User:Ilysen/Alvani

These are my dumb moths. I write them because I get bored.

Home System
Alva. This is a planet orbiting a K-class star called Em-Il. Alva is a bit smaller than Earth and has slightly lower gravity, but is denser with a thicker atmosphere. It has a thick oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere that's about 40% oxygen, which has led to very large life on the planet (like the Alvani.) A strong magnetosphere protects it from its close proximity to its sun.

Alva is very lush, and has higher average temperatures than Earth due to its proximity to its home star. Wildfires are a big concern because of the oxygen content, but the humidity is one thing that prevents them from being too devastating.

It has a surrounding ring of dust and ice that astronomers theorize is debris from a time when the planet was much larger, and became much smaller after colliding with another object. This is backed up by Alva's high-quality mineral content, which is one reason it was able to industrialize.

Other notable objects in the system include:
 * Gana, a hot gas giant harvested for hydrogen to use as fuel for starships or power generation.
 * Orva, the first Alvani colony. The planet is larger than Alva, and has a thinner atmosphere, but has an atmosphere of similar composition. Despite this, no life had developed past the bacterial stage by the time the Alvani stepped foot on it, and so nearly all of the planet's modern flora and fauna can be traced back to Alva.
 * Yibir, a tiny planet that was the closest to Em-Il. It was partially cannibalized in order to create a swarm of satellites orbiting the star, which now provide most of the Alvani's energy. It still remains, but has visible deformations from the heavy strip mining done to it, and continues to be exploited as time goes on.

Biology
Big flying arthropods resembling moths or butterflies. They have six double-jointed limbs and four large wings (composed of two forewings and two hindwings). Adult Alvani range in size from 2-3 feet long from abdomen to the tip of the head, with wingspan being comparable to 4-5 feet fully extended. They started out small and were able to become very big because of Alva's high-oxygen atmosphere. They have a large abdomen conjoined to a smaller thorax, with a head at the end of it. They have two slanted, compound eyes on the sides of their head, and feathery antennae. Unusually for a Lepidoptera-type animal, they have proper mouthparts for chewing instead of a proboscis.

Many of an Alvani's body parts are used in grasping. Large objects are moved with limbs wrapped around them, while folding graspers can be used for more fine manipulation. Tiny objects can be held in their mouth. With their limbs fully extended, an Alvani can "stand" between knee height and waist height, but they prefer to fly. Alvani physiology allows for high energy storage and great strength while flying - enough to lift a great deal for their size, although they still struggle to lift heavy weights. A lot of Alvani hauling is assisted through technology, uses physics like pulleys, or happens in groups.

Alvani are fleeting creatures, and usually reach adulthood at about five years, and die of senescence at around three decades on average, although these numbers have been greatly increased by technological enhancements (more on that later.) They have male and female sexes, and lay their offspring as clutches of eggs. These can grow on their own over several months, but among their modern technology are specialized "spawning pools" consisting of nutrient baths and other conditions that can accelerate the growth and hatching process to just a few weeks.

The Alvani species is omnivorous, but mostly eat leaves and other fast-growing plants. They can eat meat, but too much protein in a short time can cause problems with their digestive system. In normal scenarios, Alvani eat less than humans, but flight drains their energy consistently, and so active Alvani tend to eat fairly constantly throughout the day so that their metabolism can keep up with their needs.

Coloration on the wings and body varies widely depending on climate and genetics. Most Alvani are some shade of white, with darker furred portions, but wings range widely, with vibrant colors and patterns. Cosmetic self-modification is popular in the Alvani's core worlds.

Tech
Alvani technology is weaker than humanity in terms of spaceflight and travel, but their mastery of their home system rivals that of the Skrell or even the Ascent in some ways. Strong incentivization and guidelines has allowed the species to maintain the ecology of its planet despite large-scale industrialization.

Alvani power storage and generation technology is extremely sophisticated. To facilitate their endless need for electricity, their home star - Em-Il - is orbited by many, many thin reflector satellites, which were created by cannibalizing the closest planetoid to the star itself, assembling them on-site, and launching them, which was made much easier without gravity or atmosphere to hinder it. The satellites reflect energy into dishes, which then transmit the power as needed throughout the system through lasers. The excess is stored in batteries, which are then sold as the Alvani's primary export to other species.

Vessels that won't ever leave their home system often even only have backup energy generators, with primary power coming from collector dishes to catch energy from the satellite swarm. FTL-capable vessels utilize high-end fusion reactors that operate at an impressively low temperature (although still very hot.)

The Alvani have strived to better their own bodies through technology. Despite the size and intelligence that their oxygen-rich atmosphere grants, their natural biology is quite limited, and they lack the flexibility or adaptability of humanoid races. Bio-engineering have seen major strides in the Alvani empire, and has greatly enhanced their natural biology. Genetic curation has gradually improved the species' average lifespan from three decades to almost double that, and redundant, durable organs allow them to survive hardships and disease that would otherwise kill them. It's not uncommon for individuals to be genetically engineered in such a way that makes them ideal for their role; researchers might have greater intelligence, soldiers might feel less pain and have a stronger sense of perception, and so on.

In recent years, state scientists have gradually begun experimenting with the splicing of DNA from other organisms to merge their beneficial traits into their own bodies - an initiative funded and supported by their Empress. It has already seen leaps and bounds, although many still question the ethicality of gradually phasing out parts of the Alvani genome with new traits.

Society
Technocratic and imperial. The current Alvani institution has lasted for centuries, and was formed in the species' equivalent of an Industrial Revolution after a series of long and vicious wars between the prominent superpowers in the world. By the end of it, one of these nations established hegemony over the rest, and gradually absorbed them into itself over the next several decades. The title of Emperor or Empress is hereditary and lasts for life, and they wield absolute control over the state's affairs, although the citizens nominally have some say in what happens.

The empire's current Empress is named Nash na-Kest, and she has placed heavy emphasis on the sciences. The citizens of the empire generally approve of her, for the most part.

Due to its authoritative structure, Alvani society functions differently in terms of basic needs, and so on. The state prioritizes the comfort and needs of individuals that demonstrate superior capabilities, and utilizes heavy incentives to recruit these individuals into helping to steer the state through voluntary positions. However, all citizens in the empire do receive a basic income according to their needs and abilities. The integrity of the state's institutions is largely backed by the people's faith in them - Alvani enforcement is surprisingly lax, with more resources diverted to ensuring that specialized bureaus and task forces exist for various domestic crises rather than a singular policing force. The Alvani empire's strength is maintained by its populace, and in turn, the empire treats its populace well.

Because of how ubiquitous energy is in Alvani society, their currency is backed on power, instead of something like gold or some other kind of hard matter. All civilizations need power, and so this exchange has allowed them to forge strong commercial bonds with other spacefaring nations.

Mentality

 * Most in the core worlds are materialistically minded, and have an appreciation for the advancement of technology and the impact it has on their lives.
 * Naturally curious, with good memories. Alvani transfers/immigrants might poke and prod everywhere to get a sense of the local culture and atmosphere. They make great researchers and catch onto new technology quickly.
 * Many Alvani lack a conception of a god or other kind of spiritual being. If asked, these individuals would find the idea silly for a few reasons. The vast majority of Alvani are atheist.
 * Can walk, but prefer to fly whenever possible. Typically hover at eye level when speaking to other individuals, at a healthy distance.
 * Use translators (similar to GAS) to converse with other species due to difference in biology. When speaking, many tend to speak in a flowery way, and offer explanations for everything. For example, a human might say "I liked that coffee I had earlier", but an Alvani might say "I enjoyed the coffee I had earlier today, because it was hot and I liked the amount of sweetener that was used in it."
 * Alvani have poor eyesight because of their compound eyes. They can read, but they do so more slowly than other races unless they have augments or gene-mods to make it easier.
 * On normal keyboards, Alvani have learned to type with most of their limbs at once, meaning they type very fast.

Inter-species Relations
These are a rule of thumb, and don't apply to all individuals.


 * On cordial terms with humanity and the Skrell.
 * Respect the Unathi in the same way that a parent might respect a teenager. Many Alvani inadvertently consider them to be less intelligent, due to their tribal structure. Unathi are thus inclined to consider the Alvani to be haughty and overly assertive.
 * Consider IPCs and other positronics to be very fascinating. The Alvani have not yet mastered artificial intelligence, and most automatons on their planets are simple. Positronics may view them with caution or a sense of being weirded out, since they might keep asking about random parts of their thinking process or biology.
 * Very confused by dionae, and try to keep their distance where possible. Can't understand how multiple unconnected individuals can all think and act simultaneously without pheromones or other impulses.
 * Look at Adherents in the same way someone might look at a tasty meal. They won't outwardly be aggressive, but they'd *love* to figure out how they work and what makes them tick.
 * Targeted by the Vox due to their technology, and well aware of the threat they pose. Many Alvani outriders are indeed fitted with specialized pressure mechanisms meant to puncture voidsuits or blast the internals off of raiders in order to expose them to the high oxygen content of their atmosphere, which is extremely toxic to Vox.
 * Do not get along with GAS. Something about their movements and appearance triggers a "this is prey" gut feeling in the GAS, which makes interactions with them tense. Thankfully, there have been no recorded incidents (yet).
 * No formal contact with the Ascent.