By Benjami
09/03/2025 - 05:36:05
Type: Colonial creature
Rating: 0.58 (Not rated)
Tags: set:kuh-makeen
Description
[Cleaned up the design a bit]
Kuh-Makeens can float in air via the very light menenos gas they produce, but that only works on planets with similar gravity and heavy atmospheric composition as Makeenmaa. On other planets, kuh-makeens use either spells or technology to make up for the difference.
Fun fact: the sensory organs that kuh-makeens use to perceive the world are called sensorettes. They do not convert light into visual data and as such do not technically count as vision, though the perceptive capabilities they provide do match and exceed traditional vision in some ways.
The way the sensorettes work is that they send out a constant ?ping? to the world. This ping is composed of both an electromagnetic signal as well as an ultraenergetic component. The electromagnetic signal functions as a radar; it bounces around the area the kuh-makeen is located in, and is received by the kuh-makeen?s tentacles which function as an antenna of sorts. The data from this process gives kuh-makeens a general, albeit undetailed understanding of their immediate surroundings. In addition, the electromagnetic waves serve as a way of communication, or more precisely as one aspect of it.
Kuh-Makeen speech consists of a series of gestures formed with tentacles, clicks of the small mandibles under the chassis and these electromagnetic signals. All together they form a comprehensive base for language. Neglecting one or two aspects severely dumbs down a kuh-makeen?s expressive capabilities.
As for the ultraenergy-ping, it serves as a way to transcribe the details of the world, as stored within all material?s ultraenergetic essence, into the kuh-makeen?s mind in a way light-based perception could not. For example, kuh-makeens do not perceive color or transparency, since such concepts depend on the wavelengths of light and how it interacts with objects.
That said, the data that a kuh-makeen receives from the ultraenergetic composition of an object is very comprehensive, part of which does translate to traditional vision. If a vision-based alien were to point at a red object and say it?s red, a kuh-makeen could connect that red to ultraenergetic data matching that object and agree it?s red. Since kuh-makeen perception is not limited to wavelengths of light, it could be said that their perception of the world is overall vastly more vivid.
As for light itself, it is something kuh-makeens can sense with this ultraenergetic sense, even if not visually. Instead, they are roughly aware of the flow of photons and how they bounce between objects, and can use this as an additional way to understand their surroundings. This ability is proposed to have evolved as a way for kuh-makeens to detect wildfires and estimate the time of day by the amount of sunlight.
It should be noted that the sensorettes are not the only sense kuh-makeens have. There are sensitive bristles on their tentacles that both serve as a way to detect the airflow around them, process sound waves, detect warmth as well as receive the electromagnetic signals mentioned earlier. The ability to precisely know the currents of air around them is essential for kuh-makeens? ability to control their movements in the air. The ?joints? of their tentacles have tiny valves which release menenos gas both as a propulsive method, as well as a way of controlling the weight of each segment of the tentacle. All this amounts to a complex series of movements that lets the kuh-makeen sail across air.
As a side note, one may have observed kuh-makeens or related creatures with extra sensorettes floating around them. As the sensorettes are highly ultrasensitive organs and ones that can be regrown or bioengineered separately, one can create more of them and suspend the spare sensorettes around oneself to further boost one?s ability to ultraenergetically perceive the world. This is a popular practice among skilled practitioners of ultraenergy-manipulation.
948DNA points
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| 7 Bones | 0 Feet | 0 Hands |
Diet: Carnivore
Health: +37 %
| Sociability 3 / 20 | Aggressiveness 2 / 20 | Abilities 0 / 15 |
|---|---|---|
 1 / 5 |  2 / 5 |  0 / 5 |
 0 / 5 |  0 / 5 |  0 / 5 |
 2 / 5 |  0 / 5 |  0 / 5 |
 0 / 5 |  0 / 5 |
By AaronAT
wow looks like you haven't made anything since 2011 if im seeing this right. good to see you in 25'
By MultipleStriches
WOW COOL! I like the artistic look/style!
By Miikka64
Really nice to get a more thorough explanation for how the kuh-makeens perceive the world; and getting more information about their physiology overall is always welcome. The explanation for all the floating "decorations" some makeens have is so clever.
By Benjami
..early kuh-makeens only knew of stars as a vague source of photons. It was only after they devised means to convert light into data that they learned to perceive over long distances. Many modern colonist outfits have ?cameras? to aid with this drawback.
By Benjami
One notable drawback of their perceptive ability is range. Whereas, say, humans can see far-away things like mountains in the horizon in decent detail, kuh-makeens would only be roughly aware of objects so far away. As another example..