Post by Lsyn|Vilaxi on Sept 16, 2023 20:05:05 GMT
Name: Vilaxi
Species: kheik (alien original species)
Age: 30 (same human lifespan)
Height/Weight: 3.2 ft (1.00 mt)-25kg
Gender: agender (they/them pronouns)
Reason for entering: the captain of the airship and blood brother, Taraxe, has been killed. This has put them in a... very uncomfortable situation.
Memento: Taraxe's kheik compass. It’s tuned on their planet's magnetic field, does not work in Endgrove.
Strengths:
-fast reaction times. The reason lies in what seems like an upper set of eyes, but rather works like electroreceptors in fishes or Ampullae of Lorenzini in some sharks. Vilaxi can't see anything off it, but rather the upper set allows them to identify changes in the air density, since their planet is a gaseous one. In a terrestrial environment the extra eyes are almost useless, but do help to notice sudden movements when close to Vilaxi, aiding them to act quickly.
-nimble on their feet: Vilaxi has a very slender build and has always lived in airships or in the streets, they're quite agile.
-extremely flexible. Kheiks biology has adapted to sustain extreme (not sudden) changes in air pressure. Their joints are quite loose and allow Vilaxi to be on a contortionist level.
-knife: it speaks for itself. Its shape gives jagged cuts that bleed easily.
Abilities:
Vilaxi is an engineer, and a very intelligent one. With enough material and time they can jury-rig or repair tools, even when unfamiliar with the tech. This is strongly limited by how many things are around them, by tools and by time. In the jungle they can maybe create a simple trap, a slingshot or a very primitive weapon, can patch up minimal tech damage, nothing more elaborate than that. Due to the lack of time and resources, objects repaired or created do not last long and are entirely situational (can maybe last for a round, not more).
-knife: it speaks for itself. Its shape gives jagged cuts that bleed easily.
Abilities:
Vilaxi is an engineer, and a very intelligent one. With enough material and time they can jury-rig or repair tools, even when unfamiliar with the tech. This is strongly limited by how many things are around them, by tools and by time. In the jungle they can maybe create a simple trap, a slingshot or a very primitive weapon, can patch up minimal tech damage, nothing more elaborate than that. Due to the lack of time and resources, objects repaired or created do not last long and are entirely situational (can maybe last for a round, not more).
Weaknesses:
-very squishy. Does not have armor or protection, can get hurt pretty easily.
-quite weak and light. Vilaxi is small, has no nails or teeth that can be used for self defense in extreme cases. They rely on their knife, traps and cunning. Without any of that, they're not much of a threat.
-they have a condition that has kept them smaller than other kheiks and gave them that weird coloration. This sadly also means that Vilaxi is prone to bleed easily, since their blood does clot more slowly than normal. Even small cuts or bruises heal with difficulty and can shorten their already short endurance level.
-the weird fuzzy tendrils around their head are their ears, they breathe through gill-like things around their neck . These are MAJOR weak points. Hitting those two points causes pain for a while, the incapacitating kind for enough time to gain the upper hand.
-extremely poor stamina. Vilaxi gets tired easily and works better in brief, intense spurts of energy. Prolonged work or stress can damage or impair them to a significant level, causing shortness of breath and dizziness first, then sudden fainting spells if they can't stop or don't rest enough.
Personality:
-cunning. Vilaxi relies on their intelligence to make plans and tackle challenges, and tries to keep a cool head under all circumstances. The only thing that REALLY could piss them off is insulting Taraxe's memory.
-not..entirely trustworthy. Vilaxi has lived all of their life in a very harsh environment, with harsh people, merchants, cutthroats and pirates. Survival of the fittest may be their go-to most of the time, but they tend to lie and not to show their true colours until it's convenient to do so.
-gregarious. Despite their shifty side, they like to be among people (it gives more safety to a small thing like them), and tend to be (or seem) friendly. It's actually difficult to attain true closeness with them: a knife in the back when you least expect it is always a sound risk with Vilaxi. The only creature they really cared for was Taraxe.
-cautious. They know painfully how weak they are and how cruel can the world around be. Vilaxi tends to always be on their guard, sleeps with an eye open and never bites off more than they can chew.
-Curious. Despite being extremely careful with people and things, they like to learn. Whether is useful or not for them, Vilaxi likes to ask questions and investigate what they can.
-actually a pessimist, and a veeery paranoid one to say the least. They always expect the worst especially in people: everything can and will go wrong, everyone is after something and Vilaxi always tries to find ulterior motives even in the most selfless of actions.
-petty. Live and let live is foreign to them: Vilaxi exists upon the revenge is a dish best served cold concept. Once given enough motives to hate or even just dislike a person they will act accordingly, from mildly inconveniencing or weaponised incompetence to worse, depending on the perceived wrong.
-cunning. Vilaxi relies on their intelligence to make plans and tackle challenges, and tries to keep a cool head under all circumstances. The only thing that REALLY could piss them off is insulting Taraxe's memory.
-not..entirely trustworthy. Vilaxi has lived all of their life in a very harsh environment, with harsh people, merchants, cutthroats and pirates. Survival of the fittest may be their go-to most of the time, but they tend to lie and not to show their true colours until it's convenient to do so.
-gregarious. Despite their shifty side, they like to be among people (it gives more safety to a small thing like them), and tend to be (or seem) friendly. It's actually difficult to attain true closeness with them: a knife in the back when you least expect it is always a sound risk with Vilaxi. The only creature they really cared for was Taraxe.
-cautious. They know painfully how weak they are and how cruel can the world around be. Vilaxi tends to always be on their guard, sleeps with an eye open and never bites off more than they can chew.
-Curious. Despite being extremely careful with people and things, they like to learn. Whether is useful or not for them, Vilaxi likes to ask questions and investigate what they can.
-actually a pessimist, and a veeery paranoid one to say the least. They always expect the worst especially in people: everything can and will go wrong, everyone is after something and Vilaxi always tries to find ulterior motives even in the most selfless of actions.
-petty. Live and let live is foreign to them: Vilaxi exists upon the revenge is a dish best served cold concept. Once given enough motives to hate or even just dislike a person they will act accordingly, from mildly inconveniencing or weaponised incompetence to worse, depending on the perceived wrong.
History:
Life on Oriole-4 is difficult. The planet is mostly akin to the gas giants of out solar system: an infinite sea of hydrogen, hydrocarburs and methane that swirls endlessly, currents and storms of various density that creates paths, lulls, and dangerous maelstroms. Down below, almost near the core where the surface is more thick and stable, small independent cities and refuges are protected by force fields. The only way to move from town to town is by airship, traversing the dangerous outer layers of the planet to find the fastest or safest route. Everything can be bought: merchants are the backbone of the cruel kheik society, and usually private militias, pirates, smugglers and corsairs follow.
Not much is known of Vilaxi's early life: just that is not their original name and they were often shunned for their weakness and weirdness since their egg hatched. This until they met a one-eyed kheik they accidentally saved.
The two became close friends, as thick as thieves, so much that both decided to become blood brothers and chose new similar names for themselves: Vilaxi and Taraxe. They both worked odd jobs and salvaged what scrap they could until they were old enough to get on the first ship, climbing the ranks of merchant vessels until they could afford a an airship of their own, the Silla.
Instead of continuing a merchant life, the adventurous Taraxe convinced his brother to be pirates instead, a more dangerous but fruitful career.
Vilaxi became his engineering officer, a cushy position that kept them safe within a crew that looked at them as a liability and source of misfortune. Taraxe did all that was possible to disperse the harboring resentment and to guarantee that everyone worked in peace.
All was more or less okay though for five years, until one fateful day...
Life on Oriole-4 is difficult. The planet is mostly akin to the gas giants of out solar system: an infinite sea of hydrogen, hydrocarburs and methane that swirls endlessly, currents and storms of various density that creates paths, lulls, and dangerous maelstroms. Down below, almost near the core where the surface is more thick and stable, small independent cities and refuges are protected by force fields. The only way to move from town to town is by airship, traversing the dangerous outer layers of the planet to find the fastest or safest route. Everything can be bought: merchants are the backbone of the cruel kheik society, and usually private militias, pirates, smugglers and corsairs follow.
Not much is known of Vilaxi's early life: just that is not their original name and they were often shunned for their weakness and weirdness since their egg hatched. This until they met a one-eyed kheik they accidentally saved.
The two became close friends, as thick as thieves, so much that both decided to become blood brothers and chose new similar names for themselves: Vilaxi and Taraxe. They both worked odd jobs and salvaged what scrap they could until they were old enough to get on the first ship, climbing the ranks of merchant vessels until they could afford a an airship of their own, the Silla.
Instead of continuing a merchant life, the adventurous Taraxe convinced his brother to be pirates instead, a more dangerous but fruitful career.
Vilaxi became his engineering officer, a cushy position that kept them safe within a crew that looked at them as a liability and source of misfortune. Taraxe did all that was possible to disperse the harboring resentment and to guarantee that everyone worked in peace.
All was more or less okay though for five years, until one fateful day...
Likes: engineering work, crowded and bustling places.
Dislikes: being considered small or weak, close-minded people. Places that are too quiet or lonely.
Other:
-to other spacefaring races, the kheiks can be a vaguely familiar name. Centuries ago there was a race that conquered almost all planets in their own quadrant, a seemingly unstoppable force until... it crumbled away for reasons unknown, historians guess a mix of accidents, famines, internal conflicts and world ending cataclysms. Only one gaseous planet in their own solar system remained to the dying civilization, and they made most of it, losing contacts with space and retiring in a sort of technological middle age, never to venture into the cold space again.
The kheiks themselves do not have much information either: all records were lost to time, burned away or pillaged. Some legends said that a figure from outer space destroyed all of them from the inside, whispering treachery, spreading sickness and falsity in the ears of their leaders, until all was destroyed. Most of the kheiks are very superstitious and call everything organic that comes from outside of their atmosphere "Spaceborne", fearing bad luck but sometimes adapting and reusing viable technology for their cities and ships.
Space debris is not that rare either: the strong gravitational force and magnetosphere of the planet makes it a magnet for floating satellite or unlucky spaceships.
Vilaxi may be both creeped out and fascinated by all of the unknown creatures they may encounter, but they don't share their species' superstitious nature.
-that is not a tail: it's an arm, and though slightly more flexible, it should be treated as such.
-most adult kheiks are brownish-green and around 6-7 ft. I chose as an inspiration axolotls, sauropods, sharks and deep sea creatures.
AFTER ROUND 1:
link to the image here (tw: super mild ouchies)
-Vilaxi's clothes are quite tattered/cut up, especially on the legs. This does not have effects aside from a little bit of grumpiness.
-Vilaxi's left side sports quite a number of bruises, scrapes and a shallow cut, now bandaged. While the bruises may cause just a little bit of discomfort (not enough to slow their reaction times), the cut may be a slightly bigger problem. Even if properly taken care of, it still bleeds from time to time: combined with the rest of the damages it saps out their already short endurance level. Vilaxi may need more breaks for this exact reason; they're very aware of it...and not happy at all.
-Vilaxi's left side sports quite a number of bruises, scrapes and a shallow cut, now bandaged. While the bruises may cause just a little bit of discomfort (not enough to slow their reaction times), the cut may be a slightly bigger problem. Even if properly taken care of, it still bleeds from time to time: combined with the rest of the damages it saps out their already short endurance level. Vilaxi may need more breaks for this exact reason; they're very aware of it...and not happy at all.