as the same person, reincarnated over and over again. Also, their soul essentially can be in many bodies at once. So you are your father and grandfather all the way back to the First, who was the last one in your line to be sexually reproduced. There's less ancestor worship here than there is a form of meditation (good for a quiet species) to connect with past versions of "you".

>>26611694
Sexual reproduction is seen as an act of bring a new soul into existence. Here, ancestor worship exists: You thank your parents (Or your first's parents) for creating you, and so give sacrifices to than their spirit.

Firsts and their immediate one-children end up doing more ancestor worship, while later generations of one-children do more meditation.

>>26611339
They'd probably have family rooms set up for that in order to collect the spirits in one place.

>>26611599

Maybe it's not expected that they reproduce sexually. Most are born from asexual reproduction, and sexual reproduction is used to solidify bonds between individuals. Maybe it's used to seal contracts or close friendships.

>>26611599
From a scientific standpoint the sexually produced ones could still be seen as superior, since they're more genetically "robust"

Perhaps this could lead to conflict later on with a Winderhitler trying to dabble in eugenics to eliminate the "inferiors"

>>26611694
Nice. I like it much better than the alternative, boring, "less-than-human" or "not your own person" bias i was dreading.

So maybe the creator of an inheritor wouldn't be considered a parent at all. They, to the inheritor, would be the older, wiser version of themself, imparting upon them the classic, "If I knew then what I know now" wisdom.

Bond-born would simply be the first incarnation of a new individual. Imagine the family dynamic between two parents, their bond-born child, and one or more inheritors of either parent, near the same age as the bond-born.

>>26611763
and in just 6 hours we have gone from the void of creation to alien hitler. Never change, /tg/.

polite sage for offtopic, im loving this thread so far.

>>26611819
Also, considering the perceived dynamic of inheritance, this means that death is not a sure thing. Your current body may cease, but that is only the last vestige of your soul making the leap to your inheritor.

Unless one dies without an inheritor. Imagine how devastating that must be to their kin.

>>26611599
>>26611694
>>26611735
Perhaps it's seen from a genetic standpoint. I'd think that the species would want their offspring to have desirable genetic traits. So, single-parent reproduction would happen when a progenitor considers themselves to already have all the genetic traits they deem desirable. Otherwise, a potential progenitor would attempt to find a mate with complementary genetic traits, so that any offspring would have an optimal mix of traits.

This is coming from someone who knows jack shit about genetics, so it might sound completely stupid, but it makes sense to me.

>>26611922
I think that it would be cool if each individual would be expected to have a child by themself to continue on, and then, if they find a suitable mate, to have a bond-born.

What happens if the single-born dies before the parent? Is the line over, or does the parent have another?

>>26611922
The urge to offer a great child to one's society would result in bond-born children, like you stated, and the primal urge to survive would result in the creation of inheritors, as the individual parent perceives that as their only way to live forever.

An individual would have two separate psychological impetuses, one driving them to create each type of child in their lifespan.

>>26612019
This is a society that has little qualms about one person having multiple bodies. Having multiple inheritors was common when food supplies fluctuated and you weren't sure whether all of your children would grow to adulthood. As food supplies increased and the death rate dropped, inheritor created per capita dropped. If one has multiple inheritors and they both grow up, only one ends up reproducing and passing on the dynasty, while the other dies childless. Of course, since both of them considered themselves to be essentially "you", the childless one thinks he will live on.

On another note, it just occured to me that since monarchies will likely be ruled by a series of inheritors, you'd end up with a region ruled by "one" king for centuries

Now what if an individual was sterile?

Without the ability to create an inheritor, they'd be condemned to death after only the first incarnation. They have only one shot at life.

Everything they could have ever accomplished over centuries of incarnations, all the love they had to give, all the stories they had to tell...

It happens today or never.

Many great heroes, revolutionary scientists, famous poets and playwrights would all come from condemned stock.

Actually, assuming no limits (Biological or Cultural) on Inheritor reproduction, you could end up with whole towns or cities filled with just one Winder-soul-guy.

"Welcome to Steveland. Are you Steve?"

"...No."

"Go away"

>>26612282
Is it possible to be sterile in one way and not the other?

Also, would inheritors from the same stock attempting to sexually reproduce be considered some mix of incest and masturbation?

>>26612282
Maybe they're considered reincarnations of some holy figure or Messiah? Some child of the planet or gods or what-have-you, unable to inheritor himself, and so has to be made by the interventions of something or other?

>>26612324
Ha!

I imagine there would be a social taboo regarding that practice as akin to having a disgustingly narcissistic ego.

>>26612351
I would imagine it is possible, but to be able to have a bond-born child but not an inheritor would condemn your bond-born to be without one of his two parents right out of the gate, when that normally only happens to an individual many, many reincarnations down the line.

>>26612418
Although to be able to have an inheritor but not a bond-born would actually be the most minor of inconveniences.

>>26612449
How many generations of inheritors are their in a typical group? Would you end up with some form of "the rule of two", or having great-great-great-grandpa tell you about tunneling in the olden days

>>26612576
I'd imagine that, since having an iterative line of ~4 (the practical limit due to age, assuming human-esque gestation length and death ages) would have no real negative impact on an even marginally successful community, there would be no rule, so yeah, defnitely as many straight generations as can coexist.

Having more than one inheritor of the same generation, though, is considered excessive, egotistical and irresponsible, unless the progenitor is someone very important.

>>26612711
I like this thread!

When is the next thread?

>>26612711
Btw this thread is archived. Also I have to sleep now but I intend to start another thread in the coming days once this one finally eats shit. Please feel free to keep brainstorming possible ideas.

Archived under this tag, as shall be future threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=shamanistic%20horseshoe%20crabs

I'm gonna try to start the next one Thursday, but I have no Idea when I have work that day so If I don't have time, I'll at least post a notice thread telling you when the next thread will be for sure. The notice will be ~3:00pm Eastern (GMT -5:00) Wednesday, August 14 because by then I'll know my schedule.

>>26610107
>>26610193
>>26610225
>>26610227
>>26610361
>>26610422
>>26610778
>>26610902
>>26610924
So I've just shown up in this thread and I have an idea for the Winder language.

So, the Winders speak in pheremones. How would they write? Before we figure out how they write, though, let's figure out how they learn to speak.
The rest of this will operate on some arbitrary numbers we can change later. Specifically, that there are 12 total "base" pheremones that can be used, which will be referred to as Q, W, E, R, A, S, D, F, Z, X, C, & V. Also, I stopped reading the thread at the last quoted post, so bear with me if I'm not using the proper terminology.
A child Winder is born. Children that are born sexually would be know as "Noisy ones" affectionately, like Aussies call kids "ankle-biters." I dunno if budding kids would know how to be quiet, or if the parent's knowledge would be passed through the budding.

Now, each of the pheromones, due to the evolutionary process, is associated with an emotion. Humans associate our auditory "sounds" that we communicate with with emotions; satisfaction is the "aah" sound, while anger is "grr", and giggling sounds are made for enjoyment. That's how baser insects (and animals) communicate: they send one pheromone that means "Danger" or "Fear" and everyone knows that there's a threat in the vicinity. The Winders will have children that operate the same way: they'll spray their giggle-equivalent pheromone when their parents make them happy, and so on.

Eventually, though, more complex sets of pheromones would be required. So a parent Winder teaches their child Winder how to speak. They demonstrate a set of pheromones in rapid succession, and then see if the child can repeat it. Eventually, after an amount of time, the child learns to repeat these sets, learning very basic ones with the easily-made pheromones first, then as they grow, learning more difficult and complex sets.

(1/2)

>>26613299
Eventually, as the child learns to speak, they must eventually learn to read. Writing would be rather simple for them, in comparison to us. The human mouth is capable of many different sounds, and although the English language has 26 letters, we still need to combine two of them to create the "th" sound.
I'm now going to operate under the assumption that they can't truly "combine" their pheromones (they can only emit one at a time, and the closest they can get to simultaneous combination is rapid succession.)
The Winders have no such problem. They have 12 pheromones, and only 12 pheromones. As a result, they only need 12 letters. So their alphabet would essentially be 12 different glyphs, which, for the ease of typing, will be Q, W, E, R, A, S, D, F, Z, X, C, & V. That's it.

People have said that writing would take up a lot of space, so it's not used often. However, their operating under the assumption that their words will be twice as long on average, since our language, being 26 letters, has an average character-per-word count of about 5.1, possibly higher, and since these people have less letters, their words surely must be longer.

However, the main reason our words are so long is because many sets of letters are not words because our mouths are physically incapable of saying them. Can you pronounce "VXCSFEWWSZ" in its raw form? No. your mouth automatically includes what we call "vowel sounds." These vowels are required to make speech quick and flowing, so that there are minimal pauses between sounds and words. The Winders have no vowels. The Winders have no use for vowels. They don't need pheromones in between the other pheromones in a word so they flow well. They can use any set of pheromones they like. QDE, SDGWE, and WEFW, and even VXCSFEWWSZ, would all be valid combinations in Winderese.

(2/3)

>>26613664
(Side note: the Winders' lack of letters would make spelling errors pretty difficult. As long as one knew the proper way to "pronounce" it with the pheromones, and knew which pheromones were which letter, they'd know how to spell it. As a result, spelling something wrong would be an error of either great stupidity or recklessness, and being a Grammer Nazi would be very much justified in their culture.)
Yes, I spelt "Grammar" wrong on purpose.
As a result, the 12 letters would be the 12 most fundamental concepts (we can decide on what those would be later), and they could make words with any other combinations they'd like. So they'd have 144 2-letter words, 1728 3-letter words, and the amount of words-per-length increases exponentially. Since there are a million words in English, the average word length in Winderese if all words had an English translation would be ~5.7 characters per word. About half a character more than English.

However, since they can code their entire alphabet with only 2 bytes in plaintext, and I don't think they have a need for upper/lower cases, they have a distinct advantage on us in the computer front. Also, this isn't taking into account the possibility of putting an "accent" or emphasis on a pheromone, thus making it possible for their language to become even more dense.

>tl;dr Writing would be encoded as having one glyph for each pheromone. Even with only 12 scents, writing can easily get off the ground. Our auditory language requires an excessive amount of letters per word due to vowel sounds getting in the way. Since writing is merely an offshoot of normal communication, our language evolved like that as well, requiring extra letters for different things. Since pheromones don't require "vowel-scents" literally any valid combination of pheromones is possible. Therefore, language-density isn't an issue for the Winders, and large-scale writing and reading is possible.
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>>26613299
>>26613664
There was also an idea far above that the Winders can combine several bases at once in different proportions.
Though I guess that kind of enunciation is harder to quantify for a writing. Could it develop as a succession-bridging phenomenon, and become equivalent to a different pronunciation of the same sentence? Emoting by the different mixtures in gaps between key pheromones?

>>26614500
>There was also an idea far above that the Winders can combine several bases at once in different proportions.
See the spoiler in >>26613664
Besides, they're "combining" the pheromones already into words.
>Though I guess that kind of enunciation is harder to quantify for a writing. Could it develop as a succession-bridging phenomenon, and become equivalent to a different pronunciation of the same sentence? Emoting by the different mixtures in gaps between key pheromones?
I don't understand what you're asking here.

The reason I decided to have the Winders emit pheromones in rapid succession instead of simultaneously is because it would be confusing to do it all at once, and leave ridiculous amounts of room for error.

Take the word "dog." There are 3 different parts to how "dog" sounds: the D, the O, and the G. You don't hear them simultaneously, you hear them one after another, in quick succession. Imagine if you heard it simultaneously, though, and tried to interpret the mix as a word. That could be either "dog" or "god", which certainly could lead to some hilarious mix-ups.

Now take the word "acre." Imagine the sounds: the long "A", the "K", the "R". Now imagine that same thing again. That could easily be "care" or "rake". Maybe you didn't quite catch that "R" sound in the mix-up and interpreted "ache." Maybe you missed the "K" sound and got "air" or "ray."

That is 3 different words you could possibly hear from one simple set of sounds thrown at you simultaneously. And it could be DOUBLED if you missed a part of the word by accident.

Now imagine they did it with pheromones. It would be no different, and just as much of a hassle. I'm certain that over time, the Winders would discover that short scents in quick succession would be far more efficient and effective than emitting all the pheromones they needed to use at once, and develop language accordingly.

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>this entire thread

>>26609218
>first significant usage of tools
Well, now that we've established that this is a tool-using race, we should probably think about how they advanced technologically.
Would it have been necessarily the same way that human technology advanced?
Perhaps drastically different?

>>26616537
Oh boy, here we go.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AliensNeverInventedTheWheel

>>26615911
Thread is dead.

coolamandia