#toomin

Alright, I got questions for Applegrant and the main one is "why"

The Ketrans have always been really difficult for me to picture just because of the way The Ellimist Chronicles is written. There's no reason for Toomin to explain what exactly a Ketran is, so why would he? The most important thing to do right now is to lay out the ground rules:

1. For the sake of sanity, I'm taking every description literally. If someone "blushes" I'm going to take that as them actually blushing, not doing the Ketran equivalent to blushing, because if that were the case it would be "(do Ketran thing) shyly" or "in embarrassment" or something like that.

2. I'm going to try and make as few personal inputs as possible. I'll rearrange some parts if I need to, but I want to minimize any new stuff.

So let's start off real basic.

There are some things that we know for a fact about Ketrans:

1. Ketrans live on the planet Ket. All Ketran live on what is called their "Home Crystal", a city-sized crystal kept floating miles above the uninhabitable surface of the planet. At any given time around 90% of a crystal's population will be holding on to it and flapping their wings. This is the only thing keeping the crystal midair. The relationship is described as "not quite symbiotic" because the crystals are not alive, but Ketran do "draw sustenance" from being docked on a crystal. Occasionally different crystals will cross over in their orbits, during which time a cultural exchange is made. Ketrans are highly social, intelligent, and technologically advanced enough to achieve space flight and inter-galactic communication.

1. They are usually born with two arms, four wings, four eyes, and two "pods". The pods are leg-like limbs which have talons connected to them. The talons are what allow the Ketran to hold onto their crystal which is central to their ecology. Sometimes referred to as "docking talons."

2. They do have a skeleton, with thin hollow bones to allow for efficient flight. They have blood. Ketran biologists hypothesize that they are descended from aquatic life forms, but that's not guaranteed.

3. Three separate organs are mentioned; the airhole, the mouth, and the intakes. The mouth is used for verbal communication, though the Ketran have developed thought-speak technology. The airhole is self explanatory, but is suggested to be separate from the mouth. The intakes appear to be a sensory organ that can process pheromones. "Dorsal" intakes are mentioned, which might imply that there are other types of intakes.

4. The head is covered in "quills" which can be styled, change color in response to mood, and be artificially dyed.

Now we have to get into the stuff that's not explicitly said, but can be extrapolated:

1. They have at least some visible skin, as they can be seen blushing. They also have visible lips on the face (noted to smile as a social behavior and can smile widely enough to crinkle the eyes). There are no teeth directly referred to, but one is described as "grinning", so I'm rolling with it

2. Toomin at one point refers to "ruffling" his wings, which implies that his wings are feathered, and that sent me SPIRALING into DESIGN HELL because GOD IT WOULD'VE BEEN SO EASY TO GIVE THEM BUG WINGS IF I COULD—

3. Later on Toomin speculates that future Ketrans would evolve "proper feet" to accommodate surface life, so I'm operating under the assumption that pods are not designed to carry the full weight of the Ketran body. They can fly, they can perch, they can't really stand or walk.

4. Ketran seem to exhibit sexual dimorphism. Toomin comments that Aguella "being female, was a faster flyer" than himself.

Now for some bullshit, pure headcanons:

Basically the way I'm working with these guys is that I'm really leaning into the aquatic origins thing.

They see with two primary eyes in the front, and two "lesser" eyes on the sides. The primary eyes are comparable to human eyes, while the lesser eyes don't perceive depth or form very well but are EXTREMELY useful for seeing changes in light (like the "third eye" some reptiles have on the top of their head).

The "airhole" sits on the back of the neck, right in front of the dorsal intakes, and originally acted like a blowhole. They were primarily carnivorous, hence the teeth and mouth, and used their hands to snatch prey out of the water. When they started evolving with the crystals to their digestive system essentially became vestigial. They can survive on animal flesh alone for very small amounts of time, but will quickly die without their crystal. They can absorb nutrients through the skin from the surface of the crystal, but the severe change in diet meant that they eventually lost the immunity they had against the acidic waters.

FINAL DESCRIPTION:

Bird-like aliens with four eyes, four wings, two arms, and two pods. The body is almost entirely feathered, with the exception of the lower face, hands, and pods. The largest wings are attached at the shoulder, and are primarily used for gaining altitude. The lower wings are a bit smaller, grow from the waist, and are more suited for gliding and steering. This purpose is shared by the tail feathers. Small arms are placed diagonally to the shoulder joint on the chest. They have almost no mobility except for in the wrists and limited mobility in the elbows. Hands consist of three fingers and one thumb.

The face has of four eyes, two in the front and two on the sides, which can range in color. (Mentioned colors include magenta, turquoise, and ochre)

They have a mouth and lips which they use to communicate verbally, but they have also developed thought-speak technology.

At the top of the head sprouts quills, which are semi-transparent and can come in a variety of colors as well as be artificially dyed. The tips of the quills can glow and change color in accordance with mood.

At the top of the spine is an airhole, which is the only organ connected to the respiratory system. Alongside the airhole are the dorsal intakes, which are glands that process pheromones.

Pods descend from the hips much like legs, but are unable to support much weight. The pods mostly act as a kind of sheath for the docking talons, which can be retracted for ease during flight (think cat claws). The talons are fully extended by default and extremely strong (think eagle talons), so retracting the talons actually takes the contracting of multiple muscles. This is why they can stay docked even in their sleep.

        "Alright, so... Jake, you're a Shifter Sorcerer- Cassie, you too? You sure you don't want to shake things up at all?" Mr. Toomin rubbed his head a bit as the two stared back, Cassie looking more excited than Jake.         "We have a joint backstory. Both of us were part of the same tribe, and joined a rebel faction together. I don't really want to say anything else yet." Cassie smiled a bit as she pointed at her sheet, reading it as if she hadn't thirty times already. She and Jake sat next to eachother on the left side of the table, with Ax sitting to the right of jake, closest to Toomin.         "And you, Ax?"

        "I am a Changeling Artificer. I grew up with my changeling family in a valley. We were always working on technology together before my brother and I were sent to war. We were separated during battle. I am looking for him still." Ax spoke without hesitation, sitting with his back perfectly straight. He seemed a bit too mannerly to be in detention.         "Are we on me now?" Marco spoke up, sitting on the right side of the table closest to Toomin, across from Ax "I'm a Human Druid. Gorillas are my favorite thing to wildshape into, and I am quite the charmer if you know what I mean."         "We don't." The quieter child, Tobias, replied. "Anyways. I'm a druid too, but I'm a Kenku... Just because I want to push how far I can go with creative and vocal limitations." Tobias, sitting next to Marco, seemed to be the only one who knew most of the rules of the game. Supposedly he's played before, although no one knows how since he is an only child.         "Well, its too late to change things now anyways. I've already worked your stories into the campaign." Mr. Toomin looked around the room, a bit excited to start a new campaign with some fresh faces.         "If thats it, then we can start. Across the snow-blanketed-”         "I'm playing too." A voice rose up, breaking Mr. Toomin off mid-sentence.The kid, who remained silent until now, dragged his chair to the far end of the table, and showed his smartphone to the group. "I just made a character. He's a Mindflayer druid, who specializes in the creation of more mindflayers."         The table stood silent, a bit taken back by the intrustion. Jakes eyes seem to burn as the kid, named Esplin, sat, and continued to speak.         "Hmph. They're made by putting these little slugs into the eyes or ears of a humanoid. That humanoid then becomes a mindflayer after sometime."         "Esplin, you can't play a mindflayer, that's not a character race." Mr. Toomin sighed, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes.         "Yes it is. Look. I made it using the homebrew available on D&DBeyond."         "Dude, you can't just jump in now. Toomin's already worked everything into the game. Do you even have a backstory?" Despite usually being the first to let others join in, Jake showed some resentment towards Esplin- though it probably wasn't unfounded. Esplin was known for being... well, not nice.         "Of course. I was sent out to fetch some more humanoids for breeding purposes, and got captured by Giths. After I escaped back to the underdark, all the other mindflayers were missing. So now I'm desperate to make more and bring the race back to its former glory in the hopes of reigning supreme over all life."         "Toomin, if you're going to let the deliquents play while they're supposed to be punished, the least you could do is let them all play." A voice spoke from the now open door- the Maths teacher, Mr. Krayak, stood in the unoccupied space, looking down on Mr. Toomin. "I can see an educational reason for this. I won't tell anyone unless you exclude young Esplin."         Jake looked at Mr. Toomin with annoyed eyes, shrugging before throwing himself into the back of his chair. Rachel scooted her chair away from the edge and closer to Tobias, who was scowling a bit. Cassie had a bit of a worried look on her face, which Marco noticed, cocking his eyebrow. Ax remained neutral.