#starbound shadow

Hi Anon,

You're right, the Shadow are a bit of conundrum. I have nothing to back this up except for vibes, but I feel like they meditate rather than sleep, so they'd prefer soft cushions and blankets, and they'd meditate on the floor rather than on chairs as such. I know overall they seem peaceful and don't have guards, but I have a vague HC they hunt the Dark Balls (a type of critter only found in Midnight biomes), and use the pelts of these for "bedding". So I'd like to see floor cushions and low tables at least, maybe chests made of shadow rock which recess into the floor. Contrary to the implication in my story, The Fading Light, I don't think they eat people. But I would love to know what the intent behind the spooky shrines is. A dark god that sustains them? Ancestor worship? Because they look Cool™?

Fenerox only have three Dusty items, which I think is incredibly lacking - if Floran can have so many items, then so can Fenerox. It'd be nice if they could have a kitchen counter, storage, and other clutter/ decorations. Some indication of worship maybe, decorations or crockery made from dried cacti, wall-hangings to keep the dust out, or coloured/ painted stones. I feel like they're very family orientated, so some some indication of that, via lore books or beaded accessories with a description, would be good. Village dungeons that are underground warrens, or large family halls as well.

The Frogg are a bit better off with 5 Swamp furniture items, but their choices are still lacking IMO. The table is tiny, there's no flat storage in the same style. For Frogg, I'd love to see a bigger table and, again, cabinets. Bug and jungle flower displays, maybe, or "a canister of tasty bugs", and dried mud decorations.

Deadbeats have plenty of options - they could just do with more lore ^.^'

For Penguins, I'd like to see some weapons displays. Maybe a few expansions to the Industrial set? I don't have many other thoughts about them, I'm afraid ^.^'

There's plenty that could be added to the Non-Playable Races. If I was any kind of artist, I'd do so myself, but I have no idea how people like Asperrusual and Izzykuroneko make their sprites look so good >.<

This ask got a little bit away from me, sorry... I, ah, have a lot of thoughts about this, as you can see. Most of this comes from my New Protectorate build, and being very frustrated while trying to build the embassies for the NPC races. Thank you for the ask though, I hope it was interesting ^.^

(I like these prompts so much; I never know where they’re going to go. Have a strange piece that wrote itself, featuring a previously minor character from Tezal’s crew)

Tyen, Gei called her. Shadow, or something like it. She liked it. It was a good sound, heavy and light on his tongue. She could not make it, but she had little use for sounds anyway. But it made good shapes when Gei wrote it for her. Tyen wrote it over and over with little splashes from the temple’s pools, watching the water dry and the markings fade away. 

Temple. That was another good sound, or many sounds. Tezal had taught it, a heavy rattling in the Avian high-speech and a clicking screech in the low. Better than the leaden syllables of the common tongue, which left it weighing on the mind like a dream half-forgotten. Tyen did not like the shape of the word, which did not capture the beauty of the strange stone place that Gei and Tezal brought her to after they pulled her from the ruined lab. The lights here were always soft, muted fire-glow or shielded by thin stones, and tasted smooth and fine. And no one here complained when she pulled colors from the flowers that Gei planted just for her, in any color she asked for. 

It was a strange place, yes. The sky was so bright, so near, so changeable from her old, dark home. She could count just two stars at the brightest times. It was lonely and still, and the water that dripped down stung at her shell and pierced the shadestuff that formed her hands and feet. But at night, the whole spray of lights danced above her, somehow more beautiful than at home. Wambo would join her in the dark sometimes, and teach her all the shapes and names those stars wore. Tyen liked the big Floran second-best of all her new friends. They were as ancient as she, but unchanged by time, unburdened by all the scars. In the still hours before dawn, Tyen waited by their side, watching the dark grow darker and relishing the smooth colors of their carapace, hidden here where no one would see her take them. Wambo never minded, never complained, even offered their great leafy head so she could feel the shades of petals from time to time. Unchanging as Wambo was, their petals never held the same taste twice. 

Okay so I was trying to sketch a Shadow Person from Starbound right? Put in a western theme? And suddenly, I realize it’s literally just a recolor of the Nomad of Nowhere

The following is a series of observations recorded by the Maia Cradle System branch of USCM Biomedical Engineering and Research, regarding the mysterious “shadow persons” found in that region. (Transcriber’s note: It should be noted that these observations apply with absolute certainty only to this subspecies of Shadow; other varieties have been rumored to exist around the galaxy, but remain undocumented.)

(Transcriber’s note: The following is from a series of tattered documents found in an abandoned USCM facility. Its veracity is dubious, but the remainder of the documents can be found transcribed here; it summarizes the unique physiology of the Shadow folk rumored to exist on Midnight planets)